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Show CONGRESS AGAINST T( BUDGET SYSTEM Chairmen of House Committees Com-mittees Insist Upon Appropriating Ap-propriating Cash. By International News Service. WASHINGTON", Jan. 3. President Wilson's Wil-son's proclamation for a sinelc house appropriating- committee a start toward a national budget system is defeated. Such determined opposition arose among "pork barrel" representatives that Chairman Shirley of the appropriations committee, the leader of the president's plan, admitted admit-ted today that he had dropped the fight. Chairman Shirley said he would soon make a statement In the house explaining why he will not fight for the reform at this session. "The idea simply died aborning," said Chairman Dent of the military committee, one of the chairmen who would have been shorn of his chief power if the plan went through. "Members thought the plan was wholly impracticable. Congress fears such concentration of authority in making and passing on appropriations. To the man or committee in charge, entirely too much power would be given." All the appropriations committees are now at work on their annual bills the military, naval, agriculture, rivers and harbors, Indian, foreign and postofrice committees. When the measures they frame finally have been put through congress, con-gress, the sums will be added and then congress will know for the first time how much money it spent. The president's plan tended toward first ascertaining how much the country was able to appropriate appropri-ate and then divide it among the various departments of the government. Chairman Shirley on the first of the year is faced with a fresh deficit of a billion and a quarter dollars, despite appropriations ap-propriations for the year of close to 000,000.000. As a result of various military mili-tary and naval shortages shown up by congressional investigations and the increased in-creased scope for the war, department heads have been making new estimates at an unprecedented rate. A general tacit agreement has been reached that the public buildings bill one of the chief pork measures of most sessions will not be presented this session. ses-sion. The rivers and harbors bill, however, how-ever, because of plans to increase Inland waterways transportation, will carry probably fifty millions or more. |