The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1874-08-21

An increase in the two last years of
twenty odd thousand.
This list does not include the laborerS
and general employees, but the civil list
proper. To give YOU some idea of the
manner in which this list is almost daily
added to, | will give you one instance
which will serve rs II sample for great
many cases. There are five engineers
regularly employed to run the stationary
engine that heats the Senate chamber, mt
salaries ranging from 81 800 to $500 per
annum, when two, at farthest, could do
all that is necessary. The fifth one hap
pcncd to he employed in this way. He
had rendered some political services to II
Republican Senator, and came to Wash
ington to be- rewarded with an office.
Upon locking around he found there
were four engineers to do the work above
stated. This seemed easy work, and SO
he asked his friend, the Senator, to secure
him a position in that core, and it was
accordingly done.
The PoStoffie Department cost
i'm lSS o., iJUyHZ %
In 1874 the Postmaster General
estimates the cost at.............. Si,SS,9l2 W
II will be observed that in 1868 less
than S23000,0O0 were sufficient, while for
the present year nearly S34,0O0,OO0 are
reouired-an increase of one-half And
this in the face of the allegation of the
Postmaster General, that the abolition of
the ranking privilege would save sew
crnl million dollars in the expenses of
his department. And yet he asks nearly
five million dollars more for this year
than he expended in 1873, before the
Thanking privilege WAS abolished. This'iS
economy in the wrong direction.
It is true that the Republican party
claims great glory for the abolition of the
"franking privilege" but yet they have
system of "otficial stamps, which Is
used. or rather abused, in the same way
as the franking privilege. have Re
publican authority for this. Senator
Lewis, the Republican Senator from Vir-
ginia, in discussion on proposition to
allow the members to send free public
documents to their constituents, made
the following statement, which | quote
from the Globe:
"Mr. LewiS-Allow me to make
suggestion to the Senator from MiSSiS-
sippi. He says the ranking privilege
was abused in the ranking Of political
documents. l say that abuse has not
boon abolished yet. l have now in my
room plenty of documents, not on gov
eminent business, but electioneering doc
uments. franked with the official stamp
upon them by officers of the govern
ment.
EXPENSES OF GRANT AT THE WHITE
HOUSE. COMPARED WITH OTHER PRES
IpENTs.
The following summary of expend-
itures, which extends over three-quarters
of century, shows the enormous outlay
for keeping up the Presidential Mansion,
and the rate of progress for that time,
During Mr.. Buchanan,s administration
the cost was S94, 200. while under Gen
cral Grant it has reached SSl3,S34. The
items are classified under the names of
furniture. repairs, fuel attendants,
grounds and greenhouse, fences, stables,
and contingent expenses, but, if thor
oughlv sifted, they would be found to
cover more domestic objects. That
money can be thus illegally diverted has
been shown by the erectian of the Pres
ident's stables costing some S4O,OOO) out
of the appropriation made for the new
Department of State. The secretarie