The government is faced with two problems. It must constantly plan new ways to raise money through taxation. It must constantly plan new ways to cut down expenses. Hence, the Secretary of the Treasury consults with A COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS as to the best way to solve the first

problem. Just as every individual should make his expenditures come within his weekly wages so every government must bring its expenses within the amount of money that can be raised. But however

the problem of taxation is solved the average man who reads of the vast sums the government needs, will ever wonder WHAT IT DOES WITH ALL THE MONEY IT RECEIVES IN TAXES.

included in the price that we pay our butcher for the steak or chops that we buy.

In making its taxation plan, the government must be very careful not to tax some of its citizens or some of its industries too heavily. If, for example, it should raise all its money through a tax on real estate, it might make rents so high as to cause good houses to be out of the reach of people living on small wages.

The government must also be careful not to tax business too heavily for that might destroy or drive away trade which, of course, means less prosperity for everyone. Taxation is a difficult matter. It is not easy to find a tax which is just to all.

Unreasonable Demands Because a very great sum of money is taken in by the government in the form of taxes, many citizens expect it to return to them or their district anything they may want. The inhabitants of a town think nothing of asking the government to build a post-office, for instance, that would in size and architectural beauty be suitable for a goodsized city.

Small boys are constantly asking their parents for a great many things that they see in store windows. They believe their parents have unlimited means. Many citizens have the same point of view toward their government as boys have towards their parents. They think the government has unlimited resources without stopping to realize that each individual must pay his share of the government's cost out of his

own

pocket. Just as every individual should make his expenditures come within his weekly wage, so every government must bring expenses within the amount of money that can be raised.

The government cannot do everything that we, as citizens, think it should do. A good government recognizes this fact, plans its budget accordingly, and is careful not to undertake too many new activities which will make burdensome and unwise taxation necessary.

Some of Our Complex Problems There are complex problems demanding immediate solution. At times there is waste and inefficiency, graft and corruption in the government service. This is true of every human organization. Even the most efficient business organization falls short of one hundred per cent perfection. We have the right, however, to get as near one hundred per cent value for each dollar of taxation as possible. We should see that we get value for our taxes.

During the last few years, as a result of the war, this nation has developed a habit of extravagant spending, both individually and governmentally. In fact, the whole world has contracted the disease. Now, as a nation, we must economize. We are beginning to recognize this fact. Congress has provided for a Director of Budgets under the President of the United States. This is one of the most important steps that the Government has ever taken. Governmental extravagance must be eliminated. National thrift and the citizen's effort

An

toward strict economy are necessary if we are to lift the burden of taxation. The United States has a new point of view toward debt and waste. aroused public opinion is demanding economy in Federal, State and Municipal Government. But, as President Harding has said: "It is not easy to change the habits of a country; it is not easy to stand against those who want to spend."

Reduction of expenditure means relieving men of their jobs. Inertia, old methods, loose standards, must be met and conquered at every turn. Politicians protest over the elimination of jobs; communities object because certain buildings, such as post-offices, have not been erected in their home towns. The men who undertake the work of reducing national expenditures, or state expenditures, or local expenditures, will always have the cheap and vicious political forces of the country arrayed against them. They must face the whine of the office-holder, the requests of the office-seeker, and the attacks of the politician. A President, a Governor, or a Mayor, attempting to reduce expenditures, has a difficult task.

It is easy to spend, easy to build up the political machine by giving out jobs. To turn about and reduce the number of useless employes and to eliminate unnecessary expense is difficult. Many toes are pinched in the process. Yet every citizen should fearlessly advocate and support the removal of the evil triplets of government: Waste, Inefficiency and Corruption.

T

HE reasons for the separation of the United States Government into executive, legislative and judiciary branches, have already been explained in the chapter on the Mechanics of Government. The text of the Constitution which you have read, gives the details of this three-fold separation. There are many other important facts, however, about the President and his Cabinet, Congress and its legislative work and the Federal courts and their organization, which one must know if he is to understand clearly how the American Government actually works.

The President of the United States

The President of the United States is the outstanding figure in our government. The position of Chief Executive

The Growth of the Presidency

It was not expected by the framers of the Constitution that the President would become so powerful a personage, but the growth of the nation, and the increasing complexity of our national life, have brought a decided increase in his influence. The office of the President has steadily grown in strength in com

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parison with other parts of the government, until today, the American people look largely to the President for national leadership.

The same tendency towards increasing the importance of the executive is to be seen in state governors and city mayors. They, too, in their respective fields, are looked to for leadership and have much more responsibility on their shoulders than they had a few decades ago. This growth in executive leadership is one of the outstanding developments in American politics.

of this nation places the individual who holds it among the few leading political statesmen of the day. His name is known the world over. His constitutional powers, plus his opportunities to lead and influence the great economic, moral, and spiritual forces of America, stamp him as probably the most powerful executive in existence. Indeed, today, the President of the United States has become, among the nations of the earth, an international figure.

The strength of the American President is to be found, first, in his constitutional powers, and, second, in his national prestige and his political leadership of his party. The President's constitutional powers may be discussed under six main headings, viz., his executive control, appointments, his war power, his position in foreign affairs, his legislative power, and his right to grant pardons.

His Executive Control The President is the head of the national administration and carries the enormous responsibility of looking after the actual governmental work, which, as the country increases in size, wealth and population, has become almost overwhelming. Only a robust, vigorous physique, and an extraordinary capacity for hard, continuous work, will carry a man through the four or eight years of neverending labor which the American Government requires of its chief. This is even more true in war time, as the lives of Lincoln and Wilson, both war presidents, illustrate.

Appointments

The power to make appointments, together with the right, in most cases, to remove from office, are two of the President's most important and troublesome duties. Appointments-many thousands of them -take much of his time. The appointment of important officials, judges, ambassadors, and the members of such bodies as the Tariff, Inter-State Commerce, and Federal Trade Commissions, must be confirmed by the Senate.