SPEECH OF HON. JAMES BROOKS, OF NEW YORK, ON THE DEFICIENCY BILL. : House of Representatives . March 20, 1852, in Ihe Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union on the Deficiency Bill— Mr, Venable, of North Carolina, in the chair. Mr. BROOKS said: Mr. Chairman: I had hoped that when this De- ficiency bill came up, there would be a free, open, and legitimate discussion upon its merits. I had hoped that the honorable chairman of the Com- mittee of Ways and Means would have availed himself of his right, under the rules, to address the committee for one hour, and that he would have given his exposition of the bill, so that some cue or clue could have been given to the discussion, and so that I might seem to be addressing myself in reply to something which might have been said upon this floor, rather than to things which, if not said here, are said elsewhere. But he was not able to avail himself of that privilege, and, therefore, I am placed in the somewhat embarrassingr position of vindicating a bill which has not as yet been at- tacked upon the floor of this House, except by the incidental remarks of the honorable gentleman from Missouri, (Mr. Hall,) or some like inci- dental remarks, the other day, from an honorable gentleman from Tennessee. EXECUTIVE ESTI31ATES AND CONGRESSIONAL RE- SPONSIBILITY. I propose, in the first place, to ask the attention of the House to the estimates of this Administra- tion, and the necessities of the country that de- manded them. It ha3 been remarked, and truly, too, that the Administration is bound to make its estimates, and is responsible for them; but the House of Representatives i3 not less bound to vote those estimates, if they are founded upon a cor- rect judgment of the necessities of the country, and that in voting them it endorses them, and is equal- ly responsible, with the Administration, for them. This I say, frankly and freely, and I would have no misunderstanding about it. It will not do to say, "We must take and vote the estimates, and hold the Administration alone responsible for them. We can know nothing about them." It will not do, under our form of government, thus to make the legislative the mere register of the edicts of the Executive branch of the Government. It is our business, our duty, to study, to understand, to com- prehend, the necessities of the country, as set forth in the estimates; to vote for them if they are right, and to refuse them if they are wrong. We are men, and we can as well understand them as the men who send them here. This is the constitu- tional theory of the appropriating power of this Government. To the Executive belongs the ex- ecution of the laws, but to Congress belongs the public purse. If Congress declines to make ap- propriations necessary to carry on the Govern- ment economically, and in good faith, it fails in one of its highest duties; and the Executive, if it has made its statements and its recommendations, ia acquitted of all responsibility. It is well that we who are in a large minority here, with the re- sponsibility of an Executive elsewhere, should have an understanding about this with the major- ity and at the start. Let there be no disguise about these things, then. Gideon & Co., Prints. The purse, then, being in the hands of Congress, not a dollar can be taken from the treasury by the President except by the appropriation of the two Houses of Congress; and whatever appropriations are voted by Congress, Congress thus becomes re- sponsible for and sanctions them. Congress has peculiar advantages over the Administration in voting upun its estimates, for under our peculiar financial system the fiscal year commences with the 1st of July, and Congress acts upon estimates often some months after the Executive submits them. For example, the estimates upon which we shall be called to act when the Civil and Diplomatic Appropriation bill comes up for consideration are for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1S52, and ending with June 30, 1853, and were made, in part, by the War Department, in September or October last, and sent to the Executive in Novem- ber last, being one year and seven, eight, or nine months ahead of their final expenditure, June 30, 1853. The Executive must have his estimates printed, and on our tables the very day we meet in December — estimates upon which we shall not pro- bably act before July or August next. It is the duty of Congress, and it is its peculiar privilege, ixiontb.3 after they are submitted, to scan these es- timates, and to judge of them by the experience of a later period ; but when Congress has adopted them Congress becomes responsible for them, as well as the Executive. Frankness and fair dealing demanded of me to say thus much here before we go further into the vote; and what I have said I hold to be true and legitimate doctrine. WHAT ARE ESTIMATES. Now, what are estimates? They are nothing but guesses at best. They are the .judgment of men, founded upon the past history of this Gov- ernment, and upon its past expenditure; of what is to happen hereafter, and what is to be the cost of it. Upon this past history, presuming the future will be as the past has been, they make their esti- mates of the future expenditure of the Government a year and seven or eight months before all those expenditures are to occur. Now, we stand on van- tage ground some months ahead of the Executive in this matter. We know what the expenses of the Government have been since the time the esti- mates were made, or, at least, we can know if we desire. It is impossible for any Executive, unless he be gifted with extraordinary wisdom or some foresight divine, to know a year and seven months ahead what are to be all the actual expenses of the Government. If an Indian war arises, if trouble happens upon some distant ocean, if frontier diffi- culties are created, if there be any extraordinary increase of the cost of collecting revenue, or if there beany domestic troubles, His impossible for the Ex- ecutive to know what should be the exact estimates for the expenses of the Governmenfa year and seven months ahead, or even for Congress to know, when, at a later period, it i3 making its appropria- tions. So that, under our peculiar financial sys- tem, there must always be deficiencies in some branches of expenditure, and surpluses in others, as there always have been deficiencies and sur- pluses, since this fiscal year has been substituted for the year of the calendar. 