The Cecil Whig., 1870-10-29
Review of a Democratic Document.

Harper's Magazine.
Review of Democratic Document.
The Democratic Resident Executive
Committee has lately issued sixteen-page
pamphlet, entitled "National Finances.
Under so comprehensive title the pub
lie would have right to expect, from any
honest and national organization, an
authoritative and reliable statement of the
condition and resources of the National
Treasury, the nature and extent of taxa
ton, and, at least, clear statement of the
receipts and expenditures of the Govern
ment for some designated period.
Nothing of the kind is to be found in
this Democratic document, which consists
mainly, of partial but pretended review
of Republican document previously issued
under a like title.
Let us examine some of the prominent
figures and statements of this Democratic
manifesto, and first of all its glaring
TITLE PAGE.
We quote:
"$411'255, AT G3 spent in the first fiscal
year OF Grants administration
Here is evinced plain purpose to i'm
press upon the public mind that this sum
constitutes the ordinary expenditures by
Grant for the period named.
WHAT ARE THE FACTS?
This sum of SAIL, ,255, AT 63 does not
represent expenditures in the ordinary
sense at all, but, on the contrary, it is the
gross receipts into the Treasury for the
fiscal year ending June 80, 1870,
The expenses for the same period were
as follows:
For payment of interest, redemption of
debt, pensions, and other obligations and
expenses incident to the suppression of the
Democratic rebellion, $33O,372, 542 IS.
Current ordinary peace expenditure in
currency, $50, ,ss2, ,935 As.
Which being reduced to gold standard,
gives $65, 651, 1873 50 as the current ordi-
nary expenditures of the year, being eigh-
teen cents per capita less than was ex-
pended under Buchanan upon the same
basis during the last year of his admins
tration. A broader deception upon the
people could not we'll be conceived than is
here shown to have been attempted by the
Democratic Resident Committee
ANOTHER QUOTATION FROM SAME TITLE
PAGE.
~ W nlcL Is Pol ott, >oI IL HloIc IudH Glo
whole ex penditure of Buchanan's admins
tratien and the last year of Pierce's admin
istration added together
Here is another attempted deception in
the title page of this Democratic docu-
ment The Resident Committee desires
the public to understand that Grants adj
ministration, for one year, has cost the
country more than the last five years of
Democratic rule, when, in fact, the last
year of Grant is cheaper per capita than
the last year of Buchanan, and also cheaper
per capita than was the Democratic admin
istration of either of the five years with
which it is compared by the Democratic
Committee.
THIRD QUOTATION.
"Nearly $4,000, 600 of premium paid to
bondholders in addition to the interest,"
This is fully answered by the fact that
the premium on gold received into the
Treasury, from the bondholders or specu-
lators during the same period, was $780,
1853, 331 so, nearly two millions i'll excess of
the premium paid on bonds.
QUOTATION NUMBER FOUR.
"Lawful money sc cents on the dol
lar!'
Wholly ignoring the fact that the sus-
pension of specie payments was forced
upon the country by the Democratic rebel
lion, that to the full extent i'll the power of
the Democracy they have discredited the
national currency from the date of its issue
to the present time.
Let the Resident Committee say what
currency would have been worth now, had
the Democratic policy of indifipite issues
to pay the bonds been sanctioned by the
people.
So much for the title-page Of this Demo-
cratic document, from which may be
drawn just conclusion as to its general
untruthfulness and intentional misrepre-
sentations.
DIMINUTION OF THE DEBT.
Under this head the Resident Committee
make only partial quotation from the
Republican document, which shows n re-
duction of the debt, under Grant, to July
/, 1870, of the sum of $500 69,0S7 II,
wholly ignoring the following:
"By means of the redemption and pay
ment of the one hundred and thirty nine
millions of coin-interest bearing debt, the
publicsare relieved ,forecer from an annual
tax to the amount of eight millions and
one-third of million Of dollars ($S, ,344, =
145 23;) which sum was each year required
simply to pay the six per cent. gold inter
est annually due on the one hundred and
thirty nine millions of dollars.
This eight and one third millions of an
nual taxation would, without compound
ing or discount, have sweled to an aggre-
gate of eighty-three millions in ten years to
one hundred and sixty seven millions in
tlcentg years, and two hundred and fifty
millions of taxation in thirty years.
This relief is permanent. Most of the
other propositions which have been, from
time to time, promulgated for relieving the
people from taxation are but temporary
expedients, that Tend, in fact, merely to
prolong the period and augment the ag-
gregate of taxation.''
They, however, deliver a moral lecture
against excessive taxation, in which they
forget to mention that every dollar of taxa
tien levied by the Republican party has
been forced upon the country by the DEM
ocratic rebellion.
But under this head the Democratic
Committee pretend to quote from speech
of Secretary Boutwell,, made in the House
of Representatives. July 81, 1868; but the
extract is so unfairly garbled by the Dem
ocrotic Committee that we have deemed it
better to refer to the Congressional Globe
for his exact words, which were as follows:
81 wish to call the attention of the
House to fact deduced by careful exami-
nation of statistics obtained from the As
sistant Secretary Of the Treasury, showing
that during the last three years we have
with our resources and the revenue of this
country secured large diminution of the
public debt. l confess that, after the care
full examination had made, | felt COM