THE FISCAL PROBLEM IN MISSOURI 
In Table 1 the net and gross expenditures of the Missouri 
state government are shown also in 1913 dollars, or dollars 
having a uniform purchasing power. Since the price level 
in 1913 was lower than in any later year, it follows that the 
net and gross totals for all years later than 1913 are smaller 
when shown in 1913 dollars than when dollars of current 
purchasing power are used. Thus, both net and gross ex- 
penditures for 1918 expressed in 1913 dollars were smaller 
than the corresponding totals for 1913, while in actual dollars 
the opposite is true. Gross expenditures in terms of 1913 
dollars were almost five times as large in 1925 as in 1913, 
while in 1928 they were more than four times as large. 
The reasons for the enlarged volume of expenditures in 
1923 and later years will be considered in detail in the section 
on functional distribution. The relatively low volume of 
expenditures in 1918 is explained largely by two factors not 
immediately apparent from the tabular presentation. In 
1918 production for war purposes was at its peak, and ‘the 
financial resources and manpower of the nation were being 
used unsparingly to accomplish a single end as quickly as 
possible. Consequently, governmental expenditures, par- 
ticularly for capital additions and replacements, were kept 
at an absolute minimum. Another factor that in part ac- 
counted for the relatively small amount of state expenditures 
in that year was the salary scale in the government service. 
Salaried employees are usually the last to receive the benefit 
of pay increases when the trend of the price level is definitely 
apward. The large majority of state employees are on a 
salary basis, and it seems likely that in 1918 the total of 
salaries paid by the state had not increased in proportion to 
the decline in the purchasing power of money. While this 
second factor is perhaps not so important as the first, it is of 
sufficient importance to deserve mention. 
Functional Distribution of State Expenditures 
The data presented in Table 2 show why state expendi- 
tures in recent years have been on a comparatively high 
level. The reasons for the variations in total expenditures 
will become readily apparent from analysis of these data. 
Since highway construction and maintenance absorbed a