Gotta have arts

You gotta have arts, says a TV public service campaign. Contributions, ticket sales, and other private revenue continue to supply overwhelming support for the arts in America. But the Reagan administration sees the importance of federal encouragement, too - and it is budgeting more for government arts aid than it did when it first came in.

Many Americans remember the flowering of their arts with government aid during the depression. Today's recession has hit the arts along with so many other things. A little more government-sprinkled flowering is not amiss.