Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-06-12
0Rllo Statesman.
from the Baltimore Sun of June sthl
The Public Isurdens and Delln-

From the Baltimore Sun of June sth.l
The Public Isuriens and llelin-
quency of Congress.
As the enormous amount of one-third
of the gross annual product of the indus
try of this country is said to be absorbed
by taxation, a reduction of taxes is what
people certainly have right to expect,
but to reduce taxes involves, necessarily
a reduction of expenses, and to do one
without the other is delusion and false
pretence. The expenses have not been
reduced, for the policy which so piles up
changed. Delusion also attends the de-
vice ofreducing the tax upon certain ar
ticles of manufacture without cores
ponding reduction of tariff, which is, in
fact, but giving that much more protec-
tion to manufacturers, who will have it
in their power to make the people pay
as much for their goods as ever, so that
the manufacturers get all the advantage
and the great class of consumers none
whatever. Mr.. Brooks resolution
offered in the subcommittee OF
Ways and Means of the House on the Sd
instant, set forth truly that additional
imposts had been imposed by the act Of
June 80, 1864, and subsequent acts
which were then understood and pledged
to provide against and offset the inter.
nal taxes of the same date on like arti-
cles. and those taxes having been lately
abolished in the act of March 3lst, 1865
the import duties shall undergo cor
responding reduction. But this resolu,
ton was voted down, and the sub-com-
mittee of the committee on Ways and
Means have taken such action as will
postpone the tariff bill till the December
session. so that there is no chance OF
having a corresponding adjustment OF
duties by a revision of the tariff till that
time. There are intimations also that
in a few days special clauses will be
taken out of the internal tax bill, now
pending in the House, relating princi-
pally to the tax on whisky and tobacco
and passed, and then the main portion
of the bill will be allowed to go over
until the next session, there not being
time for both the House and Senate to
act on the whole measure. Months OF
precious time, involving an expenditure
of millions, having been wasted in a
partisan attempt to upset the President
and revolutionize the Government, Con
gress must now, instead of availing
itself of the opportunity to per-
feet proper tax bill, to say
nothing of the tariff, make haste to ad-
journ in order to devote the coming four
months to the next Presidential election
But have not the pie of this country
a right to demand that reduction of ex-
penses without which, as we have indi,
Gated, there can be no permanent reduc-
tion of taxesl The general reduction
of the public burthens, which the people
so much desire, can never be had while
it suits the purposes of party to keep up
the expenses of war in a time of peace,
on the theory that the South is hostile,
though conquered, country, and must be
held in its place by the military arm.
The appropriation bills passed and pend
ing make total of 1852, 100000, and
We may expect like annual outlay as
long as the policy is pursued of keeping
the South in subjection. The passage
of such bills as are proposed for the sad
mission" of States (never, according to
the Republican doctrine of one period
out of the Union) in nowise helps the
matter, as, by reason of their injustice
and the continued prostration and an
archy that are inevitable under them
the burden of the military, freedmen s
bureaus, &C., are still expected to be
kept up.
Both the cost of our military and
semi-military machinery and of our civil
list is far beyond what it need be. The
army of Great Britain, which numbers
2l3,000 men, cost in 1857 $74 3S3, ,946
which embraces every item of military
expenditures, while in the same year
the expenses of our army of 10000 men
were $50 for strictly ordinary
expenses" being nearly nine and a
half million more than the cost of the
British army, three times as large as
ours. This is shown by some statistics
prepared by the New York World
which also gives the following table
showing that even in the civil service
the expenditures of the United States
exceed those of Great Britain by $40,
011,932, while the totals foot up an ex
cess against the United States of S43,-
SS4,77O:
"Comparative statement of some of the
expenditures of the United States and
Great Britain for the year 1867, made
up from the report of the British
Chancellor OF the Exchequer, and: the
statement of Mr.. Schenck, chairman
of the House committe on Ways anC
Means
United States. Great Britain
Interest on debt. 1881 5s1 SIPS sO7 "a
Civil service. ............. 5l,ll0.027 Al O9S. .O9
War proper. :. sss. .s4l .555
Pensions...... 90, 1856 55l
BOunties. II, 1885,. $50 1l6,160.964 743S3, "a
Navy......--.....-........ 3l,o64.oIl 53.el2, 81
Totals...... 49,. ss42, ,oss. .5s4 sass 2Ol, 80
Excess against the United States. 1884, II
"There are three other items of Brit
ish expenditure for which we have nc
equivalent here, and there is one item Of
our expenditure for which there is nc
equivalent in the British budget, so that
between these no comparison can be
made. But adding the amounts of these
namely, the expenditure of the consol
idated fund, the revenue department and
the packet service to the British budget
and the expenditure for Indians to our
own, and we have as the total cost OF
the British government for 1867 $685..
3O3,41S, and as the total cost of our own
government for the same year $346, ,729,-
1875. In other words. the government
which should be very much the cheaper
was 81 / ,426,706 the dearer
There can be no hope of permanent
relief of taxation so long as this enor.
nous waste of public money continues