The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1879-08-28
The Democrats and the Finances.

tainly be given the palm for the pos
session of more impudence than the
average member of that organization.
Appreciating the effect that has been
produced on the country by the won
derful success of the financial opera
tions of the Republican party, they have
proceeded to arrogate full credit to
themselves for the condition in which
the country finds itself to-day. The
seventh plank of the platform
adopted at Baltimore declares that
"when the Democratic Conservative
party regained power in the Congress
of the United States it enforced an
economical administration of public af-
fairs and made the resumption of specie
payments possible event" This is a
claim which is to be hoped will be
urged by every Democratic Convention
which meets in the next year. 1t will
serve to keep the financial question be-
fore the people, and to show them by
whom and what means resumption was
brought about, confidence restored,
and business revived. The fact will
be recalled by the public that every ef-
fort was made by the Democratic party
to bring about the repeal of the Re-
sumption act; that no effort was spared
to that end. 1t will also be pointed out
that when q direct repeal could not be
secured, every effort was made to make
the act imperative when it went into
execution. Congress was flooded with
all kinds of financial schemes that in
dangerous manner, and measures were
strongly agitated which were calculated
to weaken and break down the conf
danno ,f fhnco Vuhnvv1 hn Trono
ury Department relied to make resump-
ton success. No means were left un-
tried to bring about these results.
Every one of these measures was de-
vised and pressed forward by Demo-
Gratis. Every assault upon the Resump-
ton act was led by q Democrat. Every
attempt to destroy confidence in the abil-
ity of the Government to readjust values
was the work of Democrat. There is
an abundance of testimony to back this
up which cannot be destroyed, and so
we see the "hedging'' on the question
with which the Maryland Democrats
are leading off. The claim, then, is to
be that by. the "enforced economical
administration of public affairs" by the
Democrats resumption was made pos
sible event. 1t will require something
beside bald statement to convince the
country of this. For four years now
the Democrats have been loudly claim
ing they have been reducing expendi-
lures in q greater manner than the Re-
publicans did in the last years they had
the control of the appropriation bills.
They could not deny that every year,
from 1865 to 1875, the Republican par
-ty regularly cut down expenditures,
and neither can the Republicans deny
that on their face the appropriation
bills of the Democrats have seemingly
shown very gratifying savings. But
the fact is Republicans have caused
statements to be prepared which show
that the Democrats, instead of reducing
the appropriations, have been in reality
increasing them every year. One of
the -clearest- of those statements was
contributed to the North american Re
Uiet0 by General Garfield, and showed
that emitting the permanent appropri-
ations, which do not appear in the an
nual bills, the following has been the
work of the Democratic party:
For the fiscal year ending June So 1877 Sl24 22Ol0
For the tsc.I year ending June g.. 1873 I,aoSsass
For the fiscal year ending June So 1880. 16l 9S4
For the fiscal year ending June 80.
1873, there was no appropriation for
rivers and harbors, so that the small
amount which was seemingly awarded
that year is deceptive. To the amount
appropriated for the present fiscal year
Sit, SOC, 900 is to be added which was
authorized by the Forty-fifth Congress,
and then to this must be added def
ciencies which the Democrats have dis
honestly allowed te accumulate until
now they aggregate over $54. 900, 600.
Now, contrast this sort of thing with
the savings that have been effected by
the refundiug operations of the Repub-
ican party, and we think that organi-
Sation will have nothing to fear on the
UerttSer.