The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-02-09
ECONOMY" AT WASHINGTON.

The friends of the administration, in reply
ing to MIR. Dawes charge Of gross extrava-
gance, have made the threefold defense:
that in preparing its estimates the Treasury
Department perpetrated an error in its
figures; that there were large unexpended
balances to the credit of the last admins
tration, in its last year, which this admins
tration has not; and that Congress is really
to blame if the charge of extravaganza can be
proved Mr. Fernando Wood, in the debate
which followed the whitewashing remarks of
the Massachusetts, member of the Ways and
Means Committee, made short work OF these
apologies Certainly, the very confession that
the Treasury Department is capable of such
errors as those involved in the difference
between 1921, 900, 600 and 1891, ,000,0 900 con-
yicts the administration of rossincapacity. 1t
is somewhat significant, too that the blunder
was not discovered until after Mr.. Dawes
had preferred his damaging complaint This
incapacity in subordinates for footing up
totals can hardly be regarded as a matter of
surprise, if, as Mr.. Dawes charges, the Presi-
dent himself admits that he knows nothing of
any of the departments except one. There
never before was a President of the United
States who had been in Office whole year
without becoming familiar with the various
branches of the Government. The depart
ment coming within the comprehension of
President Grant is said to be the War Office,
and for it's estimates he is willing to be con-
sidered responsible. So much the worse,
then, for his reputation as an economist.
Some of the most glaring excrescences exist
there.~ For instance, the President maintains
a staff of military officials at the White House
utterly unwarranted by law or necessity. He
keeps five brigadier- generals about his person,
at an expense to the Treasury of $4,000 each,
and the only apparent duty they perform is
attending the doors, delivering cards, and
dancing attendance on visitors. Why does
he not lop OF this useless expenditure, if he
is so earnest, as his friends claim, for frl-
gality?
AS to the second defense, il is only
necessary to remark that Mr.. Butler, in
charging to the account of the johnson ad
ministration large unexpended balances, ex.
hibits his usual disingenuousness in omittine
to state that there were provisions of law
which took nearly every dollar of them to
execute contracts.
The attempt to transfer the blame of extra
vagance from the shoulders of the administra.
ton to those of Congress does not help the
radical party. That party has complete con
troll of the Senate and House of Representa-
tives and, if measures not warranted by the
real wants of the country have their origin
there, the responsibility rests with thei
authors and promoters. MIR. Wood remarks
that up to the time of his speech nine hun
dred and eighty five bills, embracing all kind
of schemes and jobs for governmental favors
had been introduced in the House, and almos
as many into the Senate. This fact does no
look like economy, and surely is sufficient il
itself to refute all claim that the radicals ma,
make to be the champions of retrenchmen
and reform.