American Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1855-1860, 1858-06-24


Treassry2 Sir. large portion Of chs sp-
propriatioas annuslly made depend simply
upon your will; and il yeu cut OF the sup
ply, the expendiiur, viii cease without
impsidng siDgls provision Of the law. :.
TIE EEToRN NCsT DE By THE HOUSE.
Sir. retrencbment aud reform are now
matters Of imperative necessity. II is not
The mere cry Of demagognes, but prob
lem demanding the attention and worthy
the highest stiIily oftbs representatives. Of
the people. No party il ft to govern this
country. which cannot sOlye it. Il is in
vain t. 'ok to executive officers for re-
form. Their power aud influence depend
upon executive patronage; and while we
grant they will seuander. The Senale is
neither By the theory Of our system, nor
~ its compo iton. fitted for tie task
This House alone has the constitute Ual
power to perfect radical reform. The
Constitution provides that no money shall
be drawn from the Trsasory but IL conse-
quence Of approp ialionS made by law. and
| that all bills for rsising revenue shall orig
mate in tie Hou Of Representatives
These provisions were designed to invest in
hi, House lie entire contIol over tie pub
io purse--the power Of supply; this in
vested in Tie House OF Commons, and has
been jeslously guarded by it, 1t is the
pearl beyon1 pnce, without which cOn,ti-
tutional liberty in England would ]ong
since have fallen under the despotism Of
the Crowa.
A. re u TT f-
By the exercise Of is power wa may
hold the Ex cutive and the S nate in check.
But instead Of using it. this House has, by
slow degrees, allowed the other depart
menis Of The Government to evade and
virtually overthrow its constitutional paw
er. 1bis change may be britfly iliustTa.
ted. The theory Of our Government is,
that specific sum shall be APPROPRIATED
d by LAW originating iH this HJusa, for q
specific purpose. and within fs, al year.
Ii is the duty of the Executive to use that
sum, and no more, expressly Tor that pur-
i, pose, and 10 o.Ler. and within The lime
fixed. Such is ihe theory; but what is the
t practice? Under section Of a Law. passed
. in August, 1912. wlich was designed on
r " for that bill and for that year. the De
Y partments assume the power to transfer
I the appropriations made for one purpose. tc
o any otker pufp;se in the same Departmen
thus defeating all checks. Without law
r they use money appropriated specifically
for the service OF one fiscal year, TO ray To-
d the service Of another fiscal year. A mark
ed example OF this occurred recently. Th'
!. present Secretary of the Treasury tool
money appropriated in March. 1855. o
is the expenses OF the Territorial Lepi>la'ur'
:. OF Kansas for the year ending June 80
1856, and in the face of refusal by Con
of gress to appropriate IN oney 10 support til
:. bogus usurpiny Legislative Assembly 70
r. the year ending Juae 90, 1857, took til
nj balance Of lhe old appropriation, and ap
le piled it to int purpose. .t-
vi Another abuse by tho Executive Depart
le menls is, in their habit of making con
!, tracts in advance of appropriations. The
! make contracts without law, and corpC
II US to sanction them or violate the publ
to faith. viii give common instance =
he An appropriation of SioO.0oo ia made
d, construct custom house the Departmel
IS instead OF contracting for custom hou
ly Of that cost, make contracts for the col
a. struction of one costing two or three mi
ri> lions. In this way, the power Of the Hou
n las been absolutely overrulsd. And who
en- they come here and ask for money 10 csri
as on the work. YOU vote the money, to sa'
l. from entire loss the sum slrcady expend,
s. and because the contracts have been mad
y Now, sir, say that every contract whiC
1t, looks to the expenditure of one dollar mo
o. than has been appropriated. is utterly nj
n and void. Take for instance. the custon
Ist house at New Orleans. In l848 C"ngre
or appropriated 800 900 for the conslru
ne ton of custom house in that city, upC
that condition that the city should dona
ry 10 the Government a lot Of ground for tn
ia purpose, and make out clear and valid
u tie. Well, sir, the 100000 appropriate
We was all expended in the sinking of Il
,e, foundation of building Of untold magni
ut icence. never contemplated by those wi
lat made the appropriation. The Departme
again came 10 Congress for ant ther q
nd preparation, and Congress has gone on m
an king appropriations until 80 675 255 ha
ed been expended; and the R-presentati
,s. from New Orleans is now demanding mo
ID. money TO complete her custom'ho
ch Forthe city Of Charleston. South Car
us lima, in 1848. IN appropriation Of S3t
Dg 600 was made. as a sort of rider to
Ky appropriation for a scustom. house at Sava
Tn. ah. Well, sire upon the basis ofthat S3
ed 900 the Government has gore on with
ice plans, and has already expended 81. .7o'
b. 600. do not know how much more "
beneeded to complete the building; !
ir- the Representative from the Charlest
1s, district told us the other dav that valuat
'u- ornaments OF stone were lying about, a
to further appropriations were needed, eitl
at, TO complete the building or ptotectthe n
OIL teriais from DESTINATION. In this way I
We Executive is gradually sapplng the fcuu
in ations of the Government and destroyi
lg- the constitutional power Of the House,
,us1 Instead ofa representative Republic,
ed are degeneraliug into bureaucracy, gc
nd erned by red tape and subaltern clerks.
he W hile the powers Of the House are in,
ow deo, the Executive takes care to exter
ers by construction. his just powers. OF Il
aw We have an example in the Utah war,
or What power has the President, yithc
the the c,nsent Of Congress, to order the arr