By WILLIAM C. UTLEY HERE was a time when the United States had a national debt of only $37,515.05. But that was exactly 100 years ago—in 1836. And for each of those 100 years the debt has multiplied almost 10.000 times, The United States began existence with the staggering (for those times) national debt of $75,463,000. That was to pay for the Revolutionary war, and up to the present day great rises In the national debt have been the result of wars (accepting the theory of one school of thought, which regards the spending that the present enormous total as necessitated by a de. pression which was the direct result of the World war), The War of 1812 sent the debt up to $127,334,933.74 in 1816. In 1866 the debt reached a new high of $2,756,000, 000, following the Civil war. In 1915 it stood at the comfortable total of $1,180,000,000, but the World war sky- rocketed it to the alarming total of $26,504.000,000 four lears later. iy conscientious budget-balancing during the next decade the debt reached Its post-war low of $16,200,000,000 ta 1930. - caused Borrowings (now invalid) Individual and Back Income Tax Corporation Income Tax Processing Taxes Alcoholic Beverage Taxes 42.3 based on 1935.1936 budget estimates. When his budget message to congr uary 6, the than it well President Roosey delivered ess on Jai national debt had ever been before over F350 000 (00) (0x) that end of the 1936-37 fiscal he $31.351.000.060, or family present red dicted on June for every The the direct result tion's policy of aid in from the not as large i had predicted it would he ago Two debt would ame on June 30 1035." jut the President also sald then his first annual budget “My fiscal year (ending June 30 an excess of over ceipts of 2,000 006) (Xx). We plan to have a definitely balanced bud get for the third year of recos ery (the present fiscal year) and from that time on seek a continuing reduction of the natiopal debt” business throes years ag in * to con ETess, estimates coming 35) show re- should expenditures Balance Not in Sight, Yet such a effected 1937 fiscal year. He estimated that for that Year the government would collect £5.- 654.000.0000 in 1 spend $6,752,000,000—plus a work rellef still to be determ deficit then would $1,008.000,000 plus had to be added for relief nately there pending issues which tie Presi dent's estimate out of whack, On the very day of his message the Supreme court declared the AAA invalid, and a later ruling decreed that the govern ment would have to pay back the pro- cessing taxes. Also it was virtualiy certain that the $2.000,000000 soldiers’ bonus would pass congress. The sity ation was serious enough for Secre- tary of the Treasury Morgenthan to predict that the country might face n national debt of $35,500,000 000 by the end of the 1937 fiscal year, The balancing of the budget has been complicated in recent years by the over-optimistic character of an nual budget deficit estimates, as the following table reveals. The first three deficit estimates were by Mr. Hoover. All are given in millions of dollars : has not been balance or forecast for the even would for The least revenues, and sum ined. at amount Unfortn have been whatever were Immediate ml re would throw Predicted sesanenes "01 sosnsse L708 sanssses B41 ve 2.512 eenavna B28 Arvtual 3,153 2,083 3.9%9 3.575 “ej 088 1931-1922 1932-1933 1933-1934 1924-1938 1935-1938 cane *Burplus, *%As of Jan, 17, 1936. That estimates were so far away from the actual totals may in most cases be laid to the total inability of the Treasury department, the banks and the people in general to estimate the duration of the depression. When incomes slumped, so did revenues, And when the “priming” falled to get the pump working as quickly as bad been predicted, tax revenues falled to grow to expected proportions, From Wall Street money marts have rumbled ac- cusations of deliberate overstatement In the more recent budget estimates, In January, 1934, President Roosevelt estimated that the deficit six months later would be $6,644,000,000 : 1t turned out to be only $2,836.000,000. An esti mated $3,160,000,000 deficit for the first half of 1935 proved to be an actual $1.875,000,000. Wall Street says the treasury Is too smart to make such mistakes unwittingly, The Real National For other reasons It is difficult to estimate the real national debt. The gross debt of more than $30,000,000,000 at the end of 1935 actually represented the proceeds of December borrowing added to the existing debt. But though the money had been borrowed it