New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-09-21
1ruIr 10 REEORlL.

VIVA 4 ~ HETOhh'
"Reform is necessary to establish sounu
currency, restore the public credit and
" maintain the national honor" That5is the
opInion of Mr. Tilden and his party. Look
=" ot me 7 am Reform. told the Secretary
" early in 1865 what you want to do now is
h" to cut down your expenses and live within
vour income" The Secretary should have
renlicd. "Pay your share of the income, Mr.
"'Tilden. before you prcach."- But what
has the Government done Mir. COnant
the acting Secretary of the Treasury
has taken the trouble to explain, and
Mr.. TiIden, when he rises from the
per,isal of the letter, will probably con-
clude that reform is necessary in making
false charges as we'll as in tax returns. lie
has persistently asserted that the Government
has not lived within its incomes" that its
expcpgcs ought to he reduced below its In
" Gomez that it is like debtor who is "seen
"every day spending all he could lay ms
Glands on in riotous living" Mr.. Commits
reply is very brief He presents the official
records, which prove that during eleven years,
since 1865. the Government has not only
"ived within its income but after paying
81 ,335,344, Si5 in interest on the public
debt. and $6O6,25S, lOS for claims and pen
s;ons, arising from the war which was caused
bv Mr.. Tilden's party, it has met all It's other
current obligations and had q surplus income
over expenses of 1924, lG5, l2G-more than
SOC, 742 900 yearly. In every year OF the
eleven since the war, the Government lived
"within its income once only $2,3OO,OOO,
once only SIS, 100000, and in every other
year over SOS 100000; and yet Mr.. lilden is
caught in the assertion that it has been
"spcnding all il could lay its hands on" Re
form is necessary, Mr.. TildcT, in assertions.
The charge that expenses and taxation ought
10 be but have not been reduced, is proved to
be equally false. Mr. Conant shows that the
revenue has been cut down from f5Js,OOO,OOO
Pin 1866. and $ill .OOO. 900 in 1870, TO $751;
600 600, q reduction of nearly onc-halt; that
the expenditures except for payment OF debt,
have been reduced from 500, 100000 in
1866, and $3O9,OOO,O00 in 1870, 10 T21S,-
49, 97 in the fiscal year ending June 80
1876 This reduction, moreover, has been
very constant, for there has been some de-
crease of expenditure, as compared with the
year preceding III every year OF the eleven
except two. The average reduction has been
| S23.S49,9 Gj yearly, and the total reduction
since 500 has been $500, 3l9,6l9. Considering
| that these facts appear in every annual report
! of the Treasury, and that hlr. 1ilden's asser-
tons were made, not in the heat OF debate,
but in document which he was more than a
month incubating, and which may be called
the most important document of hts life
| ALWAYS excepting the income tax rcturn-his
| disregard of The facts Is ineXcusablc. " Re
" form is necessary" Governor, in picking up
and repeating the miscellaneous lies Of your
reckless partisans. They are fit reliance only
| for a man who has no reputation IN lose.
Mr. Commits references TO Van Buren, and
Buchanan are nl;ind. Disturb not the
dead Van Buren, was Mr.. Tilden's
friend and political godfather; Buchanan was
the latest and probably the last Democratic
President. Although public losses 10y default
ing officers were higher than ever before or
since under Van Buren,, and great deal
higher under Buchanan than they have been
in any year since, it is not quite polite to
bring that fact to Mr.. Tildcn's notice. 1t was
cruel in Mr.. Morrill,, also, TO begin the sale OF
4lo per cent bonds at this time, when
! Mr.. Tilden, pointing 10 himself us the great
reformer had said that the average interest
on the public debt was 5.5S per cent, and
that "a financial policy which should secure
" the highest credit ought gradually to obtain
"a reduction of one per cent" Reform Is
necessary, Mr.. Tilden, in your knowledge OF
public affairs and likewise of history. For we
are told that the public credit ought to be
restored" But during the four years prior
to the war, under Democratic rule, the ex-
penses of the Government were in excess of
its income in 1853, 1859, and 1860, and
1861 until change of administration, in all
S5S, 100000; our bonds sold for only
1891 per $1,000, and, of the notes of
1860, part were placed at discount equiya-
lent to ~ per cent interest. We decidedly do
not want to "restoren the public credit to the
point mt which the last Democratic Admins
tration left it. Even Mg. Tilden viii acknowl-
edge, if he ever effects the desired reform in
accuracy of statement that eleven years OF
reduced expenses, reduced taxation, and ex-
cess of revenue over expenses every year, are
better than four years Of increased expenses
and deficit every year, and that Az per cent
is better interest TO pay than II per cent.
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