The President's News Conference

FEDERAL BUDGET

THE PRESIDENT. Some Of the departmental budgets are not yet complete, that is, the budgets for the fiscal year beginning July. But we have proceeded far enough to enable me to state that the appropriations that will be proposed to Congress for that fiscal year will be about 350 million below the original departmental requests. Every department in the Government is cooperating, and every item has been cut, and every item postponed that can be done without injury to the fundamental purposes of the services or damaging their efficiency.

You will realize that nearly half of the expenditure of the Government is for interest, sinking fund, and veterans, and this represents a very essential degree of cooperation. And it is a real contribution of all the departments, bureau heads, and every agency of the Government in an endeavor to meet the necessities of the taxpayer and the general economic situation.

I would like also again to refer to the many sectional interests of the country which are pressing for increased expenditures for the next fiscal year. Such action only embarrasses the administration and the Congress in its endeavor to maintain governmental finance on a sound footing. There are many new plans for increased expenditures in various sections of the country that are meritorious and will need to be undertaken by the Government at sometime, but this is not the time. We will have to defer them until the country can pay for them. There is nothing that can contribute more to a return of prosperity than to maintain a sound fiscal position for the Federal Government.

CHARLES A. LINDBERGH

I have one appointment--in the shape of Mr. Charles A. Lindbergh as a member of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.

FEDERAL BUDGET

Q. Mr. President, did you say 350 million below the original estimates ? Is it possible to make any speculation as to how far it will be below the last appropriations ?

THE PRESIDENT. No, there is a difficulty in that. The appropriations are very badly scattered through the whole year, and it is a little bit difficult to tell what the 1932 expenditures will be, yet. Part of the appropriations made last winter were for expenditure applicable to both the fiscal year 1931 and 1932, and it is impossible, even yet, to tell what it will be--at the end of the year we will be able to.

Q. Mr. President, have you a comparable figure with last year's original budget?

THE PRESIDENT. No, I haven't here. I think it is somewhere about 280 million roughly, below the appropriations of last year. That figure is not precise, and it may be 20 million greater than that.