The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1876-09-08

| legal pay OF the legal number OF officers and
| men, the maintenance of all the Navy ards
| OF the country, to complete as far a. We can
in one wear the iron clads and other vessels
of war authorized by Congress, and certain
| repairs of ships, together with the neceSSai V
| and contingent expenses thereof. Now, he
| says, do what you please i Will do the
| best can with what money you give me
1 So, too. with the Secretary of War in max
ing estimates for the support OF the Army -
| These estimates are all made by Army OFF,
GER. all the Government buildings under
| control OF the War department. together
| with all the river and harbor improvements
| will cost fourteen and half millions, and
| this, too, in obedience TO the mandates Of
| law. They do not ask Congress 10 eXpeDd a
| dollar, but their duty has been performed
when they tell us the cost. Examine the
| river and harbor bill passed this session 10y
| this House and you will find The engineer
force of the War Department is Directed 10
make surveys of rivers and harbors and ca
mails and TO make estimates of the cost there
OF, tine cost Of which / will venture TO say
will amount 10 more Than y OOU, go, and the
most Of II might add il for the South. Will
gentlemen claim next session when the esti
| mates for these works are before us that iEe
War Department is extTavagant because they
have simply performed their duty as cXpr ~
Iy reduired by this Congress-
Take up the estimates for public buildings.
| Is the Treasury Department eNiravaSant
when they send Us estimates of the cost of
the buildings that Congress has ordered 10 be
buIlI? Is tins same Department exiravagant
" hen they estimate what IL will cost Ia huild
light-houses in aid uf ccmineice as r'qu ''d
by Congress?
have named subjects enough for lhc pur
pose of showing that our ds OcraIlc friends
are greatly I'm error " hen tlTpy charge, Ntr:tv-
agarce upon the Departments o. Govern
ment In making up these estimates. Tie
fact is, once for ALL they simply obey the laws
whlch they are sworn 10 execute Wnen lIey
give us in the detailed form OF estimates The
cost of administering tue Government Tor
another year. / Will not conceal the fact
that a small portion of these estimate are
rfaFG NJ hnc ion hIfT \ hnU Uat
any item OF discretionary expenditure upon
which any serious charge OF extravagance
| has beer made or can be made.
Our friends on the other siie indulge in
generalities and with a great flourish of
| trumpe:s claim that the proposed appropriA-
tiOns are largely below the estimates. IL
| there anything startling or new IN that? !
| venture To say that never In the history Ol
| the Government has congress appropriated
the full sum estimated for. Since my service
here | have never known an instance where
| the appropriations were not largely below
| the estimates. The fact is the estimates are
valuable as forming basis OF action by Con-
gress. Knowing what the full cost is, Con-
gress can then intelligently exercise lts dls-
cretion as to how much Of the cost may be
post poned. This is the light in " hich intel
| ligent men view this subject of estimates.
REDUCTIONS.
Gentlemen on the other side have had
much TO say OF the reductions proposed by
the House appropriation bills. They claim
to have made reductions of S6i.O0O.WO from
the estimates; and from the appropriations
of last year of S}9,0O0O00. Now a very large
proportion Of these sums are not reductions
| at all, but are simply postponement OF ex-
penditure that must be made hereafter. In
| an analyst of these bills shall give the
amount postponed, so that 1t can be seen ex-
actly how much credit is due the action OF
| this House on the score of reduction ard how
much for rostponement.
DEMOCRATIC FIGURES.
| The table of the gentleman from Illinois
| r SnrinUQTl shows reduction
1 prOpriation bills as passed by the House over
those of last year to be $50 l75 OoJ (but correct
ly footed should be S3s, ,63l SID and the reduc-
ton on the estimates for this year at sSi 562,-
600, which when correctly footed is Sfi.6ls,-
727.30. use this table because il is generally
accepted by the democratic party. l shall
| show that the reductions and post ponements
are largely over stated In this table. First,
| the reduction in the pension bill is S4G6 3d.
That bill was passed precisely as recommend
| ed by the Pension Office, and therefore no
credit can be due TO this House for this redur-
| ton. 1t simply shows that we have reached
| the maximum of expenditures, and that this
year. and for the years to follow, we are on
the Il, scenuing scale in the amounts TO be
appropriated for the payment of PENSIONS
IL is also claimed in this table that there is a
reduction on the deficiency bill OF Si.US2y2l
A..
1t is well known to every gentleman here
that this deficiency bill is Tor items of ex-
pense for the year ending June 80, lSa6, not
provided for by appropriations made by the
| last Republican House. II is true that the
deficiency bill for the last fiscal was about
81 UOD 600 less than for the year previous. If
ybOdv is TO haye credit for it II is not the
| present democratic House of Representatives
but the Republican House OF last session.
