The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1869-01-07


ments for his family, and keeps palmer
table. He said it would astonish some
| people how much money they might save
| by these means, and how fast they could
pay off their debts by giving this money
TO their creditors instead of spending it
in luxurious living and supporting style.
The civil service" of the Government
had become very expensive and ought to
| be pruned down III thousand places.
| The military expenditures, as order and
peace became restored in the South and
| The Indian troubles on the plains were
permanently settled. could be materially
reduced He had done considerable in
this direction in the short time he acted
as Secretary of War; bat there was room
| for further retrenciiment. And SO, too,
| the navy could get along with less money
than 1t had been spending. He was
strongly in hopes that Congress, during
its present session, would effect large saw
ings of public treasure.
Gen. Grant thought that abundance of
taxes were now levied, if they were
promptly collected. not only to defray the
running expenses OF the government, but
20 pay large sums Of debt annually. He
was opposed to levying any additional
| taxes on the people until it was FIRST shown
that those now exacted were insufficient,
| and that could only be shown by fully
collecting them. He was confident there
would soon be an overfowing Treasury if
| that were done, and that our national
credit would then rapidly rise to what it
ought TO be-that was, equal to the credit
OF any other nation in the world
On Ole other point, the General ex-
pressed h mSelf very positively and deci-
dedly. Washington, he said, was al
ready swarming with lobbyists, who were
! pressing Congress to vote subsidies and
| bountles to all sorts or speculati0ns
| The demands of the Western railway
| agents alone coud not be satisfied with
less than hundreds of millions of dollars.
They would bankrupt the nation II they
had their will. They wanted money from
the treasury 10 build vast lines of railroad
where there mas neither business nor
population, with branches extending in
every direction These demands were
pressed on the pretence Of developing the
future resources of the plains and Rocky
| Mountains: but the real motive was TO
! deveioD their own pocket books at the
! public expense. Self was II the bottom
! Of their stimulated dislnterestedness, and
the treasury was In no condition to graft
! ~ their patriotic purposes. With ma
! tionai debt that equalled twelve per
cent. OF the United States, and munich
! pal purposes which consumed one quar-
| ter OF the income of the people. and
with the public credit and the currency
| OF the country at a discount OF twenty
i've to thirty per cent. it was no time for
! Congress to listen to the representations
| OF these lobbyists. There was no money
! to spare at present. The Pacific Railroad
completed, was a national necessity. and
| hence it was right 10 give it national aid,
but there existed no national necessity
for commencing half a dozen parallel
roads, with innumerable branches, 10 be
constructed 10y government subsidies Just
at this time. Wait unit the people re-
cupeTate and gather little strength
lie had been approached, he said, by
the Interested persons with Il compromise
proposition, to the effect that he should
| consentnot to oppose the lobby this e0siiate,
hut let them take their chances of getting
subsidy bills passed and that after the
| 4th OF March, when he became President
| they would not object TO any opposition
/ he might then and thereafter make Bat
| lie would consent 30 nothing Of the kind
| If it was wrong to subsdize new roads
after the 4th OF March, it was not right
| to do it now.
No one railroad or other scheme could
be passed by itself, but each would have
| TO 90 into an omnibus BILL and the
whole be log. rolled through together,
! the bad with the good. If CONGRESS-
| opened the door for railroad subsidies,
! thoy must also let IN system Of waterway
! Improvements all over the Union, and
/ Heaven only could foresee where the
| thing would stop, Thicb he feared would
| not be this side Of absolute bankruptcy,
| for there can be no bounds to mems de
sire to get or spend other peoples money
and no p0ssibl. limit TO the schemes chat
| can be invented for so doing. Therefore
the best place to stop was just where we
were. Give no more subsidies Tor any
| scheme at this time. no matter about the
| ''27FoSpectire benefits which our children
| or grand children may reap. Let the na-
! ton incur no risks and no new expenses.
| Leave all shat TO private enterprise
! The vital things TO he done are to redece
rhe cost OF supporting the government,
| reduce taxation, aud reduce the national
! debt. Therefore Tetrenchment must be
introduced into every branch Of the gov
eminent. ard tbs taxes must be faithfully
collected. Ihese are the means to the
end, and he til ought that the great body
Of the people believed exactly as he did
on those points.
The General spoke with equal empha-
sis against Congress undertaking to reim-
| burse everybody in the South who elaimed
to be loyal, for alleged losses incurred
during the rebellion. Once open this
door, and you have opened one that leads
to untathomable depths,
Commence paying those claims, and
there would be no stopping place until
every rebel or his heirs in fifteen States
| had been reimbursed for all their actual
and pretended losses, twice over, with
compound interest. Omen this door, and
a leak would be opened in the bottom OF
| the Treasury that could not be plugged
unut the property Of the people OF the
North would be transferred by onerous
taxation to those of the South
The foregoing will give our readers
some idea of the light in which General
tfrant views few matters OF general
| concern. 4 couple Of months hence
| they VIII enjoy the pleasure of reading
his inaugural in his terse, pointed, com
{ prehenSve language, explaining the
course o conduct which he has marked
out whereby he can secure pure, eco
nomlcal and honest administration In
/ the interim he has given the lobby vui-
lures fair notice that he Will fight them
until the 4th of March, aud at least for
tour years thereafter on that line.
! -----~..--z--..---
1t IS mistake to suppose that the
i rebels from whom the penalties of treason
have all been removed by ,50hnsoh's late
amnesty proclamation are restored to all