St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1896-03-14
THE sPENDTHRiFT PARTY.
Predominating propenssties of the Proii-
gate Republicans.

gate Republicans.
The republican party, as it chooses
to be represented in congress, has two
propensities which are, perhaps, more
strongly marked than any others. One
is the propensity SO to legislate as to
enable d few people engaged in pet in
dustries to get rich out of the earnings
of other people. The other is to make
Lrodiga1 expenditure of the money con-
tributed by taxpayers for public pur-
| poses. #
The latter propensity was illustrated
ssgnally by the republican congress
which in 1890 SO increased the eNpend-
itnres as to convert a surplus OF ever
| S1Go,o00,000 d year into deficit before
the expiration of Harrison term. That
iprodigal congress did its work SO well
by providing for continuous expend.
itures which cannot be reduced without
breach OF faith that the deficit con-
tinues. It was SO slsillful in its prodi-
gality that the receipts are still below
the expenditures, although they arc
more than sufficient to meet the eA-
/ penditures of any year after the union
army was paid off and disbanded until
the Reed-Mckinley congress made the
money fly.
We have the same kind of congress
low with Reed at the front and the
same propensity inanifests itself in
spite of all efforts at repression. From
| a republican source comes the pro-
posaI to spend 100000, 900 as fast as
| possible on coast defenses, and no tell
| ing how many millions more for big
guns and battle ships and all the other
means and implements of wholesala
murder.
It is Mr.. Reeds chairman of commit
tee who tells the public that there will
be liberal appropriations for river and
| knows what that means. Everybody
knows it means the appropriation oil
many millions for useless Improve.
nents' ts''--useless for any other purpose
than to enable congressman to make
[ themselves solid" with constituencies
| who measure a mans craftsmanship
by his success in getting an appropria-
ton LOT his ueGStElCh.
This eminently republican chairman
proposes to be liberal because he says
I'VE have SIZE, 5,0oo,0 900 in the treasury and
are about to have $1Oo, 100000 more, bor-
rowed money. With this great pile in
the treasury he processes to see no rea-
| son why congress should not be liberal
in its appropriations.
This free-handed statesman seems tt
have forgotten that during the holi-
DAYS his party put what they called ar
l."emergency' tariff bill through the
house, insisting that the treasury re.
eeipts were running behind the expend,
itures and that more revenue was the
one thing needed to relieve the treasury
of all it's troubles. He seems to have for:
gotten the outgiying of the republican
party leaders, including himself, wheI
this congress first coprened that econ
| orny would be the watchword, for the
present session, at least. and that the
appropriations would be kept down to
the lowest limit consistent with eff
cient administration.
The propensity to spend money is Sc
dominating that under it's sway all the
fine promises of economy, all the moves
in the game of politics and the actual
fact of deficit are forgotten or ig.
nored. If this propensity is irresistible
when the treasury is still running be-
hind from $3,0o0,000 to $4,o0o,000 q
month, il republican congress will
be prodigal when the treasury is in
straits as at present, what would it dc
il the receipts were at the rate of $780,.
000, 600 a year more than the necessary
expenditures? We may learn from the
history Of that other. Reed congress
t which came in with Harrison and by its
spendthrift acts dissipated the large
surplus left by Cleveland and created
a deficit before the Harrison admins,
tration turned over an emptied treas.
ury to its successor.-Ch Chicago Chron,
icle.