Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-12-18


amended SO IS to apply to both Houses and
Seaate.
! Senator Blaine moved to amend 30 az to have
the recess from Friday, Dec. goth, TO Tuesday
Jan. 7th.
A count of the Senate showed twerty eight
| in favor of the amendment and twenty-eight
opposed to it.
affirmative and the amendment is agreed to.
After an executive session adjourned.
House of Represe,,tdtives.
GENEVA AWARD.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 17.-Some bills having
been introduced and referred consideration
was resumed Of the Geneva award, and MIR.
Keifer advocated the majority report.
Messrs. Humphrey, Burchard, Monroe, Chit
tenden and Luttren favored the minority re-
port.
POSTAL CAR SERVICE.
Further consideration Of the bill was post
poned and the House went into committee of
the whole, Mr.. Carlisle in the chair, or the bill
appropriating S450,000 to meet the deficiency
i'll the appropriation for the postal mail SER
vice, and prohibiting any increase in tka postal
car service during the present year.
Ir. Blount, member of the appropriation
increase in the cost OF postal car service; that
the increase had been at the rate of 321 per
cent, not only on the postal service itself,
but unon the whole railway service Since
July 18th, 1878, it had increased IS par cent.
on the postal car service itself. The deficiency
had arisen i'll the determination Of the depart
ment against the will of Congress, that the GER
vice should be increased. Congress h4d been
ignorant that there hnd been grswina up in
silence this system af postal car seryicss.3 Con-
gross has not been treated wish common court
esy by the postotfice department The def
cheney was chargable to the Department. and
now the officers OF the postoffce department
spoke triumphantly of their victory over Con-
gress on this question.
Mr.. Hale defended the action of the depart
ment. The postmaster general could not have
done anything else than report to Congress that
there was deficiency. He could not stop the
service. All he could do was to notify Con-
gress. The weight Of matter constant
ly increasing. and the Law wss pitiess on the
postmaster general to pay for the postal SER
vice.
Mr.. Foster said that if the gentleman from
Georgia, Blount, did not know of the increase
IN the postal car service, he should have known
it. The department had estimated last year
nine million, seven hundred thousand dollars
as the cost for the mail service, and but. nine
million two hundred thousand had been ap-
propriated, thus giving rise to the deficiency.
II derellctlOn rests anywhere, it rests On the
House and the committees appropriations
The deficiency was the result Of the general
system of economy" as Practical by appropri-
alton committees.
Mr.. Clymer said there had been concealment
en- the part of the department and assistant
postmaster general, or his subordinates, had
been direlict in their duty. He declared the
average saving to the government by the Demo-
cratic party was we'll on to thirty million dol
lars year, aud if is had not been for that econ
omy the treasury would have been bankrupt.
Hr. Foster expressed his amazement at the
statement made by Mr. C:yner. He would adj
nit that the saving in 1877 over 1876 was nine
teen millio ms, sand that the saving the next year
was one million si1 hundred and ninety-fge
Thousand dollars, but said that the current yesr
would show an increase Of four millions. I'm
der Republican administration liberal appro-
priatlons had been made so that all tho depart
ments could be properly run, and at the close
OF each year large amounts were returned to
the treasury department. Under Democratic
administration too little was appropriated and
deficiency bills had to be reported. Such de-
nciency bills amounted to eighteen millions in
TIVE years, while in the four preceding years
there had been only twelve millions. The ac-
tual facts were shown by figures of the
treasury department, that for the two years Of
the Democratic administration the reduction
had been abont twenty millions while for the
two preceding years Of Republican administra-
ton the reduction had been about twenty-six
millions.
Mr.. Clymer-You have never decreased an
appropriation since 1869.
sIr. Foster-The decrease has been continual
every year from 1857 down. Mr.. Foster asked Mr.
Clyme if he denied that the expense of main
tanning the government had been decreased
every year since 1867, save one.
Mr.. Hewitt, Of New York; deny it, and will
give the gentleman my figures. He quoted
from the report of the secretary of the treas
ury to the effect that the expenditures in 1871
were one hundred and ffty-seven millions: in
1872, one hundred and ffty-throe millions; in
1873, one hundred and eighty millions; in 1874,
one hundred and ninety-four millions: in 1875,
one hundred and ffsy-three millions; in 1876,
one hundred and si1ty-four millions. Then
followed the Democratic era and in 1877 the
expenditures had been reduced to one hundred
and forty four millions and would this year
fall below one hundred and forty millions.
The Gentleman from Ohio had admitted that
IN Republican Congresses the deficiencies in
four years had amounted to twelve millions,
and had stated that the Democratic Congress
had had to pay eighteen millions in deficien-
| cies. II the Republican Congress had paid
larger deficiencies the Democratic Congress
would have had smaller deficiencies to meet
Deficiencies to the amount of thirteen million
dollars had been paid by the last Congress t,
cover appropriations made in the Forty-second
and Forty-thlrd Congresses.
Mr. Foster-I emphaticaliy deny the
correctness of these figures
Mr. Hewitt-They bills passed by this
House.
Err. Foster-There never was in my Judgment
a greater fraud perpetrated or maintained by
any party than the fraud of your Democratic
claim that you have reduced expenses thirty
| millions of dollars year.
| Ar Clymer was surprised to hear such Ian.
guage from the gentleman from Ohio fFo.ter).
| When he accused gentlemen on the Democratic
side of fraud in making statements which were
official, 1t was not that courtesy which should
characterize intercourse between gentlemen on
this floor. Such language would do on the
| stump, but not on the floor Of the House.
| Mr. Burchard asked Mr.. Hewitt why he had
not gone back in his figures three or four years
| Ii he had done so he would have found tina,
the Republicans had decreased expenditures
| from what they were in 1867 or 1868.