Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1858-07-10

| PUBLIC EXPENDITURES.
Speech Of MIR. Letcher, Of Virginia
IN reply to Vt. Sherman, Of Ohio deliu
| ed IN the House Of Representatives,
June IL, 1853
(coNcLuDEp.
The gentleman, then, charges that th,
] expenditures now are extravagant beyon,
all precedent, and that they are wholly in
excusable upon any fair ground. Befor,
proceeding to reply to the views which HI
presents in this part Of his argument, | de
sire to call attention TO some historical fact
that are important in this connection, ant
which are indispensable to correct judg
ment upon the issues he has rendered.
/ Ard, first; as To the number Of State;
and organized territories; and their area, il
1915; and the number Of States and Terri
tories, and their area, in 1858: At thu
former tcriod we had eighteen States, GOV
erihg an area Of 5O4, 4l1 square miles, anc
FIVE organized Territories, Exclusive Of tht
District of Columbia, J covering an area O
254 ,452 square miles. In 1858 we have
thlrty-two States, covering an area Of l ),
6O2, 600 square miles, six organized Terri
tories, Exclusive Of the District Of Colum.
bia. J covering an area Of ,401 900 square
miles. Besides this, we have the Mesilla
Valley, embracing $4,000 square miles,
and the Indian Territory. embracing 1877,
600 square miles. In 1915, therefore, the
States and Territories covered 75S, 1854 So.
miles, while in 1858 they cover 3,263, QO0
So. miles, an area four times and one-third
larger now than in 1915.
In 1915 the strength of our army was
10, 0e0 men, while in 1858 its strength is
II 1884 men.
In 1915 the navy comprised 968 officers,
Of all grades, (including marines In 1858
the officers had increased to 1886 In 1915
the number of men cannot be ascertained
but, from the best evidence that can be OBJ
tained the number was about $3.50. Now
the number is $500. In 1916 we had 50
vessels, carrying l., ll9 guns; 25 vessels
with no armament 4 bombs, and II gun
boats-lnaking 90. In 1853 we have 10
sLips-of-the-line, carrying 872 guns 10
frigates, carrying 500 guns Fl sloops-of-
war, carrying 1875 guns ; 3 briggs, carrying
16 guns; | schooner, carrying 3 guns 5
screw steamers Of the first class, carrying
268 guns; Of the second class, carrying
80 guns 2 of the third class, carrying II
guns; 8 side-wheel steamers Of the first
class, carrying "a guns ! Of the second
class, carrying 6 guns ? of the third class,
carrying 8 guns making a total Of 1921
guns. Besides these there are two tenders
tor the screw steamert, and one tender for
the side-wheef steamers, and FIVE perma-
nent store and receiving ships.
Capt. Wright, of the Engineer Depart
ment, to whom applied for information on
the subject Of Notifications, says !:
Il am not aware Of any records in this
Office giving the number of Notifications in
the United States in 1875, end believe it
would be q work Of nsuch labor and time to
ascertain with certainty what tie number
vas. Many of the works bearing the name
Of forts were merely 2nprovised field works
or batteries while others, Else those on
Staten fsland for the defence Of el1e entrance
to the harbor Of New York, were State
works"
As to the number Of f:ftifca4icns in 1853,
Capt. Wright says:
There are at the present tisse under tia
charge Of the Engineer hhparsmest 56Tdis-
tinct permanent works Of Notifications on
the Atlantic Gulf, aud PaciGc coasts, and
on the northern lake frontier, which are Ell
Their completed or i'll the course Of construc-
tio-f ia addition to these, appropriations
were made at the last regular session of
Congress for ten additional works, ON which
little or nothing has been done toward the
commencement.
The number of light Houses and light
vessels prior to 1915 wasr 40: In 1858
lights Of all kinds, including beacon lights
and light vessels, existing and authorized
to be built, number 602 About 33 have
not been finished, but are in the course Of
construction
In 1915 we had 50 collectors Of the rev
enue, and n surveyors, and in 1921 we
had OBI inferior officers in the revenue SER
vice. In 1858 the number of collectors is
116, and the numbsr of surveyors 10,
making 225. The number of inferior off,
GERS employed in the collection Of the reve-
nue. is 3,0S3.
The number Of land Offices in. 1915 was
10 The number in 1858 is Sc.
The expenditure for the Indian- service in
1875 amounted to Silt, ESQ The same
service now redu;fsg an'e2penditure of 3d.
f53, 430 49,
In 1915 the nulnber Of pensioners was
estimated at f,400, and the amount paid to
them was sos, 900 At this time the num-
Der has increased to 13, 1876, and 81 1865,
III 81 is now required for their payment
These facts, tits presented, clearly show
the condition and extent of our territory,
the larger portion Of which has been acqui-
red since 1915, the period at which the
gentleman sums up the annual expendi-
lures on the third page Of his speech. -
Since that time we have acquired the Flor
idas, Texas, New Mexico and California,
and the Gadsden purchase. Under these
circumstances, no fair or just comparison in
regard to the expenditures can be institut-
ed between the years 1875 and 1858. It
would be about as fair and wise 70 institute
a comparison between the expenditures Of a
child, and those of the full grown man.
The gentleman is recognized leader
Of his party, and to this position he is fairly
entitled by his Intelligence and character.
He was a member Of the last Congress,
and / desire, as he is now preaching econ
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