The Portland daily press., 1878-05-01
Northern and Southern Claims.

The argus announces that Representative
Money of Mississippi has prepared speech
which will bring out the fact that the bills
Northern representatives to appropriate
money and pay claims Of various kinds ag.
gregate the sum of 81 900, 100000, or about
eight times as much as the Republican esti-
mate of the Southern claims. The Argus
does not seem to be aware that this speech
appeared in the Congressional Record last
Friday as speech delivered by Mr.. Money
on the Wednesday preceding. and that its
assertions were conclusively refuted on the
floor of the House. This refutation was not
made until Friday tor the reason that the
speech did not come to the notice of Republi-
cans until that day. 1t was never in fact de-
livered, but according to the bad practice
which obtains in Congress, was printed as a
part of the proceedings at the evening session
of the House on Wednesday. Until it ap-
peared in print no Republican knew what it
was about.
On Friday the misrepresentation in the
speech were fully exposed. Mr.. Money in
cludes in his reckoning an item of 81, 100000
900 for ship canal from the mouth of the
Mississippi to st. Louis. This purported to
be bill introduced by Mr.. Phillips of Kansas.
Mr.. Phillips showed by the official records
of the House that the bill in question simply
proposed an appropriation of $50 700 for the
survey Of the Mississippi, and that it could
not in any event be classed as Northern
claim as every dollar of the money would be
expended in the Southern States. Thus at
one fell swoop more than 80 per cent. of Mr..
Moneys enormous sum of $1600, GOO, 900
for Northern claims" was swept away. The
estimates of the Mississippian, by the way,
were $1,569, 122,035. The Argus has only
added $50, 100000 to this sum.
The remaining S269. 900 is equally ac-
curate. Of this sum $157 $1,000 is covered
by bill introduced by Mr.. Brown, of Indi-
ana, organizing the National Railway Com
pany of the United States, for the purpose of
constructing a double.track, cheap freight
railway from New York to Chicago, St Louis
and Council Bluffs" A bill bearing this title
is now pending before the committees of the
Senate and the House; but it does not pro-
pose the granting of single dollar, either in
cash, lands, or credit of the United States.
1t authorizes the company to sell 57,O0O,s 600
worth Of stock, and to issue first mortgage
bonds at the rate of $4,000 mile for the
road which is to be constructed, and the in
terest on these bonds is to be paid at the
Treasury Department, but not until the funds
out of which it is to be paid, and sufficient
additional sum to cover extra clerical labor
required in connection with the work, have
been supplied by the company.
A third item of $6O,OO0,O0O is based on a
bill extending the time to construct and COM
plete the Northern Pacific Road, although
that bill does not propose to grant the value
of single dollar, either in cash, credit, or
lands, to that company, which was not granted
by the original act.
Snbtracting these three large items from
Mr.. Moneys sum total of $1,569, ,OO0, 900,
leaves little more than $52,OOO,OOO to cover
all the remaining items in his table; and in
this sum are such items as the following !:
"Tom Scotts Liverpool Line, $9,672, ,OOO;'
"The Pacific Mails several lines, $29, ,27O ,OOO;'
''To provide for the payment of claims for
Indian depredations Cincluding those in Tex.
as as well as in the North), $1,OOO,0OO;" "To
improve the channel of the Mississippi River
(the most of which, if the expenditure should
be made, would be used south of Mason and
Dixon's Line). $2,O2O,OOO." Besides these
Mr.. Money has included the cost of the light
house system OF the Eastern coast, by which
Southern lines of vessels are benefited as we'll
as those Of the North; the usual river and
harbor improvements; expenses of the United
States Courts; all sums asked for for the con-
struction of public buildings, etc.. etc.
1t is coolly proposed to offset the Southern
raid upon the Treasury with these Northern
claims that have no existence save in the i'm
agination of the Congressman from Missis-
sippi. But the plan will not work. The
Northern people are not so easily fooled.
They know the Southern claims are great
and menacing danger, and no array of bogus
figures will convince them to the contrary.