2 DEFICIENCY BILLS NO NOVELTIES. I have heard gentlemen speak of this Deficiency bill, which has appeared in this House, as of some- thing new — unknown in Congress before, and as if belonging peculiarly to this Administration. If this idea has taken possession of the mind3 of any new member, he must be a new member indeed. From the time when the present financial system was established down to the present, these deficiency bills have appeared on the stage every year, and they will coniinue to appear hereafter, as long as the Government exists, or the fiscal year exists as it is now. I hold in my hand a tabular statement from the year 1944, exhibiting large deficiencies every year, under the administration of Mr. Polk, and I shall read it in part: Additional estimates rendered by the Secretary of the Treasury, in connexion with the regular estimates at the commencement of the sessions of Congress. For the fiscal year ending 30th June, 1344, (Mr. Spencer, Secretary:) Civil, miscellaneous, and foreign intercourse $13S,571 49 Military department 150,441 47 $-289,012 96 Congress appropriated 211,270 82 For the fiscal year ending 30th June, 1845, (Mr. Bibb, Secretary:) Civil, miscellaneous, and foreign intercourse $ 176,203 63 Military department 316,765 15 $492,968 78 Congress appropriated 443,864 05 For the fiscal year ending 30th June, 1346, (Mr. Walker, Secretary:) Civil, miscellaneous, and foreiern intercourse $1,009,764 21 Military department 280,762 34 $1,290,526 55 Congress appropriated 1,700,914 99 For the fiscal year ending 30th June, 1847, (Mr. Walker, Secretary:) Civil, miscellaneous, and foreign intercourse $666,700 72 Military department. . 4,793,000 00 ■ $5,459,700 72 Congress appropriated 7,637,071 48 . For the fiscal year ending 30th June, 1848, (Mr. Walker, Secretary:) Civil, miscellaneous, and foreign intercourse $88,723 S3 Military department. . 9,902,439 74 Navy department 70,681 SO $10,061,844 57 Congress appropriated 13,315,666 88 For the fiscal year ending 30th June, 1849, (Mr. Walker, Secretary:) Civil, miscellaneous, and foreign intercourse, in- cluding Mexican indemnity $3,744,903 69 Congress appropriated 3,885,193 81 I especially beg the attention of gentlemen on the other side to the deficiencies of 1847 and 1848, as in the last year a Whig Congress (Mr. Vin- ton chairman of the Ways and Means) made up for the deficiencies of Mr. Polk to the amount of over $13,800,000. Mr. Jones, of Tennessee. I desire to ask the gentleman from New York if that was not duriDg the Mexican war, when we had fifty thousand troops in the field? Mr. Brooks. Yes; but Congress, in declaring war with Mexico, authorized the raising of the troops, and provided the means of carrying it on; and it was the duty of the Executive to submit those estimates. _ Now, it is very true that this was during the time of the Mexican war, and it was very proba- ble that there would be deficiencies, doubtless larger deficiencies than would otherwise have been necessary ; but it is also true that on the 13th of May, 1846, when the President was authorized to call into service the fifty thousand volunteers, he could, in the December following, have included in his estimates for the year ending June, 1848, the cost of maintaining them. It was the power of the Administration— the country then being involved in war— to face that war, and to estimate for enough to carry it on. It knew that, in order to conquer Mexico, it had to involve the country in a prodi- gious expenditure, and to bring in the field all the troops Congress authorized in May, 1846, and it was its duty, in submitting the estimates in De- cember, 1846, for the year ending June, 1848, to fully, fairly, and fearlessly estimate what the cost of that job would be, certainly, just as much as it is the duty of this Administration now, a year and seven months ahead, to know what will be all, and the exact, expenditures of the Govern- ment in the now much larger fields of Oregon and California. ESTIMATES DURING THE MEXICAN WAR. But now the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Jones) has chosen to introduce this justification of the Mexican war as a defence of erroneous esti- mates; I propose to follow him there — not to at- tack, but to demonstrate that the leading minds and leading men of his party are as fallible as other mortals in their guesses or estimates. I did not intend to introduce some facts which I have before me at all, but it now becomes proper to show, if war justifies larger deficiency bills than peace, or larger errors in estimates, the gentleman from Tennessee is well justified in interrupting me. Mr. Polk, in his annual message, and Mr. Walker, in hi3 Treasury report, December, 1846, stated that if the Mexican war continued to July 1, 1849, a loan of $23,000,000 would be needed to carry the Government forward, and that that would leave a surplus of $4,000,000 in the trea- sury. But Mr. Walker, in his report of Decem- ber, 1847, asked — notwithstanding this surplus of $4,000,000 that was to be in the treasury— a loan of $ IS, 500,000 additional, to meet the expenses of the Government the same year. The Ways and Means Committee reported his loan bill as asked for— that is, for $18,500,00. This Mr. Walker, the Secretary of the treasury then, gladdened the country with a letter to Congress, stating that he had made the fortunate discovery of an error, show- ing the treasury to have nearly seven millions of dollars more than stated in his annual report. The Committee of Ways and Means then reduced that loan of $18,500,000 to $12,000,000, to carry out that fortunate discovery. But, before the country was gladdened fully with this most satisfactory announcement, a3 early as January, 1848, the' Secretary