Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-01-20

were made, the imitation of the cur
Frenzy, which engendered specula
Ition, profigacy, extravaganza, ant
corruption, by the intense desire {,
get suddenly rich out of the govern
ment and without labor, and the in
ventions and schemes generally tx
get money out of the Treasury TO
the benefit of individuals without
regard to the interests of the gov
eminent.
/ "While the restless and unpaus-
| ing energies of a patriotic and in
corruptible people were devoted to
the salvation of their government
and they were pouring out their
blood and treasure in its defense,
there was the vast army of the base,
the venal, and the unpatriotic, who
rushed in 10 take advantage OF
the misfortunes of the country and
to plumber its Treasury. The
statute books are loaded with legis-
lation which viii impose burdens
on future generations. Public land
enough to make empires has been
voted to private railroad corpora
tons; subsidies of untold millions
of bonds, for the same purposes,
have become a charge upoL the peo-
pie, while the letters of vast monop-
Olies have been fastened still closer
and closer upon the public
''It is time that the representatives
of the people were admonished that
they are the servants of the people
and are paid by the people; that
their constituents have confided to
them the great trust of guarding
their rights and protecting their in
terests; that their position and their
power are to be used for the benefit
of the people whom they represent,
and not for their own benefit and the
benefit of the lobbyists, the gamblers,
and the SPECTATORS who have come
to Washington to make araid upon
the Treasury. The time has also
come, in my judgment, when public
men are to be held to strict account
ability, to more strict discharge
of their duty, and when their actions
will be scanned by more critical
eye. 1t is no new lesson that the
public men of this country must
learn 1t is a lesson which has
been taught in other countries and
at times even when there was little
to boast of in the way of public
virtue"
There is no overstatement here
of the waste and corruption which
marked the career of Radicalism
during the four years of war and
the four years of peace. The ex-
cuses put forth that these ex-
cesses were but incidents of public |
excitement, and were compensated
by the energy with which the war
was carried on, are delusive. I'll
this financial discussion shall go on
till the truth is fully told, the people |
viii learn the whole story Of the false |
estimates made-to deceive the PEG
pie previous to the election, the
measure of which will soon be made
in the deficiency bills of the
present session. These, with
the pro1igate schemes of the
congressional rings, threaten to
swamp the administration of Gen.
Grant at the outset 1t is no wonder
his mouth piece lifts voice of de
precation. He says:
eve can waterlog the Ship of |
State before the President elect takes |
We can make appropria-
ions and incur liabilities which will |
20 over to the next Administration, |
which cannot be met by the current |
revenues, and can only be met by |
additional taxation on the
people. We can destroy the conf
1ence of the people in the wisdom,
and purity Of the Republi-
can party by yielding to the insatiate
demands of the cormorants who |
have gathered about us, and who |
make acquisitions upon us, which, if |
yielded to, will destroy, and ought |
to destroy any party"
Mr.. Washburne does not speak |
like a man altogether confident that
he can carry Congress with him in
clearing Gen. Grants path from OBJ
before he enters upon it.
The difficulties which beset the ad-
of the General arc of
the creation of the party that nOmi-
mated and elected him and it is eyi-
dent that he must look beyond party
lines if he would retrieve the country,
or he must be carried away and lost
in the tide of corruption which has
so appalled, his friend WaShbuTne