FISCAL: New Dog

Set up under the Budget & Accounting Act of 1921 was the office of the Comptroller General, with twofold duty of okaying Government expenditures before they are made and auditing them afterwards.* First recipient of this 15-year appointment was crusty Republican John R. McCarl, whose term did not end until 1936. So crusty was "General" McCarl that long before the New Deal spenders became his greatest antagonists, he was famed as "The Watchdog of the Treasury." Since 1933, Franklin Roosevelt has twice tried, twice failed to draw the Comptroller General's teeth through Reorganization.

Unable to...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!