New-York daily tribune., 1859-02-11

aaiaaf
o,o,,csI men and everybody praises lavish men.
m neonle are a. distance, and they are very
hio.s body Save millions for them and who
Lo... and who applauds the act 2 who feels the
ricSsr for itf Spend wastefuly, unnecessarily,
millions Of the peoples money, and who knows
that. among the distant busy multitudes OF that
same nebuous mass! But this spending makes
fortunes and it makes friends, and it creates COM
bipstioDs, and combinations create circuinstances'
and circumstances combine to sustain ana advance
the fortunes Of the spendthriits.
There is not en- atom Of the true spirit ~ re-
trencbment or economy in any branch ef tnis UoV-
ernment to-day Not an atom. mean as an
organized mass showing its qualities In It's organ
ism. do not mean 10 say there are no honest,
economical. praisewortby legislators because
there are such. But that they are the exceptional
men. il il of no use 10 deny. ANY sincere, public
!, desire to retrench the nitlOna expenditure, and
inaugurate an era Of economy, must show Itself n
layipc the az at the root of the treein dismissng
the authors Of the present state Of things from the
national councils in all departments aud substtut-
ips a different class Of men, or st least class OF
men especially chosen to institute thorough aud
radical reform.
But IL the thing has not gone far enough for this;
il the good -natured, and SO long as money can be
easily borrowed, the uDOppressed masses, allow
themselves to be hoodwinked by the hollow demon
strations in regard 10 the extravaganza OF the Cos
eminent now hypOcfIlchlIy appearing ou 'h hlucS'
then there will be no retrencbmeDt and no reform,
but things will continue to 90 as they have been
Going on; expenditure viii follow expenditure,
extrayagance be heaped upon extravaganza, IN the
future as in the past until the pile can stand no
longer and shall tumble in a general ruin, not only
burying the guilty but the innocent in its fall.
1t is TO be hoped however, that the country is
sufficiently enlightened as 10 the true state OF
things aud sufficiently animated with purpose OF
reform to begin the necessary work, and prosecute
ii to vigorous termination.
AS an illustration of what mean in regard to
the temper Of Congress touching honesty and
economy Of expenditure, i need only refer to the
late vote given by the House on the great Pension
bill. That body rushed with indecent haste 10 add
ten millions a year to the current expenses OF the
Government under no exgtncy Of the public ser
vice, under no demand that could not have been
easily and appropriately deferred to a more appro-
pirate time. 1t recklessly plunged upon 1t at
mere suggestion of vague personal consequences,
that every manly spirit would instnctiyey repel.
IL it had been Congress elected upon an idea OF
economy, of retrenchmeIt 1T would not have dared
to abdicate its duties and fly in the face of
its own convictions and the public interests
in the manner it did Aud this one instance
is as good to illustrate my meaning and my
statements, as the many it were easy to find.
To illustrate the same thing in the Executive
branch will take single transaction IN the Post
Office Department which VIII stand for many of
the same sort in that well as in the other depart
ments.
Congress, at the last session, struck a blow at
ocean steam mail transportation, by passing law
confinng the compensation to the receipts on such
lines. But another equally important branch OF
the service is left unrestralned by law. This is the
California service. Observe this and see an exam
pie of Erecutire economy and discretion
There was, when this Administration came into
power, q regular mail line to California, via Aspin
wall. For this service the enormous sum OF
serem hundred and fifty thousand dollars was paid
annually, Of which not more than third part was
returned in postsges. This would seem to be a
toerably fair allowance, out of the public treas
ury, TO be paid on any one mail route. But the
Iast Congress undertook the extrallberal Office OF
sending semi-weekly mail over land to Caliornis
at the additional cost of sir hundyed thousand dol
lars per annum, getting almost nothing IN return
BY way Of postages. In these two lines was
over a million and third of dollars expended
for mail service to California and not one dollar IN
four ever returned by way of pOstsgcs. Things
were lust thus when Gov. Brown OF Tennessee, the
present Postmaster General, deliberately entered
into vet another contract to carry third mai 10
California. He made fresh bargain last year TO
send mail from New Orleans to Acapulco, and
thence TO San Francisco, via the Tehuantepec
route for which he pays te0 hundred and my thou
sand dollars per annum. We are paying, there
fore at this moment, ont of the Treasury
for Transporting the mails to and from
California direct, the enormous sum OF
one million fire hundred and eighty-eigh thousand
;ro hundred and .ffy dollars, for which the Gov
eminent receive back IN the way OF pOstages, IRON
a quarter to third of million dollars. Now, can
any Government, any department OF any Gov
ernment, go ON for any length OF time on scale OF
expenditure like that, running through It's civil aud
military service Yet the Postmaster-Gencral de-
iiberately added the last quarter of million that
goes to make up the vast aggregate in virtue OF his
discntion as an Executive officer
This may be taken as a sample of the Executive
action in this Government, by which, with other
causes, cur national expenditures have been swol-
len to over $50, ,0O0,0 900 per annum. II Is the way
in which, 10 great extent the expenditures OF the
POST Office Department have gone on TIL they eA-
ceed fire miiiiOns of dollars over lis revenues.
Ii is the E1ecutire Government, then, repeat,
that must be reached and corrected, before any
real progress can BE- made in rereuching the enor-
nous expenditures of the Federal Government.
1t is we'll enough perhaps, TO drill away on the
details Of the Appropriation bill, as the House of
Representatives is now dOisg cutting off shaving
here and shaving there, if you please, but the
whole thing becomes ludicrous in view ofthc fact
that this same House, by an immense majority, at
an early period of the session, made hot haste to
pass bill to take ten millions year out oi the
Treasury, without stopping hardly TO offer reason
for it,
The machinery by which our expenses are to be
reduced is hardly vet conceiyed-iar from being
conceived, and most certainly not wheel oi 1t In
MOTION The piddling measures of Congress
pretending 10 look toward this result mean
nothing and are not designed for any thing but to
throw dust in the eyes Of the people.
Hardly better are the suggestions IN relation 10