of the Treasury sent to the House an- other statement, saying that, when the first letter wa3 sent in, he did not know that Mr. Marcy had called upon the Committee *of Ways and Means for $4,000,000, to supply a deficiency, which was necessary in his (the War) Department, and there- fore that the sixteen million loan would be neces- sary. This sum the Committee of Ways and Means reported, and Congress acted accordingly. Now, I do not mean to censure Mr. Walker, or Mr. Polk's administration, for this wild guessing, this blundering by millions, unless it be intended to convey the idea that they had the power of foresee- ing all the actual expenditures of the war, exactly i what it would cost the country, and that it was their duty, therefore, to make estimates that would not admit of any possible deficiency; but I do mean to say, that no administration, throughout our whole history, has ever exhibited such a want of apprehension of its own means as that did — mil- lions at a time — or such a want of comprehension of the great task it had undertaken, in conquer- ing' peace with Mexico. At one time it blundered upon seven millions of hitherto undiscovered trea- sure, but at another time the cruel Secretary of War had robbed it of four millions of its precious means and receipts. The war, it is clear, or rather the cost of it, had utterly bewildered Mr. Polk, Mr. Walker, Mr. Marcy, and all who, in Wash- ington, had been carrying it on. Equally erroneous were the estimates of Mr. Polk's administration for the expenditures for the fiscal year ending July 1, 1S4S. The Govern- ment set them down to be §45,781,784; but in only the first seven months of that fiscal year the estimates were changed and run up to §62,733,- 669. The Secretary of War then estimated his ex- penses for the fiscal year at §23,938,000. but in the session of 1847 and 1S43 he asked for an addi- tional expenditure of over .'314,033,434 — an addi- tion of more than the yearly expenses of the Gov- ernment during John Quincy Adams's adminis- tration! I repeat that I do not intend to censure Mr. Polk, Mr. Walker, or Mr. Marcy; but I do intend to say, that if gentlemen suppose that this Administra- tion can calculate or estimate better than did the last, they require more of us than they did them- selves; and they pay us a compliment we ought to thank them for. The Quartermaster General, Jesup, submitted to Mr. Marcy a statement of his deficiencies, upon the 4th of November, 1847, and there were then arrearages in his department, for which he esti- mated §7,500,000; and for clothing, camp and garrison equipage, §960,000 more; making in all nearly §8,460,000 — a sum necessary for him a3 a deficiency. He estimated the expenditure for the next fiscal year, for his own, the quartermaster's department, to be over §19,291,200. This defi- ciency and this estimate were taken to Mr. Polk. He was frightened by the magnitude of them; and it i3 within the history of the Committee of Ways and Means — not the present committee — that Mr. Polk compelled General Jesup to cut down his ar- rearages from §7,500,000 to §5 000,000, and his •clothing and camp equipage from §960,000 to §600,000; so that, instead of §8,460,000, only §5,600,000 were given ; and the estimate of the ■quartermaster general for the year was cut down to §14,250,000. But on the 3d of February, soon afterwards — for these estimates were sent in De- cember — Mr. Marcy writes to the Committee of Ways and Means that he wants, and must have, §360,000 for the clothing department, which brought back the sum necessary, then, to General Jesup's original estimate, §960,000. Now, I state ■these great facts in no carping spirit, nor with any love for crimination or recrimination, but to show Jhat deficiencies must exist, as they have existed under an administration peculiarly beloved by the party now dominant in both Houses of Congress, and to ask that party to bear in mind that they always will exist unless the high officers of the Government are gifted with omnipresence, om- niscience, and omnipotence, to control all the ele- ments, and all the circumstances of war and of peace. DEFICIENCIES IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. But, Mr. Chairman, are our deficiences alone confined to the executive officers of the Govern- ment? I have in my hand now a letter from the Cierk of this House, directed to the Committee of Ways and Means, in which he asks for §100,000 deficiency ic the estimates of the expenditures of this House, §75,000 of which are in the Deficiency bill which you now have under consideration. And if the House itself cannot judge of its own expen- ditures, does not know its own means, or spends more than it has C3timateded, let us not hear one word from this House, or the majority in it, against another branch of the Government, which can spend not a cent but as it is appropriated. I will read the letter : "House of Representatives, Jan. 15, 1852. "Sir: At the last session of Congress the sum of §209,971 was appropriated to meet the contingent expenses of the House of Representatives for the present fiscal year. Prior to the meeting of Con- gress there had been expended the sum of §144,- 500, and since that time there has been expended the sura of §33,320, leaving an unexpended bal- ance of §32,250 to meet the contingent expenses of the House for the remainder of the fiscal year, ending the 30th day of June next. "It has been reported to this office that the sum of §50,000 will be required to meet the expenses of printing alone; and I would, therefore, respect- fully recommend that the sum of §100,000 be pro- vided in the Deficiency bill to meet-the contingent expenses of the House. "I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, "JNO. W. FORNEY. "Hon. George S. Houston, "Chairman Committee of Ways and Means." MILITARY EXPENDITURES. Now, Mr. Chairman, I come to the expenses of the quartermaster's department, for which there are large appropriations in the Deficiency bill; but at the threshold I beg the House to remember, that every cent of deficiency here comes from cutting down