| OCR Text |
Show GRASSROOTS There Is Hope '52 Election Will Oust Wastrels By Wright A. Patterson DESPITE all the needs for economy, econo-my, consistently urged by the President, the executive department at Washington does not practice any of the President's admonitions that he insists are necessary on the part of every American. In government the waste goes merrily on, with Gen. George Marshall's Mar-shall's department of defense leading lead-ing the way. As an example: Recently Re-cently the army wanted several million mil-lion pounds of margarine for the troops in Korea. The purchasing agent of the army purchased the several million pounls at a price of 25 cents a pound. Within a few minutes min-utes walk of the Pentagon building. Secretary Brannan, secretary of agriculture, sold at approximately the same time. Just about the same number of pounds of grade A-l creamery butter to Italy at 15 cents a pound. That butter had been purchased pur-chased by the department to keep the price of butter up to the American Ameri-can consumer. Had it been provided for our armed forces, the result on the home market would have been the same as selling it to Italy. Such transactions represent unnecessary waste. Hundreds of such items have been dug out of the records by members of congress, and are aired on the floors of both the senate and house. It Is the airing air-ing of such items that causes the careful scrutiny of appropriation appro-priation bills. Last year the navy purchased paint enough to paint all naval ships several times over. The surplus, and more, was sold to a German concern. con-cern. When it was found that too much had been sold, at a price of less than one third the original purchase pur-chase price, navy purchasing agents bought that same paint back from the German concern at better than three times the price at which it had been sold. Wastel Wastel Wastel through all the administrative adminis-trative departments of government, and no one called on the carpet because be-cause of it. The total runs into many millions and possibly billions, for all of which the tax payers must pay. Senator George D) of Georgia says the administrative departments depart-ments can easily cut six billions from their budget demands, and that there will be no additional taxes voted until that six billion cut has been made. That demanded six billion cut does not include any defense de-fense rearmament expenditures, which could cover another six billion. bil-lion. Despite the evidence of waste the President continues to call for more and larger appropriations, more taxes, that the nation may be saved from the dangers of inflation. He does not recognize that government purchasing of commodities creates a shortage, quite s much as individual in-dividual demands, only the excess demands of government, is far greater than is the hoarding purchases pur-chases of the individual. From what school of economists does he select his advisers? Each one of the hundreds of items of sheer waste that congress Is seeing are but a drop in the inflationary in-flationary rainstorm, but the total of them constitutes a flood. It takes desire for economies on the part of executive heads from the President down. Those who do not have such a desire, those who are responsible for the waste to be found in the executive departments of government, should be severely disciplined for waste in their departments, de-partments, but such is not the way of politics, and the rule of today in Washington is "politics as usual", regardless. The coming national election might contain hopes for Improvement, Improve-ment, hopes for a radical reduction in the army of inefficient bureaucrats, bureauc-rats, but the Republicans are making mak-ing no promises. They are not interested in-terested in a reduction in the bureaucratic bu-reaucratic army, only in effecting a change in the personnel of that vast army of more than 2,300,000. They now epresent Democratic votes, when the personnel is changed they will represent Republican Repub-lican votes, but be equally as Inefficient Inef-ficient Gen. Rldgway will not be dismissed dis-missed for not following Presidential President-ial directives, though doing so brings dishonor and defeat to America. The first automobile club was started in Chicago in 1895. Our fear of war with Russia Is home grown. |
