Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1840-1842, 1842-04-23

.s.ns-.e..a.@na snSs~nA..nn.eel.
p1ssrishsd Treasury, and tauG descended ot lie
seending 10 zero IL IL from the friends Of such an
| Administration that teproaehss should come on the
subject Of economy And. after all this vast aud
prof gate expenditure Of money, where are the ma
tona monuments which they have left behind
theml IL has been sunk in the morasses OF Florida
OF worse than wasted by the transfer Of lndiin
tribes from side OF river to the other, and by
locating them in the immediate vicinity OF our iron
tier settlements creating the cause Tor new eNpen-
dttures Tor the defence OF our citizens thus endan
gercj. Where, ask again. are the monuments OF
I all this expenditure What has the nation got
| to show for ITS money! You expended thirty
hve millions year for four years; and yet II
was you who put down the Administration OF MIR
Adams for ITS eStravasanec, which expended but
thirteen millions ' Gcntcmen have disputed the
gross nmodnt, but speak from official papers.
| They have gone into aborious examination of the
account, and after all their winnowing aud sitting,
they have been compelled to confess TO an annual
| expenditure OF twenty eight millions. And yet
gentlemen who had the Government for years, after
| spending oil they could lay their hands on, and
! leaving us an empty Treasury, without any pro
vision whatever to repleuish il, come here and re
proach new Administration, not IN power n SIN
| gle year. for not having effected n general system
otretrenchmenti Gentlemen who. instead otfunds,
left us large debt, and who violate ali deeeney
and proprleiy IN nuntng us with loans, the neces-
! sliy Tor which they the real authors a.! say,
then, II the charge just and the papers proved
| II, still II would come with very Ill grace from
such quarter Retrenehment, Why did not the
Senator from New Hampshire and the Senator
from New York effect the rotrenohment Tor which
they now profess such patriotic solici;ude when one
was "a the head of the Treasury and the other at
| the head OF the Committee on Finance : What
were they dong all the while they held the eantrol
ot the whole hsca, means Of The Government The
Senator { on New Hampshire tells MS that he did
al last, wake NJ, Ia laugh aud wosverv dcsitous
OF otleeiinc ar-iotm in the year 1870 But let us
LOOK little into the circumstances under Shch the
honorable gentleman felt this sudden zeal for re-
foam. What were tbcy1 Tins whole lard, :scm
on end Oft Ia the other. WAS filled with general
cutlery against the was;eful cxtravasanCe OF HIS
Administration. Presidential election was a =.
rroaehins, moreover, and II was particularly
nportcnt that tair and moderate accounts should
I've made up tor the inspection Of the People.
Under all these powerful motives TO sc'ion,
what was accomplished 10y the united laJors ci
the Administration, backed they were by the
Senator iron New hampshire and The Senator from
New York lie tells u.s. with eNuauon. ihat lie
reduced the eNpcHdturs Of that year to so 5OO,
100. And how did he 10 III The fact wa sdvere
70 by my freud tom Mime, Mg EvaGs,l but he did
not call te attention OF the S~"ate 10 the different
avs 10y which j: was done. By letter f,om the
Secretary OF the Treasury, dated "a September
$50. AFTER the nnnusl appropriations had Ocen made
by Congress for the public service, II appears that
h. cause, rot ~ Congress, but 70 the Committee oi
Ways ami Means, and asked them TO postpone
enough ot what had been actually appropriated as
Indispensable Tor the service @; the ycir. to avoid
the Great OF Of deficit IN the Treasury. They had
eNponJci ali theiT maat cd End law he away
all the puslc money that ihsy could get into then
possession, and, sill apprehendLg dthcieu:y II
the pubc wants were provided Tor he comes and
hess tor temporary pNsp1nem-nt ut upwards OF
two Millions Of dollars: and the President was &C
eord'nsv authorized 10 rolt zone the expenditure oi
se2OoCOJ of Inc regular annual opprnpr atoms. 1,
- easy to sec how the 'NVe~diturcs wtr" reduc -:
Il was 10y The most extraordinary expcrcnt that
ever was resoF;ed to, aud such the records ct no
Ole Government On earth can shnw-an excellent
which rope W 40 never hc resnr,ed 20 asn,n. The
! SpproprnurC lower entrusted 20 g ngTess by the
Constitution had been regularly excited; he annual
| appropriations, IN conformity 20 estimates from tie
Executive Depatment, had been discussed and
! agreed upon, ard then, power new and unknown,
/ a diSpsHSing power. put INTO the HANDS 81 the
President 10 SET aside At hrs discretion the scun OF
the laws. Here Mr. Clay read from the acts OF
Ioiu the extraordinary authority vested IN the Pee
Sidcnt OF the United States 10 postpone large hpprC
pratons Just male for the military service and for
iorlIheatons, 1t the oXgencies of The Treasury re-
CURED IT. Thus Il is seen that the bcasted rcdnc-
ton OF the expenditure to twenty-five nEd half
millions was effected not by any rea retrcnchment
/ but bv postponement of objects of high national
! lmporisnce-a postpOnemen; which devolved on the
| new Administration the performance of public du
ties winch had been shameiuliy neglected by their
! predecessors. And this very burden, upon
the present Administration, Is the pre;ex. for
charge OF an extraordinary amount OF appropria-
| tons for the year 1871.