the estimates last year §2,315,000, for the pruning knife cut in there deep the last session of the last Congress, "in the dark, it was ad- mitted in debate ! Indeed, there is no de- ficiency in the quartermaster's department this year, save as it arises from the cutting down of his estimates last year, without rhyme or reason, as we see now. It is almost impossible, I will remark here, to comprehend the expenditures of this de- partment, unless we are willing to give them a fair and full consideration. I must confess that, when the quartermaster general's estimates were submitted to the Committee of Ways and Means at the last Congress, of which committee I was, a3 now, a member, their magnitude struck my attention, and almost affrighted me. I could not comprehend them, and I sympathized, for the time being, with the indignant remarks which I heard from gentle- men upon all sides of the House respecting them. But this state of feeling arose from a want of pro- per study of the whole subject upon my part. I did not comprehend the growth and grandeur of this country. I did not appreciate the mighty fact, that since 1S45, the time from which these ex- penditures had so much increased, that these Uni- ted States have been more than doubled in their area and extent ; and that whereas, before the Mexican war, we may be said to have had but one United States, one Republic; we have now, as it were, two United States, two Republics, and have added to us a territory twice as large a3 the old United States of America were in 1845. FRONTIERS TO BE DEFENDED. I hold in my hand a computation table of the area of the States, Territories, organized and un- organized, in the United States, which show3 some interesting and important facts: Area in sq. miles. Twenty-nine old States, (excludingTex- as and California) - 1,073,930 NEW TERRITORIES. California and New Mexico 526,078 Texas 325,520 Oregon — ...... 341,463 1,193,061 Northwest Territory, west of the Missis- sippi, including Minnesota, and bound- ed south by Iowa and the Platte river, • and west by the Rocky mountains. . . . 745,5S4 Indian Territory, west of Missouri and Arkansas, and south of Platte river. . 248,851 Number ofsq. miles in the United States 3,261,426 Showing these two new States, New Mexico and Oregon, only to have an area in square miles of 119,131 more than the twenty-nine old States of the Republic ! Thus we have, since 1845, more than doubled the area of territory that our army has to defend and protect, and doubled it, too, amongsavagcs, dwell- ing in wildernesses, or on mountains, and in fast- nesses almost inaccessible to our troops. Now, under such a state of things, it i3 to be expected that in nearly all branches of this Government, as the country increases, its expenditures will increase in proportion to its territory — certainly its army expenditures in proportion to its territory, and more too — for that very increase of territory in- creases its difficulties and duties, and aggravates its outlays. And this, in part, is the great secret of the enormous expenditure in the quartermaster's department. The military posts in the United States in 1S45 were only seventy-eight, the west- ernmost of which was Fort Washita, on the Red river; but in 1852 there are one hundred and eigh- teen military posts and arsenals. The following is the length of our frontier, in part, the Mexican frontier having to be protected under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: Length of Mexican frontier 1,700 miles. Length of Atlantic and Gulf of Mex- ico ...3,500 " Length of Pacific seacoast 1,620 " One of the most forcible arguments which Gen- eral Jesup has made to this House, in his report, to show the necessary magnitude of his expenditures, is the colored map, which he has appended to the quartermaster's report, by which he not only shows the overland transportation his horses, mules, and wagons have to perform, but also that there are now four or six frontiers to the United States, whereas before there were only two or three. There is the frontier of the Pacific, then the Mexican and Oregon frontier, the inner fron- tier, this side of the Sierra Madre mountains, and the frontier beyond Missouri, full of savages and wild Indians; so that I may say, I think, without exaggeration, that, as exalted as the Roman empire was in its proudest day, far and wide as the im- perial eagle went, and momentous and aggrandiz- ing as were its achievements, equally alike diffi- culties, savages ten times more ferocious than Gaul or Briton, are now met by the soldiers and officers of this country, in the wide extent of posts which they have, extending from the Aroostook, in Maine, to Fort Wilkin, on Lake Superior, to Puget's Sound, in Oregon, and from the Rio Grande to the sources of the Red river, in Arkansas. It is neces- sary to comprehend this mighty fact of territorial extension in order to understand this great expen- diture of the quartermaster's department. It is neeessary to remember that the military posts are nearly doubled; that the territory has more than doubled; and also the other most essential fact, that in 1845 almost all the quartermaster's posts were accessible by steamboats, the one furthest oft (Fort Scott) being within ninety miles from steam- boat navigation, and that, too, in a region where supplies could be obtained in its neighborhood. Fort Washita, in the Chickasaw country, near the Red river, was the only outpost depending upon the interior for its supplies, and it was only eighty- six miles from the depot where it was supplied. Pack and wagon have now to go hundreds and hundreds of miles. Supplies in some places have to go over a thousand miles by land. There is not in Oregon, Nqjw Mexico, Utah, California, or in the yet unsettled parts of Texas, even an ordinary turnpike road. The cost of transportation from the depots on. the Gulf of Mexico to the ports in New Mexico, has been tested to be $'22 a hundred for the sup- plies actually delivered in a sound state. No gen- tleman can have a proper idea of the magnitude of that quartermaster's department, unless