The Plymouth Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1869-1941, 1870-09-01
The Treasury Statement.

Only a few days ago, the Assistant Sec.
retary OF the Treasury made q statement
showing what had been the expenditures
of the national government, and for what
purposes, for the year ending the thIrtieth
day of June.
By this statement. it appeared that aside
from the payment of interest on the pup
lie debt, and the expenditures necessarily
growing out of the war, the adminlstIa-
ton of the government had cost the
people q good deal more than twice as
much as it cost them ten years ago.
To ascertain whether extravaganza, and
venality. and jobbing prevail in the man
agement of the public business, we have
only to compare the expenses OF the sew
eral departments at Washington-leaving
out of the calculation payments for inter
est, and or account OF Indians and pen
sions-with what they were before the
Republican party came into possession OF
the government. Such a comparison
will show that our national expenditures
now are more than twice the amount they
ought to be, or would be, did integrity
prevail in Congress and the Administers
ton. The amount of money expended in
the departments at Washington is proof
that corruption prevails in Congress
in making appropriations, and that cor
ruption prevails in the departments in
making estimates.
Solar as the latter point is concerned,
il was made clear in q speech by Con-
gresham Dawes, Chairman of the Com
mittee on Appropriations, and q staunch
Republican, during the last session of
Congress, and from which it appeared
that the President, and every member of
the Cabinet, were directly responsible for
extTavagsnt estimates. Mr.. Dawes said
she took their estimates, made in their
several reports, and called on each one of
them and e~ndeavored to obtain a reduc-
ton, and they would not cut them down.
The President prOfessed, and he was I'M
doubtedly honest in the profession, igno-
rance of all the estimates except those
pertaining to the War Departnent-by
far the heaviest in the list-and lie said
these could not be reduced"
1t is true that Congress did not vote al
that WAS demanded, but the appropria-
ticns reached nearly to the estimates, and,
judging by the past, the taxpayers will
have to prenare for huge deficiency bills
next winter. There has not been q year
since the Republican party came into
power IN which such bills were not
brought forward, and there is no reason II
suppose thst the present year will prove
an exception to the general rule. 1t is a
part ofthe tactics of Republican Congress
men to make a pretence of reducing TX
p~enditures and taxation, but this is shown
to be 8 pretence merely by each annual
report of the Secretary of the Treasury
Some half-dOZen or more OF prominent
Republican politicians, st the head o.
whom was Vice-President Cola X, have
%petitioned the Treasury Department fol
49, ---TI Ill
their party in the fall campaigns. Thi:
help has come in the form of an assertion
that the ordinary expenses of the govern
ment cost less Der capita now than they
did under the last year of Ruchanan's ed
ministratiOo, but this assertion is shown
20 be altogether false by the figures givel
by the Assistant Secretary OF the Treasury
to which we have referred.
As the case now stands, it is as if q wit
ness bad testified to 8 certain state OF facts
and then sworn TO conclusions Direct,
The opposite of what those facts disclose
COlfax and the Senators who want tabu
lar statements from the Treasury Depart
ment showing that the ruling party ba
not been Incompetent and prOfligate in il
financial management, discard the fact
and grab at the conclusion. How thi
COMFORTS with honesty and fair cleo
ilOneering strategy the voters OF the cOun
try will consider. The attempt to cove
up the financial record of the Republican
papy will prove abcI:ive, because tn
trail of the serpent is over it al, and tn
easily accessible facts in the premises for
bid TIE o5literation of that trail by per
sistent and deliberate lying. If Cola,
thinks gnawing q file is good for the teeth
let him continue his inYestigations.-Chi
cdg0 Times.