Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1870-09-15
ECONOMY vs.. EXTRAVAGANCE


Democratic papers have been try
ing TO convince the people of this
State that in order to secure econo-
my, the Democratic party must be
restored to power. 1t requires an
immense amount of audacity for a
party with such financial. history
as the Democratic party has, to at
tempt to make people believe in its
pretensions. The Deputy Auditor
of State. gentleman having access
to the official records. and thorough
~ informed on the subject, has Civ
en- very plain exposition of the adj
ministration of tie financial affairs
of this State.
He shows that in 1860, after thlr-
teen years of almost uninterrupted
Democratic government, the debt of
the State had increased to ten mil
lions Of dollars. This appears all
the more strange when it is remem>
bered that in 1S49, and continuous
ly forward, tax was levied and coll
lected for the special purpose of ex-
tinguishing the funded debt, and that
if the tax thus provided. had been
faithfully applied, and reasonable
economy observed in Sta tie expendi-
lures, the entire debt might have
been paid in 1860. But economy
and retrenchment were words un>
known to the Democratic party in
their management of affairs, and
when they wanted money to pay the
interest on the State debt, they
"w.nt through" the Sinking Fund,
andmanaged TO &c. the General Fund
of he Treasury indebted to funds
set apart for specific purposes, to the
extent Of $685. ISIS %.
He then calls attention TO the fol
lowing facts. In October, 1860, the
Republican party was successful,
and in January, 1861, a Republican
General Assembly convened. Soon
.ster the breaking out of the war the
Legislature found it necessary to
authorize the issue of war bonds to
the amount of $4,000, 900, thus nee
essarily adding a large amount to
the great Democratic debt. During
the years 1863, 1864, the Democratic
party was again Il rower. They
made their brief return famous by
refusing to pay the interest on the
State debt when there was a million
dollars in the Treasury, thereby en-
barrassing the State at a critical
period, and by their course general
~. giving aid and comfort to the
rebels in arms. In 1864 the Democ-
raey were dismissed from power by
twenty thousand majority, and in
january, 1866. the Republican party
resumed its la5ors.
He then shows that the Republl-
can administration of affairs since
January, 1864, has wiped GU. the
debt, and placed Indiana, in all that
constitutes political and financial
greatness, foremost amongthe States
Of the Union. In addition to the
millions of dollars Of the State debt
that have been paid, fifty thousand
dollars have been paid each year,
since 1861, for apportionment by the
Superintendent Of Public Instruc.
tion, tocancel the claim of the school
fund against the General Fund of the
Treasury claim that grew up in
the dark days of Democratic power.
The direct tax levied by the General
Government upon the State during
the great Democratic rebellion.
amounting to s9O4,Sz5 SO, has been
paid without recourse to additional
taxation. The indebtedness Of the
Northern Prison has been paid, and
the prison completed. The Soldiers
Home, at Knightstown, the Normal
School building, at Terre Haute, the
building for the Supreme Court and
State offices, and Female Rsforma-
tory, indianapolis, the House Of
Refuge, at Plainfield, have been
erected and paid for, anu the Insane
Hospital and Deaf and Dumb Asy-
fum have been materially enlarged
rnd improved, besides the ordinary
expenditures of State government.
All this has been done by faithful
ly applying the taxes, and ny strict
economy, as the results fully show.