he wiil carefully look over the reports of sub-officers, ap- pended to the quartermaster's report. The prodi- gious operations ot the quartermaster's department may be illustrated at the post of San Antonio, Texas, alone, and from this movement in Texas, the movements from Fort Leavenworth westward, may be guessed at also: Statement showing the operations of the Quartermas- ter's Department at San Antonio, Texas, during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1851, under the di- rection of Brevet Major E. B. Babbitt, Assistant Quartermaster United States Army. Sent from this post during the year. .9S ox wagons. Sent from this post during the year. 752 mule " Total 850 of which 752 were Government mule wagons, and 98 contractors' ox wagons. With the Government wagons were sent 59 prin- cipal teamsters and 780 teamsters. The Government wagons were employed in transporting company and officers' baggage, sub- sistence, quartermasters', medical, ordnance, and other stores to the different military posts. The contractors' wagons were employod in transporting public supplies (chiefly forage) to the different military posts. ~~l,*- By the contractors' wagons were forwarded 69,900 pounds of subsistence stores, 185,000 pounds of quartermasters' stores, and 185 pounds of ord- nance stores. By the Government wagons were forwarded about 170,700 pounds of baggage, 1,260,000 pounds of subsistence stores, 349,557 pounds of quarter- masters' stores, 28,000 pounds of medical stores, and 122,650 pounds of ordnance stores. Total number of pounds transported by wagons from this post, 2,185,992. For this transportation were employed 946 men, 4,720 mules, 622 oxen, and 73 horses. E. B. BABBITT, Brevet Major and Assistant Quartermaster. Assistant Quartermaster's Office, San Antonio, Texas, June 30, 1851. Now, looking at all these facts, I take pleasure in saying that, though I was affrighted at first by the quartermaster general's estimates, I do be- lieve, and I say it, though that gentleman is oppo- sed to me in politics, that Major General Jesup has discharged a most trying and difficult duty with great fidelity to the Government, with as careful a regard for the public interest as he would have done, or could have done, if he had been transacting, on a scale so large, his own private business, and that it has been the most embarrass- ing, annoying 1 , and trying duty ever imposed upon a quartermaster, at any time, or in any period, since the extension of the Roman government through the regions of Gaul and Briton, and over the Bosphorusof the East. MILITARY POSTS AND INDIANS. Now, Mr. Chairman, I propose to show the ne- cessity for some of these posts which have been es- tablished. I first come to the State of Texas, where no small portion of our little army i3 stationed, and I propose to show that there is a necessity for the stationing of these forces there. The number of Indians stated to be in Texas, by our official and unofficial reports, much vary. The Camanches in some quarters are stated to be twenty thousand in number. The Lipans are estimated at five hun- dred. There are Wacoes, Keechies, Caddoes, An- da:"co3, Ionies, Shawanees, and other unnamed tribes. There are fierce and wild tribes, I am told, not even reported by our Indian Depart- ment, or not yet discovered by our Indian agents. The Indians in Texa3, I am authorized to say by the honorable member from eastern Texas, (Mr. Scuhry,) who has been much in the Indian coun. try, number, in the lowest estimate, twenty thou- sand, and they are Indians of a warlike and fe- rocious character. Our Indian relations with Texa3 are fearfully embarrassed by the fact that we have no land there " to reserve" for them, and that the Texan surveyors and chain-bearers march upon Indian territory, and take it without purchase or treaty. This brings the settlements of Texas into constant collision with the Indian tribes. The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo imposes upon us the onerous, dangerous, and trying duty of not only protecting our own settlements from Indian invasion, but of protecting the Mexican frontier also, seventeen hundred miles long; and the expense of that is enormous. Besides this, upon the recommendation of the Governor of Texa3, to be found in documents too long for me to read now, posts have been stationed from the Red river, about where it is crossed by the thirty - fourth parallel of latitude, along to El Paso— a distance of six or seven hundred miles — posts in the utter wilderness, and upon the prairie, and posts along the Rio Grande — eight or nine hundred miles more— making a frontier, in Texas alone, to be protected from the Indians, of fourteen or fif- teen hundred miles. But, sir, besides— under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo— beinsr pledged to protect the Mexicans from nomadic Indians, there is also imposed upon this Government the yet higher duty of guarding the frontier of Mexico from Texan invasions. The scenes which have been lately transacted upon the Rio Grande — the filibuster scenes— have been a disgrace to thi3 Government— not a disgrace to the Executive branch of this Government, but a disgrace to the Government that has not provided the Executive with sufficient means to guard that frontier from American invasion. We have stipu- lated, by the highest obligations, under the most solemn sanction, the preservation of the Mexican frontier from American invasion, and yet constant- ly there have been going there robbers and ban- dits — for that is the name of those persons, who have been faithless to their country, faithless to the American flag, reckless of treaties, and reck- less of national and personal honor— persons bet- ter fitted by far to be Mexicans, than to be protected by the stars and stripe3 of the American flag. It is our duty— it is the duty especially of the northern people— to protect that frontier, and to stand by the treaty at all hazards. If that is not protected, and the American boundary i3 ex- tended there beyond our present limits, then comes another question of annexation, the