The colorado cause for The postponement, among
! other things, was assigned TO he an apprehension
that the United States Bank Of Pennsyvanis might
| not pay its debt TO Government but there had
been and was IN fact failure on the part Of that
Institution, 10 meet al her engagements TO Govern
meni, Tor, with all the sins that rest upon her
head, and Heaven knows there are enough OF them
she owes TINS Government nothing, unless Il be the
amount OF damages on the protested bills, which
claim Is still IN dispuel-yet the President is au
ihorzed to suspend al the appropriations for the
erection OF barracks, for the manufacture of arms
Tor me completion OF the Notifications, and for The
| purchase OF ordnance and military stores, What
! amount was actually postponed ] am not able 10
say but as the total amount Is stated 80 2OOO 600
suppose he went 10 the full eNtento his authority.
! ] hr WOODBURY.. The State banks have not paid
all they owe the Government TO hs day.
! MIR CLAY. Ay, and how much is It they owe
Mr. WOODBURY.. One hundred thousand dollars.
| 4 nughl
Mr. CLAY. All! The money appropriated was
not to be paid rl November or December, and so
the articles were selected which could est bear TO
/ be postponed. The amount OF ) I COO 900, which
should have been expended IN August, was post
! poned by tile Executive preroga've al. November,
| but the Administration knew that the serson would
then he so laie that the contracts could not and
would not be made.
IL comes after all TO this: that - 200. OcO nigh,
be postponed; that the u. s. Bank of Pennsv lvlna
I'D pay up all its debt and thst still the expend
ture OF the money PUT off 10 period 81 late az
rendered u certain that i. could not bc made use OF
! during that fiscal year. Ii the 81 COO 600 post
poned, he added 10 the Senator's estimate OF twenty
/ TWO and a half millions Of actual expenditure the
/ so much Wanted retrenchment Of the Senator and
! his Administration during the yeor 1910, when so
many powerful motives combined to make show
/ 70 the people OF decent regard TO frugali,y
/ brought the public expenditure down 10 only abont
twenty four millions, including the postponed ap.
I populations.
And what's the presen, complaint? That VIC.
VINO nave had hardly time 20 turn round, aud who
have every thing 10 repair and reform nave not ac-
tuaily brought the public expenditure down far be.
/ low the lowest year when they had the charge OF
/ the Government. Out Of power, they are the
greatest economists IN the world: none can vie with
| them m saving the money Of the People. In pow
! er, proiuse expenditure and whstefui eHtravngance
characterize their Administration. The loie Al
minis.raiion came IN AZ an economical reformins
retrenching Administrations md during lis Inst four
years, m the prosecution OF its schemes Of econo
| my and reform, II CARED the public expenditure
do1n only from thirteen 10 thirty m lllons per
annum Restore them TO power 10 morrow md
we should see revived the same exact conformity
OF preccp with practice. And now its friends. old
/ and new, come here and rsproach us because
whilst the work Of reformation has been connenc.
ed, and az this moment is in actual progress we
nave not suddenly, at one dash, reduced the public
/ cNdcnditure below twenty-five millions Is not
what Is proposed IN the series Of fesoutons less by
/ sH millions than the admitted, lucknow edged in.
! eoniesisble average amount OF their ownl f. IL
/ not less by two millions than what would have
been expended by that Administration IN is boosted
] o bf4f for he 4