Lots of Little Bits

State governments work through such a bewildering variety of finance systems --mostly vintage masterpieces of political patchwork--that the U.S. Census Bureau needs about eleven months to reckon a firm figure for the actual money spent by all states in any given year. Last week Census popped up with its tally on spending by states for fiscal 1957: a record $21,084,666,000, up 12% in the same year that federal expenditures (including state-run federal-aid programs) climbed only 4%. Since fiscal 1946, when legislatures set to work on the backlogged needs for schools and roads, hundreds of little hikes in taxes and debts have let the 48 governments push up their total annual outlay 15 times as fast as the one big Government in Washington.

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