annexation of a Sierra Madre republic upon the southern side— about two or three States; and as an offset then, Canadian annexation upon the northern side, with States six or seven in number. General Persi- fer Smith, in a document which I have before me, urges the like establishment of posts along the Gila and eastward to the Rio Grande. Six hundred cavalry and four hundred infantry he demanded there, and he said there was an imperious necessity for them. The like necessity is urged for having posts established in New Mexico. The last news from Texas and New Mexico demonstrates that the frontiers of both Texas and about all of New Mexico are entirely unsafe at this moment for the want of sufficient protection from this Government. The news by (he last mail is full of wars, full of the sacrifice of human life, in Texas especially, but in New Mexico as well as in Texas. There are es- timated to be thirty thousand Indians in New Mexico, and ten thousand nomadic, wandering Indians, upon the borders of Texas and New- Mexico. It is stated by Governor Calhoun— I vouch him for authority, though I cannot vouch for the fact — that amongst that wild, unsettled, and nomadic population of Indians— pueblos and half-civilized Mexicans— there are only three hun- dred real American citizens in New Mexico, un- connected with the army, (see despatch No. 58, to the Hon. Luke Lea.) Hence you see the neces- sity of armed foree .'or protection. The service of officers and soldiers in New Mexico is worse than any officers or soldiers ever before have been ex- posed to, for it is constant war, without even the shade of glory — constant suffering, without any ap- preciation of it by their country. It can only be compared with the inglorious Indian wars in Flor- ida; but worse than those even, for the soldier now is far from home, without comforts, without ne- cessaries even, beyond the reach of civilization or sympathy. Utah, too, is in a dangerous condition. There; are Indians there interrupting the lines of emigration to Oregon, endangering the life of every citizen who travels there; and hence the necessity for protection. Mr. Holeman, an Indian agent, writes from Fort Laramie, Sept. 21, 1851: "On my route to Utah, I passed many trains of emigrants— some for Oregon, some for California, but mostly for Utah. I found many of them in great distress, from depredations and robberies committed by the Indians; some were robbed of all their provisions, and even of the clothing on their back; many had their stock stolen, &c." * * * * # "I find much excitement among the Indians, in consequence of the whites settling and taking pos- session of their country, driving off and killing their game, and in some instances driving off the Indians themselves. "The great complaint on this score is against the Mormons; they seem not to be satisfied with taking possession of the valley of the Great Salt Lake, but are makingarrangements to settle other, and principally the rich, valleys and best lands in the Territory. This creates much dissatisfaction among the Indians; excites them to acts of revenge; they attack emigrants, plunder, and commit mur- der, whenever they find a party weak enough to enable them to do so; thereby making the inno- cent suffer for injuries done by others." And here we have the peculiar people of Utah. Who knows what they are doing, or intend to do? Who can tell? Who can say whether they recog- nise allegiance to this country or some other coun- try? Who can say whether the laws can be en- forced there without a regiment or two to execute them? Now, as to Oregon — and I trust the honor- able delegate from Oregon is in hie seat, for I am 6 about to \ise his name as authority — I have a state- ment before me, vouched for by him as coming from a Mr. Newell, an intelligent old mountaineer, that there are sixty-five tribes of Indians in Ore- gon, having the most outlandish names — names I never heard of until I looked into the report he made. These tribes have the euphonious names of Spokans, Oukenegans, Clickitats, Shoqualamicks, &c. — names, I will venture to say, thatwere never heard of by the great mass of the people of our country. The number of tribes the*re are sixty- five, thirty tribes north of the Columbia river, and thirty-five tribes south; and the number of Indians which the delegate from Oregon (General Lane) estimates to be in Oregon are over thirty thousand. This session ef Congress, the honorable delegate has strenuously demanded of Congress more pro- tection, and he has censured the Government for even removing the rifle regiment to Texa3. There, is California, too, upon our hands — Cali- fornia abounding in wealth, and not less abound- ing in expenditures; the one so well equally bal- ancing the other, that it often requires nice arith- metical calculation to tell whether the country is gaining or losing, for the present, by the acces- sion. The late Governor of California estimated the number of Indians — and called upon the War Department, under that estimate, for protection — to be over one hundred thousand. I have no doubt that the number was exaggerated; but I stand, for the present, upon that estimate. Gov- ernor McDougal writes, March 1, 1651, to the Pre- sident of the United States: "The valley of Los Angeles, of the San Joaquin, of the tributaries of the Sacramento, and the coun- try around the main sources of that river, and the northern coast, contain an Indian force estimated at not less than one hundred thousand warriors, all animated by a spirit of bitter hostility, and whom pacific and forbearing policy encourages into re- newed acts of outrage. "Rendered bold by impunity, and encouraged by success, they are now everywhere rising in arms, and every day bring3 the report of some new outbreak." * * * * * * "Protection by our people is regarded as their constitutional right; it is about the only benefit they can derive from their relation to the Federal Government, while their burdens are not light ones." COST OF FLORIDA WAE. Now, Mr. Chairman, to stop ali party clamor, I have compiled for my use an estimate of the