The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1874-03-14

/ ~ together. The hfoe AS MADE py
Mr.. Dawes, of Massachusetts,. chair
man of the Ways aud Means Commit
tee, the second by Mr.. Roberts, of n.
V, member of that committee. and
the third by Mr.. Garfield, Of Ohio,
chairman of the Committee on Appro-
priations. The speech of Mr.. Dawes
was designed TO show that the hnan-
ces of the country were IN an embar-
rassed and alarming condition, that
the expenses Of the government We're
| increasing, while its revenue was de-
ereasing, and that there was imminent
/. danger. If not national bankruptcy, at
| least of great detriment To the nation
al credit. Some Of the points made
| by Mr.. Dawes were well taken. With
frankness and holiness which were
although sdnirsble, he pointed out
some inviting fields of reform. calling
attention to sinecures which should
be abolished, errors which should be
corrected, and expenses which should
be curtailed. In this regard his
speech was calculated to do, and un-
doubtedly did do good, furnishing
Congress with some valuable hints on
economy which they appear well in
| clined to adopt But in some very
important particulars Mr.. Dawes did
great, though doubtless unintentional,
injustice to this administration and to
the Republican party. The burden
and drift of his speech were. that
while the revenues Of the government
had been steadily decreased during
the last three years, its expenses had
been steadily increasing. On this
head MIR. Dawes said:
"While We have been reducing our
receipts on the one side, we have been
increasing our expenditures On the
other. In 1869 the expenses of this
government were $2,865, III; in 1870
they were s369, 653, SEQ; in 1871 they
were &.S2, 1T 1913; in 1872 they we're
$277 ,5l7 .962; in 1893 they were
s29O, 345, 245; and the appropria-
tlons for the present year, ending
June 81, 1874. sum up 8f9,652, GA.
No sooner, however, had Mr.. Dawes
closed than Mr.. Garfield rose, and in
a speech Of about ten minutes, COM
pletely refuted this apparently dam
aging statement He called the At
tention OF the House to these impor-
tant facts: First, that Dawes bad in
cluded in his statement Of expenses
for the present year. the amount APP
propriated for the sinking fund, viz:
$g, 191,369, which he had not includ-
ed in the statement Of any previous
year and which therefore should be
deducted. This would reduce the ap-
preparations for the year ending June
80, 1874, to 500, 461 ,275; and, second,
Mr.. Garfield showed that of this sum,
ST., 143, 239, were for defcieneies Of
the year 1873, SO that the real appro-
priations for the year 1874 were $279,-
3IS,036, instead of $319, 652 GA, as
stated by Mr. Dawes. 1t is due the
latter gentleman to say that subse-
quently he admitted his error, and ex-
planned how he had fallen into it. And
as his speech has been made the text
for numerous attacks on the Republic
can party by the Ienocatic press, we
call attention to the following senten-
ees as indicative Of its spirit and pur-
pose. He said:
Il am not here to arraign the Re-
publican party, but only to urge it to
take hold of the work of refor ming
and improving old systems and meth
DDS which have been inherite d not
created, by it. The Republican party
had its origin In the reform and over
throw of old abuses. 1t wiz forget
its mission, only when it ceases to
search them out and abolish them.
No other party before it, had either
the courage or the power to work out
reforms within its own organization.
1t is the glory of the Republican par
ty. that it probes its own sores, and
corrects its own errors. II has never
waited to be driven from without to q
discharge of its duty, but, impelle1 by
the very purpose of its being, it has
shrunk from no self-discipline, nor
hesitated in the application Of the
most radical reform. 1t is in this
spirit that 1 speak, arraigning nobody,
but seeking if possible, for better
methods of administration than those
which the country has out grown, or
experience has proven uBwise." $50
r. The speech of Mr.. Roberts, deliver.
ed on Monday Last. puts very differ
ent and much brighter face on the ma
tional finances than that Of Mr.. Dawes.
Brief reference has already been made
to it by Telegraph, but the report,
which is now At hand, calls for . more
extended comment. REWRITING to the
situat ton three months ago, Mr.. Rob-
erts reminds the country, that when
Congress met the Secretary Of the
Treasury declared there was urgent
necessity for an increase of taxation
to the extent Of $42, coz, 600 year; il
other words, that without such In
crease, there would be ade6cit Of that
amount. as.r fsg.,
Owing, partly perhaps, to changes
In the tax laws, but chiefly to the COM
mercial depression, the national re-
venue had run down from $46, 3f4, 106
in the months of October and Novem-
Der, 1872, to $35, 1O6, 373, for the cor
responding months Of 1873, showing
decrease for those two months Of
1873 as against 1872, 81 .337 ,733 This
falling off Of the revenue, and the
general gloomy outlook, so alarmed
the Secretary of the Treasury that in
his annual report he estimated de-
ficiency for the present fscal year of
$13. o3D,OO for current expenditures,
besides the sinking fund; wheIeupon,
he asked for increased taxation to the
amount of $4,000, 600. But now,
after the expiration of three months,
the situation is entirely changed. the
revenue is increasing, expenses have
been reduced, estimates cut down and
all prospects of a deficit is removed.
The first OF December the Secretary
If the Treasury estimated the total
revenue for the year ending July /,
1873, at $271 ,304 80. It is now con-
ceded by the Treasury Department
that it will probably reach @2S8. O00.-
600, and that the expenditures for the
current year, can not well exceed