Juliet signal., 1862-06-17
TIE SPEECH OF THE SESSION.
1 XeyfeW of some Of the Acts
0f the Administrator
&rARTLING CORRUPTION.

A Xeyfew Of some Of the Acts
Of the Administration.
&rARTLING CORRUPTION.
11on- ID. w. Voorhees,, Of Indiana, made
the ioilowing speech in the House of Rep.
ressntatives, on the 2lst uIt.,
NJ Speaker, the financial policy of n
go<Srnment has always been considered by
men 4 reflection as second Only in impor.
tau< 20 Dational honor and national exis-
terf@ Indeed, no nation can long main
tan 40 honorable existence which makes
an unwlse or a dishonest use Of the re-
sorrcet of its people. Ii is fundamental
prtacipie of constitutional liberty that the
cisszen shall own and enjoy the wealth
VIII ;sh the labor of his hands EFFORTS from
the BOSOM OF the earth, subject only to that
pox ION which he may justly be called upon
= ny for the protection Of government
! ~ <hs blessings of social order. He has
thk Rom:nian over the fruits of bis toll BY
/ divine right, ana when this right Is inysd.
ed by the government. through impolicy
or fraud, and the citizen is robbed under
the forms of law, it becomes his highest
| duty to impel the invasion and resist the
-
through the peaceful ulinstrumen:ality Of the
ballot-box, and change in the agents of
the people who are responsible for the un-
necessary oppression. In despotisms, where
the popular voice has not weight and can
not be heard, the toiling millions, when
! they cannot endure no more, enforce Jus
tice with the sword. But the right to q
mans own, under all circumstances, Is an
inherent right, and human nature has held
it sacred in all ages, and enforced it in
every form in which the human will can
assert itself.
Sir, during the past year we have been
engaged in a most stupendous war. 1t as.
sumed, from the first, proportions of the
most horrible magnitude. Any eye could
see at the opening stages of this conflict
that the struggle of this government to
maintain its just authority within its law
| ful jurisdiction was to be ore of the most
terrible and, perhaps, protracted that ever
shook the world. Courage. chivalry, pa
triotsm, devotion to the Union and the
| laws. all came forward and still stand ready
in an exhaustible quantity. The country
has glowed from end to end, and through
| out all it's vast extent, with fervid love
| for the government as our fathers made it,
But, sordic and practical as it may seem
! to some, one of the main sinews of war is
| money, plain money. Without it armies
do not move and navies do not float, and the
purse of the nation is to be found in the
| pockets Of the people. Sir, in view of
these facts, what has been the course Of
those in authority since this war com-
menced in regard to the great question of
national economy? Have our resources
been carefully husbanded? Have our pub.
lie moneys been strictly guarded from the
hand of the plunderer? Have our public
| officers been held to rigid accountability
in their use of the hard earned revenues of
| the country? Has financial integrity
marked the conduct of those in whom the
| people placed their trust when the present
administration came into power? Has
common honesty been observed by those
who won their way to popular confidence
| by their fierce denunciations of the alleged
seorFuptions of former administrations |
| speak not as partizan nor in the spirit of
party. | trust | can rise above all such
considerations but these are questions in
which the people of allparties have deep
and overwhelming interest, and they are
| questions, too, which all men in every part
of the country who desire an honest admin
/ istration of our public affairs are now ask
ing with serious and startling cmg hasis.-
The answer which must come, and of which
impartial history will make an everlasting
record is one which bows the head and
burns the cheek of every lover of his coun.
try's good name with humiliation and with
shame.
Let us look calmly and carefully at few
figures net of alluring aud captivating
,G -.
reality. The veil which a pleasing and
hopeful sophistry weaves around its objects
with which to beguile the people into a
slumbering sense of security must be torn
away. Nothing should be hid from the
honest eye of popular scrutiny. 1t is the
duty of the Representative to fully portray
those facts of vital importance on which
the governing power of this free country,
the people, will soon be called upon to act
presume, sir, that at this time no one
can, with entire accuracy, estimate the
amount of our public debt. 1t is one oi
the alarming signs of the times that either
from confusion and incapacity, or from the
shrinking dread of recognizing an appall-
ing truth, we have an unusual silence in
official quarters in regard to the extent oi
government liabilities. We are, however,
relieved in great measure upon that poiot
by the statements which have been made
from time to time ON this floor, and espe
cially by the Chairman of the Committee
of Ways and Means Mr.. Stevens, who bas
right to speak on that subject as one il
authority. From that source We learn thai
our expenditures have, for many month";
past. exceeded the enormous sum Of $3..
000, 900 per day. One years expense a
this rate reaches the sum of 81 ,095 ,000,.
600. That our indebtedness at this mo
! ment is equal to that vast amount will
hardly be denied by any intelligent and
candid person, who has lad the opportuni
! ty to observe the profusion and reckless
ness with which the resources and the cred
/ it of the government have been used since
this most unnatural strife fell like bligb
upon the land. A little more than one
year ago we beheld the innamed and
wrathful visage Of civi, war for the frs
} time disturb, like baleful comet, the peace
of this Republic. Since then battles have
been fought, equal in numbers engaged, il
heroism of conduct, and in the ghastly
heaps Of the slain, to the renowned eonflict
of ancient story. Victory, too. under ar
!; overruliDg Providence, has chosen thu
standard oc the government, and our ar
mics are steadily penetrating that immens'
scope of country in which the banner o
revolt has been reared.
But, assuming that the smiles of fortun,
will continue to rest upon our arms, and
that no reyerses are in store for our troops
yet nothing is palmer to the thioking minC
which resolves the future by considering
the past that the fact that the expenses o
this government for the ensuing year viii
fully equal, and most likely surPass, wha
we have witnessed 10 the year that has jus
clnsed. As our armies push forward thei
c. lnmns into the distant parts of desola
ted and impoverished and hostile country
the difficulty and cost of their support vii
rapidly multiply. The value of transpor-
tation will almost double the price of tn,
stores transported. There has been mucl
uniigested and crude defamation on thu