Evening star., 1953-05-03
Posture of Defense

Posture OF Defense
Another soldier statesman,
George Washington, once said that
1--WE must at all times maintain the
correct posture Of defense" 1t
was this rather archaic phrase
that Gen. Eisenhower borrowed to
point out that If either economic
strength or military strength Is
emphasized at the expense Of the
other, the Nation will suffer.
The President made it quite
plain that in his opinion the Ma
ton had suffered and was still
suffering from poor posture. 1T
has been the purpose Of this ad-
ministration ever since it took
office, finding itself confronted
with a crazy quilt Of promises,
commitments and contracts, to
bring American military logic and
American economic logic into joint
strong harness." he said.
The crazy quilt, he went on,
added up to $81 billions in funds
left over from the previous ad-
ministration-money appropriated
but not yet spent. Most of this
hoard is already tied up, since
contracts for goods have been
made and the money must be
paid out, C. o. D., when the goods
are delivered.
$8.5 Billion Saving
In correcting the Nations pos
ture, President Eisenhower hopes
to save $8.5 billion in new appro-
priations. But a look at a few
basic facts of fiscal life will show
that this saving will not be re-
fected directly in the Treasury's
balance sheet at the close OF the
next fiscal year.
There are three figureS-all Of
them way up in the billions
which must be considered. They
are:
. Receipts. This is the amount
the Government will take in-vir-
tually all in the form of taxes and
duties.
Q Expenditures. This Is the
amount the Government will pay
out.
. Appropriations. This is the sum
to be granted by Congress in the
fiscal year.
The Truman budget estimated
these three figures this way:
Receipts ---------------$6s7 billion
Expenditures ---------------- zsS billion billion
Because not all money appro-
priated in any fiscal year is spent
in that year, there is no way to
balance receipts against appro-
priations and come up with any
thing meaningful. The proper
balance is between receipts and ex-
penditures. In the case of the
Truman, budget, the difference be-
tween the two was 800 billions
deficit.
$4.4-BiIIion Deficit
So it does not follow that by
trimming appropriations in fiscal
1854 by $85 billion, President Eli
senhower will reduce the deficit to
$1.4 billion. It has been estimated
that the deficit will be about $4.4
billion. Assuming that this esti-
mate is correct land that Mr..
Truman's estimate of receipts was
accurate), that would make the
Eisenhower budget picture look
like this:
Receipts ----------------$6s.7 billion
Expenditures ---------------- I3.l billion
Appropriations oA.~ billion
This would indicate reduction
in Federal spending In the coming
year Of SIS billion below what
Mr.. Truman had contemplated.
It is entirely possible that by
canceling some contracts, resur-
veying some Government pro-
grams and abandoning others, this
sort of saving can be made handily.
It seems likely, furthermore, that
when these savings are made, they
will come in two principal places
military defense and foreign aid.
Where Cuts Come
AS far as reduced appropriations
are concerned, Senator Taft of
Ohio interpretS the Presidents
plans thus:
. Defense. S. billion out Of the
SAILS billion asked by Mr.. Truman.