Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-02-05

A DdlCl VI IhC LsCBuOllNaA l1ANl AAAl llS
hast year, to the end that these gentlemen
having claimed credit for their patty in th5
matter of reduction. that party may be held
to responsibility for any failure to make it.
Those of US who were present will not for
get the careful, able and eloquent speech
made by the chairman of the Committee
on Appropriations on the 23d day of Jan
uary, 1872, when he opened the discussion
on the appropriation bills. / refer to that
speech:
"The expenditure of revenue forms the grand
level from which all heights and depths OF leg
lslative action are measured. The increase and
diminution Of the burdens Of taxation depend
alike upon their relation to this level of eXpend-
itures. That level once given, all other policies
must conform to ii and be determined by IL. The
expenditure and distribution of revenue, there
fore, form the best test of the health. the wis
dom and virtue of a government. Is a govern
ment cOrrUp; that corruption will inevitably,
sooner or later, show itself at the door of the
Treasury in demand for expenditures"
These are words of wisdom and states
manship uttered by the distinguished chair
man of the Committee on Appropriations,
as | believe in all sincerity. They are preg-
nant with truth: and no less by their truth,
than their utterance by that gentleman, is
the party in power to be tried and Judged.
They were made to invite the attention of
the country to the assured fact urged by
him, that his party was addressing them
selves to a reduction of the expenditures of
the Government. In fact, at a later period
in his speech he says:
owe have not yet gone over all the appropri-
alton bills, the eleven which we are required to
present for the action of this House, but we
have gone 50 nearly over them that L am fable
TO state in general terms what the result will
be. 1 hope we shall, In those eleven bills, be
i Qhfn IN rpdnrR the GnnrnnriQflnnS ahnmf CO no =
600 from the appropriations Of last year. The
total appropriations of last year in those bills
amounted in round numbers 10 S16O, 000,O The
total appropriations We shall In the
same eleven bills this year, l hope, will not eN-
coed Sl5l ,OO0, 900; perhaps they may be a little
less even than that sam These appropriations
of Sl5l ,OO0, 600 will be understood 10 be outside
of what are known as permanent appropria-
tons. The permanent appropriations include
the public debt in its various forms, and some
other form OF charges, which we ind VIII be re-
ducsd about g, ,0G0 from the amount apprO-
priated last year. The amount for the fiscal
year 1871 was SIX, 800, 2I3; the amount for the fis-
cal year 1872 is stimated at S16e COL ,s6l; the
amount for the fiscal year 1873 is estimated at
Sl5i-9 ,2S7."
The committee claimed to have reduced
the estimates for 1873 S,000,000: When
this statement was made, Mr.. Beck said:
with the geutleman's consent, I would like
to say a single word. worked for two years on
the Committee on appropriations of the last
Congress. ana II WAS as sIlnEN 4 COmLllIttc rs Il
ever saw. The consequences was that a def
cheney bill of SI1 .O0r, 600 had 10 be brought in,
and the gentleman's committee will have to do
ton is over"
The gentleman from Kentucky was right,
as the tables and documents to which |
shall hereafter refer will show.
Now, Mr.. Chairman, it will beseen upon
reference to the statements made by the
chairman Of the Committee on Appropria-
tiOns that the amount estimated for the ex-
penditures of the Government, independ-
ent and outside Of the expenditures of the
Government on account of the permanent
appropriations, for the year 1873 were $751;
100000. They were, intact, S173, 495 ,015.-
%; and, as predicted by the gentleman from
kentucky,a at the next session were followed
by a deficiency appropriation. 1t will furth-
er be seen that the gentleman promised the
people a continued reduction. In the
speech referred to already, the gentleman
from Ohio said for this promised reduction:
81 know it is not safe to attempt to forecast the
future; but venture to express the belief that,
II peace continues the year 1916 VIII witness our
debt reduced TO SI25,O OO, 900, and the interest
on the public debt to SOS, 600, OOO-making our
total expenditures, exclusive of payment on the
principal OF the public debt, s20,OoO,cOo."
In the light of subsequent events, and
with the estimates of the Secretary of the
| Treasury for the year 1S75-amounting to
over $4,000 ,000-it is believed the gen
tleman will recall his prediction.
The appropriations for the year 1874
were S197, 920, 297.SS, al increase Of S46,-
100000 more than the chairman of the
Committee on Appropriations-the keeper
of the public TreasuTy-deemed necessary
for the support of the Government in 1873.
What was there, and what has there been,
in the condition of the country to demand
this large increase? Is it 'that a govern
ment being corrupt, that corruption will
inevitably, m or later, show itself at
the door of the Treasury in demand for ex-
penditures?" Are we not confronted with
the fact, as already referred to, that within
the last few months the Secretary Of the
Treasury has, in the exercise of questiona-
bic authority, increased the public debt
about $25,000 900? | pause, to call attention
to the fact that a little over one year ago it
was claimed by the then Secretary of the
Treasury that the public debt was being re-
duced; that public expenditures were being
decreased; and that public taxation was
being lesSened. The country believed the
statement. but time, with its memorable
| lO1lE. HAS SlON IL llldI Tic DuDtiC utDb Is Dc-
ing increased, that public expenditures are
growing and multiplying, and that more
taxes even to the necessarieS of life-are
being demanded. Shall l repeat the words
of the chairman of the Committee on APP
preparations, "Chat the expenditures and
distribution of revenue form the best test
of the health, the wisdom, and vir,ue of a
government" Tried by this most sound
rule, what must be the judgment of the
people upon that party who are alone re-
sponsible for this condition?
In defense Of the enormous amount of
our yearly expenditures, much has been
charged to the recent civil war, and the
state of circumstances growing out of il,
and this has been deemed an all-sufficient
answer to each and every comparison made
of the expenses of the Government prior
and subsequent to that period. l propose,
Mr.. Chairman, in addition to the COMPARE
son | have already made of tine estimates
for 1873 and those of 1874, in which and
by which a large increase is shown, TO in
vite your attention to another comparison
which [ think will show more eonclusively
than any other this growing ANGER of pub
lie expenditures.
By the act of the 4th of July, 1886, it is
made the duty of the Secretary of the Sen
ate and Clerk of the House of Representa-
tives to prepare at the close of each session
of Congress statements showing: list. Ap-
propriations made during the session. ID.
Offices created, and the salaries thereof.
Sd. The Offices the salaries of which have
been increased.
Before calling attention specifically to the
facts shown by these reports, allow me to
say hat a reference is made to them, not
with a view of asSailing the action of the
Committee on Appropriations, but with a
view of holding responsible the party who
have had, during this period of time, the
control Of the expenditures of the Govern
ment. We fix this responsibility upon the
party by an examination of what they have
done. 1t is right to assume that what they
appropriate in any given year is all that is
required for the expenditures of that year,
if honestly made. Now, turning to these
reports, we find q quote from Mis-. Doc.
No. 81, T~hirty-ninth Congress, second ses-