The Evening critic., 1882-01-23
business Principles.

Congress, an estimate of the amount needed
to pay the expenses of the Department for
the next fiscal year, beginning on the first
of July following.
These estimates must be made in detail,
specifying the object for which every dollar
asked for is to be used.
When received, the estimates go to the
Committee on Appropriations of the House
and are then closely examined TO sec if the
amounts asked for are required. The COM
mittee reports a separate bill for each De-
partment, usually giving about the sum
asked for by the Department official.
This bill is acted upon by the House and
then goes to the Senate, whore it is again
scrutinized by committee and generally
amended, is submitted to vote and returned
to the House for concurrence in the amend
ments.
As matter of fact, the House never con-
currs, and the bill goes to committee of
conference composed of three Senators and
three Representatives who finally arrange
the amount to be allowed for each Depart
ment, report the result of their conferences
to their respective Houses and the appro-
priations agreed on are passed.
In the Post office Department. the Second
Assistant Postmaster-Generalp prepares tho
estimates for carrying the internal mails,
and these are divided into "Star," "Steam-
boat and Railway" service, and these
General at the meeting of Congress on the
first Monday in December.
We will now compare the estimates made
by Gen. Brady for the year commencing
July l, 1881, submitted December, 1880, by
Postmaster-Gencral Maynard, and those
prepared for the year commencing July 1,
1852, by Mr.. Elmer, and submitted by the
late Thomas L. James, with the allowances
made by Congress, the expenditures and
the deficiencies.
For the year commencing July 1, 1881,
Brady asked for and obtained for 'Star-
service" 81 SOC, 600; steamboat-service $780,
900; railway service he asked for $10,23s,-
4s2 and obtained $9,456, ,2s2 making total
appropriated for these three branches of the
service of SIS s,25S, ,2S2.
Mr. Elmer asks for the year commencing
July /, 1882, for Star-service, $7,25O,000 |;
for steamboat-service, $S50,000, and for
railway.service, $11 1851 ,601, total of $19,-
205,o01, an increase over what was asked
for by Brady of $947,3 7,319. 1t will be OBJ
served that the amount asked for steam
boat-service is 100000 less than in the
previous year, that for Star-service is de-
creased $3.50, 600, and that for railway SER
vice is increased S1.697,319. Mr.. Wander
bilt's pension to the late Thomas L. James
is less than 1 per cent. of the amount the
late Thomas L. increased the railway mail
service.
Business Principles" began their rule
in the Post-office Department in March,
1881, and the late Thomas L. had the ex-
penditure of the appropriations made for
the fiscal year ending June 80, 1881, from
The date of his entry into Office, a period OF
three and a-half months. Reform and
business principles were the watchword,
and short examination of the records will
show what these words meant in the mouth
of the late Thomas L.
In March, April, May and June orders
were issued reducing the pay on Star-route.
$685., ,s32 per annum. Only a portion O.
these reductions applied to the fiscal yea
ending june 80, 1881, the remainder run
ming into the next, that is the present fsca
year ending next June. The amount saved
~ in the last year was $291, ,6s9. In thes,
same months of March, April, May ani
June the expenditures for steamboat-servic,
were reduced s251 1856 per annum, but, as IL
the Starservice, only part of this applied
to that fiscal year, the sum being $117, ,302
This shows the total savings by the reduc
- IA 81 ...x q :.
fiscal year ending june 80, 1881, to b.
e406,990.
But in these same four months under tn
operation Of business principles A Def
CHENEY was created in the railway mai
service of FOUR HUNDRED AND SEVENTY
EIGHT THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED AM
yIFTY-FIvE DOLLARS. This is the mos
Rlaring instance of "robbing Peter to pa,
Paup ever on record. Four hundred an,
eight thousand dollars were taken from tn
Star and steamboat-service and four hun
dred and seventy eight thousand added +
the railway service. The people livin
upon the sparsely settled frontiers, the me
Of" the rife, ak and saddle-bags.' who n
deem the wilderness, were deprived of dc
cent and necessary mail facilities that th
great railway corporations might have moi
money.
The Burean of Defamation and Lar
dation sang p@ans of praise to the lat
Thomas L. for the money he had saved {
the people by his "business principles" al
piled to the Star-service, while they we
dzmning an imaginary body of so-calle
6tar-route conspirators. Yet the fac
shown by the record are that the la
Thomas L. was only transferring money
the pockets of his railway masters, an
that instead Of saving he had actually i
creased the expenditures $69165. Any oil
who desires to verify these facts is referr'
to the report Of the Second Assistant Pos
msster-G -GeneiSl, dated Nov. 5, 1891, al
transmitted w the late Thomas l.. to Co
gress, with Is annual report, dated Nov
1881.
But there are still other facts ia this r
port to which we desire to call attention
this connection, as TO the present fiscal yes
OF the reductions in the Star-service ma
on business principles in March, App
May and June, 1881, sS6i,l44 comes in
this fiscal year and of the reduction in /