ex- penses of the Florida war, to be compared, if ne- cessary, with the expense of these numerous Indian wars now on our hands. But, before I make the comparison, I wish to remark, that if any man fan- cies this country is now in peace with the savage tribes around us, he but indulges in fancy. It is a state of actual war wherever you go, amongst the western savages beyond the settlements. The sav- age is fighting now not only for life, for existence, but for a home — and for his last home, too. Me knows, as well as you do, that you have shut him out from the Pacific, and that he can go West no further. He knows, as well as you do, that his march is no longer eastward, but that he is in the heart of your territory now, with the columns of emigration pressing him upon every side. He stands not ready, as heretofore, to face you with formidable numbers in battle, array; but, with the tomahawk, he cunningly waits for an opportunity to scalp you and your children, who may be emi- grating to California or Oregon, or with the ar- row to pierce you, or in stealth to creep upon and plunder you. War, war exists with the savage on every side. There were in Florida, during the Florida war, it is believed, not over 1,100 Indians, with a few negroes. The appropriations for the army and for the sup- pression of Indian hostilities, &c, including all military operations, were : In 1836 $S,111,950 In 1837 9,308,521 In 183S 10,007,546 Total $27,42S,017 Besides these, there were subsequent, appropria- tions for arrears, and for paying the claims of States for services of militia, &c. The regular force in service in the United States* during that period averaged 7,500; the total mili- tia force wa3 about 36,000. averaging three months service — that is, equal to 9,000 men for the year, or 3,000 for three years; that force added to the army would give about 10,500 men, at an ave- rage expense of $9,100,000, or $860 per man. The least possible estimates that can be made of the coat of the Florida war was $11,000,000 or $-13,000,0000. The average force of the army for the three yeare succeeding the war with Mexico ha3 been ten thousand five hundred, with a few hundred volun- teers. The estimates have been under $7,000,000 per annum, and the appropriation still less. The actual expenses probably have not exceeded $8,- 500,000 per annum, or not $800 per man. Now. I know there was extravagance in the Florida war. I know volunteers were called out when they were not needed. I know firewood was brought from the levee of New Orleans to Florida, where fire- wood abounded. I challenge no comparison with such expenditures, justified even by a Democratic administration and a Democratic Congress; but what I do challenge is a comparison of the geo- graphical position of Florida, in the heart of our settled ceuntry almost, accessible by sea and by steam, with comparatively little or no land trans- portation within the reach of the great markets of New Orleans and the northern cities— with the geo- graphical position of New Mexico, of Utah, of Tex- as,the Upper Rio Grande.and on the Texas northern boundary— with the costly, golden prices of Oregon and California, remote from cities and abound- ing in immigrating colonists, enhancing by their numbers the value of every thing enormously. The navai expenses of the Florida war, the cost of revenue cutters in service there— all such charges I throw out of account, for the challenged point of comparison is accessibility by water and steam, and the expenses of land transportation. Now, we have overland wagon routes across a whole continent, from Fort Leavenworth in Missouri, to Puget's Sound on the Pacific ocean. The rifle regiment made the march across a continent, and endured more, and suffered more, and cost more, than if they had been in the campaign in Mexico. Troops, flying squadrons of dragoons, are all the while scouring and overrunning what I may call the innermost part of the country. The service is with them all a service of war; and yet they exhibit no such expenditures as these incurred here at home in subduing only eleven hundred Indians in Florida. quartermaster's expenditures. The expenses of transportation, of forage, and in fact every thingin California, are often ten times greater than in other parts of this country; but California is not less a part of the United States, and it is not less our duty to protect her people, in each and every quarter, from the IndianB, ae much aa if these Indians were in Tennessee, New York, or Alabama. I have before me a paper, too long 1 to read, containing' all the expenditures of the quartermaster's department for a large number of years. Those expenditures have been larger for a long time than they have 3hown upon their face, in the estimates, especially during, and in conse- quence of, the Mexican war, from a system too complicated for me here to explain, because I have not time to do so. But the actual expenditures of the quartermaster's department, for the year end- ing- 30tb June, 1S49 — the closing year of Mr. Mr. Polk's administration — were $6,090,976 Mr. Polk estimated (peace estimates, June 30, 1848) $•4,430,000. Congress (August 18, 1S4S) appro- priated only $2,940,000 The next year, Decem- ber, 184S, the estimates made by Mr. Polk were for only §2,000,000; cut down largely by Mr. Polk again, from General Jesup'3 estimate, as I am prepared to substantiate, and as I fear, because there was an incoming Whig administration. The estimates, December, 1848, were for $2,000,000, and the expenditures were $5,33S,969. Such are the legacies of debt in the quartermaster's de- partment, which have been left us by a preceding administration. The following table of actual ex- penditures in the quartermaster's department will explain itself: Year ending June 30, 1849 $6,090,976 June 30, 1850 5,338,969 June 30, 1851 4,892,927 " " June 30, 1852 (estimated). 4,379.000 June 30, 1853 (estimated). 