The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1878-09-04
DEMOCRATIC ECONOMY.
What Representative Blackburn Finds
the Record to be.
Windows Mendacify-A Careful AnaIy.
sis of the Cost Of Running the Gov
ernmenf by the Two Parffes-As-
founding Results Of RepubIf-
can Prehigaey-Radical
Lies Exposed.
IWashington Post. |

Washington Post.J
Getting hold of the republican campaign
| document" known as Windoms interview,
Post reporter called on Mr.. Blackburn to
| learn what the result of his investigation
had been. The following is the result:
| Reporter-Have you read the so-called
New York Times, and since circulated by
the Gorham-Hale committed.
Mr.. Blackburn-Yes, carefully. 1t Is of q
piece with similar campaign misrepresentar
tions with which the republican congress
siOnal committee is trying to deceive the
| people.
Reporter-What action, il any, will the
congressional democratic committee take iD
reference to this and similar efforts of the
| republicans to cry down the reputation of
the democratic party for economy?
Mr.. Blackburn-Senator Window is only
following out plan adopted by his party in
| its death struggle to break the force of the
savings astually effected by the democratic
house, and he, like his co-laborers, endeavors
/ 10 mislead the uninItiated in various ways
| For example, he refuses to take note of the
actual decrease of expenditures under DEM
ocratic rule, and while he can not deny also
the great reductions in the appropriations
1 which the democratic house has effected, he
endeayors to explain it away by saying that
these reductions were made ''by denying APP
preparations indispensable TO the public ser
/ vice; by p0stponing necessary public works;
| by repudisting national obligations; by with
holding large sums for deficiency bills" All
these charges are known to be entirely I'M
| true, but it seems to be an understood thing
all along the republican line that something
must be done to explain away democratic
economy.
| Reporter-What is the comparative record
| of the democratic and republican parties as
to economy in conducting the government?
4 Mr. Blackburn-The official figures will
4 verify what has become a matter of house
hold knowledge, that the record of the deni-
ocratic party is one of economy, and the re
cord of the republican party one of extray
agance and corruption. Economy with the
democratic party is of no recent origin. and
| as was to be expected, as soon as the demo-
cracy obtained control of the house of rep
resentatives it forced upon the republican
administration and senate reductions OF
great magnitude, both In appropriations and
| expenditures Before discussing recent saw
ings effected by the democratic house, let us
examine the actual expenditures from the
commencement of our government down TO
the last year when the republican party had
control of both houses of congress. The net
ordinary expenditures of the government,
exclusive OF the public debt-principal, pre-
miums and interest-and exclusive also of
| pensions, being only expenses for the army,
navy, Indians and miscellaneous civil, from
the fiscal year 1889 to the fiscal year ended
1876 can be easily found in the reports of
the secretary of the treasury: For the war
period from the fiscal year ended June 80,
1862, to the fiscal year ended June 80, 1866,
both inclusive, more than one year after the
close of the war, covering a period 5of five
years, the net ordinary expenditures above
named amounted to three billions five hun
dred and thirty millions nine hundred and
twenty-nine thousand, five hundred and
eighty-o -one dollars and sixty-four cents.
DEMOCRATIC ECONOMY.
Now, in order to makea comparison which
even the republican chairman of a senate
| committee can not with all his acquired
knowledge OF figures successfully refute, we
will eliminate this war period from the cal
| culation. This being done, we find that
from the commencement of the government
to the beginning Of the war, that is, from
the fiscal year ended March 4, 1889, down to
and including the fiscal year ended June 80,
1861, both inclusive covering a period OF
more than 73 years, the net ordinary ex-
| penditures of the government for the pur-
poses above stated amounted to one billion,
five hundred and six millions, seven hun
dred and twenty-six thousand and one hun
dred and ifty-one dollars and fifteen cents
Now the net ordinary expenditures of the
government for the same purposes. for the
last 10 years of unbroken republican rule
| beginning with the iscol year ended June
30, 1867, more than one year after the war.
and including the fiscal year ended June 80,
1876, amounted to $1,52S, ,917 ,1S7 81; thus
| showing an excess of expenditures of SD
100. .996.72 against the republican party. Or,
TO state it plainly, the net ordinary expendi
| lures of the government, exclusive of the
public debt, principal, premiums and inter
est, and exclusive also Of pensions, for a
period of 10 years, beginning more than one
"a. n, -. 81
| more than $22 900 900 in excess OF the ex-
penditures of the government for 73 years
next antedating the accession of the repub-
lican party to power.
REPUBLICAN ExTRAvAGANcE
Rep.-How do the ten years OF democratic
rule before the war compare with ten years
of republican rule since the war?
M. B If we take the ten years of democrat
ic conservative rule, beginning with the fiscal
year ended June 80 1852, up to the fiscal
year ended June 80, 1851, both inclusive, we
| find the net ordinary expenditures of the
government to have been $572, ,6T2 ,260 70 as
against 81, ,52S 917, 1887 for the same pur-
r0ses for ten years of radical rule during
peace namely, from the fiscal year ended
| June 60 1867, to the fiscal year ended June
30, 1876, both inclusive, giving an
EXCESS OF REPUBLICAN EXPENDITURES
over the expenditures under democraticcon-
SerNdblNe ruAe Oh SoOO, ,O44,oft oo, DeiuB al IN
crease of net ordinary expenditures under
republican rule of about one hundred and
| seventy per cent. The average net ordinary
| expenditures per annum for the ten years of
| republican RUE was $3.50 672, GA IL, whilst
the net ordinary expenditures for the ten
| years of democratic rule above named were
only $57, ,2S7, ,226.05, showing that the
net ordinary expenditures under re-
publican rule during a decade of peace
were nearly three times as large as for the
decade OF democratic rule Immediately
| preceding the war. IL it shall be objected
that there is at least Que element of Unfair
ness in this presentation of official data,
upon the score of an increase OF population,
il is answered that taking as a basis of this
calculation the census of 1860, we find that
the cost per capita for the ten years next
previous to the war, for net ordinary expen-
| dtturaa with ryhich we alone are now daal-