Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1858-09-03
From the Speech Of Senator Trunbull.
Reckless Extravaganza of the
Buchanan Administration.

AtSSAhhSSs ss<N - -
Buchanan Administration.
. The expenses Of the government, as you
have probably often heard. have Increased
enormously within few years. The
amount Of money n, the disposal OF govern
men, for this year is more than one hundred
millions Of dollars. THIS know has some
time, been disputed but | have here the
official statement made by the clerk OF the
IIouss Of Representatives, showing that
more than eigh,y.one million. were specih.
Gcally appropriated at the last session Of
Congress, aud there arc indefinite appropri-
a,ions to pay claims, the precise amount OF
which Is not yet known, which amount, at
tho lowest cstimats % three millions and n
half, making over eighty.four millions, and
there Is an uneIpcnded balance Of appropri.
ations made last year, amounting TO more
than sixteen millions. These SUN. alto
gcthcr make more than hundred millions
Of dollars at the disposal Of the admini',ra'
ton Tor the prcson, fiscal year. | know il
is said tha, It 1, unfair to charge all this to
this year that a surplus will remain a, the
end Of this year TO bc carried to the next
list; bat think IL is much more likely
that the adminbtration will come in with n
deficiency bill, and ask for some ten millions
more, as they did at the Las, Congress, than
that any surplus will remain. The eEpen.
-cs Of the government during the adminis,ra-
ton Of Con. Pierce were S23:, 500 ,G32.
Thi. is more than all the expenses Of the
government from 1900, when i, was organ.
ircd. for thirty years together, including the
war with Great Britain In lsl2. Gen.
Pierce expended more money during four
years Of peace than our government cSPcn.
ded Tor the frs, thirty years after twas or.
ginircd. In 1898, the expenditures Of the
government tor all purposes. exclusive ofthc
public debt. were sos, ,O32, $50 20. The
pro rata. according to the population Of
1892. was % cents on each individual. The
pro rata in 1857, wa. 81 9s per man-9i
cents TO 50 %, according to population.
Now these facts ought TO a,trac, tho a,-
teu,ion of the country but perhaps II !
were 10 state in detail some OF the wasteful-
ness Of this go,ernmen;-some Of the means
by which ,hc-c expenditures have been in.
erased, II would strike some mind, more
flrcibly. will call your attention 70 the
city ol Chicago. You havc.a Custom house
located there. In the fiscal year ending in
June, 1858, the last year OF flllmore's ad-
minl.,ration. there were collected at Chica-
go, Slli.sOS -. Six men were employed
20 collect it, and they were paid S2,sO2 IL.
That was little over two per cent. For
the year endin; June 80, 1856, there were
collected at Chicago Sl4j,G 10. Sixteen
men wcro employed in its collection, and
they wcrc paid Sli,3i9 - for doing it.
Now ask you, living right here as you do,
is there any reason Why it cost ten per cent,
the last fiscal year 10 cOllcc, the revenue a,
this port, and only two per cent, four years
ago. (Ycs, there ia rcason.) don't
know what it is. (rhe Democratic party
must bo sustained. Laughter and applause }
think that is the best reason. (Renowed
lAughter.) They must sustain the Office
holders. But Chicago is only a single case.
have tho Official report hear, and l will
state few other cases to show you how the
government eHpcnis money. There are some
points where .ho expenditures FOR collecting
the revenue are much worse than a, this
point. At Wilmington, Delaware, there
was collected in 1867, S2,00i,9j. How
many men do you suppose II took to collect
that amount? II took dgh Hel, and n,
eIpcaseofcOiieciins rrdi Slj,SiS 3S'-(laush'
ter). Gentlemen, you began entirely toe
soon. These Gre he j,fier sort Of cases. Al
Annapolis, Maryland, there was collected
the same year. S37i,2j. (ienewed laugh
ter.) How many men do you suppose IT
,ook to collect? II took four men, and hsy
rere paid for their &rrioei, S9SS IL. Al
Oeracokc, in North Carolina $50 jj wer,
collected in 1857. (LaughiCr.) II took
sspen men 10 do h.-(Laughter.) And an
economical government, under democratic
administration, priding itself on its economy
paid seven men to collect this Ss2 jj M
sun, OF s5,3Ol SO. (Laush,cr) AT Port
Oxford, Oregon reri,ory-uow, you would
expect something extravagant over there
there was collected Sj sj and il took twc
men to collect it, an they were paid fol col
lecting. S2,7O3 OS. (Grcat laughter. y
Can any Of you make he calculation Of he Pe'
osnfage hGt ras paid TO ooiiecihe s. So
J J,Lere II irds about .fpe hundred 10 one
Don't you think the government, ought tc
get rich9 At Monterey, California, th'
amount collected in 1857 was Si5 2s. Taro
mea ,scre employed 10 ooLiooi IL, szd pad Jo,
doing II 81 7,OjO9j At BgfIalo there wat
collected, in 1857, siO,liO53. There wer'
ten men employed in its coll. ctiOn, aud they
were paid Sl6,s9G 81.
Twill no, weary you by reading the re-
port further. 1t is the official report from
the Secretary Of tic Treasury. in answer to
- resolution Of the Senate calling upon hiu
to know how many employees ho bad at
the different Custom houses what he paiC
them how mach was collected, &C.. anC
here is the official report from every co'lec
tion district in the United States.
have singled out part OF them as ex
amplss. [. When can we have the report7'