Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-26

Roosevelt, seeking Office in 1882, was
the flrst and most earnest to inveigh
against the horrors of deficit financ-
ing. Once in the White House he
first performed miracle of economy
by reducing the great burden of vet
Grams pensions, and then, converted
by the crackbrained financial wizards
who became his aides, rushed in the
other direction and inaugurated a
vast spending and borrowing policy
that turned us straight against the
thing he had advised.
About the time we were due to
reap the results Of this reckless re-
versal the war came along, upsetting
all fiscal calculations. Naturally, the
national survival became more vital
than the national budget and for
four years the Nation submitted it
self to taxes higher than anyone had
ever dreamed and willingly ran the
debt up to an astronomical size
without any surety that in the end
1t could be swung.
Equilibrium Is Vital.
Now that the war is over, the Job
OF recovering our financial equilib-
rum becomes the most important of
all our domestic problems. It is basic.
Until and unless we make some
progress toward it, no other problem
can really be solved
Wages, strikes, prices-none Of
these can be settled ION its merits"
They are all linked with the over
wheln1ing problem of the budget as
whole Unless dealt with in that
relationship, any effort to settle ION
its merits" merely adds to the infla-
tionary pressure. No one will dispute
these facts. Nor will any thoughtful
man believe that because, after Is
years, the dangers of imitation about
which we have been warned have not
materialized, the warnings can now
be discounted.
Imitation Danger Is High.
Anyone with grain of sense must
know that the dangers of imitation
are now terrifically enhanced and
the difficulty of averting them cor
respondingly increased. Anyone
with grain Of sense must know,
too. that the only way to escape a
great national disaster is in return
toward balanced budget-and this
can be accomplished chiefly by
great reduction in national expendi-
lures.
Yet, In the five months that have
elapsed since peace came, no progress
in that direction has been made. The
immense war expenditures, of course,
have ceased, but there has been no
step toward retrenchment in normal
Government costs.
On the. contrary, Government ex-
penditures for peacetime activities
are going up, not coming down. The !
enormous civilian Federal payroll
has been increased in both size and |
cost. A rise in pay for Federal en-
ployess all down the line is about |
to be voted by Congress, and the
tendency in both House and Senate |
clearly Is to appropriate more money
for more purposes than before.
Tax Cut Indefensible.
In addition, the first tax bill fol-
lowing the war Topped off close to
$1,000 900 900 year In tax revenue.
This was an indefensible reduction,
advised against by the best eco
nomic brains in the country but
put through by an overwhelming
vote of both parties and with the
recommendation of both White
House and Treasury.
Despite all this, President Truman
repeatedly has pointed out the
necessity for governmental econ
omy. So has Representative Dough-
ton, chairman of the House Ways
and Means Committee, who last
week declared that if Congress keeps
on increasing peacetime expendi-
lures, as 1t is, all hope of a balanced
budget may as well be abandoned.
"If," he said despairingly, I'VE can't
pay as we go I don't know how
we'll ever catch up"
And President Truman, a few
days ago, pointed out that no great