3,900,000 Congress last year cut from the estimate of June 30, 1852, $2,315,000. The following table will explain the estimates ef last year cut off, and what is new in the bill for deficiencies : Heads of appro- priations. Ain'tscutoff by Con grese last year. Amounts es- timnt'd this year for de- ficiency. In the Defi- ciency bill. Forreg'larsup- For incidental $630,000 $917,460 $795,000 expenses For purchase of 225,000 - - For barracks, 60,000 40,000 40,000 quarters, k.c. For trans'n of 400,000 219,000 219,000 troops, &c. . 1,000,000 890,000 890,000 $2,315,000 $2,066,460 $1,944,000 The only complaint I make, Mr. Chairman, against General Jesup i9, that he has not had the courage at all times to face the Executive and Congress, and tell them both of all these expendi- tures — what and how indispensably necessary they were He should have let the country understand from the start what was the cost of the Mexican war, and the cost of the Mexican acquisitions. And»though he has been a soldier, who has faced battle, yet in the Executive Chamber I fear that he has not had the courage to face Mr. Polk and his estimates at every hazard. RESPONSIBILITY Or THE QUARTERMASTER GENERAL. I know it is said that the quartermaster is not responsible for all his expenditures, i understand that argument, and all the force there is in it. Here is a book containing the regulations of the quartermaster's department. It is the Army Re- gulations; and it appears from this that he has a complete administrative control of all the officers belonging to his department; that it is his duty "to provide quarters, hospitals, and transporta- tion for all military stores, provisions, camp and garrison equipage;" "good and sufficient store- houses for all military stores;" "to purchase all fuel, forage, straw, and stationery;" "to purchase all horses, oxen, mules, and harness, and all wag- ons, carts, and boats;" "to purchase dragoon and artillery horses;" "saddles, bridles, and other necessary equipments;" "to provide materials, and direct and superintend the constructing and repairing of quarters, barracks, hospitals, store- houses, stables, and other necessary and autho- rized buildings for the army, and the security of public property," (Art. 77-927.) I quote the fol- lowing from the Army Regulations: 933. "It shall be the duty of the quartermaster general to make himself acquainted with the fron- tiers, both maritime and interior; and with all the principal avenues leading to the contiguous Indian and foreign territories; with the military resources of the country; and the means and facilities of transportation, particularly of the districts on the frontier*; with the most eligible points for concen- trating troops and collecting supplies, whether in relation to offensive or defensive operations; with the relative expense of concentrating at particular positions, and the advantages of those positions; and he shall be prepared at all times to give detail- ed information on those subjects, when required to do so, either by the Secretary of War or the Gene- ral-in-Chief." 934. " He shall, under the orders, or with the ap- probation, of the Secretary of War, or the General- in-Chief, designate the routes of communication between the different posts and armies; the course of military roads, and the sites for permanent and temporary depots of provisions and military stores." 938. "He shall prepare all the estimates of the funds and supplies required for the service of his department, and he shall prepare and submit, for the sanction of the Secretary of War, plans for barracks, quarters, and other improvements, and cause the plans, when approved, to be carried into effect, as far as the means provided by Congress shall enable him." I might go on through the 1,07S sections of the quartermaster'3 duties to show his responsibilities. The most important branch of the army is his. Without him nothing of importance can'be done; and, indeed, every thing depends upon him. I know there will be an attempt to evade for him, and to avoid for him, these responsibilities, be- cause the Administration cannot be struck at with- out striking him down first; and in striking him down, an army officer, not of our political faith, will be struck at, but there he is; these are his du- ties, these are his responsibilities; and no petty quibbling, nor artful dodging, can relieve him; and 1 am sure he himself does not wish to be relieved from any duty the army regulations impose upon him. EXPENSES INCREASED BY CONGRESS, 1850. It must be borne in mind that Congress has largely increased the army since the peace estab- lishment of 1845. It has created the costly regi- ment of mounted riflemen. In 1845, January 1st, the organization of the army was S, 654; but Jan- uary 1,1852, it was 12,311. 'By the act of June 17, 1850, all companies serving at the eeveral military posts on the western frontier, and at re- mote and distant stations, are entitled to seventy privates each, and at other stations the number of privates per company is: In the dragoons 55 Additional, 24 In mounted rifles 64 " 10 In artillery 42 " 32 In lisrht artillery 64 " 10 In infantry 42 " 32 At the remote stations referred to in the law, thereare nowstationed, of Dragoons 18 companies. Mounted rifles 10 " Artillery 11 " Infantry 59 " Total 98 companies. MOUNTED FORCE. Organization in 1852, 2,632 Strength, 1,960 Organization in 1845, 1.29S " 1,108 Increase 1 ,334 852 The additional cost of supporting a regiment of cavalry over and above that of a regiment of in- fantry is as follows: On the frontier of Missouri or Iowa. . $139,827 In Texas 213,331 In New Mexico 343, 54S The act of June 17, 1842, also raised the bounty on enlistments, in lieu of transportation, to sums ranging from $23 to $142. Examination of such fads as these will show why and how there have been increased the expenses of the army. THE EXPENSES OF THE GOVERNMENT. I hasten on from this dry and tedious detail, but I cannot flatter you, however, that I shall present any detailed statement less dry. It has been said that the expenditures of this Government have run up to $50,000,000; and 1 am asked, I think I hear, " How is it that you Whigs have thus run up the aggregate expenses of the Government, and that now, when you got alon