New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-01-31
FROM flashing TON.
THE sPAsM OF RE cRENCHHENT.

THE SPASM OF RE fRENCHHENT.
Cores oLc.nce Of The N. Y. Tneune
WASHINGTON, Jan. %, 1889.
CofgIess has bsd few sps-ms Of Tetrepchweat
pIDce the session begsn. But the! amount to
poibirg and will amou't 10 nothing. Mr.. Shelf
msns prop. siron 10 rrirr the Appropriation bills
designed t. suppl, toe ~aus IF The Sarlou, branches
Of The Government. Ia the several Committees
having charge Of those branches, was defeated
after many DAYS dtli5eratioo. IL Is very douofu
il ie uoulo have sccomp lishtd anything IN she way
OF r.c uciog the es imares or Expenditures in the
several q. apartments IL would have been quite ~
likely, aid I think more So to have created, on
the part of the several Con nitters risalrg OF ex-
travs,sDce Instead Of IN snul,tion Of economy.
TIE effort vas, however. Well meant. aud it was
defeated.
Fora few days, the House la. been trying its
hsnd on demonstration to W thhOd the appropri-
atoDs for the diplomatic service generally. 1t ass
already cot 70 far TO strise out the spP'0pria-
ton for the missions 10 Rome to Persia, and to
Switzerland. T,ls looks, on tie outside, like
,mal reform. But toe Vote amouats to nothing.
Authorizations ulll be made in the end, for every
To r,c,de then q COn(srence Committee will report
an appropriation bill just before the close OF Con
gress having IA il the pay OF The members, az Wen
as between fifty and one hundred other teUs which
have been specifically refused by one or the other
branch and the members viii be told there IS not
time to even read tie iems they are called on TO
vote for, and the bill will be ahmed through by
nnorit, bent on voting Heu oun pay, though IN
doing il they are delrauded of their right Of legs
lat on aud vote away millions for objects they dis.
approve and have already, time and again, declared
Themselves sgsinst. ThIs is what has been done
time and sgan.
Beside this stimulant TO such censurabe legisla-
ton they will be told that the appropriation bill
must be passed prepared By the Conference
Committee, or the President will call an extra
sion as soon as they adjourn. Ii the other cjnsid
Grafton is Insufficient, this one, under the new plan
of paying members by Tie gear, Will prove omnlp0-
tent; because they get nothing for being delay cd
10 review their work and repair their omissions as
they would have got under the Old system of being
paid by the day. Their. is thus less prospect now
then ever Of r. si,tii ConerenceC Committee legs.
l8tiop and Il is abuse that has alwsys been, thus
far, irresistible.
1t is almost useless to attempt retrenchment of
expenditure unless there Is iull cooperation be-
tween the xecutIse departments and buth branches
OF CouaIess. Especially Is II Impossible without
the cooperation OF tue Executive.
What chai ce there is for such cooperation ~iln
the plesept Executive may be easlly seen from
what has been done by il, and what has been pro-
lo.td. Ali know ehat an urgent effort was made
az the la.t salon 10 add 10 the standing army, by
ieeomm, ptetion of the War Department. eutailiag
a vast annual increased expense 10 sustain that
brsprh of the Government There is likewise
col stapt pressure from the Navy Department for
more appropriations tor that arm OF the service
The present Secretary says 10 bis annual report
that b. must have at last ten more war steamers
al once money or no money, and .hat II lae treas
ury was not 50 empty DC should insist upon much
mare numerous additions ~ the navy, AID DC pre-
s.nts ALI the aIguLents be can muster u snow his
great necessities
AGAIN. the Postmaster General, not to be behind
his colleagues. comes up with bis proposition Tor
large increased expenditures IN his department.
Gov. Aaron Vail Brown is not content with ex-
pendpg ever five millions per aDnpm over and
above the revenues of the General Post-Ohce es-
Enlistment. He proposes the establishment OF
several new steamship lines and asks to DC allowed
IA make various contracts for marine postal SER
ice IN the beet terms he can and without reference
Ia the law of Congress passed at The Last session,
which law limited the compensation under any new
contract for ocean mail service To theposages on the
nails so transported. Gov. Brown wshls d me
between New.iork and England, and another be-
Nv. ORLEANS md Bordeaux. He asks TO be al
. u
from Panama down along the Pacific side oi the
south American Continent, and strongly desires
another from San Francisco 10 China anu japan.
The admra BILE Judgment displayed by Gov. Brown IN
these Recommendations, may be measured oy inc
argument be adduces ID support oi the establish
merit Of the last named route he does not hesitate
to expose himself before all the world by repeating
the nonsense about Asia,ic commerce born OF
modern rnoon-struck theorists. He says IN terms
that II Is this trade which makes Great Britain
the 6rst commercial power Of modern times"
This Is the argument for the China and Japan line
Now the fact is that instead of the Asistic trade
possessing any such magnitude or quality as ne
sscribes 10 If, it is subordinate element OF british
commerce. The figures show that it might be
struck out of existence without seriously affecting
the maritime position of Great Britain.
Now, it is in these executive departments that 10
10 be found prolific source of extravaganza. 1t
is such men as are elevated 10 the heads Of the diff
iereDt branches Of the public service, on purely