The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1842-02-08

| ordinary revenue falls short of the ordinary
wants of the Government, public attention is at
| once directed 10 the management Of the finances.
This may frequently detect abuses, and lead to
useful reforms. But does any man believe in
sincerity that the present state of the Treasury
arises from any INSTRUMENTATION OF the Elk
ecutive Department? Does not every one know
| that the revenue laws are inadequate to the sup
ply OF a sufficient revenue. What then are the
remedies2 Mr. Mangum says reduce all ex-
penses 33 per cent, and how does he propose
to accomplish that? Will he reduce the
present establishments Will he reduce
| the army and the navy-in the present
state too, of our national affairs, and our
foreign relations? Will he disband, or weak
en- the army, and leave the frontier States
to the Indian hordes of the West2 Will he re-
between this nation and neutrality-suspicious.
which go to our national independence-ques
tons which every man in the country knows TO
involve peace and ware Does not Mr.. Man
gum, in common with every Representative Of
the States OF the ea-board, acknowledge the
defenceless condition in which this country now
lies at the mercy Of England, or, of any Euro
pean power which can put fleet upon the wa
ter? Does he not acknowledge the absolute
necessity Of an enlarged and better organization
of the Navy? Does he not know that we have
neither ships, nor seamen, nor marines 2 Does
he not know what the Secretary Of the Navy
has reported to Congress-, that he cannot equip
n shin fnr FIR a INF nf rim Mr. Man
gum is not very wise man, nor very saga
cious statesman. But, from his place in public
life, he must know what every man in the coun-
| Try knows.
| If then Mr. Mangum knows these things if
he knows that the present establishments must
be increased, how does he propose to apply his
scheme Of economical reform Will he sim
ply and summarily, by bill, declare that the sal
aries and emofuments of all officers shall be re-
duced 33 per cent in the army, the navy, the
| civil list, and the diplomatic? and, if he means
to reduce the pay of officers in this way. does
he really propose to accomplish similar reduce
ton OF the other expenses of Government?
Will he build ships, and furnish ordnance and
munitions of war, and supply the army and ma
Wy on a similar rule of reduced expenditure
Every one knows that the ranks of the army can
not now be filled with voluntary enlistments or
would reduced pay, and a system of conscrip-
ton and impressment, be more suited to olr
forms of free Republican Government In an
swer to these inquiries we dare say Mr.. Man
gum would be compelled to confess that he had
never seriously examined the scheme which he
proposes that he has maured no details that
he has no knowledge of the result and real
working of such plan and that he has in
fact, no desire, TO be at all informed on the sub
ject. He knows, however, that his project is as
idle as his own motives in producing il were de-
ceptive and treacherous. He knows the exact
and rigorous methods of accountability of all the
| departments of the public expenditures. He
knows that all salaries Of permanent officers are
fixed by various laws, enacted deliberately and
lntelligently, and, in reference each to its spe-
cia object. He knows that, now deliberately
and integenty, to revise all these laws,
and to adjust the emoluments of Office to
the duties, abors, responsibility, and dignity
OF each, on any new, but still just system,
of compensation, would be a work of long,
minute, aborious investigation. He knows
how impossible it is for the legislature to make
this investigation. The alternative then, is to
declare, by bill, that all salaries shall be reduced
80 per cent-a preposterous scheme of hot and
lnconsderae reformation, of hurried repeal of
a long line of cautious legislation, which no
man of any understanding and at all expert
enced in public affairs, could for a moment ser-
ously entertain.
| But Mr.. Mangums real motives are easily I'M
masked. He finds it necessary to provide some
defence before the people of the factious oppo-
sition he has pursued to the measures of the
| Administration. He has been as prominent as
| his abilities permitted in resisting every mea-
sure ofrelief proposed on the part of the Admi-
nstraton, and which the condition of the Trea-
sury required. In seckingto embarrass the Admi-
nstraton, he has been reckless how much he
embarrassed the country-or how he violated
the public faith to the honest public creditor. For
these things. he must provide some apology to
the people. 1t is not to be expected that he will
find either arguments or eloquence to place his
defence upon very elevated grounds. But the
old and corrupt artifce might readily occur to
him. If charged with failing to provide for the
wants, he could retort against the Administra-
ton his charge of extravaganza and profuson
If he had not provided money, he had invented
scheme OF finance which enabled them to do
without it. These topics might at least fur
nish some election rants as good as the common
matter Of Mr. Mangum's public addresses.
MIR. Mangum declares that he proposes to be-
gin his retrenchment upon Congress-upon the
pay and mileage of members. This, we re-
f gard, as Enthusiastically pompous, vapourng