The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1869-09-10
SENATOR SHERMAN AT
XENIA.
An Able Examination of Finan-
cial Questions.

An Able Examination of Finan
cial Questions.
FELLOW CITIzEEs-Stump speaL
1 ing in the open air on public que:
! tions is now an established part
i, ipelitieal campaigns in the West.
am not sure but that this custom ha
survived the reasons that gave rise t
J it, for the public press is now cor
! Quoted with SO much more ability al
/, fairness than formerly, that it pre
> seufs in abetter form than speeche
the facts and arguments of a politics
canvass. The young men of-this ds,
will be much more likely to fellol
the advice given me by Mr.. Gorwi
than | have done. When a law stu
dent l took him in a buggy fror
Mansfield TO Bucyrus. l was the
| full of enthusiasm for him and hi
speeches and the Whig party.
-"My young friend, . said he, "keeI
out of politics, aud above all, don
make stump speeches, aad- attend t,
your law. What l say is written up
oa the sand.r 3. -=.a1
! He was then iD the full use of hi
unrivalled powers as popular orator
land if he was not satisfied with tht
magic Of his words, no one has reason
Ito be.
OF late years, too, public opiuiou
demands more careful regard fol
facts and. more tolerance of opinion
than formerly.We may not treat
four political adversaries with abuse
bat must meet them with reason.
shall, on this occasion, confne n.y.
self to dry questions of,6Rance and
Taxation, with full consciousness
that yeu-Wili hear enough hereafter
of old issues without my aid.
There are some questions of the
past. some of-tEe present, and more
fof the future, The questions of the
past are Of tho war and slavery, in
which, in the Judgment of all good
men, the Republican party will be
held to have gained the highest hon
Ors. In the great and wonderful
panorama of events Of the last ten
years that party won the most com
plete success, aud seems to US now
like an agency of Divine Providence
to bring about great progress in our
nati)n. In all the events of the past
the Democratic party has nothing to
boast of, but has stained its record by
rebellion in the South and disloyalty
in the North. But letting all this
pass for the purposes of to-day's dis
cussiOn, what are the questions of the
present? The question of recon-
struetion can hardly be considered as
one ofthem. Our policy in that mat
ter has Leen acquiesced in by all par
ties, and few months will see each
State clothed with the full panoply of
State government in harmony with
the Union, and it is so with the Fif-
teenth Article of amendment to the
Constitution.
With or without the assent of Ohio
that amendment will be adopted
Nearly all the Southern States have
agreed to, it. Twenty-Five States
have formally ratified it, Even Mr..
Pendleton does not tell US how he
stands in regard to it. Mr.. Pugh
gives it up, and the Democratic Con-
VNntion neglected to mention "nigger
suffrage" and only objected to the
manneryof bringing X about. At the
next election you must be prepared
to contest with the Democratic party
for what they once dsnominated the
Hnigger vote;" bat by that time il
will have become the suffrage of our
colored fellow-citizens.''
The immediate questions of the
present relate to the revenue and ex-
penditures Of the State and General
Govrrnment. l am not familiar
enough with our State finances to dis
cuss them before you; but from my
official position have been required to
study our national finances. In con-
sidering these the frst inquiry which
you will naturally make will be as to
the amount that is required to sup
port the General Government. -l
When we come to examine this We
find two large items, one the interest
of the public debt, which amounted
last year to S139.694, ,242, and the
one for pensions and Indian annuities
amounting to S35,519,544. These
items, from the nature of things, can
not be diminished by Congress. The
pensions to our soldiers and their
widows aud orphans are the most sa,
cred of obligations; and the indians
are troublesome wards of the nation,
who must not only be fed, but occa-
sionally fought. The interest on the
public debts fixed by the bonds, and
can only be reduced by the payment
of the debt or the negotiation of new
bonds at lower rate ofinterest.
Now fna by official documents
that during the year ending June 80
1868, the johnson administration ex-
pended S377, $40, 284. find by ref
erence to an official paper furnished
me by General Spinner, the Treasur.
er of the United States, that our ma
tiona! expenditures amounted to
1926, ,Se5,277 showing a reduction
during the last year of S54, 800, 600
most of which was made during the
present administration of General
Grant.
For the purpose Of fairly contrast,
ing the expenses Of Grants and John.
sons administrations, I have had
prepared, By Gen. Spinner, a table
showing the expenses of the Govern
ment from March 4, 1868, to August
Is. 1868, and also from March 4
1869, to August 10, 1869, and l find
that for the i've and one-half months
under Johnson's administration tbs
expenses we're 1854, ,965, ,098, and fol
the same FIVE and one-half months
under Grants administration it wai
S136. .217 $40, a net decrease of S48,'
747,169.
Now, everybody. our Democratic
friends and all, should admit thai
this is good beginning. know
that Congress applied itself last win
ter diligently to the task Of economy
and that General Grant is diligently
enforcing this policy in all the depart
msuts. But We do not intend to resi-
satisfied with that reduction. The
| Army and navy haYa MANY excres