The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1858-09-11
From the Washington Union.
Hon. Lyman Trumbull and the Pubic
Expenditures.

other, and no one, therefore, who has an
regard for the common welfare, will regre
TO see that acute sensibility which certain
politicians have tately exhibited in relation
to this matter for which in the past we hav'
no recorded evidence that they ever mani
tested any concern. We have always bsel
the advocates of holding to strict accoun
liability the executive as well as the legisla
tive departments, both in creating the nee
cessity for and the manner of expending tn
money Of the people-it is intimately con
nected with their liberties and will, soone
or later, according to the RIGHTEOUSNESS ant
corruption of men occupying position. affec
the very integrity and stability of their gov
erment Promising thus far as to the im
portance of this subject, it follows that thu
public are entitled to, and should receive
from those who represent them, FACTS anc
only FACTS, without suppression, free from
prevarication, unalloysd by distortion and
uninfuencsd by party prejudice.
| We haYe been led to these reflections by
| the perusa Of speech lately delivered by
| the Hon. Lym man Trumbull, one the sena-
tors from the state of Illinois, which duty
I compels us to pronounce the most disingen.
uous, dIsreputab!e, and. taking into consid-
| Grafton his position as Z. S. senator, the
most disgraceful that has eminated from any
I public man. We hear much every year
about the expenditures Of seyenty-eight or
even one hundred millions OF dollars, and
demagogues attempt to humbug and de-
ceive the people by throwing the RESPONSE
bilty OF the same upon the executive de-
partrnent Of the government. To this gen.
eral denunciation the answer is a plain one.
No executive is authorized TO spend enc
dollar that is not appropriated by congress.
But We are not disposed TO screen the exc
cutive to lay the whole blame upon the
legislative departments; each is in part ans
werable for any eXtrava CANT or wasteful ex-
penditure, according to the responsibility
assumed in recce mmending the appropria-
ton, or making it without such rscommen-
dation. The estimates generally sent to
, congress every year by the executive de-
partments Of the government are BASED
upon laws requiring them; the legislative,
the executive, and the judiciary, as well as
the governments in the territories and the
mnis and branches, are not subject to di.
muution without the sanction of congress.
50 il is mostly with the army and navy, as
vel as annuities to Indians and pensions TO
soldiers and their widows. They are fixed
by law, az d the pay in the one and the gra-
tuity in the other Is more or less as congress
always held it as cardinal principle in
their creed that the revenue Of the govern.
rnent should be reduced to an economical
administration Of the same. and for the last
, thirty years have been endeavoring to re-
du it. The only party in this country
that ever has made an effort TO relieve the
people OF some Of the burd,ns Of taxation
Is the democratic; while their opponents, no
matter what their name, have tenacicusly
clung to an increase Of taxation, and have
consequently, been the consistent advocates
Of lavish expenditures. No one knows bet
ter than NJ. Trumbull, for the short time he
has been IN the tenate, that all the opposi-
tion made iothe rastef1l and extrsyasant
appropriations which have characterized the
legislation Of the country for the few last
years has einanated from the democratic
tarty They have received little or no as
siStence from the opposition. We might
name individual members froUl both houses
OF congress who have done the country es-
seniiai scrsice in their exertions to stay this
tendency to extravaganza; they are IN all
cases, without q single exception, demo
Gratis.
But our Object in this srtice was TO com
pare the statements Of the Illinois senator
with the fact. as they appear ofrecord. The
sGialOE, ailSi GSaiIil5 III SUM- sietiSseH-
tations, particularizes the expenses Of coli
lecting the revenue as Subject for which
ne censureS the democratic party, and holds
them responsible for an increase in the
same lie institutes a comparison between
the expenditures under this branch when
Mr.. fillmore was president aud the last year
of General Pierces administration, and at
tempts TO ridicule certain localities by show
ing the disparity between the amount paid
for the service in collecting and the amount
actually collected.
For instance, he says at Wilmington, Del
eware, there was collected in 1857 s., ,o04,-
%, while, the expense of collecting was Sl5,-
s4S SO. He omitted to tell his constituent
cy that in 1852, the last year of Mr.. Fill
more's administration, at the same port
there was collected Si.4Sl 40. of which the
expence Of collecting was S2S,l3l 10; and
yet he held the document in his hand from
which he obtained the one fact, and from
which he might have obtained the other
Again, he says at Annapolis, Maryland,
there was collected in 1857 S374,25, and
the expense Of collecting was $3.50 40, and
yet he remembered to forget to inform his
constituency, to whom he was endeavoring
TO mpart the truth from the very same
dacument, that in 1852, there was collected
at Annapolis, the very same port 1928 60,
and the expenses paid for the same, 81
1913 so. Again at Ocracolke, in North Care
lima, So 80 vas collected in 1S57--expen-
ses $2,30l 81; and yet this very official re-
port Of the secretary Of the Treasury, which
he triumphantly held up, contained the in
formation, which Mr.. TrumbulI would not
communicate to his people, thatat this iden-
tcal port in the state OF North Carolina the
amount collected in 1852 was $43 p, and
the expenses S2,5l7 70; aud SO we might
convict him of-cSery case TO which he could
have referred. Every oneSacquanted with
the subject knows that many collection dis
tricts do rot pay expenses nor vast expec-
ted they would when they were created by
Congress. They are instituted to prevent
smuggling, and men cannot be expect d to
give their time and labor for such purposes
without being paid f r it. 1t could not have
been Mr.. Trumbull's want of sagacity that
prevented him from knowing it.
The senator is equally unfortunate when
| he assends fom particulars to the total ex-
pense of collecting the revenue He says
| that during Flmore's administration the
whole revenue was collected for much less
/ than it was during the administration OF
! Gen. Pierce This is the assertion of a SEN
ator who has reached one of the proudest
stations not only in this republic but we
might add, tho world, and yet the official
document be held in his hand, and from
which be attempted to instruct the people.
! contained the withering fact that the amt
of revenue collected in 1852 was $49. 65,-
93s 81, the expenses for collecting the same
SO, ,s65,423 2S. And the amount of rev.
enue in 1857, s64, III ,o34 O5, and expenses
for collecting the same, So, ,552, ,359 so.
Is any further evidence necessary to vim
dicate our charge that his speech was dis
ingenious, disreputable and disgraceful?
We have already made this article longer
thah We intended, but we cannot close it
without reminding the reader that this same