Show our bovet government jovern ament ment how it operates by william Br bruckart mckart THE TREASURY ordinarily run rather A true to tradition things that are done once in a certain way usually are done that way over and over again allowing of course tor for proven changes one ot of the things they do Is celebrate new year and they have done it with a lot of noise and loss of sleep for many many years but their government started a new year recently and as though those who direct its affairs wanted to be the exception that proved the rule they did not start out tor for a night of it it was the fiscal year the money year so to speak for the government ern ment and it constitutes the basis upon which nil all government functions are operated predicated or planned that new year started as I 1 have said without any ballal ballyhoo ball hoo loo a and nd W without tat celebration the b ball h boo h had taken place weeks before the officials had done their staying up many nights bights because instead of a celebration program they had the difficult job of laying out a program for paying the expenses of the government determining what those expenses should be and deciding where the money could be obtained for performing all of the functions which we know as governmental in other words what those officials did was prepare a budget of income and outgo all of that was done prior to the new year of which I 1 have spoken the date of this new year came circumstances cum stances that immediately preceded it may be described something as follows the gigantic set of books used by the treasury were closed at p m on june 30 they balanced of course but to make the receipts equal the expenditures for the twelve months preceding there had been borrowings or money obtained from the sale of government securities such as bonds notes certificates of indebtedness and treasury bills the difference between the expenses and the regular receipts of money that the government did not have to return in other words the amount of the borrowings constituted the government deficit for the year every agency of the government having money to spend epand closed its books at the same time the treasury did for the next day started a new fiscal year and reckoning was to start all over again there were new funds available appropriated by congress for operating in the next nest twelve months or until june 30 1933 such was the circumstance of the governments new year prior to that time as I 1 have indicated ed the treasury which Is the bank for all of the government had told the president that it was going to need a lot more money than the tax laws then in operation would produce so the president sent a message to congress saying in substance that new taxes must be levied so that the I 1 income acome of the government would be as great as the necessary ex expenditures the budget must be balanced or as we used to say we must live within our income thus stripped of bunk verbiage and terminology cross currents of political explanation and expostulation the treasury was forced to turn back to the people for more money it may seem to the residents of any particular township county or state that they are many weary miles from washington that the government Is some gome gigantic thing about which they need not concern themselves direct ly but the point of this article Is to show the fallacy of such a view the ne government at washington is just as near to all of us as Is the ministration of the township trustee or the judges or or commissioners by whatever name leown in the county seat town or city N none can deny therefore the influence cion exerted eu exerted upon every citizen by the treasury for the simple reason that it more than any other unit of the government perhaps touches that well known institution the pocketbook obviously of course the treasury does not got get taxes wherever and whenever it desires the constitution fixed that matter in advance it said congress should levy the taxes L in truth however congress lias has from time immemorial followed the suggestions gest ions lions of the treasury rather closely since the tm treasury abury Is better acquainted quain ted with technical matters there always have bare been and probably always will be differences largely political over the proposals of the treasury for raking raising taxes but those differences are not pertinent here so we have a new tax law which will tax hundreds of different trans actions of business as well as incomes that the government at washington and all its agencies from the nearest to the farthest may keep on operating in your interest and in mine and it la Is said in the constitution that the treasury shall have power to collect taxes etc yet there Is another function of the treasury about which it Is more pleasant to think it concern money money has a fascination the treasury produces it it distributes lt it and through h its correlated agency the federal federal reserve deserve board lt it indeed controls it however that Is a story in itself C 19 wearn |