had not yet been spent. With the sum thus held In the general fund de ducted, the debt In December was actually only a little over $28,000,000, 000, But there are also complications not 80 rosy In nature, During the last half-dozen years the government has embarked on some extraordinary finan- Debt, Miscellaneous Tobacco Taxes Manufacturers’ Excise Taxes Estate and Gift Taxes / \ / 46( ) Tariff Collections cial ventures. Many critics of iment financial policy would add to SO 000 06K) (Mn debt the taken on hy Treasury dep tures stood on October 31 own in the Statement of ihilities the treasury irtment’s following Assets and Liahbilit Governmental Corporations and i a ned irs of in mi the United States ™ ures are ious of dollars: Ans nels bties Fin Corp 2.240 a4 Cred Corp Wks Admin Ship, Board Mer ¥ Interm. Cr. Bks 25 Fed Farm Mort C 62 Banks for Co-operat i3 Home Loan Banks ] Home Own, & L. C Fed & L. Ins. C Fed ins. Corp 22 98 163 318 648 11.6423 Sav Dep Grand Total 4.404 Like so much of the New Deal's financing, the value or the danger of these liabilities depend entirely upon 0 Public Works (including WPA) 25.8 plied labilities total another $2,000.,- 000,000 or so. Painting the blackest side of the picture, it Is seen that Ir times go utterly bad, if these actual and implied liabilities have to be met and If Mr. Morgenthau's worst fears are realized, the national debt might reach $40,000.000000 or $45,000,000, 000 or even more. There are some Intangibles on the asset side, There Is about $4, 473,000,000 which the government may realize from equities If all the debtors to RFC and HOLC pay up. There is $2,000,000,000 (not an intangible but a real asset) of “gold profit” now be- ing held in the stabilization fund; Sec- retary Morgenthau a year and a half ago announced that this sum would eventually be turned into revenues and would contribute toward reducing the national debt. It is barely that £1,000000000 will he from the $£10,000.000.000 of war debts At some time in the future from the Social Se urity act passed in August, 1935, may be reckoned on the asset side, No administration in history has borrowed so much money as the pres. ent No administration bor. rowed It so cheaply, either. of carrying a today Is little carrying the and is 3 carrying t#®e war debt the debt has risen 70 per the 1031 fiscal year, the cost of carry- ing It has riser ily 34 per cent. This Is what the President was referring to budget too, possible collected revenues one, has The cost debt of £30,000 000.000 more than the f cost of £21,000,000, 000 of 1033, cost of While ince than the of 1019, actun logy cent sald never in his message when he that the government's credit higher was Refunding Debt Cheaply. It the low rates for money continue and economists right now can see itt they find reason that sho . the go will itself getting ¥3 8 = oul * great part of the deht ince about one tures within the next funding should Cost, courage holds plenty of precedent it is bude leads to Int The New 18 # ” AEN Oi in al year, if it mean the rey larg receints ! history, exception of 1920. ’ wartime tages were their How in- difference Max. incomes has 1920.30 to : the maximum rate on es GINO’ Were un 3 » rates have up for the is readily of the tax been make today 8000 on personal from 20 per cent in in. 1517 maximum il per the from and tax per cent All Reflect Tax, There has actually been a decline in the amount of federal tax taken from the citizen's dollar, however. In 1932 corporate cent to Purchases 87 () Agricultural Adjustment Act » policy, recovery. If business returns to nor mal or prosperous times the assets will he gradually realized, as were those of the War Finance corporation. But if times do not get better and stay better the assets will be virtually im possible of collection. In a continued depression they might become an ex- tremely embarrassing burden. The la. bilities of $4,494,000000 are not only a claim on the taxpayer but they are over and above the national debt of more than $30,000,000,000, Further “Moral” Obligations. Moral obligations of the treasury are outstanding Habilities of the Federal Land Banks, Home Loan Banks dis count functions, Federal Deposit In. surance corporation, Federal Savings and Life Insurance corporation and the real estate loans of the Federal Housing administration. These it some other this nature as a permanent It was 20.7 per cent: in 1033, 10.5 per cent, and In 1034, 108 per cent. The 20 cents out of every dollar that the citizen pays into the fede |} treasury