The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-03-10
HOW TO RETRENCH.


How well certain underground premises
are paved with good intentions, most people
have heard. Merely to WILL in vague, luke
warm fashion, that wrongs should be righted,
does not right them. We have had talk
enough about retrenohment, and that policy
would seem to have superabundance of
friends; yet they served it as a bushel of
snowballs might o cold tea-kettle which they
were expected to raise to the boiling point by
an evolution of their latent heat. We pro-
pose to offer a few suggestions to those men,
bers of Congress who are heartily desirous
of reducing the national expenditures
1. Our naval service is too costly. We
need not keep SO many vessels ahoat in time
of general peace. We have too many officers
on duty, and far too many drawing pay for
whom no duty can be invented Congress
ought to cut down our naval establishment,
and direct that all superfuous officers be mus
tered out. We cannot afford to pay men for
doing nothing, nor to find or make work for
those who have nothing to do.
III. 1t is monstrous impolicy to lay up old
vessels in ordinary, and pay men to look on
while they rot. Better sell them, if only for
so much scrap-iron and oven-wood. When
we come to want fighting vessels again these
will be found entirely out of date, if not
ruined by corrosion. Sell them, if only to be
broken up.
LII. we nave 700 many navy yaruS. we
| believe both the Brooklyn and Philadelphia
should be discontinued and sold out If our
yard were forty miles up the Hudson, it would
be safer from hostile assault or skulking trea-
son, and it ought not to cost half to remove
it that the present site would sell for So the
| Charlestown yard should be given up or con-
solidated with the Portsmouth. 1t is tho
roughly imbedded in dense population, and
should be promptly extricated. We would
| d.,
| place just above New Orleans on the Missis-
sippi Gnstead of Pensacola) as the locations
for our three only navy yards, selling out all
| the others.
". Our army should be cut down one-half
we mean the officers. Four regiments of
good Dragons, we'll led, would be worth
twenty regiments of infantry and artillery on
the plains Railroads are our true peace
makers Run one through Arizona and
another through our Northern territories,
appoint honest Quakers for Indian agents,
and subject all who sell 'fre-water' to In
dams to drumhead court-martial- taking care
first to burn their liquor if it will burn, and
destroy it some other way if it will not-and
four regiments of dragons will better guard
our settlements than our army now does.
Let our regiments be few, and let all super
numerary officers be mustered out forthwith
V. We have large assortment of mints
| assay Offices, eUC., WHICH seem 10 us nOG par
ticularly ornamental while not at all useful
Let us have some of them sold out-that a
Denver, for one. 1t is not earning it's salt
and its prospect is not improving. We have
more mints and assay offices than we hat
fifteen to twenty years ago, when we were
producing far more gold and silver than now
Let every one go of which the annual cost il
more than one per cent. of the metal coinet
or assayed therein. If that rule should con
denim our assay Office abolish it.
VI. If we shall be so fortunate as to get ri,
of the franking privilege, letthe cost of print
ing for Congress be cut down at least half
and dismiss the army of holders, hackers, etc.
lodged in the vaults of the Capitol. The con
tingent expenses of Congress should surely
be reduced one-half.
VII. AS to judicial and other salaries,
should be borne in mind that, through the ar
probation of our currency, they are at leas
, twenty per cent. higher than they were te
months ago, and will be at least ten per cent
higher still whenever we shall have returne
to specie payments Hasten that happy day
The above are but points They migf
be largely extended. Republicans in Cor
gress! the country expects much of you
, tho way of retrenehment. Let her not b
disappointed!