The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1869-09-29
friend. Gov. Hayes, in his pres

my friend, Gov. Hayes, in his pres
ent canvass before the people, has felt
himself called upon to make a most
furious assault upon what he is plea
sed to call the extravaganza of the last
Democratic Legislature of Ohio for
no reason that l can see, to borrow an
idea from the distinguished gentle
man who is destined to be his success
or, than that they continued in ses-
sion a few weeks too long, or passed.
some doubtful laws, which he had rec
commended! But 1 can well afford to.
leave the defence of the Legislature
to gentlemen who composed it, and
to the able exposition of the whole
matter by n document issued n few
days ago at Columbus, the joint Pro-
duction, l believe, of the two Clerks
| of the Senate and House of Rcpresen-
t%atives. / propose now to show up
some of the extravaganza of another
legislative body, of which Gov. Hayes
was a member, and for which he and
his party are wholly responsible. l
mean the Fortleth Congress of the
United States. / hold in my hards,
fellow citizens, Il letter book belonging
to a class of liturature not of n wide
circulation among the pseple. 1t is
under the ban of the political censor
at Washington, and is not allowed to
60 among the people to corrupt their
morals, by an exposure of the total
want of political morality on the part
of their representatives L doubt
whether there is a single person in this
audience who has eve e it. Al
though n public Comment, required t
be published by the law Of the land,
for the information of the people as
a check upon the very extravaganza
and petit larceny which l shall show
up to you, it is difficult for even a
member of Congress, if he happens to
be of the democratic persuasion to
get possession of it, unless he de-
mands it as hi right. 1t is the an
nual report of the Clerk of the House
of Representatives, giving a detailed
statement of the contingent expenses of
the House, for the year 1867, under a
law passed by the Wing Congress o!
1912. 1 need not say to you, til: t it
is n of the leading theories of our
political institutions, that all expcn-
ditures of the public moneys must be
authorized by some public law, direc-
ting its specific appropriation. both as
10 amount and subject. 1t belongs, at
least, to n secondary Il ,ss of fundamen-
tai principles inherent in constitution
al government, and is looked upon in
England as one of the highest privile-
ges of the people, as a check upon
wen the limited money power of the
crown. II is intended, as far as prac-
ticable to prevent all contingency in
the expenses of the Government. But
he thing can not be wholly avoided.
There are certain, or rather uncertain
little contingencies in current lcgisla-
tive expend .turc, which can not I've &C
curately anticipated in an appropri.
a ION bill. Hence tic evil has to be
p ~.rtially submitted to. As predicate
for the contract between the Ohio
Legislature AMI Congress, l may say
here that the BmOunt appro. rated b..
the last Legislature, for the contin
gent expenses of legislation, was the
sum of $500. v hat they actually
expended, | have no present means OF
knowing; but | cam find no deficiency
bills in their volume of laws for the
benefit of that fund. l shall present
you some legislation of that kind, so
far as Congress is concerned. Now,
what do we find in the contingent ex-
penses of Congress? These reports
now before me, show that tile cOntin-
gent expenses of the House, for 1867,
a short legislative year, was the sum
of 1922, 231, 40, for the Senate, for the
same year, sos, $50, SO, making in
the aggregate, the sum o 1891 ,121'46.
How was it for the year 1868? 1t
was for the House, 1922, 143, 10; for
the Senate, $4l0,241, 21,-making the
aggregate for 1868 the sum of 1892,
3S4,6I, and the total contingent eX-
pcnses of the Forticth Congress, the
enormous sum, for such a purpose, OF
S4,S43, SOC, OIL! And yet, not With
standing both the Clerk of the Senate
and of the House for each yca!; report
a large unexpendcd balance of this
contingent fund ON hand, the Fortieth
Congress passed what are called def
cheney bills, in atd of that same fund,
il the further extraordinary sum of
S721, 503! That's the way the money
goes! Now, it is to be borne in mind
t at this fund does not pay one dol
llr or one dime of the salaries or m le-
a.e of the members; not n din C to-
wards the vast amount paid for the
Government printing house, or the
Government printing paper; not a
dime to the great bindery establish
ment; and not a dime towards pay,
ment for the gas to light up the vast
dimensions of that magnificent Capitol.
We must, therefore, look into some of
the details of this account in order TO
as ,ertain how these vast sums of mon