Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1858-05-01
TIE DEFICIENCY BILL.
Sasech OF Hen, John LctcIler Of

! tae g,h<Se, on tie Deficiency BIZ;
On which general 6cbatc was closed Mr.. LErcf
rn, who reported the bill! being entitled to til
| foor to make closing speech
Mr. CHAIRMAN Il regret that til
! hour allowed to ne. under the rules Of til
. House, is not at all sufficient to enable N
to reply to various objections made to tn
provisions Of this .bill. | shall, therefore
, DC compelled, in great measure, to con
line nsyseiff to sonse Of the most prominen
features Of the bill, and to present m
views upon them, even if I should be dc
! MED the privilege ef devoting any time t
! others that reg@vsl as less material
[ feel, sir thar myself, and the cosanils
tee with whom act, are placed here in
very embarrassing position BY tho cours
adopted il this discussion. We have bee,
fired upon from our own side Of the Hons'
in soa.e half dozen speeches-some egains
all the provisions Of tie bill others agains
some particular provisions Of the bill, ant
others against other provisions Of the bill
but all seeming to concur in the conclusion
that unless the bill, in every provision, cal
be made exactly acceptable to each Of them
the government without the means of car
rJing out the policy which it has inaugura
ted
! Ny friend from Tennessee, [Mr. Jones,
who opened the discussion, occupies thu
ground Of general oppo~itio to the whole
of it. He takes the ground that deficiency
bills are improper ana that they ought not
to be allowed y and he and others, on the
same side Of the House, follow that up Will
the declaration that they are used by ar
almiai stration for no other purpose than t
secure the adoption Of its views, although
Congress might have been originally oppo-
sed to them. He opposes it, also on an
other ground: that it contains a provision
which anticipates So 600 900, in the way
Of expenditures for the coming twenty
months, to be applied to the prosecution q
the war 10 q tab; and be asks whether We
have not strained the constitution in intro
dacing such provision here? maintain,
ts'r. that we have not strained the constitu-
;ina !; that we have, neither in spirit nor in
Letter, violated any one Of its provisions
and that there arc overwhelming consider
atoms of propriety which operated on the
administration 10 making the recommends
| ton, and which ought 10 operate or this
IIouse in adopting It.
For the last two or three years there has
been general complaint il both Houses Of
/ Congress, and throughout the country, tina;
the late administration had not performed
It's duty in allowing the Territory Of Utah
70 be managed BY officials entertaining the
aboniuable sentiments and principles that
! characterize that people; and we have been
told over and over again that it was the du-
! ~ Of the administration to remove these Of
icials, and to substitute others in their
stead, to whom the administration Of this
territorial government should be committed
When this administration came Into power,
! these complaints were general everywhere
They came up from the country as they
had been previously made in Congress --
One Of its very first acts, after its naugu-
ration. was to consider this subject, and to
commission new officers, who should 90 to
Utah. and who were not liable to the same
objection which were charged upon those
holding official positions For the purpose
of cseorting these officers to the Territory,
aud with no view of commencing any ag-
gressian whatsoever upon that people, but
for the purpose Of having at hand the means
/ Of protecting them in entering upon the
! discharge Of their duties. the President ac-
! companied them BY military escort Of some
thing like eighteen hundred men.
/ This, sir, was not q matter which was
anticipated when the last administration
went out of power It was rot provided
for i'll those estimates. There were no re-
Communications for transportation, for sub
sistcnce, fer supplies, Or for any other ex-
pcnses which were incident to this move
mont npon the part Of this administration
These troops were sent to Utah, and they
had TO be furnished, as matter Of course.
| Now, sir. the administration desire, as these
troops are there. and as their policy has
been endorsed by this House in a resolution
which has been adopted By this body, that
they shall have the means Of supplying
these men aud they have recommended
that $4,000, Geo shall b appropriated in
advance for the purpose Of meeting the cx-
penses Of those troops.
| Now, sir, let us see il there was not wis
dom in that recommendation. Under the
last administration, by contract entered
into in February, 1857. the cost of trans
portation to Utah was $40 % Is per one
hundred pounds per one hundred miles. -
Under that administration, two million two
hundred and sixty-four thousand one hun
dred and thirteen pounds Of military sup
plies were transported at these rates. The
! people themselves, in that Territory, who
have been engaged il merchandising or
otherwise, have been put to cost of from
| fourteen to fifteen cents per pound for the
transportation Of supplies to that Territory
many Of which were transported By orga-
nizations, gotten up among themselves,
and, of course, the supplies could be car
ried for something less than supplies for
| the army can be transported.
Now, let us see at what rates supplies can
| be transported to Utah, to Fort Laramie,
and Fort Kearny:
| Mr. LETcHER here introduced table Of
prices, which we omit
Mr.. LOVEJOY. Will the gentleman
allow me to make statement right there?
Mr.. LETCIiER. cannot yield, I'M
| less the committee will extend my time -
If they will give me unlimited time, [ will
submit to any interruption FROM any gen
| tleman On the floor.
Ar TlEEIl1N I,ano ~, rontla