St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1882-08-11
A Timely Veto.

President Arthur has had the sagaci
ty and courage to do exactly the right
thing with the River and Harbor APP
preparation bill 1t ought not to re-
quire a great amount of sagacity or
courage to do the right thing in such "A
case. So far as sound principle and
the public demand were concerned his
course was perfectly clear, but he was
subject to so much pressure from those
with whom he desired to be in accord
and who are presumed to have great
political influence that it doubtless re-
quired considerable resolution and
firmness, as well as clearneSs of vision,
to take the right stand. But the Pres
ident has proved equal to the emergen-
cy, and has not only put his veto upon
the great scheme of plunder, but has
given reasons for his action that are
unanswerable. 1t is many years since
purely local jobs began to creep into
this annual measure providing nomi-
nally for improvements upon rivers
and harbOrs for the benefit of national
commerce. Their nature has been
perfectly well understood. 1t has been
known that there was no constitutional
authority for eXpending money upon
these local schemes, and yet the self
interest of members of Congress has
been stronger than their sense of pub
lie duty. With few exceptions they
have been willing to have the public
money devoted to unauthorized pur-
poses so long as their own localities
were benefited. But no one member
could secure the benefit for his locality
without conceding it to others, and
hence arose the great log-rolling plan
of admitting all these scandalOus items
of local iobbery, each member sustain
ing them in the aggregate for the sake
of securing those in which he was in
tercsted. There have always been
few resOlute members who have pro-
tested and demonstrated and fought
against the great and growing "steal,"
but large majority, irrespective of
party, have eagerly joined in it.
1t was the inevitable tendency of
job of this kind to increase in its pro
portions year by year. Once admitting
the practice of diverting national funds
for the promotion of local schemes of
Improvement, it was inevitable that
the demand should grow, and there
was no limit at which it would stop.
Each member who asked for more for
his district was constrained to allow
more for other districts, and thus we
see the dimensions of the river and
harbor appropriation advancing with
steady but increasing strides from less
than $1,000, 900 in 1870 to nearly 800
900, 900 this year. While the ''steals"
were small they attracted little atten-
ton. As they grew protests We're
made, but unheeded, and the thing was
bound to become scandal and dis
grace. This year the elimination was
reached. The inevitable OVERRIDING
and the consequent revolt of public
sentiment came. And now the Presi-
dent reminds Congress that these pro-
visions for the benefit of particular To-
calities are and always have been un-
constitutional. The fact cannot be
disputed or doubted. They are no
more unconstitutional now than last
year or ten years ago, but it was nee
essary that the iilching process should
outstrip the dimensions of petty larce-
ny before it would attract sufficient at
tention to arouse public Indignation.
1t reminds us once more that public
opinion rules in this country, and it is
not until it is aroused that evils and
abuses are checked and wrongs are
corrected. The sovereign power has
been moved to utter its mandate in
regard to the great ''steal," and the
President has been constrained to give
it voice. n. Y. Times.