The New Orleans Democrat. (New Orleans, La.) 1875-1876, 1875-12-25


economist) that the man who has t.
prosecute a claim against the Govern
ment Of his country Is prin,a .focie {
fraud, and ought to be non-suited be
cause he could not recover IL under thu
ordinary system OF vouchers estab
lished by law But we do not say tina
the history Of successful suits In the
Court OF Claims, up to and including
the notorious Union Pacific Railwa,
case, exhibits many judments that wer'
paid that ought never to have been al
lowed. The number and variety OF cot
ton claims alone growing out Of tn,
captures OF abandoned property during
and since the war are so great and tn,
thousands and millions recovered b,
claimants under manufactured evidenc,
have called for u special relnopstanct
both In the report OF the Attorney Gen
eral In the last annual message of thu
President. We very much fear tina
there IL small hope Of getting these
cotton judgments OF which the tly-pay
ers must yet he mulcted, seriously di
minished under the present House o
Representatives. But when tho Cour
OF Claims calls for $2,OOO,O0O for the
coming year against only 100000 up
propriated by Congress for the present
one, 1t becomes the unqucstioned duty
of that body before It passes this large
appropriation to find out what the
money Is for.
The next largest item Of increase un
der the head of Government expendi
ture Is In the estimates Of the Congress
sional Printer for the public printing
priations for the present fiscal year
which were $t ,G65 ,5O7 &C, to the amount
of 1914 1888 30. This is % pretty big bill
Of increase for times of retrenchmcnt
and reform. Nearly 100000 In the ag
gregate to be expended on the public
printing and binding, or about twenty
pei cent increase over the enormous ex-
penditure OF the present year. We think
1t is about time that some Of the items
of expenditure, which amounted &c
nearly ~, 0OO, 900 for merely printing and
binding, should be looked into.
Especially is this tho case whore they
included, rs Is currently reported, large
amounts OF Russia and Morocco leather
and gold leaf for binding Of extra copies
Of the reports OF bureau officers for pre-
sentation to their political and personal
friends throughout the country. This
is ministering to the vanity of little Of
ticials at the expense Of the taxpayers
while it is IN absurd and grotesque VIC
lation OF good taste in binding an ordi
nary public documents in the boudoil
or parlor table style Of Turkey Morocco
and gilt edges.
Besides this, the custom which
has grown up In Washington Of letting
every officer In the public service order
rs many special reports, blanks, forms
and supernumerary documents as he
pleases, to be executed at the Govern
ment Printing Office, at the peoples
charge, ought to be instantly stopped
Discretionary powers are always dan
gerous and liable to abuse. But no dis
cretionary power Is more apt to bt
abused than that which a bureau Officer
exercises in the direction OF magnifyinl
his Office. Congress ought to provide
nuisance should be curbed and brought
within the bounds OF economy.
The printing OF its own more or less
useless documents In enormous quaint
ties for free distribution is another mos
extravagant use of the public money
which 1t behooves Congress forthwith t.
curtail. Tons upon tons OF this useless
lumber are annually turned out from
the Government printing office and sem
numbering the mail all over the country
And out OF every hundred Of these docll
ments it would be u violent stretch Of
credulity to suppose that SO many ~
five are ever used or read by the recipi
.ents. The great mass of them are
tnnbled into waste baskets, and fine
their way to the pulp watts of the paper
maker within less than twelve
month. We trust the present Con
gress will be less ambitious &c
distinguish itself as society
for the free diffusion of useless knowl
edge than It's predecessors. Its imme
date predecessor had the hardihood tC
restore the fraDking privilege, 80 far as
public documents were concerned, until
their own term OF Office expired, and
these documents actually went free
through the mails until the 9Th of De
cember, instant. We hope the new
Congress will let the Thanking privilege
now again dead by limitation, sleep the
sleep that knows no waking, and thus
in at least one particular, truly reflect
the public mind OF the country.
The franking extravaganza and the
public printing extravaganza go hand
in hand They are twin excrescenccs
in the public service, which mutually
help to expand each other. and thus tC
build up an abuse costing the taxpayers
millions Of dollars, with little or no re.
sulting benefit to the people.