The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1882-09-26

bill Of 1881 contained appropriations for lis
harbors, the present. bill for 153. In the
bill of 1882 the amount appropriated fol
local works is 81 $50 900,
Further comparisons could be m ade, but
It would make this review too long, and this
Is sufficient to show the tendency of such
legislation, and whether or not this bill cpn.
tains less waste than former bills. The fact
Is 1t contains more IN the proportion of the
greater number Of waters Appropriated for
But neither act can be justified as good leg
islstion, and for my own part have nothing
to regret in having voted against the bill OF
1881 on its iual passage.
The interview also contains this sentence:
"The increase is due TO better Justice to
rivers like the Ohio aud Missouri both Of
which got large increase over thu amounts
allowed by the 46th Congress
The General is In error as to the Ohio River.
The Missouri gets more, but the Ohio o
more, In the bill of 1881 as It passed the
House the amount appropriated for the Ohio
was $500 and that is just the amount
for the Ohio River in this bill. The appro-
priation for the Missouri, IL is true, is much
larger.
AN OV ERFLOWIN0 TRBASURfs
| Here is the excuse:
"The overfowing surplus which could not
with safety be allowed to accumulate and
stagnate in the Treasury"
1t must be got out, Is the logic Of this re' .
soning, even it it has to be wasted. At the
same time S45O,0OO 600 of debt was over
due and payable at the option of The gov
! ernment
The interview further declares:
s'It is also worthy of note that increase Of
expenditure has only kept pace with the
growth of the country aud increase Of revs.
nle of the government"
The increase of revenue depend, on the
amount of taxes levied. And let Us see
whether or not expenditures have increase
faster than the population and wealth Of the
country. One test alone is sufficient to dis
prove this. The entire expenditure Of the
general government in 1860 and '6l amount
ed to less than So per capita, aud 1t seldom
rose before that time much above 50. This
year, deductipg all deficiencies, aud expend-
itures it amounts to 81 50 per capita. Now
wealth does not increase faster than popuia-
tiop, on the average, bv more than 2 to
per cent That is, it has taken on tAs average
to double the wealth of the country pei
capita, 80 to SO years. If We take the entire
appropriation for this year including inter
est, sinking fund, and other permanent ap-
propriations which do not appear in appro-
priation bills, and the probable deficiencies
that will have 20 be made up at the end o
the year, and the whole will not aggregate
less than S420 0e0 000--and that is about
the estimate of revenue from all sources
Now this will amount to between So aud SO
per capita.
add to this the cost of State and muuioi-
pal government, calculated a. SIS so pei
capita, and we have total cost Of $l4 pc
capita.
Bat limiting our examination to the gen
eral government alone and the cost here
under the extravagaucs of this Congress
am cunts to the value to the producer Of tn
entire wheat crop Of this year in the United
States. Itequals more than one half Of tbs
} value of all the manufactured produots o
silk, wool, cotton, iron aud steel in the
whole United States, and 1t is more thar
twice the amount paid for labor in all tn
great industries in the United Stats,. That
Is, 1t has come to cost twice as much to carr,
on our government as is paid for the labo
employed in the silk. ths wool, the cotton
the leather, the steel and iron industries o
the whole United Statssl We are fast out
stripping in costliness of government tn
monarchies and aristooracies of European
vast military ornaments.
have shown elsewhere in what ways thii
increased expenditure comes, and how i
has grown up since the war. The time hal
come when thinking people are asking where
this is to end. They. must stop and consider
The public welfare demands it.
One point more: Gen. Dawes makes q
balance sheet of the district aud finds th
SS0, 900 goes out OF it in taxes aud $3.50 ,00t
comes in as pensionsl This would, in on,
view of the case, be q good showing II 1
were true. In another view, the ethics o
Esuch a balance might be questioned. II thii
district gets q gain, as the General says i
does, of $276,000 some other district or dis
tricts must lose that amount. It may b.
good statesmanship to act on that principl,
in Congress of a common people, but
think it very questionable. However, be.
fore calling in question the principe let III
see how the facts stand.
tentionally mislea1 or deceive his constitu.
ents in suoh q matter, am puzzled indeed
. to account for such statement. To impute
it to ignorance of the simple principles o.
taxation would not be admissible, and am
compelled therefore to leave it unexplained. |.
1t certainly cannot be possible that Gen
Dawes supposes that the $50, 600 which ter
or twelve hundred licensed dealers in the
; district pay through the revenue collector
added to the amount paid directly by the
National banks, makes the sum total Of tn,
taxes paid in this district
There are no distillers in the district, ye
there are some spirits consumed, and who
ever consumes it repays the tax first paid
elsewhere on it. We do not manufacture
matches, but we consume them and not
bunch ia bought on which tax is not paid
by the consumer.
Again on every one Of the 1000 articles
subject to duty, consumed In the district
taxes are paid by the consumer: The tota
Of these BLIND TAXES statistics do not give.
But if the people of this district consum {
articles on which duties or revenue taxes
are levied in proportion to populati n, then
they would pay nearer million than $780,
OO0. The problem, on that superstition
and it is but reasonable to assume that the
people of Ohio consume abou. as much at
the same population Of any other state-is
simple one.
The duties collected last year
on imports were ..... ....... S2lO 1886, ZzI
and on internal revenue. -. LAG, ,43i, 377
4 Z.hU
Leaving out miscellaneous receipts, of
which we may pay little or much, according
to rcumst ances, and this gives some over
81 per capita. The population Of the dis,
trict in 1850 was 5O,611--which at 81 fol
each inhabitant of the district would give
sl,Oe4,277 instead Of $4,000. and makes
therefore very different balance sheet from
that given in the interview.
This question. however, has, or ought to
have, nothing whatever to DO with the ques
tion of pensions. That obligation is moi
chan ged one way or the other by the ieve
nues of the district. disabled soldier 1:
entitled to his pension irrespective Of the
amount that comes into or goes out Of the
district. Nor are pensions granted to afford
buncombe to candidates for Office. Neither
was the war fought merely to perpetuate &
partv The war was waped that the "Qoy