Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-09-16
q" OPENING THE BOOKS. -

The volume issued by the Democratic
National Committee that is to shake Re-
publieans out of their lives, is entitled
Opening the Books" 1t is fraud. 1t
exposes nothing. 1t falsiies and misrep-
-esents. A Democratic administration has
had the books in hand a year and 4 half;
FIVE Congressional prying committees have
nosed" through all the departments in
search Of some chad break" on the
part Of the Republican administrations
They found nothing, except that the books
haYe been we'll kept and honestly and
openly written up. As desperate resort
the matter of discovering something dam
aging was then turned over to political
committee. 1t has right to lie and its
falsifcations do not go upon official records.
The committee has done its work well. As
q liar it is a colossal success. Let us see.
This remarkable book presents a list of all
defalcations disputed accounts, etc, since
1889 and up to 1884. But there the book
stops. 1t fails to point out that Of The sum
total Of these defalcations-abo $4,000
00O-oyer Sl3,O00,0OO are chargeable to
the long period of Democratic administra-
ton prior to the advent of the Republican
party Between 1861 and 1884 the sum of
these charges is ST., 1898, 476; but the vol
ume which was to blow Republicanism out
Of water fails to point out how much of
this sum is disputed accounts, how much
S absolute defalcation, and how much Of it
IS chargeable to loss to which no crimi-
nal character attaches. Between 1861
and 1866 the administrations were handi-
capped by gigantic war, in which there
were thousands of contracts let, an army of
employees engaged by the Government,
and vast payroll kept, manipulated by
hundreds of paymasters. During that
period the Government disbursed vast
sums Of money, was put to enormous ex-
pense, by necessity of war driven to haste,
20 suffer extortion, to submit in fact to ali
The necessities that attach to war and i'm
paired credit. Yet all the losses in the
two terms Of Mr.. Lincoln's administration
amounted to but 76 cents on each $1,000
Of money handled both by way of receipt
and Of expenditure Nor does this Won
derful Democratic bombshel show another
vital fact, to wit-that while the receipts
and disbursements of the Government be-
tween 1889 and 1861 aggregated $4,719,-
100000, Of which $l3,0O0,00O was pilfered
or lest, the disbursements and receipts be-
tween 1861 and 1880 inclusive, a period of
twenty years, amounted to $31 ,59S ,O00,O 900,
or over SIX and half times more than in
the last named period, while the defalca-
lions and lapses amounted to less than
Sl3,000,000. That is to say, while there
was stolen under former rule s. 50 on the
$1,000, under Republican control there
was LOST less than 80 cents, and this, be it
remembered, included the administration
Of Andrew johnson, the subtraction Of the
losses chargeable to his administration Civ
ing the figure 80 cents. In the less than
Jour years of his rule there was lest the
sum OF S46l9,600. About two years ago
we published 4 list Of all losses under the
several administrations from Washington
down, showing the percentage of loss to
the sum total handled chargeable to each
administration down to 1880. In view Of
the facts recited, it will be interesting to