OCR Text |
Show I THE ii'S'"i EiomE T ' IN WASHINGTON " ' -iyJii Grants Not New JS LONG AGO as 1785 while the nation was operating under the articles of confederation, the continental congress made the first grants-in-aid subsidies. They consisted con-sisted of large areas of public lands for use by public schools and universities. Since that time, every suceeding congress has increased the grants-in-aid program until this past year, fiscal 1949 ending June 30 last, total federal grants-in-aid to tlie several states and to individuals and local government on 46- programs totalled $5,493,710,-763. $5,493,710,-763. The grants-in-aid to states and local governments proper amounted amount-ed to $1,854,789,515 while the subsidies sub-sidies to individuals in federal aid payments amounted to $3,638,921,-248. $3,638,921,-248. These figures were obtained from the treasury department by Congressional Quarterly, a nonpartisan non-partisan Washington reporting, agency. Even these figures do not include all the payments which are daily going out from the federal government govern-ment to the states. For instance the figure does not include payments pay-ments under the farm price support sup-port program, funds which are spent for flood control, navigation and reclamation , military posts, navy yards, air force fields and the regular civilian federal offices and their huge payrolls located in the various states. Figures Mount And despite the hue and cry in congress and out for curtailment of the grant-in-aid program, the figures fig-ures mount steadily. The Morrill act of 1862 is generally considered to be the Daddy of the grants-in-aid program. This act provided for the grant of federally owned land to each state to endow, support and maintain the land grant colleges of agriculture and mechanical arts. Next came the grants for the blind in 1879; next came the agricultural experiment stations in 1887, and in 1888 to provide homes for veterans and in 1890 the act was passed for annual additional grants to the A. & M. colleges. Next came state marine training train-ing schools and in 1914 came the program to establish agricultural agri-cultural extension service and by 1915 the federal grants in aid were costing about five and a half million dollars annually. During and after World War I, the program took a huge spurt when the congress set up federal aid for construction of highways in 1916, vocational education in 1917, control of venereal disease in 1919 and that year the grants-in-aid climbed to 11.7 million dollars. But the bulk of the federal aid program took shape during the depression de-pression years of the 1930's with grants to the states running to more than a billion dollars anually. These included the social security program with provisions for federal fed-eral aid to the blind, the aged, dependent de-pendent children, maternal aid, unemployment un-employment compensation and later the public health service. More recently the federal airport air-port program and the grants for hospital construction came along. The grants-in-aid program has given birth to the anli-adrninis-tration charges of "the welfare state" and the "socialistic state" although the charge also al-so is made that "the Republicans Republi-cans would not dare repeal a single one of these acts." Most of the federal grants are made on a matching basis with the states or other local subdivision of government putting up an equal or lesser per cent of the money. It is true also that generally speaking the regular grants-in-aid in 11 western west-ern states are generally higher percentage-wise than in the rest of the country for the reason that the U.S. government owns about one fourth of the land area in these states and the higher federal contributions contri-butions are considered to be payments pay-ments in lieu of taxes which the states would receive from the land if held by private holders. Totals Listed Some of the more important federal fed-eral program totals for fiscal year 1949 are: old age assistance, $718,-011.000;' $718,-011.000;' aid to dependent children, $189,415,000; unemployment compensation com-pensation and employment service $140,313,000; aid to highways, $397.-743.000; $397.-743.000; airport construction $30,-390.000; $30,-390.000; vocational education, $26,-145.000; $26,-145.000; school lunch program $73,-501,000; $73,-501,000; agricultural extension, $29,-961,000; $29,-961,000; disposal of surplus crops, $35,551,000. But there are a score or more of other smaller programs such as public works advance planning, plan-ning, crippled children, child welfare services, tuberculosis control, mental health, national nation-al forest fund, siilim.irginal land program, wildlife restoration, restora-tion, mineral leases, migratory migra-tory bird conservation, flood control lands, public housing grants, research and marketing act of 1946 and others. In the payments to individuals, most of the money is paid to veterans, vet-erans, j |