New-York tribune., 1868-07-06
SC4RECROWS-MR. STEVENS.

The distinguished and venerable representa-
tive from Pennsylvania, in proposing, last Fri
day, q gift of money in excess of their salaries
to most of the public employees in Washing
ton City, saw fit to deliver himself as follows:
Mr. STEVENS of Pennsyvania-Mr. Chairman, I shall
not occupy my five minutes word will be sufficient
Some time ago we passed bin giving 20 per cent add
tiona cOmpensatIon TO all whose salaries are under
ST. but scarecrOw-I think that Is the namea scare
crow came on and coursed over the
ground one night; and next day the friends Of the bill
scattered like the anteopes of the mountains scared to
back to NewYork triumphant. Iaughterl
Now this amendment contains less than onethird the
amount that appropriated by that bill, and we can
surely afford to give this small ptance 10 these
have heard said that good many OF them are married
ter and more than threefourtls OF those who Will be
benefited by this amendment have that misfortune. /
hope the amendment will be adopted
Comments by The Tribune.
Mr.. Stevens's illustration seems to us exceed
ingly felicitOus. Crows are useful in their
place, and do world of good but then they
have a weakness for getting out of place, and
depredating on the farmers corn. To curb this
vicious propensity and drive back the black
ravens from the fields where they would do
mischief to those haunts wherein they are use
full is the "being's end and aim" of scare
crows. Honor to scarecrOws Crows are good
and bad by turns; scarecTOws do much good
and no harm at ALL
And now to business:
We differ radically with Mr. Stevens on the
vital philosophy of Government Expenditure.
Mr. Stevens proposes free gift Of public
money to certain employees of the Government.
The original proposition (twenty per cent. ex-
ira on their last years earnings) would have
required Two Millions of Dollars; Mr.. Stevenss
A.. IL. 81 ~,
Million. Now all the money in the Treasury,
in our view, has to be earned in order to be
spent. If certain parties are given S10O0,0O0
extra out of the Treasury, certain other
parties must pay S1,OOO,OOO extra into the
Treasury. Mr.. Stevens's proposition then,
raises this question: "Will justice be sub
served by taking S1,OOO,0O0 extra from the
taxpayers and dividing it among these
Washington tax-consumers On that ques-
ton, we are constrained to vote in the mega
tive. We would like to crafty the Washing
ton clerks; we cannot do it at the expense of
tho American taxpayers. We believe the great
mass of the taxes are paid by men who work
harder and for smaller pay than the Washing
ton clerks-that the appropriation urged by
Mr.. Stevens could only be made at the expense
Hence, we oppose it.
Mr.. Steyens's theory is radically different
from ours. He holds that Governments can
make money at will-nOt merely "coin money"
but call it into being. The power of Congress
to regulate the value thereof (which w0
hold to be a power to declare the true value,
from time to time conforming the legal TO the
actual standard-he holds to be a power to
declare every leaf in our woods dollar, and
thereby make it the full equivalent of an
American silver dollar. Of course, our notions
of economy in official management must seem
exceedingly petty and shabby in his eyes, When
government has Aaddin's lamp why should
it not toss full purses about as though they
we're pebbles9 Who doubts that lucky pirate
is more liberal in his disbursements than poor
farmer who has toiled forty years for less than
dollar per day of twelve to fourteen hours
hard workH Naturally, the pirate thinks the
farmer a miserly, mean -souled skin-hint; but
the farmers standpoint is different and he
could not, if he would, fling guineas and doub-
looms to walters and ostlers as the pirate can
we'll afford to do.
We. owe a National Debt of Twenty-Five
Hundred Millions of Dollars. Not dime of
this Debt comes to us or to any one in
whose personal fortunes we feel an interest.
But the Debt is righteously due; it is the price
of our National salvation; it is to be paid
by honest sweat and toll and we are more
than willing to pay our part of it. Call it a
tenth of ali the property in the country-a
mortgage of ten per cent. on every farm and
every building-and we are ready to work
while we live for its payment. while we hope