The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-07-28
Government Expenditures.
SPE c n OF HON. N. ABBOTT,
OF MAINE,
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
FEBRUARY 81 1859

IN Iht HOUSE Ot REPRESENTATIVES,,
FEBRUARY Il, 1859
| The House being in Committee of the Whole
on the state of the Union
| Mr. ABBOTT said:
| Mr.. CHAIRMAN: 1t is time that the true char
acter of this Government should be understood
| by its constituent parts, and exhibited to the
| people of the country for their inspection. II
| is time that the Government should examine
itself, and place the report on the records of the
| country, so that it can be seen and read by all
| men. SelteXamlnatlon is as necessary to the
| purity and welfare of nations, as individuals
| and, like individuals, they never stand still.
| They either advance or retrograde. In power.
| in wealth, in morals, and in all the clements of
I greatness, they either go forward or back ards
| We.read on the pages of history from the com
i mencement of the world to the present time,
accounts of the rise and fall of empires-ther
progress and decline but no description of a
| stationary Government has yet been written.
Motion Of some kind is an immutabe law of
their being. The trainers of our free Govern
ment supposed it contained all the essential ele-
ments of progress. They risked their fortunes
and their lives to establish it. They held it up
to the world a model Government-worthy
| OF limitation, worthy to be adopted by all ma
tons; and so it is, if humanity is wise enough
and pure enough to live up to its principles.
Sir, let us now examine the moral and pot-
zeal condition of our country and see in what
direction it is drifting. During the brief period
of my connection with this body, the Govern
ment has been frequently charged with profit
gacy and corruption. Are these charges true
If they are, we have no surer evidence of
the decline of our Government; for prohigacy
and corruption invariably precede the downfall
OF republics. Now, as perfection is not an at
| tribute OF Governments, any more than of indi-
| vlduals, prohlgacy and corruption are relative
| terms. Hence, | know of no better way to de-
termne the truth or falsehood of these charges,
than to contrast the present with the past to
| compare the sentiments, opinions, and actions,
OF our present rulers, with the sentiments, opin-
| ions, and actions, of the rulers of our country
who have preceded them. Before the compari-
| son can be made, We must first ascertain who
our present rulers are. Well, sir, who are thew
| They are not the people for their vGic5 is not
needed. They are not the men who nominally
| stand at the head Of affairs for they are mere
| puppets, moved by those who stand behind
them. They the ultra men Of The South,
| holding extreme notions On the subject of
| Slavery, and wholly sectional in their feelings
and designs. These ultra men rule the Supreme
Court of the United States they rule the Con
gress OF the nation they rule the President in
the White House they rule the caucuses and
conventions of the Democratic party they rule
the Democratic party itself, in all its actions ::
and, through the Democratic party, they rule
the country. The National GOvernmeAt, and
every branch OF the National Government is as
fully and completely under the control of these
| few eytreme MEN nf the South as are the slaves
| on their plantations.
| am asked how this is done. Sir. will tell
you how 1t is done. 1t IS done by sectional or
ganization, and by sectional action. There are
fifteen slave States IN jhe Union. The few lead
ers in the cl:,e States manage 20 excite the
tears OF the people, by telling them frightful
stones concerning the wicked purposes Of the
Antl-Savery men of the free States and in
that way, they induce all The slave States to act
together as q unit All the delegates from the
slave States, IN Democratic National Conven-
tions act together. All the Democratic Sena-
tors and Representatives in Congress, from the
slave States, act together in their caucuses; and,
IN their caucuses, they outnumber the Demo
Gratis from the free States, two to one. In their
| caucuSes, all party measures are agreed g;.1n.
Hence, the Democrats from tkS ifee States,
beng IN a minority a,. entirely in the power
Of their Sopthprn dictatOrs. They, in reality
! haye no voice in the legislation of tn. country
aud they can have none, unless obey bolt FROM
caucus dictation; aNd that they dare not do,
because O! the severity of the penalties li,sp-
bedence TO caucus discipline u poi,,ical death
! death, without the heAe,t uf clergy death to
the culPri, and death 10 all his innocent friends
IN es6ca, he is read ont Of the party He is
hhelled by the Democratic papers at Washing
tom aud at home. His friends holding places
of profit, If he has any such, are sudG.,iy sc
moved, and TOOLS who vii. tosn ~ the howl
| against the poor Hinle,, a,o APPOINTED IN their
! stead. -ht..r .'e Tho means by which Il few
uI.ia Slavery prOpagandIsts of the South now
rule this country, prescribe its foreign ard H.
nestle policy, mould and direct its ,t.ssnrtions.
guide its destinies, plot its y,,l,
Having ascertai;,Jd precisely who the pres
ent rgG.,Gi.t " our Government are, let us see
/ whether or not they are guilty of prohigacy in
| the administration Of its affairs That We may
do these mon 40 Injustice, let us contrast the
aRasai expenditures of Buchanans Admins
| traIFon with the animal expenditures of former
ADMINISTRATIONS. During the first years of
| Washington's Administration, the costs of the
National Government were only |oTfy-eiqM
cents to each mhabltant. The populet;.., of
the country about four ,E,,,,,aniS, and the
whole expenditures ~ mo Government less
than two m.;.,,..,,,n dollars annually. The costs
! c.s l.e Government now exceed three dola,>. 90
each inhabitant-more than SIR times a. much
as they were in the days Of Warrington The
population OF the eoen.iy NON is about twenty
FIVE millioIs aI,a tae Government expenditures
| abQDs aRety million. dollars. If the Govern.
| ment was administered now as economically as
it was in 1870, $l3,000,0O0 annually would be
the extent of its expenditures and there wonld
be yearly saving 70 tAe people OF ST. ,OO0, 900,
and 4 SAYING 10 each head OF "a family Of over
ttqeittg dollars y year. In 1880 and 1881, when
General jackson was President of the United
states, the costs Of the Government Ny..opnted
annually to one dollar to each iphabttant. Now.
they amount to tn3ef dollars to each,
Then, the arTAAI expenditures We're only
$4,000. 0V0. and the population thirteen mil
hon; now, the expenditures are $4,000, 900
while the popWIa.,on IS less than thirty million
Bring THIS Government back to the economy
which characterized the Administration of
General jackson, and $60,000,0O0 would be
saved to the people annually; aud over fifteen
dollars would be saved aHaa9ty TO each head
of family in tbia eonntry, tseO dollars ia each
indiy;arat and t,oenty dollars Ia each man
hsying a wife and efgk; childsen,
Is there aRy excuse for this extravapant
waite u the public money, by the men now in
p0Ner2 DO the people receive any adequate
equivalent for this enormous tax sn their
pockets? Is the country bettey .alied now than
1T was during the administration of General
Jackson? A,e life, liberty, property, and the
passnit OF happiness, better secured now than
then2 No. And the men who now rule the
country, and rob the people of 500, 900 900 oi
their hard earnings annually, dare not assert that
they are. The money is not used for Govern
ment purposes, but for party purposes 1t goes
to Pro-Slayety partisans, in paymeat for partisan
labor preformed in the service of their leaders. /
Sir, know that the assertion made upon this |.