The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1870-01-27
HousE......... wAsIr1nllro,r 80

tion, calling on the Postmas, er. General to
state by what authovlty he furnished to
forms OF petitions against the ranking
privilege. the cost OF having the same
Davis and Peters objected.
Wood gave notice that he would offer a
resolution on Monday. 1h
Van Trump offered a resolution, calling
on the Secretary of the Treasury for n
Statement as to the Interest paid by the
Government on the bonds of the Union
and Central Pacific Railroad Companies,
az TO Governments heights for tran9pOrta-
tion on those roads; also why those bonds
are omitted in the official periOai icaI state
ment of the public debt, as TO the stock of
those companies. Adopted.
Hay offered resolution directing the
Committee On Mines and Mining, to in
Yestlgate the causes OF the Avondale dis
asters &nd report whether Congress has
power under the Constitution, to legislate
so as TO prevent such occurrences, which
Cox offer ed a resolution calling on the
Secretary of War for information as to the
pay OF officers employed in civil duties in
the South, and Whether they are also paid
adopted.
Length ON previous question seconued,
and on motion of Dawes, was finally ta-
bled-yeas 94-naYs 81.
Julian offered a resolution of inquiry
as TO the appoin tment of a Land Commits
s1Oner to be charged with the special duty
of facilitating the acquisition of home
steads by freedmen and other Iandless
people in the Southern States. Adopted.
\ Wilson, of Ohio, offered q resolution In
qutring as to the extent and value of inn
ports or foreign commodities, suscept bic
of production in the United States, of
plants useful for dyestuR, medicines food,
textile and hbrous material, and other
economical purposes. Adopted.
Jones, of Kentucky, asked leave to offer
resolution DECLARING that the public debt
should be paid strictly according to con-
tract. That part specified TO be paid ia
coin should be SO paid, and that part speol.
in currency, as all other debts ara paic
and that any policy to return to specie
payment while the public debt exists. or
COIN would be an outrage upon the tax
payers OF the country and diFec. Ieglsla-
Kelsey objected.
Garfield hoped the resolution would be
admitted and voted down,
The resolution was not received.
The Senate bill, extending The limits
OF the port of New Orleans, was passed.
tee Of the. Whole. Cessna in the Chair, and
took mp the Legislative, Executive, and
Judicial APPROPRIATION Bin.
Butler, OF Mass, addressed the Commit.
tee in reply to the speech OF his colleague
tD3wes.l The object of that speech was to
show to unthlnklng and unreleoting per-
administration called for an appropria-
ton of s496, ,s25 81 more than theexpendts
lures of the last year of IOhnson's admins
lstration. OF coarse, under the tempta-
ton OF these outgoingg, the Secretary was
to make q show of economy, by abandon
ing all public works and by under estfrna-
ting every possible expenditure so as to
embarras the coming Administration,
and cause tt To bring In a deficiency bill,
upon Whi0h democrats might found the
charge Of extravaganza against the Re
publican party; but In their widest tnag-
inatlon they could not dream that a Re-
publican chairman OF the Comm1ttee of
Appropriations would be willing ingtru-
mPnt OF their de signs. A st1ll more Ieted
nlisconpeption of the truth by the Chair
man of tile Committee and a still greater
deception on the country, whether intens
ttonal or not, " as in overlooking the fact
were based on q large unexpended bal
ance, the balance for the navy then being
thuty-etght millions, and for the Quarter
masters department. of the Army six
millions. Those balances were now eXy
pended, and substantially every dollar
available for the year would have 10 he
appropriated from the eyenues It was
hard to believe that his colleague did not
know that great determining fact,
the Republican party. aud was
still harder to believe that, knowing IT.
he concealed it. Had he been seduced by
the fact that his predecessor. Washburne,
OF Illinois, had, by cutting down the ap-
propriatons upon the strength of unex-
pended balances, got o reputation for
The bull dog of ting Treasury. Was IL pos
siDle that his colleague would sacrifice
own lf-aggrandizement. In this connec-
tiOn, Butler read q letter to himself from
Secretary Boutwell,, giving the expended
balances OF June. 1865 as follows: War
Departm ent $40 ,463, ,321; Navy Department.,
SI3,320, ,632; Indian and Pension Depart
ments S2,O27 96o; civil service Sl3 Al, ,638 to-
tai SI56 426, 453. ResumIng his argument,
1868 shouId have made mis- estinates in
view of those balances, while General
Grants Secretary, in 1865, 81 ould have made
his estimates Without any view of such
balances in the Treasury, those balances
being substantially expended. AS to the
War the estimate for the year
ending June 80, Is69, was s55,000, ,0o0, ana If
to that were added old war debts paid II
would bring il to $50, 0OOo0. The army eX-
penseS for tue year ending June 30, 1870,
the frst year of General Grants Admins
tration, was S44 000,050- The reduction on
the army expenditures from the last year
of Johnson's 70 the first of Grants, was
S12 1858 ,925, and the estimated reduction for
the next year was S5I ,l9I 41, and be trusted
that the reduct ion would still 90 on.
AS to the Post Office Department., his coll
league knew nearly $l2 000O0 of estimated
excess was clerical error, why omit stat.
Ing that If his statement was an Hngener-
Gus plea for an adVei sary OF the AdmIniS-
trat1on endeavoring to fasJen upon 1t
charges of extravaganza. The whole
amount asked for the Post Office Depart
ment, instead of being 9,l34 76l, as ap-
pended in the book estimates was s27, 49,, ,d33.
Ought not the Chairman of the Committee
on Appropriations, before he made an
attack upon the Administration, OF which
he stood in the place OF leader in the
HOUSE, to have aSeertained Sucn error
But the error mad been diseayered az the
Department on she 7Uh OF December, and
his colleague had been notified of 1t. Re-
ferrtng, in this connection, to the proposed
abolition of the ranking privilege, lie ex-
pressed q desire to see Its abolisnment, be-
cause IL was an Inpediment and nui-
sance; but he wished to see IL abolished
for every ybody, evergwheFe, and, above all i,
after the funpudent hoWiing OF CERTAIN,
newspapers about the franking privilege.
He wanted to see every newspaper pay its
postage for their use OF the frankfne D.fv-
| ilege, in having the mails loaded down, in
many instances, with deleJerious sheets
| spreading advertisements OF Quack nos
/ trums and abortion medicines All over the
| lana. When the New York n fbune paid
at the same rate, by weight, for the clrcB a