The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1848-07-14

Isome six years minister to ST. Cloud at SO 900
per annum, being S54, 900, with an outfit Of
9 900 and an Unfit Of 4,5O0; making a total of
81, 500. The amount of extra charges during
his travels in Europe and to the Holy Land he
had not yet ascertained; he presumed they
were considerable. And to these sums his
per diem and Mileage as Senator from Michi-
gan, his pay as an officer during the late war
with Great Britain, and it would present an
aggregate ofbetween two and three hundred
thousand dollars Of the peoples money
Enough he thought to satisfy a reasonable
man; but it seemed not, he wants one hun
bred thousand more. of the private conduct
and character of Gen. Cass he would say moth
ing, but his official conduct was fair and le-
climate subject of discussion; and he would
not shrink from the discharge of his duty, be
the consequences what they may. II was to
the ex ira charges he wished to call the special
attention of his friends, and he would be glad
if they could furnish some satisfactory expla-
nation of these extraordinary charges, which
he feared they could not and would not.
He hoped the friends of Gen. Cass would
examine these matters and be able to give
some explanation of the subject. The people
of this country would expect it to be cleared
up some how or other, though he believed il
would be found that there were no vouches to
sustain these extra charges-not the oath of
single witness to establish their justice, but
they were left to depend mainly il not altogeth-
er on the statements of Gen. Cass himself, on
his own ipsc Dirt. But his hour was fast
wasting away and must hurry on.
There was another thing to which he de-
sired to refer. If he had the time he wonld
like to refer to the expenditures during the
i ant u,ov NTH Mavtrn Ia had
not the time to refer satisfactorily TO the waste
full expenditure of money. There had been
much Of it squandered amongst Presidential
partisans and fayorites; some rewarded with
high Offices, such as Pillow & Co., and others
with fat contracts. They had paid for the
hire of steamboats, alone 35l ,63I month, and
the sum Of lis, 900 had been paid for old and
worthless vessels. But he had not time to
refer 10 these matters i'm detail, which he had
before him; he might put them in his speech
should he ever write il out. But he must has
ten to advert to another thing, which would
show how the great economist Of this Admin
istration spent "the peoples money for the
peoples benefit His attention had been
Icalled to the fact that this Government had
been expe nding the peoples money for the
benefit of hundreds of their partisans and pets
for actually doing nothing; and in many Of the
custom-houses in the country at this time the
receipts were wholly inadequate to the pay
ment of the officers who were qurtered on The
public. Far instance, there were fifty custom
houses, of which he had made a list, that col
lected the sum Of "a ,125 n; 10 collect which
an expense was incurred of 36l ,075 36 over
and above the entire receipts OF the officers
a clear loss TO the Treasury of this amount 10
support the party; making, therefore, an expen-
diture Of 44 ,6Ol l6 paid to support custom
houses that paid not one cent into the Treasury.
There were twenty one custom-houses whose
aggregate receipts were S32 ,2lS 80, the whole
OF which. together with S270, $50 2S, was paid
TO set of idle officers ostensibly employed in
its collection, but actually,,doing little or moth
Ii ing; a gross sum, without any receipts TO meet
the expenditures, of 1902 ,497 81 thrown away
on iavoritesi There were likewise ten custom
houses which collected the sum OF 1867 10,
which cost the Government $50, 2i8 %, or
49,. 3Sl 81 over and above the whole receipts.
And that was using "the peoples money for
the peoples benefit" according to the Balt-
more resolutions, Oh, say they, you must take
care to spend the peoples money for the PEG :
Piles benefit, and here, as an example, was an
Expenditure of $50, PAS 80 TO collect S67 49,
If gentlemen had any doubt on this subject lac
had before HIM transcript from the official
statements, made out by an officer of this
House, which he would hand to the Reporter;
he had not time now to read it. Here is a por-
ton of the list:
Statement shoicing the gross amount of revenue
collected in the follOiciRg districts, and the
ercess Of expenditures beyond the duties re-
cciucd for the year lS45