The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1891-03-25
The Extravaganza of the
Last Congress
AS Certified by Mr.. Cannon
and Mr.. Allison.
Appropriations Increased by
Two Hundred Millions.
Apology Offered for This Waste
Of Public Money.
The TeIl-Tale Figures---Other WASH
ington News.


WASHINGTON, March 1s.-Before the
Fifty-first congress adjourned authority
was given Senator Allison and Mr.. Can
non, chairmen respectively of the senate
and house committees on appropriations,
to prepare statements for insertion in the
Record showing the amounts appropriated
by the last congress and the increases or
decreases of appropriations compared
with the Fiftieth congress.
These statements have been careful
ly prepared and show in detail how
the public money has been expended.
The statement prepared by Mr.. Cannon
shows the amounts appropriated during
the Fiitieth and Fiity-frst congresses, I'M
der the several bills, to have aggregated as
follows:
During the Fiftieth congress, covering
the years OF 1SS9-lS90 the total appropri-
ated for agriculture, army. diplomatic and
consular, District of Columbia, fortifca-
ton, Indian, legislative, military academy,
pensions Including defciencies), post
Office, rivers and hsrbors and sundry civil,
was S54S,Sll, AS. To this is added de-
ficiencies, exclusive of pensions, S24, $685.
COL; miscellaneous, S20,426,657 perms-
nent annual appropriations, S224, 1891 1854,
giving grand total of SSH, 963.s57. The
same items are covered in the Fifty.frst
congress, embracing the fiscal years of
| 1922, and resulting in the grand total of
! SgSS. 4l0, 100. The net apparent increase
of the last congress over the one before 1t
is $40, 446, 260.
MIR. Cannon, in an appendix 10 these
| figures, says that there should be added to
! the appropriations of the Fiitieth congress
and deducted from the appropriations of
the FiitY-drst congress the sum of $685.
32l ,907 to met the known deficiency for
| payment of pensions in the appropriat ons
made by the former congress MIR. Can
non then argues against increasing the
number of committees having charge of
/ appropriation bills, and saws the syrtem
OF distributing the appropriation bills
/ among the various committees is viciousi
/ and tends TO extravaganza in appropria-I
tons. Ho thinks one committee OF thel
| house should be CHARGED with the prepa-
ration OF the money bills for is considcra->
ton, and INDUCES he hope that the in
coming house will remedy the error OF its
| democratic predecessors and commit theI
| general appropriations to one COM
mittee. He cites an example of the
unwisdom of having many appropriation
committees the Indian appropriation bill !
| OF the past session, prepared by and I'M
| der the parliamentary control of the com
mittee on Indian affairs and adds "They
| senate placed upon the Indian appropriate
| ton bill, by way of amendment, an item o
| legislation and appropriation giving I'd
| the Choctaw ana Chickasaw Indians, in |
round numbers S3,0O0O00 for a supposed
| equity in certain lands in the Indian ter-I
ritory, which equity the secretary OF the|
interior states does not exist and which,
| if IL does exist, is of no value. This
amendment was carried in the senate and
| house. In my opinion, the result can
only he explained by the actions OF the
minority on the supposiSion that they
were not responsible. | am satisfied it
would not have been accomplished if the
Indian appropriation bill, with all the
other general appropriations, had been
under the control of one committee of
| appTopropriations.
Chairman Allison, in his statement
gives somewhat in detail the reasons
which operated in the several appropria-
ton acts 10 increase expenditures author
lied by the present congress over those OF
its predecessors. He saws an increase of
| 81, All, 473 under the agricultural appro-
priation act was caused by the establish
ment of agricultural experiment stations
and the transfer of the weather bureau
! from the war department In the army
appropria ion bill the small increase OF
So, 0S5 was for the purpose of recruiting,
and in the diplomatic and consular service
| a reduction of $1,000 was made. An in
crease of 1857, $40 for the District of Co
lumbia was for the police department,
street improvement and public schools,
and under Notifications an increase
of S2,302.l44 was for continuing the
construction of mortar batteries for
the defense OF Boston, New
| York, San Francisco and other
| harbors, and for the new gun factory at
Watervliet, n. Y. In the Indian bill an
increase OF s., 307, 146 was made to carry
| into effect recent treaty negotiations with
various Indian tribes. An increase of
! 81, 1885, 33 under the legislative, executive
| and judicial branch of the government
was for clerical force in the various
departments, mainly in the pension office.
| An increase of $4,000 was made in the
internal revenue service, principally on
account of the expenses OF inspection of
sugar, upon which bounty is to be paid.
The appropriations for the military acad-
| envy are less imam those maze DIV the last
congress by $3S0,495. The navy appro-
priations show an increase OF $l4,042, 344
for new ships for the navy and the i'm
prove nent of plants at the navy yards.
Pensions show an increase of
Sis, 312,3 51, including deficiencies made
by the Fifty-frst congress over
the Fiftieth congress. This increase was
caused in part by the failure of the pres
ent congress to make sufficient appropria-
tons for pensions for the year 1890, leav-
ing a deficiency of S25,S2l ,907 to be
provided for An increase OF S22, SOS, 343
under the postoffice bill was due to the
growth and expansion of the service
throughout the country. The increase of
$2,738, 678 for river and harbor improve
ments was due to enlarged appropriations
for some of the principal works of i'm
provement in progress. such as the
Mississippi and Missouri river improve
ments. The increase for sundry civil ex-
penses OF 1880, 400, was for the river and
harbor improvements, expenses OF the
eleventh census, public buildings,
government printing office, room for
disabled volunteer soldiers, military
posts for artificial limbs for soldiers; for
| tina worlds fair: for the life-sayinc ser