Evening star., 1897-03-09
THE APPROPRIATIONS
They Are Discussed by Messrs. Can
non and Sayers.
how THE INCREASE is BROUGHT ABOUT
Distribution of the Bills Has Not
Proved a Success.
A REM EDY ESTED

The appropria lions are. In my judgment.
| in excess of the legitimate demands of the
public service. But this fact. while great
| iy TO be deDlor.J. is not. I'm my opinion.
properly chargsab!e TO the action of either
| OF the great political parties of he coun-
| try. 1t is the result of conditions ac-
| cruing out Of the rules of the House and
out of the rules practices and so-cailed
courtesies of the Senate. together wfNh the
| irresponsible manner whereby the exccu-
| tive submits 10 Congress estimates TO meet
| expenditures Of the conduct OF the gov
| ernment. III the appropriations made by
congress have heen extraragant and he
Scnd the revenues OF the government how
| much more so have been the estimates Of
| the executive? The record shows that ia
| no instance during many years past have
| the appropriations made by Congress meas
| ured up 20 the full amounts recomm, nd
! ed and asked for by the administration
| Lack Of Administrative Responsihiutty
| 1T is said that ours is the only govern
| ment in the civilized world wherein The
administrative branch apparently assumes
| no degree of responsibility TO the taxray-
| crs for its demands for the expenditure OF
| pubic money. and that ours is the or,y
government wherein the legislative branch
| alone exercises the function or duty of
| check upon pubic expenditures without
| any considerable degree of co-opera tion on
| the part of the executive.
| II Is hoped. and l believe, Ina, the in
| coming President. with his long expert
| ence as a distinguished member OF ;hs leg
islative branch of this government will
exact of his cabinet counselors some degree
| OF wholesome effort in the direction OF in
tcliigent recommendation of public expcn-
| oItures. 10 :he eEd that Congress may not
have to strive unaided and alone toward
| bringing our public expenditures within The.
| sum OF our public revenues
| lie criticises the action OF the Senate in
aiWaEs loading up" the general deficiency
OH and making IL vehicle" for all scrts
| OF claims.
| The remedy for this evil" he SAWS lis
ior the great committees of the House and
Senate on judiciary. claims and war
| claims to formulate an intelligent measure
that will provide a tribunal OF final iuris-
| diction. whittier these claims may he snnt
for full and intelligent consideration By
| such measure those who have honest
! and legitimate claims against the govern
| ment can be paid: and that some of the
| ciaims above referred TO are lust and
shouid he paid there is no doub:. But
| claims that are based upon fraud can q.
| siigmatized as fraudulent by such A ,ri-
| bunal, and Congress. once for all can hr
relieved Of the annual importantly for
| Not "a Successful Change.
I'm 1855 the House changed its rules and
took from the appropriations committee
| the jurisdiction ever one-half of tha reyl,-
lar annual appropriation bills, giving to
eight different committees the right 10 re-
pert and control such bills. IL was con-
tended at the time that the change wcLld
pfihg about earlier and more Intelligent
consideration of appropriation bills I do
not believe now that the most ardent adj
vocate of that proposition then would con-
Iehd Tor one moment that the beneficial
| results claimed and anticipated have. been
IN any degree realized. Committees each
with jurisdiction over but one bin have ire
quently been the last to bring their meas
sGres into the House for consideration
| confusion i.,
the closing hours of Congress in determin-
| ing the condition and status of the various
| appropriation bills, and the per capita of
! appropr.a tons, the crucial test of economy
i In the premises, has Increased, exclusive of
appropriations fer pensions, from s2a Vi
during the twelve years when all the bins
were controlled by one committee to S.l "a
during the succeeding twelve years ended
| In 1885, when eight different committees
controlled the approximation hills, equiv
| alent OF nearly Ssn,Gn.90 increase in ap-
pioprations for the latter period over the
| former.
There are too many appropriation hills.
| Instead of fourteen there ought not TO bs
mere than ten. The agricultural bill ought
to be made. as il Was prior to ISL part
OF the legislative, executive and judicial
appropriation bill, which provides FOR The
official staff and expenses of the several
executive departments, except the Asricul-
tural Department
The army. fortifcation. Military Acai-
emy and naval appropriation bills ought
to be consolidated into one. BY such con-
Sclldation much time now wasted I'm .rr-l-
evant general debate and formal proceed
. | fngs would be saved to the House and
! greater latitude and opportunity could t,e
afforded for the full consideration of tho
real merits OF the appropriations carried
| by the several bills.
Mr. Sayers' Criticism.
Mr.. Sayers, representing the minority on
the committee. says:
The present Congress- organized in bot
, | hr.. mol Inv he
! sent TO the President for approval includ-
iEg the general deficiency bill. as agreed
| upon appropriations in excess of those
made by the Fifty-third Congress which
was controlled by the democrats. TO the eN-
tent of so4, ,l3i,s12. The principal elements
OF this Increase are on account of fortiiica-
tions. river and harbor works. the postal
service. and the naval establishment
I'm addition to this enormous increase in
, | direct appropriations, this Congress. at its
|, first session. authorized contract liabilities
for river and harbor works Notifications
r increase of the navy, and other public
works, amounting to s15.S16, lSG. AT least
: two-thirds or one-haIf of this large sum re
| mains to be provided for by future Con-
crosses. and TO that extent constitutes a
] fixed charge against the revenues of the
| country, which by reason OF eXtraNaSant
, appropriations now fall short sa.oo.1p a
month of meeting the expenditures OF the
, | government"
'One of the causes for the enormous
, growth IN appropriations of late years has
r been the increase OF our navy. Since that
, ! work inaugurated i'm 1888 seventy
, seven ships of all classes have been con-
, struc.ed, or authorized TO be constructed,
! at cost of more than sI3ooouoo Al
. ready the number of ships authorized
would require, IL is sad twice the present
, lumber of authorized officers and men in
the navy to keep them all i'm commission.
The cost of their daily maintenance alone
, is severe draft upon our diminishing
: revenues Some of the most expensive OF
, these great ships are already classed by
naval experts as obsoeteIt would have been
wiser If had needed the advice urged
by many in the beginning OF the construc
ton of our new navy-to confine appropria-
tons within lines simply sufficient 10 keep
| pace with the progress of modern naval
| architecture.
1.-The appropriations made for the support
| of the federal government have grown 10
| such startling proportions within the last
dozen years to render il weil-nigh inn
) possible TO devise means Of raising revenue
! | wherewith to meet the expenditures. III
| the new administration just about to cross
! the threshold of power carries out its
pledges by giving to the country a protec-