Evening star., 1950-08-27
Slow Man With DoI|or-When It's the Taxpayers
Contends Deficit
Spending Must Be
Held Down Now

Held Down Now
Douglas said. IT opposed the
Franco loan and am against 1t.
But I favored the Byrd Bridges
amendment to cut appropriations
by 10 per cent. This Is not as
good system as having Congress
make specific cuts in the appro-
priations-but 1t is far better than
nothing"
He said he believed that most
people agree that the best way to
reduce expenditures Is to reduce
individual items. This" he said,
"is the surgeons knife method
which ] have been trying to use.
A general across-the- board per-
centage cut hits all agencies af-
fected equally. even though there
Is bound to be more fat in some
agencies than in others. This
method is called the meat ak ap-
proach because the cutting is done
with broad blade and the actual
serving Is accomplished by brute
force"
Resorts to Scalpel
During the consideration of the
omnibus bill, Senator Douglas used
the "surgeon-knife" method not
only on items of appropriation but
also on some of his colleagues who
had been visibly and oratorically
incensed. With considerable sar-
casm, he told them he blamed
himself for his failure to get the
Senate to accept his amendments.
"The cause. I think" he said,
"has been a good one but there has
apparently been something in my
manner and methods which has
offended my colleagues. If I have
shown any SNUG self-righteous-
ness, may I assure the Senate that
1t was unintentional and 7 most
sincerely beg the pardon of my
colleagues. i can only wish that
ADLER, better, more conciliatory
and more experienced men than
had taken up this battle who could
have carried it through with
greater success and who would
not have aroused the hard feel
ings which I apparently have done.
I only hope that the burden will
be assumed by better men and
then shall be glad to step back
and let them take the lead, and
serve myself as only a dishwasher
and possibly factual hod-carrier
for their efforts"
Senator Douglas, however, be-
lieves that the causes for the
failure to get through cuts in
appropriations lies far deeper
than his own personal faults" I"
The very organization Of the
Senate. he insists, makes selec-
tive economics difficult. In the
first place, Appropriation Com
mittee members. who are primarily
responsible for the money bills as
they come before the Senate,
stick together in opposition to
cuts. Also. the farm bloc, and
other blocs in the Senate are al
ways on hand in greater numbers
when items in which they are in
terested come up for considera-
tion. And further. Senator's are
willing sometimes to vote for
horizontal cuts, when they might
be afraid to face some of their
constituents on specific cuts.
One of Mr.. Douglas proposals
has been for a cut Of to 10 per
cent in personnel. He figures
this could be accomplished with
out great hardship. because each
year II per cent of the employees
quit their jobs and others die.
Simply by not filling all the
vacancies. and by ordering trans
fers among the agencies, the re-
duction in overall Government
employment could be brought
about quickly. he said.
He has fought, too, to reform
the vacation system for Govern
ment employees. cutting the
present allotment of 26 working
days to 20-which would give the
employe a months vacation. BY
cutting sick leave, also, he said,
material saving could be made.
Senator Douglas is a persistent
f1ghter-in the Senate as he was
in the Marines. AS soon as the
people listen to him-and they
will when the taxes begin to bite
he will have more support in the
Senate for his economy drives.