National Affairs: Reports

Voluminous bulletins, fresh from the Government Printing Office, last week were laid before the President of the U. S. They were the reports of most of his Cabinet officers,* outlining conditions in their Departments up to June 30 last, and specifying future moneys they would need. Some of the reports were prefaced with perorations to the Executive, some of them were addressed, according to custom, to the House, the Senate, or both. President Hoover by courtesy could and from duty should examine them all.

Treasury. Burr-tongued little Andrew William Mellon, obliged to report only to the Speaker of the House, commenced abruptly: "Sir, I have the honor to make the following report:

"The finances of the Federal Government for the fiscal year 1930 continued the favorable record of recent years. . . . Ordinary receipts amounted to $4,177,941,702, expenditures chargeable against ordinary receipts to $3,994,152,487, and surplus receipts to $183,789,215. The gross public debt was reduced by $745,889,448, and stood . . . at $16,185,308,299 "

As usual, Secretary Mellon also reported on the economic welfare of the nation. This was his version of the great 1929 stockmarket crash: "During the last half of 1929 very marked changes occurred in the business and credit situation. Industrial production, which had reached record high levels at the middle of the year, commenced to decline in July. . . . Security prices commenced to decline in September. At the same time the volume of loans to brokers continued to increase with exceptional rapidity, a fact which . . . was evidence of a movement of securities . . , from stronger to weaker hands. . . . The security market was further weakened by . . . a conspicuous failure in the British market and by withdrawals of foreign funds from this country. On Sept. 26 the Bank of England . . . increased its discount rate. . . . These developments, coming at a time when industry was reacting from an earlier overstimulation . . . culminated in October and November in violent declines in security prices."

War. Discursive was the report of Secretary of War Patrick Jay Hurley. It began with an Introduction which stated that "the efficiency of the Army of the United States has been increased," that this was possible only because of "the wide experience and sympathetic interest of my immediate predecessor, the [late] Hon. James W. Good. . . . His service to the country should not be forgotten."

Secretary Hurley announced that the commissioned, warrant-officer and enlisted strength of the Regular Army, exclusive of Philippine Scouts, was 130,910 on June 30. About 35% of this number were on duty outside the continental limits of the U. S. Enlisted soldiers were divided as follows:

Infantry 41,259

Cavalry 7,794

Field Artillery 14,633

Coast Artillery 12,324

Engineers 4,465

Quartermaster Corps 7,536

Ordnance Dept 2,250

Finance Dept 400

Chemical Warfare 413

Air Corps 12,034

The Secretary declared: "If the policy of building up the enlisted strength of the Air Corps by transfers from the other arms is continued, the Army will soon be unable properly to perform its many missions."