Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1868-08-13

which 0Yerlap6 from this year TO the next
about the same amount going over eacl
) year, and this from necessity owing to III,
} mode of disbursement. l have also made
the amount for bounties ten millions les
; than the Chairman estimates, because
large proportion which he includes In thi
year will necessarily be paid in the ensu
ing year, when it is hoped the whole mat
ter will be closed, the last soldier honOra
by paid off, and the Treasury, relievet
from further obligation in that direction
Adding together these ordinary expendi
lures, as have above, the sum total Il
found to be $l6,sls,i47. If fCongress cal
be accused of extravaganza, the accusation
must be made good on these figures, o.
else abandoned, for the other expenditures
as have already repeated, lie without the
pale Of Congressional discretion or con
troll. A clear estimate ofthe character ol
these expenditures may be gathered by
comparing them with the outlays incurred
under the last Democratic Administration
For example, in IS57-'5S the same class ol
expenses in Buchanans Administration
were over S7O,Ooo,OOO in gold, whereas
the SlO6,sls,A7 above-named are in pa
per. II must be be observed, moreover
that In lS57-'5S the population of this
country was under 10000, 900, whereas to-
day it is well nigh 10000, 900. Adding 4C
per cent premium on gold, to bring the
expenditures of the two eras to the same
standard, and we find the ouilays oI
Buchanan were at the rate of over $9S, ,00O, :
600 in paper to-day. To this add one
third for increase of population, and we
find the Buchanan expenditures, adjusted
to the scale of to-day, would amount to
Sl50,O00,O00 for the same items that We are
paying less than SlO7,COO,OOO for. And
in this calculation / have said nothing
about the increased military and naval
force of the present day, which adds I'm
mensely to the account in favor of present
economy. This calculation, stated In
these general terms, is far more striking
and suggestive when you come TO exam
inc details The army, for instance, cost,
during the four years Of Buchana's ad-
ministration, by the official statement of
the Treasury Department which hold In
my hand the large aggregate Of SG6, 6,3O7,-
575 81, making an average of well nigh
twenty-five millions each year In gold
And 1t that time ,he army consisted in all
of 10 regiments; 40 that each regiment cost
considerably over million each year In
gold. The army at prcsen. contains GO
regiments, and yet the whole appropria-
tion asked for by Gen. Grant, amounts 10
little more than Thirty three millions, a tri-
fle more than half a million per regiment
each year in paper In other words, the
army under the peace establishments OF
Democratic administration Immediately
preceding the war cost per regiment large
ly more in gold than the army now COSTS
per regimen, In paper under the peace es
tablishnent - administered By Gen
Grant. The same scale Ofexpcnditure In
dulged in under the administration Of
Buchanan would make our present army
cest over seventy millions In gold or a
hunndied millions in paper; and until The
latter figure is exceeded the Democratic
psr,isans OF Buchanan can have no ground
10 charge that army expenses are cxkavs-
CANT. When we look at the actual amount
spent for legitimate army expenses, we see
good ground fsI the high compliment be-
slowed by President johnson, when,
few months since, he publicly proclaimed
''Gen. Grants judicieus economy rs the
direct cause of saving many millions to the
Treasury With Gen. Grants election TO
the Presidency, and The final pacification
of the Southern States, our army will AT
once be reduced, and the expenditures of
the War Department will be brought 10 n
point so inconslderablc as no longer 10 be
felt as burden 10 the Taxpayer. The
comparison In regard TO naval expcndi
lures ai the two periods have named,
are equally suggestive and striking. For
the four years of Buchanan's administra-
tion the navy, by the official records, cost
s52 2,645,99s S9-showing an average Of
more than sl3.OO0,OO0 per annum in gold
coin. With much larger navy, and with
the disadvantage of paper money and high
prices, our appropriations this year are a
trifle under Is,OO0,000. Taking the diff
ference In the size OF the navy at the two
periods, and the disparity between gold
and paper, and we should be authorized, if
Ne followed the Buchanan standard Of ex
pendiiures, In appropriating well high
$40 o,OOO,O for The years service. These
facts are certainly suggestive and instruo-
tive In our PosttOflcc expenditures, as
compared with those Of the Democratic
regime, the difference Is, If anything,
more striking than in the relative expens-
es of The Army and Navy. Besides using
mp all the postal receipts, the Post Office
Department for the three last years of Bu-
chanan's administration made drafts on the
Treasury to the amount of over $4,000, 900
year. in one year running up TO nearly
5000, 900. During the whole time the
Republicans have been In power, the
drafts on the Treasury for the support Of
postal service have not averaged s2,oo0,
900 per annum, and with this moderate
expenditure we hare been enabled to car
ry on the immense mail service i'm the in
terror Of the continent and TO the shores Of
the Pacific, through all our remote Terri
tories and sparsely peoplcd sections, and
have also been able to maintain superb
line ofmail steamers from San Francisco
to Hong Kong, and from New York to
Rio Janeiro, none Of which extraordinary