Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1831-03-21

"" t'e'N WIN salary nf a thousand or lt
zen '"nofed dollars, or drives him from oL
nee' ana you are not even CO nsulted rs 10 III.
, prorrieiy of the measures nav. wan ,a,a,, IN
utter ignorance of the fact for the animal r,
port does not condescend 10 give Won sing /.
item ~ the whole mass of thsse di bur.ement,
In ADDITION To all this more then Ss3 ouo ar.
annually paid away under the head Of Incl
rental EXPENSE, at the will of this Chief of a
Department, aud there is not man IN this
moor VINO can state the number add substance
OF even the principal items which compose IL
All mat you know OF it's, that IN the report n
part OF the mighty expenditure nC nearly Two
millions OF dollars, which this Department, an-
""a''y iaV'shrs upon tweniy-sx Thousand OIL
ceis and agents, is stated 10 be >omposed OF In
e'd-n'al Expenses - SIR, is il possible tha, j,
can escape thinking it lect, how easy part
" 'hese 'mmshse snms might be pRil away 10
hfeiing agent tor an eleclioneering tour, IN =
der the presence Of public du,v 7 Is it--Iare
IL ne den'ed That there are secre, agents in the
employ men Of this Chief, whose compensation
dtita' ed out ot ihr public pulse, is regulate
by his sole control and whose services mr.
never made known 10 'he People or Their II. i.
pfesentetises here Yet In addition 10 a /
these expenditures, the Department draws an
nnally IRON the Treasury the sum of SOL ~
10 pay the salaries of certain officers and a.
gents, and what are called a. contingent ex-
penses' OF the department. makna the whole
actual annual disbursement Of 81 ,993, 993 o5 -
But to crown The climax, CengTessis now asked
tanh bill is before me which has actually
been reported for the purpose) 10 Increase the
pay OF the present officers 10 amount neyrr
known before, by more drafts on the Treasury
aud to authorize the present Postmaster General
10 create as many new cierksd he pieasts, each
with salary OF $500 per annum, TO be paid
not from the funds OF the Department, but from
the Treasury y l. IL not tight to inquire then
| tor what specific objects these expenditures have
been made, why the same labor which was
performed by the old officers cannot now be
done for tho same CONDENSATION. aud upon wha,
! principles the Departmen, has been regulated
IN constituting the recipients Of its bounty, OF
removing the osje0s Of its AVERSION
| II so happened, Sir, thai in tina course OF the
| tew remarks which Yesterday found II neces-
sary I submit, IN reply TO the gentleman from
Tenn .ssce, Who hn oduced this resolution aud
commenced this d"ba,e entered into some
| calculation oflhc state of the available funds
! oil this depart uni. did SO, as then distinctly
| stated with view TO explain the cause which
| has induced ibis investigatioo aud TO exhibit
| the necessity OF asceriaaiag thu truth or uniIuih
| ot what public ratnor md most confidently al
| leged-thai the drcleni,n OF the public treas
ure was owing 10 the removal OF so many ca
| perienced aud faithful ag+n's.
To this course, Sir, that unlinchng cham
|
tlemsn from N. Hampshire, has taken great
exception. lie chooses To assume that l. by
the mere statement of what appears on the Of
| hciai records. (for did nothing more hav-
charged the Department with corruption and
fraud. Ihat - result. SIR, to winch might
arrive by the aid at that evidence. which h
! honorable gentleman has refused to suifsr the
| Committee 70 hear would not PREJUDICE the
whole case, however. while rejected the iestl
mony, before il was heard. But II the
charge Of an exprn i,ure Unprecedented in the
annals of the Department necessary implies rs
he seems TO consider, a charge OF iIaui AID cor
rupilon, then, Sur, that charge is sustained by
evidence which twenty times his force nei-
ther suppress nor discred,t. The ofhcal report
| shows the amount Of expenditures for the last
year 90 be Ssl50.57I 80 more than was ever
expended 10 any previous year. 10 counter
act the .ct nf THIS single feet the ms,nber
from r. Hampshire boast, that tue receipts Of
the Department have exceeded those OF tho
! preceding year by the sum OF 100000 Now
| Sir, he who affects with such an air OF triumph,
| TO call my attention to " dates AID figures,
should he a little more careful IN reference to
them himself. The great dtihcnlty with this
sounding deciaraiion is Ina il Is not true. The
Postmaster Generals o"n report. in tie FIST ten
lines OF It, proves how miseraby the member
is mistaken. The receipts for the last year
were s S5O5SO 10. Those of the preceding
year were 81 ,707,4lS ~, and the difference IL
the receipts is y l43, I61 90. The receipts for
the year ending the LIST of July 1928 were : / =
59s, 877 %, a sum which is less than that for
1880, by S25l ,705 10. When the gentleman,
III the excess of his zeal to lavish eacomiums
on the Department, only doubled the reni ex-
cess Of revenue oil 1880 over that of 1929, and
supposed that he was thereby casting the pre-.
decessor OF Mr.. Bury IT, to the shade, We must in
charity suppose that he had foI often that the
real ratio OF increase OF revenue since the lat
ter came ioto office had ialen sho,t of that OF
former years. do not suppose, Sir that e
wilfuiiy stated = $4,000 to be $500 QUO. But,
| do suppose that some one had niurmed him
that the statement was correct. The fact is
the increase WAS 2 per cent, less than usual 10
a country where the Increase of POPULATION Is
as rapid as in ours, where the demand OF all
classes for inteI course through the msil Is con-
stant'y growing, The revenue for postage must,
and will il proper attention be bestowed upon
it, annually increase IN a corresponding ratio A.;
and Postmaster Genera, whose advocate can
rest his preten,ions to public confidence upon no
better evidence than that increase which mus
be Inevitable, ALL but slender cause Tor
his advocate ~ shout victory before the battle
is begun.
In come xion with ibis subject the Member
then proceeds 10 reply 10 my remark, tnat
from the statement OF the Pnstmaster General
hjmsrlf the Department is unable TO meet the
public demand for post routes, add that IL that
statement be true, unless sems change shoGld
occur in the admini.iI alton al its affair, it would
, soon reach the period oil ITS bankruptcy No"
Sir 10 subsrantlate my position. suffer me to re-
fer the Member 10 a lew passages III the only
two Of Mr.. Barrys communications To Con-
press hch cover the whole ground. In March
1880, he writes to the Committee on Post OH
= ces aud Post Roads Of the other House, as ap
pears 10y the printed repor, Of that COMMITTED
in vol 8 Of the reports OF the House OF Re-
preseniarives, No col, thai on the Isl day o.
AprlI, 1929 the available funds o the Depart
nent amounted To S25O,065, being the sun
which he thus admis NJ Mclean had left al
: oil LIE q xnen.rS of the nenar r. me M