Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-01-13

strongly to our sympathy, to our
generosity, our gratitude and our
friendship; many Of them small in
amount, it is true; and yet all ma.
king vast aggregate, and from the
claim of twenty per cent. additional
to the wages of the faithful, hard
working and worthy clerks in the
Departments, to the claims for subsi-
dy of unknown millions by joint
railroad corporations, all urged with
persevering industry, all having
their friends on the floor and in the
Hobbies, and all demonstrated to
be just, and right, and consistent
with true economy, and yet, if all
were allowed, the Government
would be bankrupted. 1t is our du-
ty sternly to resist this general
onslaught upon the Treasury; and if.
we are not willing or competent to
discharge our duly in this respect
the people should and would send
those here who are. It is much
easier to spend money than to earn
it, and we must remember that every
dollar of the money we appropriate,
often with lavish and generous hand,
comes from the hard earnings of a
laboring and heavily taxed people.
Idesire to be understood, Mr.. Chair
man, that I do not advocates ssttiingy,
parsimonious and miserly policy;
that is one extreme. Between that
and prodigality there is golden
mean of true, wise, and just economy
which do advocate. There is one
class of expenditures heretofore made
pretty literally which / trust will be
entirely discontinued. refer TO the
expenditures in the shape of subsi-
dies to railroad companies. In my
opinion it is the settled conviction of
the people that not another dollar
should be voted for that purpose.
We have now issued and outstand-
ing bonds granted as subsidies to
railroads to theamountof$ So, G25, 900,
and this In addition to grants of pub
lie land to railroad companies to the
enormous amount of one hundred
and eighty-two million acres, being
an area equal to five times the State
Of Iowa.
This whole subsidy practice is
wrong, in my opinion, not warrant
ed by the Constitution or the princi-
pies and theory of our Government,
and all the speciOus arguments made
to show that the people are Indirect
ly benefited by the expenditure of
as much or more than the amount
given are mere sophisms. The re-
verse is the fact. 1t is taking the
money from the pockets of the many
to enrich the few, and aiding to build
up powerful monopolies, always OPP
pressive in their character, crushing
out by their power all opposition and
all competition, and paralyzing the
true interests of the country. 1t is
true these subsidies are in the shape
of a loan to be repaid to the Govern
ment. regard them in substance
rs gift tothe companies, and / have
no doubt they so regard them; and
the action of Congress in 1864 releas-
ing the lien of the Government upon
the Union Pacific Railroad, which
lien it held as security for the bonds
issued, would lead a reasonable man
to suppose that Congress had no in
tention of looking to the Company
for the payment of the bonds. l
never could understand the reason of
this surrender by Congress of the
only security the Government had
for the vast amount of money given
that company, and it is striking il
lustrati0n of the power of these rich
corporations. l think we may as
well make up our minds to lose what
we have given, but for myself / say
no more railroad subsidies, no more
robbing Of the people to enrich IA
vOred few.
Mr.. Loughridge made strong ar
gument against any further purchase
of real estate by the Government.
He examined the expenditures in all
the Departments Of the Government,
and showed that there might be a
very large retrenchment. He con-
cluded as follows:
Our revenue Is larger than necessa-
ry now, and with decreased expend-
itures taxation can be materially re-
duced. So far as it can be done
without reducing the revenue too
much, let the duties be removed from
all articles of necessity and comfort
which cannot be produced in this
country to the extent of our wants;
first of all on tea, coffee and sugar,
those comforts alike of the poor
mans cottage and the rich mans
mansion, and In the words Of great
British statesman, "Let all the peo-
pie have free breakfasts.
Do this, and give to the West and
South $50. COX. 900 additional of cur