buys: food, gasoline, telephone service, tobacco, theater tickets, electric pow. er, ete, But it Is admitted that the new finance. Ing depends entirely upon recovery for revenues to Increase. If times get worse instead of better—well, the Wall Street Journa! has said: "The question how much debt the country CAN carry is incorrectly posed. It should be how much debt WILL the country carry? IF spending continues and IF fed. eral receipts do pot swing up, only two courses lle ahead: More and higher taxes, or inflation, ® Western Newspaper Union 4 Prepared by th Washin n, ~~ WNDU Ser HOUGH barely 788 square miles and with fewer than the Saar has been one of Europe's most pub Helzed regions since the World war. Powder keg of Europe ; dron ; political such labels onto scliety, ice in K2500%) area 1 “cone people, witches’ eal For t oeen sore Years graphic have tacked small but highly industrial- ized region lving north of Alsace-Lor raine From Caesars spot, $ this and Germany. the Hin hills between France the of J i and down to Foch and Von denburg, its va wooded ILS Yau i days have the and Ge ographi a ular small tramp rocked and shouts mies, an irreg between ] wns cut | es of Prus sia With to yet dynamie countr America knows | no siat about three time sSaar's size has less than a Saarbrucken, me x Saar, | has only 132.400 p yet in one Year Saar trains haul sengers | Sit in any stuffy the and boiled pe beer as the ban and other German Industrial cente Bat or make a toric road land with a past eonie iN N en pas en, watch music, juiar to i Saar Problem in Caesar's Time. There in fact, n even in Roman times, when bl from east of the invaded this basin mentaries™ you read of German settlers Roman of the time sass 120 (60 barians, enamored of Gaul, had settled ! here, i Caesar feared these Germans might | menace Rome itself; so he helped the | Gauls drive them back across the Rhine. His battles on the Alsne and elsewhere were precursors of cen turies of fighting along the Rhine. Some Roman military roads here abouts are shown on the Peutinger map of about 200 A. D. One ran north from Argentoratum (now Strasbourg) to the Saar basin. About this same time the Romans built a at a point on the Saar river where it was bridged by their miiltary road from Paris to Mainz. Saarbrucken was so named, meaning “Saar Bridge.” That early Roman castle was the first house in the now modern eity of Saar brucken., Dense forests choked all the basin then, forests frequented by heathen drulds, by wild Celtic tribes who hunt. ed deer and boars with spears, Seat tered ruins of menhirs, dolmens and cromlechs, symbols of the druid cult, have been found In the Saar forests Slowly, through centuries of pagan- ism, tribal wars, and fendalism, the Saar was settled, civilized, and its wooded areas dotted with castles, vil lages, and towns, Many old castles, as at Saarbrucken and Ottweller, were set afire by in vading French In 1708, and some of their occupants perished on the gull lotipe. Yet in German-speaking Saar Saar problem was, thine already had In Caesar's “Com- | these early | One report i that bar- | castle hall, baths, “talkies” paved streets, airport, mu crowded newspapers, and no old Latin edifices remain, as In Rome itself, Roman ruins there are—Iif you dig— some almost in the shadow of early At Tholey is a church that dates from the thirteenth century. In sharp contrast, near Saar. brocken 1s a mosque bullt by the French during the World war, where. In thelr Moroccan soldiers might pray! Strategically, the Saar lies on a natural route between France and Ger many, and for centuries they have dis puted as to where thelr boundary lines should be fixed. Soon after the break. up of Charlemagne’s empire, and the Treaty of Verdun In 848, the Saar be came German soil, iriefly, for years prior to Germany held two short periods, second the years from 1703 to 18135, poleon pushed the the Rhine, When Blucher and his Prussians ad anced Into France in 1813, he followed by the wore than a thousand the Versaliles treaty, the Saar, for being when Na- French frontier to except the route German fell, Prussian followed about va the very taken h when the It was so war: Yon Moltke, Blucher's route ordes nire idents who 1 the French Are Scarce There. German in race, speech. eqltn pre. in tongue, Ver. people eltd of a phantom state, treaty, galned or other its Instead, 8 commis sion of five Europeans was named by administer the ple Census ! t 1% his nat It was =i iy a legal accld ent at Saar, under no own president to