The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-06-24

ject thoroughly, and report thereon to the House
or Senate, as the case may be, upon which re-
ports Congress then act.
Now the Union is not ignorant that every
committee of the last House of Representatives,
save those on Accounts and Engraving, was
composed OF majority Of Democrats, and that
all the appropriations necessarily underwent the
scrutiny of these committees, and more espe-
cially of the Committee of Ways and Means,
at the head Of which was that well known,
cautious Democrat, General BAyLY. 1t is there
fore impossible for the Union to reach the Adj
ministration with the point of its spear without
first thrusting it through ts own friends, who
composed the majority of the several commit
tees, as well as the majority Of both branches
of Congress.
But we call upon the Union, since it has vol
unteered its services as the champion Of the
Pennsylvania Democratic Convention, and
backs up its charges, to point out the appropr-
atoms made upon the estimates Of the Execu-
tive which are unnecessary or needlessly large.
1t speaks of "Mr CoRwIN's enormous esti-
mates" let it point out their enormity; let it
put its finger upon the items that could have
been omitted without detriment to the public
service or TO the public faith.
But the central organ says that we forgot to
mention that NEARLY every branch of the Gov
| eminent, and even most of the bureaus, have
asked increased force and increased expendi-
ture." This only proves what we said, namely,
that it was the war made by Mr.. Polk upon
Mexico which rendered these appropriations
necessary. The enormous increase OF the
public business consequent upon this war is as
we'll known to the Union as to us; for an Illus
ration of this increase, refer it and all others
to the letter of the Third Auditor to the PREsI-
DENT, published in the Republic on the 18th
instant. If Democratic Congress had not
been well satisfied that additional force had be-
come necessary for the proper despatch of busi-
ness in the various bureaus, we are very sure it
would never have been granted to a Wing ad
ministraton, and in this opinion we have no
doubt the Union fully concurs.
The occasion has been seized to refer to the
Galphin claim by the Union, which is not igno-
rant that this claim was authorized and required
| to be paid by Congress, where its own political
friends were its principal advocates; and that the
principal was paid by PoLK's Secretary of the
Treasury, Mr.. WALKER, who left the question
| of interest an open one, to be decided by his
| successor. 1t is not our purpose either to ap-
prove or condemn the payment Of interest on
this claim; it was question of law upon which
the Attorney General, Mr.. JOHNSON, gave his
,,,b;c tt~ int
paid. In this opinion, it is proper for us to say,
Mr.. PoLK's First Comptroller, Mr.. McCUL-
Lob, sound lawyer and an honest man, fully
concurred. We have only now to add that, if
| this claim for interest was wrongfully paid,
upon the Unions friends rests the responsible
ity of preventing the question from under
going thorough judicial investigation, and
the money being refunded, il it should have
been decided that its payment was illegal.
In proof Of this we recall to tho recollec-
ton of the Union the fact that Mr.
CRAWFORD made proposition to Congress,
through Judge THOMPSON, of Pennsylvania,
chairman of the judiciary Committee of the
| House, that that body should authorize a suit
| to be instituted to recover back the money
which had been paid as INTEREST," that joint
resolution to this effect was passed by the
House, yeas lao, nays 20-all Democrats
which was laid on the table in the Senate by
yeas ri, nays 1916 of the n yeas being
Democrats, and 10 of the 25 nays being Wings.
| After this disposition Of the subject in the
| Senate by its own political friends, we should
hardly have expected the Union to be DESTROYS
to stir up the matter again. If its friends
shrink from judicial investigation of the le-
| gality of the payment Of this claim, we should
| think that silence in regard to it would be
most agreeable to them.