The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1884-09-11
Treasury Plum lerIng.


Treasury Plum lering.
In his lame attempt TO answer the
scathing indictment brought by Carl
Schurz against the Republican partyex-
Governor Hawley, of Connecticut, brings
out the well-worn comparison between
several Administrations as to cost of col
Letting the revenue, and loss in receiv-
ing and disbursing the same. The losses
on receipts, he appoints out, under Taylor.
s2.07 per $1,000; under Pierce, 1922;
under Buchanan, 5 BIG; under Lincoln,
1887; under Grant. $1.27; under
Hayes, two cents per $1,000, and
under Arthur, during the first two
years of his Administration, six mills
per $1,000. As to the disburse-
ments the average loss, he says, under
all Administrations prior to 1861, was
$5.11 per $1,000, The average since
has been th~irty-nine cents per 81, 900,
and this, he thinks, shows chow the
Republican party has plundered the
Treasury'-meaning, of course, in his
sarcastic way, that these figures are a
conclusive answer to the charge that the
Republican party has plundered the
Treasury.
There are some facts 10 relation to
Government bookkeeping and collec-
ton of revenues which make these fig-
ures misleading as evidence of the COM
parative economy in conducting the
Government before and since the war.
But conceding for the sake of argument
that they show accurately the average
loss during the two periods compared it
is worth while to examine them to see
what else they STOW.
DO they show, for instance, that the
Democratic Administrations before the
war were dishonest and incapable
because the loss unde: them was
greater than under the Republican Adj
m~inistrations since that timer If they
do they also show that the Lincoln
Administration and the Grant Admins
tration were dishonest and incapable;
for the contrast in their losses in col
lecting and disbursing the revenue and
the losses incurred under Hayes and
Arthur is more violent than the con-
trast between the averages of Demo.
cratic and Republican administration.
Governor Hawley and his party are
welcome to all the comfort they can find
in the figures viewed in that aspect.
More important still, do the figures
show, or tend to show. that the later
Republican Administrations have hon.
est1y conducted the Government and
that the Republican party has not
..plundered the TreasuryP" The answer
to this must be that the figures neither
show nor tend to show anything of the
kind.
1t is of common notoriety that during
the two last Administrations, with their
A~Daa1sn- 14..v rof.1 - 14e1 .a.l 00n oo
shown by the Hawley figures, the Treas
ury has been more cruelty plundered
than at any period of the country's his
tory. We do not speak now of ,extrav-
agance in appropriation and expendi-
ture. though that, in its way, is a plum
dering of the Treasury which makes no
show in the Hawley hgures. We refer
to the open and outrageous steals of
which the Star Route robberies were
fragrant but not lonely examples.
With the general history OF these rob-
berries the public has long since become
acquainted. Routes let by contract for
small amounts were subsequently, and
fraudulently .'expedited," as it was
called, and the amount paid from the
Treasury enormously increased, the
profit being divided between the con-
tractors, Republican officials and man.
ayers of the Republican campaign. In
the Dorsey-Brady combination there
were according TO the testimony taken
before the Investigating committee one
hundred and thirty-fOur cases of .sex-
pedited' routes. As to nineteen of
these the testimony was exceedingly
full and explicit. It showed that upon
contracts originally let under COMPETE
ton to the amount of S41, 135, there
was a net increase, without any compe-
tition, of $448, $40. Upon these nine
teen contracts alone the Government
was robbed Of nearly half a million;
and the aggregate plumber in the entire
one hundred and thirty-four cases can
moi. have fallen short of 81, OO9, 900.
Whatever shortage there may be is more
than made up by the amounts drawn
from the Treasury to pay lawyers for
so conducting the prosecution of the
Star Route thieves as to insure their es-
cape.
Ar because this immense amount of
'.loot'-an insign ficant fraction of the
total amount-does not show as plum
der on the GoyerRent books, Repub-
hcan orators have the brazen effronterv
20 pirate of the party's honesty and
point to the books as proof thereof.
Millions have been paid out in fraud of
the rublic-have actually been stolen as
much as if a burglar had feluniously
cracked the Government vault and
made off with the treasure-and be-
cause an ingenious system of bookkeep-
ing accounts for it all and the books
balance, we are asked TO believe that
there ha bee no THEFT.
1t will not do Mr.. Hawley and Mes
s'eurs the other Republican stump ora
tors: The people may not understand
all the intricac:es of bookkeeping; but
they do know that, whatever the books
say. the arm of the Republican party
has been in the Treasury up to the Shout
der.-Erchange.
A Not Improbable Event.