Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1841-11-26

the len months oil the year
20 S22,0G4, 53i
Receirts from the Isl of January TO the
4th Of March, lS4i, after deduc,ing
$500, 600 of Treasury notes not redeem
ed until after 4th Of March 3,l2a4u
Making the whole available means for
1a4l 25,7T07l
Was this enough for an economical administration OF
the Government for the year lS4, The late Secre-
,ary Of The Treas ry (Mr Woodbury. IN his iast an
nunl report, estimated the expenditures Tor i9fi
$50, 000, 000 The expenditures OF ioso' M"'." W.
oance were but 500 .S3 $50. With these facts oeiofe
u.s. was it not fair infer that S2o,11,o was enough
for the economical purposes OF those VINO 50 i'uu,
condemned what they represented 10 DC the
snbect we are not left either to conecturil estimates OF
10 the expenditures of the last year, for data from whch
10 draw our conclusions. Tine unbroken usage OF .he
Government for the last quarter OF century mas iuf
nished safe rule for our guidance. Du''ps 'na. PC
Rod the amount of new and permanent appropriations
has been regarded furnishing the rule Tor expehof
lures and in no year during that period have the e1
pendures for ordinary purposes exceeded tne amount
Of new and permanent appropriations more tnah one
millions and half Of dollars. They have much more
frequently fallen under than exceeded them What,
then allow me to inquire, was the amount OF new and
appropriations at The last session OF Con
aress. excluding the Post Office Department. 1t was
Sl9 o95 and, tested by this rule the expenditures
shopd not have exceeded S2l $4,000. But what does
the Secretary propose to expend? Should Congress
authorize at its present session the new appropriations
asked by the War Department, he proposes IN ten
months or from the 18th Of March, lS4, 10 the LIST OF
January 1892 to expend for all objects $26, 73l 1885,
which, after deducting the proposed new appropr,a
TONS exceeds the estimate ofexpendtures made by the
late Secretary of the Treasury exceeds the
amount Of new and permanent appropriations LOT ioa1'
81 400 9O5; and exceeds the expenditures Tor io4u,
Sl.s206i4 Sir, can parallel be found for this IN the
history Of the Government? Such parallel will be
sought for in vain.
But that there NAV be no escape for the late Admins
tration from the charge ofextravagance the secretary
has rome into an examination OF the receipts ana ex'
nen6i,nres from 1876 TO 1874 period OF twenty one
yearsand shows tina. the of revenue over the
expenditures was, the Isl of January, 1887, $751;
3lO0l4 which, he strongly nsnuates, has been wasted
ny the late Administration II cannot aii 10 stfike
eyery one who at all conversant with the history Of
the Government, that the periods designated in the
reoort for the and close of this state
ment have been judciously selected, in order to
swell the annual average surplus The year 1910 was
the year which succeeded that IN which our difficulties
with Great Britain were settled and followed as was
naturally to have been expected, by heavy impor,s
TONS And the year 1896 will be long remembe55due
period when, by bank expansions and a mosnsiness
extension Of credit almost every branch oor,.t;ons
was stimulated to excess, and caused our of $780,
in that year TO reach the enormous aS5 more thnn
9sO,O35, exceeding the imports off6o 0OD 600 Now.
$40 900 000 and those Of 1884 oy;,nrss he The Score
ifthe of revenue over eTy he would be forced
tary test OF natonai prosson's administration
to admit that General That had preceded it; for i,
more prosperous .nah 81, during his administration,
VIII De recoheeteain the short space of two years,
there was rece,ye public lands alone, than
rom tne saes ere taken from the Treasury OF the
0oo,ooo' ans $25000,o00 of surplus, and deposited
onnea 20 States. The Secretary, in making up this
WIN He Of what he treats debt finds IL very con-
10 adopt an Average of excess Of revenue over
,rulp howa yyhi ALL
lowed to judge from his report he will scarce regard
as either just fair when applied TO The expenditures
in different parts of the present year Sir, the people
of this country will long remember the celebrated panic
session of 1884, when in the other end of this build
ing there were regularly introduced what were called
distress memorials upon which delivered distress
speeches by the panic orators OF that body The Secre
tary was at that time member OF The Senate; and
was forciby struck with of his own highwrought
pictures of distress and of ruin. lament that have
not his speech memorable occasion before me,
that might do him justice by presenting to the COM
Inittec his views in his own language. In speak
ing Of the mal-adminisration and msdeeds OF those
then in power he said, in substance that your com.
merce would be swept from the ocean; your bays and
rivers be no longer whitencd By the of thou
sand sails; and that your beautiful lakes would become
one desert waste Of waters But now, when ne has
another object to accomplish, he "damn with faint
praise" that Administration which was poured, in
one unbroken torrent his and his parys bitterest
denunciatons.
The Secretary has, in his report treated this sub
ject to create very general impression that It IS
debt This deny Ifit be debt, to whom is il due:
will some gentleman be so oblgng to inform mel
And If debt, by whom has it been created? The
answer must be mainly by the votes OF majority OF
that party who now condemn it. Sir, ask If it was
not in fairness due the late Administration TO have
stated what here all know to be ,ruetha while the
expenditures were large they rendered necessa-
nv by extraordinary causes which had not existed for
a series of years BEFORE and not trust likely to
operate as drain upon the Treasury hereafter. In
confirmation Of this, you have only tn turn your aen
lion 10 the millions which have been expended in the
suppression of Indian hosttes and for the removal of
various Indian tribes beyond our territorial lirns,-I
with view, in the CASE TO protect our defenceless
inhabitants from the cruel barbares of a savage foe;
from the tomahawk and the scalping knife and in the
other restore peace and quiet large portion OF
people Of our country, who had right to claim pro-
lection the hands Of this Government And who is
there of any party that would not be willing to draw
the last dollar from the public Treasury If he could
such ertraragance, have saved but woman, one
child, from The butchery of the savnge' During the
late Administration there expended upon these OBJ
iects Sl37l437. The further Of Sc, 79o s26 has
been expended the purchase of land from the various
Indian tribes and in extingnlshing Indian titles within
the States thus putting in power TO get rid Of
hordes ofruthess savaees, and to receive in the rich
domain which has been acquired an ample equivalent |
The list Of expenditures, also, shows that the sum Of
352O624 was applied TO the erection OF durable lire
proof buildings LOT tue preservation o 'ne Puoc a'eh
ives, records, &C. Sir, since You and | have been
members Of this body have been walked up at dead
hours of the night from beds of rest by the alarm
of the FIRE bells, behold public buildings wrapped
in flames, and the morning has risen upon the
smoking ruins 1t has been principally TO replace
these buildings, and to provide custom houses in our
large commercial cities that this expenditure has been
rendered necessary Take then but these three items
Of extraordinary expenditure viz
Removal of Indians SS,795, S26
Purchase of land from Indians l37i4,3l7
Durable public buildings 352O,62a
S26 O3o, 767
which sum, if time would permit, mi ht easily be in.
creased 10 more than 5 900 for like purposes and
You have some of the objects to which the S3l 3lO0l4
of alleged debt have been applied.
shall next proceed to examine the third statement
ofthe Secretary by which he makes the aggregate Of
sdeb, and "defcit-mark the terms: not debt alone,
but "debt and "defeit-at the close of the present
AfEn nA ~ .t..All ill.,