The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-12-17

fish are by this time satisfied that their old
theory about the revulsion-thst Il was a Wall
street affair got up by few bears with the aid
of the HERALD-is not precisely adequate to &C
count for the financial events of 4he year. We
hope they appreciate the value Of the journals,
published in and out Of this country, which
so perseveringly thrust this theory under their
notice. If the HERALD cannot only convulse
the entire trade Of the country, but overthrow
and cause the banks of England, France and the
United States to forfeit their charters and their
standing, it must be a wonderful institution.
The FIRST SIN OF THE Thirty FIFTH Con-
aREss.-The Congress which organized at Wash
ington few days ago has not commenced its
session with any very violent demonstration ofits
purity sagacity or economy. The master spirit
and originator of all the disgraceful schemes of
the former lobby-Mr. Matteson, of Oneida
who was driven from the House for his corrupt
practices, has taken his seat quietly and peace
ably among the virtuous statesmen who have
come fresh from the people to regulate the af-
fairs Of the nation. Another member of the
lobby, Mr.. A. S. S. Simonton, who is connected
with corrupt and obscure journal in this city,
who was kicked out of Washington by the last
Congress, has also taken his seat among the
elect of the third house, and commenced his
movements afresh. The first step of Congress
and the lobby combined was to give out the
printing job, which has become worse than ever
1t is the most unblushing piece of corruption
ever perpetrated by any body of men calling
themselves Congress and representatives of
an intelligent constituency.
According to all accounts the outside pres
sure upon Congress for the printing job was
greater this year than ever before. Whole regi-
ments of starving editors from the North and
the South, and the East and the West, and from
all points of the compass, came down upon
Washington, and lowered over the House of
Representatives like vultures over a dead
buffalo, fighting with each other for
grab at the corrupt carcass; for the
printing job has grown to be of magnificent
dimensions and the pickings are better than
ever. Not less than two millions of dollars
will be spent upon printing and binding by the
present Congress The struggle has been SO
warm between the hungry applicants that the
work will be somewhat extended-perhaps to
the amount of half million more. And for
what is all this money paid? We have already
given in the columns of this Journal some speci-
mems of the folly, the gross Encouragement
and criminal extravaganza which characterize
this branch of the public service. We find the
most miserable trash, in the shape of public
documents, accounts of exploring expeditions
&c, &C., put into type by the House printer.
We find some member of Congress moving for
the printing of an immense edition of a docu-
ment which may be valuable for record, but
which is utterly useless for general circulation
and all for no aim or purpose except to put
money in the pockets of the printer and the
lobby. For several years the Capitol has been
numbered with this stuff while hundreds of
thousands of public documents have found their
way to the grocers or bakers of the city to be
used for wrapping paper. A more impudent
wicked and attrocious piece of corruption than
this same printing job was never perpetrated by
any legislative body in the world The Post
Office Department suffers from it. The mails
are overloaded with public documents which
nobody reads, and which lie dead in the sub
Offices; and the chief cause Of the deficit in the
receipts of the department, compared with the
expenses, may be found in the cost of carrying
thousands Of pounds of this trash over thinly
settled parts Of the country where the offices
are few and the travel expensive.
The printing job is the parep, spring and
source from which the lobby draws its supplies,
and is enabled to flourish in such exnberance
From il arise all the extrayagent jobs which
are lobbied through Congress.
We do moi now aliude 10 those unhappy indi-
viduals--those pure and innocent country print
ers who have been so unfortunate as TO have
obtained the work from the hands of the pre-
sent Congress. We regard Messrs. Steedman
and Banks az babes in the woods; and we
have no doubt that they are innocent, pure,
pious, holy, harmless, honest, upright, gene
rous, liberal and, in fact, fit to enter into
the kingdom Of heaven without further exami-
nation. They are as white a. the little lambs
that have just come from the washing, being
seven times cleansed. 1t is for these innocent
paoeh' "ho' Wy 'heir eiection a. printers 10 the
House of Representatives. have been thrown
into the jaws of a remorseless lobby that we
plead. How shall they terminate their career
at Washington without being thrown into the
pit Of corruption? How shall they resist the
seductions that surround them how close
their ears to the song Of the syrens of the lob
by? II is in order 10 save these innocents from
the gulf which is yawning TO swallow them up
that we beg cntreat and pray Congress to raise
committee to thoroughly investigate the
whole subject of the public printing, and es-
pecially to consider and report upon the pro-
priety of abolishing the present system alto
gether, and creating a bureau in one of the
departments which shall have exclusive control
of the public printing, as the other bureaus
manage the affairs of the government in other