Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1836-05-12
thursday, May -. 1896.
SURPLUS REVENUE.


"a, money as both the lever and,he lulcrum by
.h,,b the world is moved. And hence it is not
..nr;s;oq that the patty which has obtained pos
lion Of the keys of the Treasury, are su.reluc-
..a, not only to surrender them, but even TO un-
,,.t the door that their opponents ma, look in and
=, whether tic public funds are safely deposited
:. rs VAULTS or whether they are lost, or in dancer
'th.;nr lost, by the fai,hlcssncss of the public
stewards.
This was not 50 formerly. When the ms were
:. Ovi,. never was there such clamor heard,
IN tho tower of Babel fell and its builders were
.,,qercd TO the four corners of the earth as was
,oo, an BY them about the " dear peoples mo-
,., 3" and the prollgacy of the party in power in
wandering it upon useless and fat-Salarcd Off
GERS. Committees of Retrcnchment were raised.
nLo went to work, with probe and scarfcator-
and il is wonderful to remember how many abuses
they discovered, which they promised, if the peo-
ri. would only place them in power, to rcctfy-
how many useless Clerks, who, if they were Prcsi-
dents, Secretaries, TT cetera should be dismissed
how many monsrous salaries should be cut down
how many lavish expenditures should be cur
failed Indeed, one would have thought that they
had been studying political economy, in its minor
details, all their lives, for no other purpose under
Heaven but to serve the public as distributors of
their funds. Well; the people, good easy souls,
ever ready TO credit the patriotic professions of
those disntcrestcd gentry who seek no other re-
4 e., Il I'll.
but the smiles of lhcir constituents, (Which, being
means a reelection y trusted these
penurlous gentlemen-overhrcw the Adams adj
elected jackson and his friends
nessee," followed by the most dense crowd of vul-
lures that ever locked to- feast of carrion, in due
time posted 10 the Metropolis, and there, in the
Capitol of the Republic, solcmnly pledged himself
10 carry out the principles Of " Reform and Re-
tnChmem," the necessity of which had been
so loudly and increasingly proclaimed by his
friends. And now, what do we behold Instead
of reduction of salaries, or diminuton of Off
GERS, or curtamcnt of expenditures, all have
been augmented and increased, to an amount,
which, were the people not blinded by party pre-
iudice, would arouse within them Just sense of
Indignation against the hypocrilica crew who
have not only fasifed their pledges, but who bold.
" proclaim their delinqnenccs from the house
tops, and call upon their constituents to sustain
them in the most palpable fraud that ever was
practised upon conliding people
Look at single fact: During the Adams ad-
mnistration, the average expenditures, exclusive
ofthe sum appropriated for the gradual extinction
ofthe public debit were less than SIS 600, 600 per
Globe, asa reason why Mr.. Clay's Distributve Bill
should not pass that the public service of the year
will require TWENTY-EIGHT MILLIONS
Of DOLLARS, certainly, and several millions,
more, probably, being double the sum required by
Mr.. Adams during the most profigate year ofhs
Is it possible that the people can
sleep over fact like this, or longer confde in
men who have thus demonstrated either their in
capacity to "refornl" the monstrous abuses which
they charged upon the preceding administrations or
their wiiu trcachery to the most solemn and re-
iterated pledges
Tie administration leaders in and out of Con-
sress assert, on this view of the exravagant appro-
orlations called for by the Executive. that there
VII be NO SURPLUS in the Treasury What
lhlG Secretary of the Treasury has recently ad
mttel that there is now in hand upwards of S3l,
ooo,ooO-Letus us, then, give them twenty chit mil
hons for this years expenditure, even the entire
amount-and mhdt becomes of the rcccnuc for the
present gear? Will not that, in all probability, a
mount to sum as large was received last year
and ltso will it not constitute surplus to that cx-
tent +! Or does the administration expectto con-
sumo the entire sixty millions, in their ncw-fangled
schemes of buying rights in rail roads, building
useless SHIPS and erecting worse than useless forth
nca'ons, with corresponding increase in the
number OF our seamen and soldiers, to operate as
ara'n upon the treasury in all time to come
No SURPLUS indeed Would that it were so
ou' there Is surplus, and nothing can prevent It's
's prot''gae expenditure upon the crude andyicons
conceptions of Benton and Grnndy, or its loss,
consequent upon being coniidcd othe management
'"a care OF unprincipled men as Whitney, and
such precarious institutions as the Pet Banks of
which ne is the organ and agent. But we do not
wonder that the administration party contend that
''efc will be "no w,plus"-They do so to hull
'e apprehcnsons Of the pcople-to prevent Inqnl-
y-lo check investigation. If there be no sur
F'us' there can be no need Of bill for distributing