The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1860-06-02

Office, and demoIishing the presentc orrupt syy
tenn Of conducting the public printing passed
the House on Thursday by the decisive vote
Of I20 to Sc II now remains for the Senate
to take like action upon 1t and mako II Q law.
The passage Of this bill in the House h tAe TO
suit Of the force Of public opinioa, end IL u
fluanoe Of the independents pres, wAsss con.
slant exposure OF the extrsvsxaacs al
corruption Of the existing system fe~~A ne
adoption OF that measure upon CospssS TIE
attention which the Independent yss~~ Of ths
country has drawn upon The question Of public
printing at Washington. and The rsvelaeeas
ELECTED by the investigating consitssss, have
shown what miserable thing the party pres
Is. It stands now exposed ~ q marc pauper
system, living upon the pickings and stsalIngs
of the public treasury. For the Last twenty years
the Washington press has been kept alive BY
tails means, and the party press in every State
in the Union has been maintained kept from
actual starvation by the drippings Of the ere
cutiye and legislative Kitchens Of the several
States. The Cagger-Cassidy organ of the
Albany Regency, the AGas.. Argus, and the
Albany Evening Journal, the representative Of
the Weed Regency, are both supported In this
way. According az the friends Of each are in
power, the drippings are poured into their
hungry mouths, and thus they are preserved
from death by absolute inaniion. And II is
the same with the party papers in every capt.
tai and every State ell over the county-the
meanest and most imbecile journals receiving
their very means OF existence by plupder.
Should the bill establishing govern
ment printing Office become Q law, the govern
msnt ought at once to put in operation
department to do all their own printing, pre-
cisely "a they construct their own ships, ma.
chinery, ordnance, and 30 forth, pertaining to
the service of the federal government Aud,
more than this, they should publish daily
paper at Washington, containing the debates
| Of Congress, exactly a. they are spoken In
| both houses, without amendment or alteration,
as we'll as all such communications a. the sd-
ministrauon may find necessary to make pub
lie, thus cutting themselves OF entirely from
the party newspapers. These things come 10.
Ultimately within the scope Of government
printing bureau, and by adopting such mea-
sures the extravaganoe and corruption In con-
nection with the public printing, which for
years past have grown to be gangrenes upon
the body polite, will be cut ut owith one vigor.
Gus sweep Of the knife.
The success Of this bill Is due entirely to the
efforts of the independent press. II is precisely
the measure We have been contending for in
these columns for years, until ct last the cor
rupHons we have exposed, over and over again,
have carried the weight Of popular opinion 70
strongly against the present system Of public
printing that Congress could not help taking the
action 1t has now taken with regard to It. We
do not charge this corruption specifically upon
any individuals, for they are all blamable
alike--Wendell and Forney Bowman and De-
frees, and the resi-, were equally mixed up with
it-democras and republicans were just
the same. But how absurd 1t Is to see such
men a. HaskiD, Hickman, Pryor and others
endeavoring 70 fasten charges Of corruption
upon certain persons, when they are all, every
one of them, engaged In the same schemes.
II the Senate pass this bill, a. they ought to
do, We hope 10 zee the whole plundering sys-
tenn Of public printing ~ 1t now exists swept
The VALUE or CorroS TO THE wonLD--ISrE-
RESTING FACTS AND SrArIsrIcs--The sum paid
annually to the South for cotton consumed la
England-about fivesevenths Of the whole
American CROPS estimated Ut $50, 900.
The amount exported 10 England Is 1884, oO,-
900 lbs-, which, when converted into manufac-
tured goods, Il valued Ut half the declared
value Of al the exports from England. The
wages paid in English cotton factories amount
annually to SIPS, 900, and those employed
number at least 100000 persons, young and
old. 1t ID calculated, moreover, that at least
6,oOO,OOO people besides are dependent upon
those employees. The capital sunk inmschinery
for spinning, weaving, printing, &c, amounts
to $75O,oO0,O 900. 100000 tons Of shipping,
and 10000 men are employed In carrying the
raw material 10 England. Besides, the mainte-
nance Of the national credit, the security Of
public funds, the prosperity Of bankers, bill
discounters, money brokers, merchants, and N
innumerabls host Of mechanics and artisaAs--in
short, the bulk of the nation-are dependent
upon IT, What II the crop should fall, or war
prevent its Importation How fearful would
be the consequence individual and national
ruin, bankruptcy, revolution and anarchy.
Nor would England alone be the sufferer. Half
the civilized world would be involved In hope
lees misery. Who can doubt that the abolition
of slavery would be the abolition OF cotton,
and the abolition Of cotton would be the auni-
hilaaon of civilization.
When the events which, We are told, are 10
precede the last day, commence, civilization,
law, order and morality viii have ebbed away
considerably from this world. The causes Of
that tremendous revolution must be something
strong enough to upheavs nations In manner
unknown even In the days when the Goth and