The New York herald., 1869-03-01

tne condltl0n OF the State mas materi8uy I'M
proved since the November election, and ap-
pears to be improving constantly, there are still
some sections in which the authority Of the United
States and Of the State is openly dened, II not re-
sisted, and the civil law Indifferent powerless.
and the military force stationed there too small to
make itself respected. He concludes as follows
The arrangement Of the troops now being made
WILL hope, cure this ev but until that is done and
holding elections be established fair and free cleo
ton. a. contemplated by the fifth section Of the law
e by @ ana
other members OF the convention, suggested that
the election should not be ordered earlier than the 1st
!" sule. .-l..-a4as - 49, ="
|. General Candy appends letter addressed to him
by the President Of the Constitutional Convention,
in which letter he says that the convention has
passed resolution for the division Of the State,
which is only question o. 49,. Tho nnnosition
comes from inta,25x"TT .s~y c-y --s,rx
lass 1s0e' newspapers, Tne division Of the state,
however is supported BY qine-tenths OF the loyal
people He concludes as followss-"we earnestly
believe that this measure VIII hnally disperse and
demoralize the disoyal element and give rs sepa-
ration OF the State. which will bring rs The resL
peace and prosperity which we have Tor SO many
years been striving to secure" 49, ~
The Expenses Of Congress.
Some time ago resolution was offered In the
House, directing the Committee on Accounts to in
quire into the number Of clerks employed by commit
tees the amount paid them and whether or not the
services OF some OF them could be dispensed with;
also to investigate the disbursements OF the con-
tingent fund OF the House for 1s67-s. On Saturday
evening John M. Broomall, Of Pennsylvania, who
is the chairman Of the Committee Ac-
counts presented report to the House. 1t
win be remembered that Broomall is the
same person who expressed his utter contempt for
the opinion OF the public press and vet in the in
PRODUCTION TO his report he takes occasion to notice
the statements in the public press relative to the
extravagant manner in which the contingent fund
of the House has been expended for the last two or
three years. It Is great mistake to suppose that
the unnecessary expenses OF the House OF Repre-
sentatives are az enormous as some OF the papers
fond OF representing them; neither is 1t true that
any glaring instance OF fraud involving large
sums OF money, can be traced to the
door OF any officer or member Of that body. He
admits, however, that there are evils consisting
Of multiplicity Of petty assaults upon the con-
tingent fund.- amounting In the aggregate to q
| siderable sum Of money. All the expenses Of the
House, except the salaries to members and o1cers.
are paid out OF the cont ngent fund.- and all the
| penses must be approved by the Committee on Ac-
counts before payment. During the Fortieth Con-
gress 200 distinct matters amounting to
5000, 900, have been examined and passed upon by
this committee. The report compares the expenses
OF the House for ten years. from 1858 to 1858 In
elusive, and shows that the average amount Of the
contingent expenses OF the House In that time
s405 7oe the extremes found highest in 1ses the
amount that year being s57l52o. and lowest in 1862
when the amount was $los,ll. The report gives
the expenses OF the first long sessions Of the va
rous Congresses from the Thirtyfth to the Fortieth
inclu will nj tfouno A
comparison Of the expenses OF the first session OF
the Thirty-nfth Congress with the first session Of
the Fortieth Congress shows the following result
First session Thirty fifth Congress. s313639; first
session Fortieth Congress, ss4s664, showing that
the expenses OF the first session Of the Forteth Con-
gress exceeded those OF the session Of the hir
ty-nfth Congress BY the sum Of s533,o25.
The report says these figures look large and not
TO be denied that they are greatly In OF what
Is necessary or even useful; but to ascertaip the
amount Of win not do to contrast the busi
ness OF legislation with the same amount OF other
business. Public affairs never can be administered
as economically as those OF an individual No man
devotes his whole attention TO the interests OF the
community as he does to his own. The only fair
method is TO contrast the House in this respect with
similar bodies. Let US begin therefore. by contrast
ing the House and Senate during the year 1S6s The
contingent expenses OF the House were $476,39o or
the Senate 1891 5s3 The number OF Representatives
90; Of Senator'S, 81.
This shows that the expenses OF ths Senate were
per capita s611s, while those OF the House were
s2,oi5. The next part OF the report is devoted TO
the expenses incurred in the printing and distribu-
ton ofpublic documents. The committee admits that
too much money Is spent for this purpose. The item
| OF folding documents alone amounted in 1868 to
sll9s. OF course this does not include the greater
| xvhf NJ tl,a
paper the printing, the binding and the delivery by
the mails. The report states that the expenditure
for public documents should be cut down nc least
fourn'ths Referring TO the expenses OF Investi-
eating committees the report says
Another large item is included in what ia called
the miscellaneous account. IL the cost OF iuycati
eating commitlees-ss2e24 All or nearly - an i' ~
this Is thrown away. In many cases the investi-
cations are gotten en- up on some sensation story sold
| ply TO the complaint that the number Of employees
Of the House Is too great the report says members OF
| Congress are sometimes ingenious enough to pro-
cure these private clerks and messengers TO be put
upon the roll and paid out Of the contingent fund.
the committee believe they have now entirely
broken up. Again. serviceable politicians sometimes
ton OF doing no public services whatever except
that OF receiving their pay. Of course they receive
m o. e 'oe Ssnr o
1his Is also remedied, a. the committee. believe.
Finally. during tue Tectut campaign one Ol tue Do
litica parties obtained assistance nom the employees
| Of the House In the distribution OF documents, a.
| the other did from the Executive department.
and both parties had their documents folded at
| the House folding room at the expense OF the con-
| tinRent fund.- This mischief was complained Of by
the committee, but II mad the sanction OF long pre-
cedent, and all the committee could do was TO limit
the labor directed far as possible TO the surplus
necessary TO be retained during the recess, but the
success m this was by no means gratifying Politi.
cal organizations are strong, and the COMMITTEES
themselves could not but be Influenced by their desire
|
| mated.
The report then goes on to compare the expense Of
the clerks once in 1852 with what u Is n 1s6s
The increase In the expenses Of that once Is
| attributed 10 the Increase OF Representatives. The
item OF furniture for the Capitol south or the Ro-
tunda the report says, IL a large one. In 1858,
II tel on. After the close OF the war much OF the
furniture required TO be renewed hence IN 1900 ana
1867 the average was &3s, 705. The responsibility OF
purchasing furniture rests with the 1Ierf Of the
House The committee admit that there have been