the territory's affairs until By treaty the Saar went under a cus. toms union with France: French cus toms guards were set to patrol the line between Germany and the Saar and French money was put into ase, To pay France for her own coal mines damaged by Germans in the World war, she was given the coal mines in the Saar. The treaty provided also that after the plebiscite Germany might buy these mines back again If she wished, and such an agreement was concluded late In 1034. Only around Saarlouis is any French influence noticeable, and that is not due to the presence there of many lv- ing Frenchmen. Such influence be- longs to the past—Vauban'es old forts, bulit when Louis XIV made this a French garrison town: French names and epitaphs in the cemetery; and an odd local dialect current among older residents, a curious blend of German and French, To see how thoroughly German the region Is, in speech and sentiment, you have only to mingle with any holiday crowd and listen to the songs, the speeches, and the music: or read the papers, or see what crowds follow broadcasts from the radio stations at Frankfurt and Stuttgart. Industry Is Intensive, As In the Ruhr, industry here 1s compact, intensive, and theatrical in its setting. Like volcanoes, its giant mills, as at Volkiingen (250,264), belch forth clouds of thick gray smoke: the red glare of blast furnaces turns black night into brilliant Gehenna. Under every hill Is coal. Over ev. ery mine is a big wheel on a tower; | again and again you see the big wheel | Spin, as it winds up a cable that lifts i its load from deep In the earth, i This is the only place on earth | where you see mines and steel mills { closely crowded by forests, as if bits | of industrial Pittsburgh were set in | one of our forest reserves. The wood. | ed slopes of the winding Saar river | all covered with snow much resemble Algonquin park in Ontario In winter: it seems the woods must be as dense and mysterious as when druids built their sacrificial altars there and hun. gry pagan Celts searched for wild meat, ; Neck pleces of beef and lamb make delicious soups and stews. - . * Flower pots used In the house are made very decorative if painted with water color paints, . » » A bottle of furniture polish rubbed Into clean dry mop will give hard- wood floors an excellent polish, . . - When postage stamps stick to gether lay a thin paper over them and run a hot fron over the paper, The heat does not remove mucilage, » - » Maple sirup mixed with econfection- ers sugar to which a little butter or makes a delicious cakes, . » . cream is added frosting for parts of ammonia and tur | remove will indelible Ink marks from white fabrics. @ Associated WNU Service, Do You Ever Wonder Whether the“Pain” Remedy You Use is SAFE? Ask Your Doctor and Find Out Newspapers. — Don’t Entrust Your Own or Your Family's Well - Being to Unknown Preparations THE person to ask whether the reparation*you or your family taking for the relief of headaches is SAFE to use regularly is your family doctor. Ask him particularly Z a ce BAYER ASPIRIN. ou that before the Aspirin most were advised cians as bad for the 51 id, often, for the heart. Which is food for thought if you seek quick, safe relief. Scientists among the are te Jayer Aspirin es! methods yet dis- covered for the relief of headaches and the pains of rheumatism, neg- ritis and neuralgia. And the experi- ence of 1 s of users has proved it safe for erage person to use regularly. In pour own interest ree member this. 1 can get Genuine Bayes Aspirin at any drug store — sim iy by asking for it by its full 4 BAYER ASPIRIN, Make it a point to do this — and see that youd get what you want, Bayer Aspirin Forgive Graciously If you must forgive, forgive gra clously tously. Black-Draught Good Laxative Black-Draught has been kept om band for all the family in the home of Mr. W. A. Lemons, of Indepen- dence, Va. since twenty years ago. Mr. Lemons writes that he takes it a8 a laxative In cases of “headache, dull, tired feeling, biliousness.™ “And I take it if I feel uncomfort- able after a heavy meal,” he adds. “IT especially use it for sick headache, It certainly is good.” When a man saws "Black-Draught is good.” it is probably because he remembers the prompt, refreshing relief it brought in tonstipation troubles. It fs a simple, herd laxatize; natural in composition and action, Soothe and comfort ski | with delicately medicated world over for purity and mild. ness, WIAA ERE ein TIE OUND
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers