OCR Text |
Show NO MONEY TO BEGIN. The Government departments had to begin the fiscal year on .July Lit without with-out anv money. It ib- forbid. Ion by law for any of tho officials of the United States to incur any indebtedness or to go beyond tho appropriations made by Congress for their public work: anil yet the departments did not dose, although al-though they are obliged to run on faith. This faith will' doubtless be justified by Congress, which may make the opproprintion some tim.o or other. In the meantime, tho pvomise is that, a joint resolution will bo passed, prob-ablv prob-ablv without opposition, continuing tho J former appropriations through the month, and by that time it is likely that the regular appropriation bills will have been passed. Tho reason whv these appropriation bills have not boon passed as they usually are before the close of the old fiscal year, is plain. Congress has been busy playing polities, and endeavoring to "put the President in a hole" by the engrafting upon tho appropriation bills of certain obnoxious and irrelevant ) legislation. Jt is against the rules of both houses of Congress to put general gen-eral legislation upon the appropriation bills, but both houses do it. The reason rea-son why they do it is that in this way the legislation, so far as Congress can effect it, is made sure. But since tho whole matter is in the hands of the two houses of Congress, it seems curious curi-ous that they have not. been able to devise some means of making legislation legisla-tion sure, other than by a method which is clearly violative of the rules of both houses. Perhaps the Congressmen Congress-men may wake up sonic time to the desirability of providing methods whereby they can transact the business busi-ness the3' want to transact without violating their own rules, and will be able to make the current appropriations without putting them in such objectionable objec-tionable form as to invito the Presidential Presi-dential veto. This invitation to veto was expressly carried in tho army appropriation ap-propriation bill, and it was inevitable that the President should veto it; for, first of all, it had obnoxious general legislation, and, second, it interfered with the President's prerogative of nominating officers of tie armj-, nnd assigning them to their different duties: so that the veto of that bill was imperative. But the failure to pass other bills for the expenditures necessary in the different departments of the Government Govern-ment is absolutely inexcusable. It showE ineffectiveness on the part of Congress thnt is much to be blamed, and the excuse is that it is the Presidential Presi-dential -ear, aud that politics are hot, will not satisfy the American public, as valid. |