Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1868-08-25
pEMoCRArIo STATISTICS.

AoOk-SI WuOu shihBo VI -,
worst, with us-for then We had the
disaster of the fret Bull Run battle and
all the other failures of the year to car
~ /; the expectation that the rebellion
would be subdued in a single campaign!
utterly disappointed ; the inactivity OF
the winter Washington bsleaguered ;
the stars and bars floating on Munson's
Hill, in sight of the White House the
Treasury empty England refusing TO
lend US q shilling, and, with France,
plotting for the success Of the insurrec.
ton the demand for money so great
that if all the actual cash in the coun-
try had been emptied bodily into the
Treasury it would not have suficed-
in the midst Of all this gloom and appar-
emit hopelessness, ten Democratic Con-
gressmen, the most distinguished Of the
tribe-among whom we recollect were
Mr.. Biddle, Of this city ; Mr.. Vallandig-
ham, of Ohio, and Mr.. Voorhees,, of In
diana-issued a proclamation, addressed
to the good people Of the Union, in
which, among other things having a
like bearing and purpose, they declared
that tho debt of the Government was
then growing at the rate Of three mil
lions a day.
Now, at that time and over after ward
the Secretary Of the Treasury freely and
truly published an official report of the
debt, weekly, and as often besides MS
newspaper men required. 1t was that
officers policy, as well as q felt duty,
to keep the situation Of the ex%chequer
fully and clearly before the people, and
no did it, at first oyerstating, or rather
overestimatirg, the current accumula-
ton not yet presented or settled at the
Department. We remember that about
this time he allowed eighty millions on
this unascertained account, and this es-
timated allowance was continued until
SO many months had gone by without
its appearance on the books, that he
dropped It from the periodical publ
cation.
What were the facts, as they are now
a%scertained, without any remaining
doubt of their exactness2 They stand
thus The debt on the lst July, 1861,
was nearly ninety-one millions on the
LIST July, 1862 (the year covering the
time of the three.million scare of our
Democratic Cougressmen), it stood at
five hundred and fourteen millions-an
average increase Of only SLIGO, 900 per
diem, and the heaviest end of 1t occur
ring months after the date Of the card
to the public. On the 18th of July,
1864, two years afterwards, the debt,
less cash in the Treasury, was $780,
0o0, 0o0-an average increase in that
period of 81, ice, 900 per diem and on
the 3lst August, 1865, when 1t reached
its highest figure, its total was S2,7o7,-
6s9, ST., which was an average increase
during those heaviest fourteen months
of So, 1920, 900 per day. In fact, when
the Vallandigham card was issued, the
increase was less than n million a day,
and he and his fellow-conspirators
against the credit and hopes Of the
Union had the means of knowing the
truth, if 1t had suited their purpose to
inquire.
During the four years and two months
in which the public debt was growing,
the average increase was very exactly
at the rate of 81, rs ,l69 per diem, and
no more. If we sven add the receipts
of the Treasury from all sources, other
than bonds and Treasury notes, the
daily expense for all purposes, including
the interest Of the old debt, and the
debt maturing and paid, the daily ex-
p%enditures for this long period reaches
no more than S2,32l, l69. Yet these
panic raisers in the earliest and gloom
lest days of our trouble, could certify to
q three millions daily increase Of the
debt, when, in truth, it did not exceed
the n~ine-tenths Of one million.
Such and so malignant were they in
the time of the panic. Now their party
leaders are running the pressurs Of the
public expense With equal sxaggeration
and equally mischievous designs. Their
candidate for tho Presidency, Mr.. Sey-
uour, only a month ago In q public
speech, declared that during the year
which closed on the 3oth of juno last,
"is wal costing more than $3.50, 0Oo, 900
per anuum to maintain an army to keep
the people of the South In subsection"
and that "more than $500, 0oO, 900 a
rear have been wasted in order to up
hold the policy Of reconstruction"
But since the date Of Governor Sey-
mour's statement we have an official re-
port of the expenses Of the War De-
partment from the Special Commits
sioner of the Revenue, the Hon. David
A. Wells, in which he shows that the
total regular "and legitimate army ex-
penditures for the fiscal year ending
June 3oth, 1868 (the same year and time
of which Governor Seymour raj speak
ing) amounted to no more than $780,
7l4,4l0, Of which no inconsiderable
part 10 justly chargable to the expenses
attendant upon the existence of Indian
hostilities upon the plains in the sum-
mer Of 1867, which largely and excep-
tionally augmented tho charge of trans.
portation and subsistence" and he adds
that "the military appropriations for
the current fiscal year are $33, oSl ,0l3."
What now becomes Of Mr.. %Seymour's
hundred and fifty millions per annum
expended to maintain IN army 10 keep
the people of the South in subsection ?
With respect to the $500, 900, 900
wasted last year in order to uphold the
of reconstruction, Mr.. Wells re-
port shows that the total expenditures
for the fiscal year ending June Both,
1868, was $37l, $50, 225, of which sum
Sl4l, 635, SOL was paid on account Of
interest on the public debt; for pensions,
bounties, reimbursement Of States,
property destroyed in the military
service, subsistence Of Indians and
national cemeteries, $4,000, 900; for
the civil list, Interior Department, Navy
and Engineering Bureau, $ll3, OO0, 900;
Freedmen's Bureau and reconstruction
expenses, S., 000, 900. If to this aggre-
gate we add the ordinary expenses Of
the VA Department, we have the entire
sum Of S3~7l, 1850, 225, and nothing is
left of Mr.. Seymour's three hundred
millions for the support Of the recon
struction policy, beyond the FIVE millions
given by Mr.. Wells, under the heads
Reconstruction and Freedmen's Blu
reau."
We have thus shown that something
more than six years ago these Demo-
cratic alarmists overestimated the
growth Of the national debt fully three
fold, and now they are busy estimating
tho reconstruction expenses at about
sixty times the true amount. We once
heard a man described rs so ambitious
of distinction that he would certainly