The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1878-08-15

or tgreenbacks, In round numbersn,".,S8S2 600 600
On June l, loI8,.,,"",,,.....",," 322,5l5,9B5
Decrease ,...",,.,.."...."."..o,"8 20 3O5,4Sj
So that since the passage Of the resumption
| act, the decrease In greenbaCks and bank notes
35 j2S 0S4 plus 20 30j 4S5-hGs produced cOntrbG
tion of S6i 63 460 If TO this be added the 8ll 550
0O1 Of greenbacks on deposit in the Treasury for
| the redemption OF bank notes, and which are
| cOnse quently Withdrawn from circulation the
contraction amounts 10 over rs so 900 dollars be.
| Ing at the rate o over one million eight hundred
thousand dollars per month,
But, say the advocates Of the Resumption act
this contraction was necessary In order to resume
| specie payment on January J. 1879 Now fellow
citizens, II is one thing TO begin specie payment,
aud II is quite another thing o maintain it, " is
quite probable that the Secretary of the Treasury
can begin to pay specie for greenbaCks on Janu
ary l. 1879, and that most, IL not all, Of the banks
can begin 10 pay specie for greenbaGks at the same
time but the great question remains. Could such
specie payment be maintained? II II could not,
why should the people be ground between the
upper and neither milestone In order to begin spe.
Gle payment somewhat earlier than the condition
of the country would insure It's continuance? On
this question, the following facts are Of value;
Great Britain and France are pre- eminently the
hard money countries OF ChTislendOm The for
mer has, in coin and bullion, about three dollars
for every dollar of her paper money. or course,
she can maintain specie payments; AZ least, SO
long as she avoids war France has more metal
easily maintain specie payment But the United
States have at least three dollars IN paper for eV
cry dollar In coin, and even little war or a
change in the balance OF trade might, so long as
this disprOpOrtiOn exists make shpwreCk of their
pTeten led specie payment According to the best
information ] can obtain, the product Of our
mines is likely to fall Off 1t Is probable that the
maximum product has been reached and that
unless new and vaaable mines be discovered,
there will henCefOrth be steady decrease of pro-
duclion; but nevertheless II the ba ante of trade
should continue In our favor the influx of gold
and silver together with the product OF the mines
would enable us to begin and maintain specie
payments quite 8s soon as justice to the debtor
class would permit II this be true why resort to
forced resumpuOn2 Why crush the unfortunate
in order to anticipate, by comparatively brief
period, an advent that would come naturally and
unattended with severe distress?
now turn to another topic, the expenditures
of the Government, TO which too little attention
has en- paid. propose to compare Democratic
expenditure, Ia order that you may judge which
of the TWO parties is the better entitled TO praise
for honest and economical Government or, to
put 1t in another form, which partly ought to be
condemned for dishonest and wasteful extrava
gance.
The last fiscal year Of Democratic administra-
tion was that ending June 30, 1860. The ordinary
expenses OF the Government for that year exclu
slve OF pensions and interest on public debt, were
S5S 955 952.
These expenses Stated in detail) were (omltting
cents:
For the War Department. 472 202
For the Navy Departme IL 5l4 649
For the Indian partment..."......".. 1891 12l
For the Miscellaneous or Civil""........ H977,978
Now compare these expenditures with those of
the last year In which the Republican party had
unlimited CONTROL the fiscal year ending June
&c. 1875. The ordinary expenses Of the Govern
ment for that year exclusive Of pensions and in.
terest on the public debit were 8l42 073 $780, being
SS3 6S2 In excess Of the last year Of Democrat
ic administration; or In other words, the Repub.
licau expenditures were nearly two and half
times as great as the Democratic expenditures
But 1t may be said that our population was much
greater In 1875 than 1t was In 1860 and that this
accounts for the increased expenses Of Govern.
ment This explanation will not sufficice The
population in 1870 was 81 443 S2l and the expend.
itures were at the rate of 81 S7h per capita. In
1875 the population, as nearly as can be estimated
was 100000, and the expenditures were at the
rate of $3.50 per capita.
Again, ii may be said that the increase of ex.
penses grew out Of the war. This explanation
will not answer. In the figures have given and
those shall hereafter give, exclude the eXpend.
itures of the war, namely, pensions, the public
debt and the interest thereon and confne my
comparison to the ordinary expenses OF Govern
ment, namely, the cost Of the War, Navy and Civ.
IL departments in time of peace. The increase in
these departments is shown in detail in the fol-
lowing table:
1860. 1875. Increase
War Dept....... 16,472,2O2 41,12O645 24,64V4
,6l4640 2l497626 9982977
Indian ............. 1891 121 1884 657 5393 535
Miscel. or ClYil....27 977978 IL 070 702 93L027A