Il does not enter into the expenditures Tor
| the year edding June 80. 1877.
Then let me call attention to the fact that
| In nearly all the bills passed by the House
| there are many re-appropriations of indefi-
mite sums once specifically appropriated, but
by careful management the entire sum ap.
| mr. iaf ed " needed. and
| wise provision of Republican law would bt
GOV cred back into the Treasury. il not reap
| propriatsd. OF this class of appropriations
ihere appears in the bills four or five million,
dollars. have not d time to ascerta N tEC
precise amount, but Tor the present purpoS,
will cali il four millions, believing that un'
a, resi- male it. For instance take the appro
IiiaIion tor the maintenance OF disabled sol
diers and sailors homes. The estimated c s
| Tor the maintenance of these insiitui ions il
something less than 500 100 Ii was ascer
tanned thHt about $50, ,UUO, being an unexpen
ded balance of a former appropriation wa
unused The House appropriated about $50
UCO which added TO the S55OO0O above referred
| TO made the necessary sum for their support
$4,000. which will appear in the eXpendi
lures of the current year, when in fact onl,
about s5UO.OOO appears IN The 1ootln OF liz
| bill. IL is needless TO go over the other item
| OF re-appIopriatiOns- 1 might add. v1thou
intending 10 be offensive at all to the chair
man of the committee. nor indeed TO TN
| committee itself. that this is a dodge pretf.
, sharp practice. and TO the man less charita
bic tlau myself il would appear and by hin
be characterized as cheat delusion, ar q
democratic ic trick thus to attempt to cheat til
. country as 10 the amount appropriated TO
the support of government.
Take the management of the post offic
| annropriation bill as another illustration
= sharp democratic pract .ce, an attempt TO OF
tain credit where there is none By exam
ination you will find that In order 10 max
the deficiency in the post Office appropriatio
n bill appear less than the estimates OF h
Eepartment, the committee estimated th
receipts of the Post Office Department fo
the current year at s6ooCeG more than the ,., e.
n We should then take this 500 90 from III
total sum of proposed reductions and pos
n ponements cl m d by our uemoc-ati
frieuds IL will also be noticed that the SUI
n of $3.50 900 is appropriated for the postal mai
steamship service, whereas In the last posi-
office appropriation bill IL was SOc.OJO. th
YEAR only S25O,GOO Is required. No credi
M therefore, is due to the action OF tie Hous'
| tor this reduction.
= To gain credit for economy the House IefU
e sed TO appropriate single dollar for the pay
: mcnt OF the judgments OF the Court oil Claim
"a direct, square reputation OF the oollga
a gatious of the go ernmen; as adJudicated D
the Supreme Court of the Uuited states IL
the mere partiZan purpose (as must appea
Z TO every one) of reducing expenses" The'
Il judgments must be paid. The Supreme Cou
5 of The United States has so adjudged, an
II there is no escape; and yet n Democrat
House. so far as il lies in its power, have n
IS pudiat,d these Judgments thus adj dicate
e 10 redeem the faith OF the United States TIM
a violated. The sum estimated for by u
Court of Claims TO pay those Judgments Il
c this year is S2GU0.OOO. Not dollar has bee
- appropriated.
: Then again in order to reduce tn
apparent amount of appropriation
they make provisions in the legislatiN
bill for the support of the mints an
assay offices out of the receipts OF the:
ls offices instead of requiring the revenu
from this source, as heretofore, first I
l. be paid into the Treasury and then a
" Epropriate such amounts as may fro
is time TO time be necessary for their su
4 port. The sum to.al for this purpo
m will not be less than a half million
ne dollars. This sum does not appear
s SI the list of expenditures when 4
le account for the year is made up.
~ will be fund that the items to wni
lie | have called attention should be q
he ducted from the table of reductions
n presented ty our democratic friend
ed Now, in addition to the appropriate
ms N which appear in the table must
w added 81. 500, 900 for centennial pI
e poses: 5000, 600 for the erection of fol
an on the Yellowstone and Missouri rivel
" 5000. 900 toward the completion of
Fl Washington Monument; S221, ,O0O
,Iy postoffice at New York, and 500, II
ss se for repaving Pennsylvania avenue.
Ter do not pretend to enunerate the su
IN, 10 total of appropriations made by Il
House, but simply present the lars
items. The sum total of the items
nix which | have referred which should
nal deducted from the statement of red
to tions made by the gentleman from i
%T Snr nois Mr.. Springer is about S14, IL
hal 600, thus reducing the total sum
lies reductions and postponementst to abe
81 S9I 500 GOO The following table v