Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-01-27
Democratic Union State Ticket.
Extravaganza and Corruption.

There is proposition in Congress TO cut down
the pay Of the officers of the army and navy
about one-half We favor the reduction of our
national expenditures by wise and rigid econo-
my, but we think that retrenchment should first
commence in other quarters. We see no propo-
sition TO cut down the pay and emoluments of
members of Congress, and the Executive branch
of the Government There is where the work of
reform and retrenchment should begin, and es-
pecially at a time like this. when the Govern
meat is struggling. like strong man bound, for
its very existence Until thievery is stopped, and
all other expenditures for the maintenance of the
the Gov eminent are reduced TO the lowest point,
we would not take dollar from the compensa-
ton Of the men who risk their health and lives
in fighting the battles Of the Union. 1t does not
sound very well for gentlemen, like our distin-
guished Senator, Mr.. LANE, to explode their pa
triotism, and express their willingness to make
all sorts of sacrifices TO put down this rebellion,
then to drop upon an elegant cushioned chair, in
a chamber which in its adornments, rivals orr
entail splendor and tnse, without making
q serious effort to check the corruption which
stalks through every department of the Govern.
ment. In the language of Mr. DAWES, Repub-
lcan member of Congress from Massachusetts,,
"a strong man, in an air-exhausted receiver, is
not more helpless to day than is the treasury of
this Government beneath the exhausting process
to which it is subjected" Truer words we're
never spoken. Everywhere we see, hear. and
will soon feel the effects of this exhaustIng pro-
cess, and to again use the language of Mr..
DAWES, instead of Congressman exhausting
themselves in rhetorical fourishes, "their press
ing duty now is to protect and save the treasury
from further wholesale or other system of plum
dering." Our distinguished Senator. Hon. HEN
RY S. LANE, in a speech in the Senate the other
day. said:
He would carry this war until every indi
vidual was bankrupt-he wouldsgive the coat off
his back, and even lie in a pauper grave and be
buried by the hands of charity, rather than close
the war"
We should like to see Mr.. LANE illustrate this
patriotic fervor. If the Government is carried on
few months longer it has been for the past ten,
Mr.. Lanes remarks may prove no fancy sketch.
Providence" says Mr.. DAWES, "before six
months viii dispose of the war or He will dis
pose Of u.s." Mr.. LANE, and the Congressman
who express themselves like him, will inspire the
country with confidence in their zeal and sincerity
if they put brake upon the exhausting process
to which the Treasury is subject by beginning at
home, by cutting down their pay from the S., 600
to so 900 they are drawing per annum to
at least one half that sum. Say nothing about
reducing the soldiers pay until the compensation
of those who fill the eiUl offices in the Govern
ment are retrenched. At the same time stop the
frauds, the enormous leaks, which Mr.. CHASE
estimates at about one half of the war expenses
thus far But unless there is reform unless cor
ruptiOn and extravaganza are at once checked,
the rebels will only have to keep US at bay for
six months longer, and the exhausting process to
which the Treasury is subjected will accomplish
their work for them. But in economizng let the
pruning knife be applied last to the officers of
the volunteer army especially, who have de-
voted their time and means in the first place in
the raising of forces for the war, and who then
encounter privatIons and suferngs in prosecuting
it, risking all the disasters of a sanguinary
conflict.