The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1906-09-27
REPUBLICAN HONESTY AND EFFl-
CHENEY.

And now we have another vital cam
| paigl issue, thanks to the Democratic
managers, who are appealing for money
to enable them to elect Democratic
House of Representatives, in order to
institute an investigation into the man.
agement of the Executive Departments.
One would presume from the appeal
that such investigation would disclose
all the various forms of corruption that
could be enumerated, for Chairman
Griggs, of the Democratic Congression-
al Committee, says:
"A Democrat can and will investigate
every department of the Government.
With all these honeycombed with graft,
the edges of which only have been
touched by recent exposures and prose-
cutions, there will be a revelation of
rottenness that will astound The cop1-
Try and create a demand for a Demo-
cratic administration to clean the Gov
eminent workshop"
Such an issue is most important,
though not a novel one. 1t was raised
in 1884, and after Grover Cleveland was
elected with a Democratic House and
each department had a Democratic
head, the most thorough investigation
was made with bare results. Not a
penny had gone astray, not an official
was found to be corr apt, not a single
mllfeasance was disclosed.
! In 1893 the Democrats came into full
power and control of the Cover lment,
and again every nook and corner was
searched, and again it was forld that
under Republican management not
cent had been stolen, and not an official
or clerk had been corr apt.
But Republicans have not been salts
fed to rest on Democratic investiga-
tons. There might at any time be
found the same human nature, the same
weakness in a small percentage of gov
e.lment officials and employees as is
| found elsewhere. SO when certain ir-
Irregularities were suspected in the Post
| Office Department, few years ago, it
was Republican President who called
in a Democrat to join Republican in
the investigation, and when malefac-
tor was for1d, it was publican At
torney General who prosecuted, and
Republican Administration that ledcd
out the fraud wherever discovered.
tn n, in the Interior Department
when TIE frauds in the local land offices
were suspected, Investigations were in
scitUted and regardless of the social
st"nding or political position and infu-
ence of the person or pei sons believed
| guilty Of having committed fiauu, it
/ was a Republican cabinet officer, and
Republican Department Of Justice that
| instituted trials and secured conviction
and punishment. But this is no. all.
1t sometimes happens that department
officers and heads of bureaus ignore or
misconstYue the law respecting public
expenditure, with no wrong motive. or
they may be guilty OF practices that
tend or possibly result in extravagant
expenditure,
The record of the 59th Congress
shows that it is not necessary for the
American people to jeopardize their
present prosperity by electing a Demo-
cratic House for the purpose of inquir-
ing into the expenditure of public funds
and checking abuses of this kind. Under
the present system of framing appro-
priation bills, it is impossible for fraud,
! or intentional or unintentional error to
exist in the expenditure of public funds
without being exposed.
A Democratic minority, or q Repub-
iican minority, has the same power of
investigation into allmatters pertaining
to public expenditure that a majority
party has. During the last session of
Congress the representatives of both
parties on the House Appropriations
Committee exercised this power to the
fullest extent by closely scrutinizing all
estimates for public expenditure. and
inquiring into the expenditure of appro-
priaUions previously made. Never were
the estimates more closely scrueinized,
and the expenditure of previous appro-
priations more closely inquired into by
the Republicans and Democrats on the
Committee Of Appropriations. And in
no instance did that Committee fail to
report legislation for the purpose of
/ correcting every administrative practice
or abuse with view to checking I'M
reasonable expenditure and protecting
the Treasury against every extrava-
gance. Never were there more extend
ed hearings before the Committee on
Appropriations. These hearings were
open and full, and a complete steno-
graphic report was made and printed.
The Democratic minority participated
as well as the Republican majority
These hearings at the last session COW
cred four thousand printed pages,
largely exceeding the work of any pre-
vious Committee.
In the light of these facts then, we
/ NAV fairly p11action &c NJ, C,:,...