Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-05-16
THE GROWTH OF EXPENDITURES.

Senator Gorman's recent speech In favor
of the present scale of public eXpendl-
lures contained an element of truth. Ii
brought out the fact, frequently referred
to by The DISPATCH, that the increase
of expenditures has gone on whether the
administration was Democratic or Repub-
lican, and whether the Republican or
Democratic party controlled the majority
of the coordinate branches of the Govern
ment To prove this the Maryland Sena-
tor quotes the following figures:
In the Forty-third Congress (lS15 and '76l,
they we're $685. 794 600; in the Forty-fifth QsT9
and 'sO), s7O4, ,527 900; in the Forty-eigbth Css5
and 'S6), S655 269 900; in the Forty-ninth (lSSI
and 'ss) s746, ,S42, 900: in the Fiftieth QsS9 and
800 ssh e63 900; in the Fiftyrst (ls9l and 92),
s9ss. All, ,GO0 So that there has been an in
crease every Congress- with the exception
of the Forty-eighth, no matter what admin
istration had been in power.
The Senator's figures are to be criticised
because they only give those for alternate
Congresses and then predicate the in
creased expenditure for all of them with
one exception. Beyond that they seek to
conceal the fact that from 1876 to 1884 ex-
penditures were steady on practically the
same basis of from $3.50, 900 to $780,
900, 900 per annum. 1t was in 1888 that
the growth commenced; but during the
Cleveland administration they were
swelled to the range of $3.50, 900 to
$500, 900, 600 annually, while the Billion
Congress accomplished the chef d'Puvre
of reaching the $500, O,0O0, 900 mark, which
the present Congress seems desfrous Of
emulating.
This the Senator from Maryland is dis
posed to approve. Gas the country grows
and you go on with the construction of
your navy" declares Mr.. German, Tex
penditures must grow" This assertion
involves two or three considerations. The
expenditures for 1881 and 1882 were
S257, 900, 600 and $3.50, 100000. The growth
of population during the succeeding de-
cade was about "a per cent On the er-
roneous supposition that Government ex-
penses must increase in direct ratio with
population, this would Justify the increase
of expenditures to about $500 900 in
1891 and 1892, whereas they actually grew
to about $500, ,000, ,000 1t has been sup
posed that an intelligent fiscal policy
would inquire whether if expenditures
were increased in one direction they might
be retrenched in another. This was done
to a certain degree during the period to
which Senator German refers. At the
time when his comparison begins the in
terest on the public debt amounted to
s1OO, 100000 and pensions to about
$50, 100000 They have changed places,
but pensions have increased more than in
terest has decreased. The growth in the
total of the two items is about $40, 600, 900.
So that if we accept the theory that eX-
penditures must increase as the popula-
ton does, and allow for the excess of
pension appropriations, the basis of ex-
penditure as compared with ten years
ago would probably be about $3.50, 900, 900.
1t is idle for Senator German to tell us
that the $50, 900 of annual expendi-
ture outside of this liberal allowance is to
be accounted for by "the construction of
your navy, opening the harbors, deepen
ing the rivers and making great guns for
the army and navy" The actual fact is
that the increase in these expenditures
since 1880 is about S20, ZOO, 600 The alarm
ing CROWN IN the grand VOtdl Is Slmply
due to the lavishness that came in with
the politicians of the caliber that makes
an appropriation the goal of its political
ambition. This is illustrated by the fact
that the civil and miscellaneous eXpendi-
lures represent $50, 900, 600 of the increase.
1t is doubtless acceptable to Senator
German, as an eminent representative of
that class, that the extravaganza shall go
on But the fact that every marked in
crease of expenditure has been followed
by an overturn of the responsible party,
as in 1884, 1888 and 1890, might give the
politicians little inkling as to how the
people regard it.