New-York tribune., 1896-05-30
THE ! IETO.

II is not a surprise to anybody that the l'resi-
dent has vetoed the River and llarbor Appro-
pratiOn bill for il was generally unuerS'oou
that he hoped to help his political position py
that step II was presumed that he would rest
his objection mainly on the ground that con-
tracts for future work were authorized, largely
in excess of the direct appropriations for 'he
current wear This Is his first ground OF oDJec-
tion. and much the weakest. For If work OF
that sort is TO be carried on with success at all,
or with economy, there must he provision eA-
tending beyond the appropriations or one year.
and il is a perfectly wcll-known fact tlat Il large
part of the waste which has been involved Dy
these expenditures in times past has resulted
from the fatal policy of determining Tor each
fiscal year what work shall be done on the vari-
Gus operations conducted by the Government
This objection Is rcfutcd by many years OF
wasteful extravaganza under the opposite sys-
TEN, and by the concurrent Judgment OF the
best scientific authorities. 1t Is safe 10 say 'ha'
no railroad or canal company In this country
would now undertake to carry on works or any
importance on the system which the President
insists should still prevail
Next. there comes the question whether the
contracts looking into the future are judicious
and economical The President vaguely states
that some in his opinion. are not. but he Is care
full not to specify a single one which appears 10
him open to that objection. 1t was n grave mis-
take Had he chosen to examine the contracts
proposed with some care, he might not improD-
ably have found more than one to which MS
objection would fairly apply. No River ana
Hnrbor bin for many years has been perfect
measure and II Is only just to say that objection
to particular features of the one which the
President has vetoed would have been entitled
10 serious consideration. Instead. he preferred
to say vaguely that some appropriations exceed
the amounts for which private parties would
have undertaken to do the work That Is pos
sible and the President would have done
himself better justice If he had named the par
tcular cases. But he took care not TO DO that,
and thus evaded, il would seem Intentionally,
the larger question whether those reported er-
rors Of Judgment by Congress were OF such
character or magnitude rs TO Justify veto OF
the entire measure IL Is not the habit or Inc
Tribune 10 look upon River and 1larbor bills
with undue leniency. But this measure taken
ms whole. does seem to compare favor-
ably with others which have been passed ana
with the approval of President Cleveland him
self
The objection as to the aggregate amount mp
proprlated seems childish. if II IS remembered
what sums have been voted for similar objects
with President Cleveand's approval Ii would
be n waste of time to study the record In detail.
But the President and all his friends will admit
that the possible expenditure for the coming
fiscal year, which he puts at $l1.OOOoOo. Is not
by any means greater than usual In fact the
attempt of the President TO discredt the meas
ure rests entirely on his reckoning Of various
expenditures for future years. not accurately
separated az If similar nnticlpatory appropria-
tons had not been repeatedly made In times
past. and in bills which bear his own signature
Of approval.
There remains one grave ground of objection
about which the President is conspicuously dis
! ingenious The sum appropriated Is large for
Treasury on the brink of bankruptcy When
! Mr.. Cleveland urges that fact he casts contempt
upon his own recommendations 10 Congress last
! December which were in substance that no
| larger revenue needed TO be raised than was
raised under the revenue laws then and now in
force 1t seems that the President was pnrtic-
! ularly anxious TO avoid the obvious conclusion
| that the existing revenue Is deficient and the
present tariff wholly inadequate for the ncccs-
stiles Of tho Government. But IT Is not easy In
these times 10 deceive the people revenue
greatly larger than that of the Government Is
now was raised for years by the Mckinley tar
| iff and 1t was raised without an odlous tax on
sugar, an important article Of consumption in
every working family, for the especial benefit
Of q gigantic monopoly which has always IA
yored Mr.. Cleveland and his party. Exclusive
Of this sugar tax the present tariff yields about
s5O,OOO,0Oo year less than tho Mckinley tariff,
and 1t Is scarcely less than fragrant nonsense
for the President to ignore the fact that this
great loss Of revenue Is the sole cause OF the
inability Of Government 10 meet outlays for
the public benefit.