OCR Text |
Show Washington Comment An astonished Washington is being treated to the rare specta-i specta-i cle of a congress fairly ftilling ! over its own feet in an effort to speed the administration's' '"defense '"de-fense program let taxes and soaring national debt fall where they may! For the first time in history, practically, congress worked on a holiday (Memorial day) and over this past luscious June week-end, ambitious plans were hatched in legislative brains(?) for the safety of America. Talk is increasingly rife of disposing to the Allies of our hundreds of old planes and then providing for our own de-ense de-ense with newer and more modern models, now that Henry Ford says he can produce 1000 planes a day; senators are visioning an army of 750,000 men and 11,000 war planes, with a mere wave of a legislative hand; and a billion dollar dol-lar a year tax bill, at this hectic moment, appears a mere bagatelle! baga-telle! The national debt (as you may chance to have heard before) will reach the $45,000,000,000 limit next year. When the United States entered the World war, the per capita share was $28.57. As the country now embarks on the defense program, the gross debt (Continued on last page) M Washington Comment ! (Continued from first pagse) . per capita is the highest in his- tory, well over $300. If the present pre-sent plans of congressional lead-I lead-I ers to seek $3,000,000,000 in new ! taxes during the next five years become an accomplished fact, congress con-gress will likewise be asked to raise the debt limit to $48,000,-000,000. $48,000,-000,000. On May 23, the treasury had outstanding obligations in the amount of $42,786,582,549.89. For the fiscal year starting July 1, treasury receipts are estimated at approximately $5,550,000,000, with j expenditures nearly $3,000,000,000 I in excess of this total. At the present time, under the in crease in the defense expenditures for the year to $1,300,000,000. about (i'i' percent of our national income will go for armament, if the rate of income continues at current levels. This is a small amount by comparison with what the major foreign powers were spending, even before they went to war. Since the beginning of actual fighting, they are believed to be pouring out from 25 to 50 percent of their national income for war. Although accurate estimates esti-mates are impossible, authorities here have placed England's and Fiance's combined rate of expenditure ex-penditure at $15,000,000,000 annually, an-nually, and Germany alone at about the same. This means I actual spending and does not take I into account the cost of property I damaged or destroyed in warfare. While senators and congrcss-! congrcss-! men were moiling and toiling last I week, they were treated to a taste of European "blackouts", when something went wrong with the Capitol power plant and they were plunged into darkness until repairs could be made. There was a great demand for flashlights and candles, and several carloads of distinguished gentlemen wtre trapped in stalled elevators and even in the nifty little subway trains that tootles dignitaries back and forth from the office buildings to the Capitol proper. The Capitol, by the way, is going to have a new roof on each of its wings, if appropriations for the purpose go through according ac-cording to schedule. It seems the glass skylights that hang heavy over the heads of senators and house members are unsafe, due to the fact that they are supported by iron girders resting on wood-on wood-on beams, or vie versa. Another Capitol tidbit, picked up with the week's news, is the sad, sad story of the Christy painting, "The Signing of the Constitution", which arrived last week as per order and proved too extra colossal to hang in the rotunda where it ought to go. The three-man commission in congress which last year ordered a canvas 20 feet by 30 feet at a price of $30,000, depicting the signing of the constitution, either didn't expect a canvas two stories tall and three stories wide, or else they weren't familiar with their Capitol and its simply unavailable un-available corners for tucking away little masterpieces of art). It cost Uncle Sam an extra $1,000 for the unveiling exercises of the 1 Christy canvas last Wednesday, , and he's still scratching his head 'over the problem of where to hang it, even as you and I. Result: Re-sult: the commission, Garner, Barkley and David Lynn are in j a huddle. |