Rutland herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1823-1847, 1840-08-04

.danghiors. who had bccn made happy by good
Husbands. and that ihsy were all about being
/, FURNISHED with splendid outfits from the plier-
'nal mlnsion. This subject IS 50 well under
stood by the country. that, ! shall not longer
. lwell upon II. will. however, remark. that
il appears from tho vouchers last presented, as
lNell as from others now before me, that Mr..
4 abraham Van Buren,, one of the sons OF the
president. was frequently engaged in purchas-
1 no supplies OF furniture for the palace. Some
] articles of palace furniture have been procured
1 Trough Mr.. holland and others. but the prin-
3eipal agent, appointed by the President to take
4 -harpe over this branch of the public service
was I. l. Smith, Esq as the following "of-
}6cial vouchers will abundantly manifest.
Vouchers No. 80. in abstract No. |.
'To my expenses in making purchases for
the Presidents House, S262 62
Dec. IL, 1887. 1. IL. SMITH.
| will. in the next place, favor the commit
lee with some real curiosities. Sir, the far
jmers, mechanics, and laborers OF the country
Twill look a, the %''otficial vouchers" which !
shall next offer for your examination with a
far deeper interest than they would benold a
grand review" of Mr.. Van Buren's LIST regi-
nent of "bloodhnunds," now winning glory
and renown in the Florida service.
1 Here follows fifteen other bills, all duly
land officially signed and receipted. They
llre FOR articles like the following:
Knives and forks glass ware Of various
Kinds, repairing of bedding, kitchen utensils.
smalting, mattresses, brushes, shovels, tongs, 25
s~dollars Tor a todSting IRON, 10 dollars for a con-
s%rivance TO warm plates on, coffee pots, tea
spots, gimblets hammers, hand-saws &c. &c.
! III. ncurana,a Of tl,ga Ttnan b,lls a., ,u,
Hundred ninety-eight dollars sixty three cents
! Mr.. Chairman, these fifteen small bills which
II have Just read have been selected from sew
seral large bundles of others, because they
,afford a fair sample of the kind of expenses
THAT are daily incurred on account of the pal
face establishment
/ And | must be permitted TO say, that I can
mot see the propriety or the justice of the
president Of the United States in saddling the
Public with all the little disbursements of his
household, lie receives an annual salary
of twenty-five thousand dollars, in gold and
silver, which gives him $68,5O per day, or
1881 for each and every hour that passes
during the four years Of his presidential term;
If he enjoys himselff five hours a, a state din
,ner, he rises from his feast$l4,05 richer than
he sat down. II he sleep eight hours,
The is sure to get up from his state bed$22,4
better off than when he closed his eyes. Mel
,ther does the amount of his income depend
upon good crops, good seasons, good farming,
.or good prices. On the contrary, whilst it is
not diminished by any or all of these circum-
stances, which so vitality affect the income of
the farmer the Presidents salary is in fact
enhanced in value, in proportion as
the farmer, the mechanic, and the poor labor
.er suffer. j ask you, therefore, whether it is
just and equal for the President to charge
tie farmer, the mechanic, and the poor laborer
with the costs Of making his sheets, pillow
cases, and servants aprons, with the pitiful
price paid for hemming, yes, hemming his
kitchen rubbers, or dish-cloths, straining cloths
or straining rags ! The poor farmer has not
|only to purchase a churn, milk strainers, and
swimmers for his own family, but he is taxed
ito pay for a churn, milk strainers. and skim
liners for the President of the United States,
land for hemming his s~trainer rags into the
bargain.
The poor laborer, with his fifty cents a day,
Ihas not only to provide his own coffee pot
and pewter spoons, he is compelled TO pur-
chase a coffee-pot for the President, and pay
for the spoon used by the presidents servants.
Ay, sir, he is taxed for the cost of grinding
Iihe knives which the servants in the Presi-
dents kitchen use in eating their victuals.-
The President of the United States, in my
opinion, should have more pride of character
than to charge the People with the price of
plate warmers, his coasters, his market bas-
Ikets, his tart pans, and larding needles to stuff
ibis buildings and saucissons. Martin Van
Buren, must suppose, forsooth, that the far
mers, mechanics, and laborers of the United
States are SO very stupid, or SO very good-na-
|tured, that they will without a murmur, con-
Isent to be taxed with the price of liuuor stands.
and for silver and gold chains to hang labels
around the necks of his "foreign barrel shape
tiute decanters, with cone %stoppers," to APP
prize his sleek prim court guests that he has
introduced to the palace cellars "Marcobru-
ner Hook "Batailly Claret," flowers PORT
Romance Burgundy" "Ravini's pale gold
Sherry" and ''Red Seal, old, bottled f.. l..
Madeira"
| had thought that it was bad enough for the
Farmers, mechanics, and laborers Of the coun-
Fry to provide hay and pasturage for Mr.. Van
lBuren's race and carriage horses; to pay for
the manure on his potato. celery, cauliiower,
and asparagus beds; to pay the hire OF a Brit
Ilsh gardner to top.dress his strawberry vines,
3cultIvate his vegetables. and construct bou-
2quets for his palace saloons; but sir, TO hem
3hls dish rags, pay for his larding needles and
liquor stands is still worse. Aye sir, worse,
III possible, than filling the apartments in the
House ofthe American People with royal and
Imperial Wiltons, foreign cut wine coolers,
French bedsteads, and one hundred dollar ar
official flowers. 1t is worse, sir, because there
lis a degree of littleness in the thing which
demonstrates as clearly as if it were written
pm characters of living light, that the soul Of
Martin Van Buren, is so very, very diminutive
5ihat il might find abundant space within the