3=2 c ) • h fk aql ^ # /< & u T,xvxisrc3- i t RECORD. FINANCE — RAILROAD LEGISLATION — TAXATION- ECONOMY IN EXPENDITURES — DEMOCRATIC EXTRAVAGANCE ILLUSTRATED—REPUB¬ LICAN INTEGRITY PROVEN. Within a brief period, the people of a majority of the States will be called upon again to record their verdict upon the principles and policy of the Republican party, arid to decide whether they prefer its continuance in power to the restoration of the party which for nearly forty years proved itself false to its trusts, and finally rose in rebel¬ lion to destroy the Union. Members of Congress are then to be elected in place of those whose official lives will end on the 4th of March next. The result of that choice, and the election of State officers, will determine whether the people are mainly satisfied with the record of Congress and the Administration during the past year, or prefer to entrust the Government once more to those who for so many } r ears labored to overthrow it and build upon its ruins a new confederacy. To aid them in making up a fair and impartial verdict on the questions involved in the issue before them, it is proposed to present a candid and just comparative review of the measures and principles of the two parties as illustrated by their political and official acts, and especially by their votes on vital public questions. A proper introduction to this record will be a brief review of the action of the last Congress on the BACK FAT AN1) SALARY INCREASE BILL of its members, and on the question of its repeal by the present Congress. This extraordinary measure, or the back pay feature of it. it is only just to state, hax not received the approval of the people. It may also be justly asserl^d that neither party is alone responsible for it, though, if as large a proportion of the Democratic members as of the Republican had voted against the bill it would have been defeated, as the following analysis v, r ill show. The salaries provided by this act were : The President. The Vice President. Chief Justice Supreme Court.. Justices Supreme Court, each. Cabiuet officers. Assistant Secretaries of the Treasury, State, and Interior.. % Speaker of the House, after tne present Congress. . 1 Senators, Representatives, and Delegates,including the then present Congr?—. $ 00,000 10 600 10,600 > 10,000 5.0G0 10,000 7,500 o ANALYSIS OF THE VOTE. Senate— For the Bill. Of the yeas, thirteen are Democrats or Liberal Republicans, being five more than the majority for the bill. Ten were outgoing Senators, being one more than the majority for the bill. hive outgoing Republicans and live outgoing Democrats voted for the bill. Twenty-three Republicans and thirteen Democrats voted for the bill Iwenty-six Southern Senators and ten Northern Senators voted for the bill. Against the Bill. Twenty-one Republicans, six Democrats, three Southern Senators, twenty-four Northern Senators, two outgoing Senators only, twenty-tive Senators whose terms continue. It will be seen that though there are more than twice as many Republicans as Democrats and Liberals in the Senate, more than half the votes for the bill were Democrats—that is, Republicans 23, Democrats and Liberals 13. HOUSE. 3n the House of Representatives the vote was as follows : For the Increase —102. Fifty-two Republicans, fifty Democrats; fifty-five outgoing members’; twenty-four Southern Republicans, thirty Southern Democrats. Against the Increase —95. Sixty-two Republicans, thirty-three Democrats. The united vote in the two Houses is as follows: AGGREGATE VOTE. For the Bill. Seventy five Republicans, sixty-three Democrats; sixty-five outgoing members and Senators; eighty Southern Senators and members. Against the Bill. Seventy-three Republicans, thirty-nine Democrats. The Democratic vote in the House on the bill was within two of the Republican vote, though they were largely in the minority. They could easily have defeated the measure, as the Republicans might, and each must bear an equal share of whatever odium attaches to it it is, therefore, dishonest and fraudulent for the Democrats to seek to hold the Republican party solely responsible for the passage of the salary bill. That no injustice maybe done the Democratic party in holding its Representatives equally responsible with Republicans for this obnoxious measure, we will quote their vote for Speaker of the present C-ongress. Their candidate for that honor was Fe/nando Wood, of New York, who, though he dodged the vote, accepted, pocketed, and kept the $5,000 of back pay. The following is the vote of the Democratic members of the House for Mr. Wood as Speaker: DEMOCRATIC ENDORSEMENT OF RACK PAY. Whole number of votes cast, 269 ; necessary to a choice, 135 ; of which— James Q. Blaine received.......189 Fernando Wood received....... 70 S. S. Cox received....... 2 Heister Clymer received...... 1 Alexander H. Stephens received..... i o o The following is the Democratic vote • For Mr. Wood —Messrs. Adams, Atkins, Archer, Arthur, Ashe, Barber. Beck, Bell, Barry, Blount, Bowen, Bright, Brown, Buckner, Caldwell, John B. Clark, Clyrner, Comingo, Cook. Crittenden, Crossland, Davis, DeWitt, Durham, Eden, Eldridfre, Gidding, Hamilton, Hancock, Henry It. Harris, John r i’. Harris, Here¬ ford, Herndon, Hunton, Kendall, Knapp, Lamar, Lamison, Leach, Magee, Marshall, McLean, Milliken, Mills, Mitchell, Morrison, Nesmith, Niblack, O’br.en, Hosea W. Parker, Perry, Potter, Randall, Rawls, Read, Robbins. W. R. Roberts, James C. Robinson, Scbuinaher, Sloss, Southard, Speer, Standeford, Stephens, Stone, Storm, Swann, Vance, Waddell, Wells, Whitehead, Whitthorr.e, Winchester, Ephraim K. Wilson, John D. Young, and P. M. B. Young—76. For Mr. Cox—Messrs. Holman and Whitehouee— 2. For Mr. Stephens —Mr. Bland—1. For Mr. Olymer —Mr. Creamer—1. Total vote—80. KAIIJaOAI) LECOf-LATI ON AND TRANSPC'RTATION MONOPOI/ffJS. No question before the country Involves more intricate ssues. The » ght of private "property, vested interests, chartered powers, are claimed as on one side; and on the other are the rights of the producing classes, especially those engaged in agriculture, upon whom rates, virtually amounting to a tax for private and opr do rate profit, are levied, often of an exorbitant character and frequently accompanied by regulations that are unjust and oppressive. There are also the issues of soverr. gnty— the right of regulation, control, even ownership—which it is claimed grow alike out of the primal right of “eminent domain,’’ the common law, the constitutional power to regulate inter-State commerce, and that indefinable brood of powers which arise, it is claimed,from the fact that the ‘"vested rights” to be pleaded and defended, are all the result of franchises granted to private persons cr companies fer the p blic benefit. It is but wise and statesmanlike for politicians and public men to move slowly in directions involving such issues and consequences. The Republican party has not evaded or avoided the issue. It has not rushed blindly, however, to declare an infallible plan, but has, on the contrary, deliberated on the wisest course—not pro¬ posing, as the Democracy do, in Congress as well as in State convention. 1 ! and plat¬ forms, to declare that the General Government can do nothing at all—limiting, as they have always done, the powers granted by the Constitution and the duty of Con¬ gress thereunder. The public highways—natural, common, cr scientific—are the arteries of a naiicn. By and through them run the life-blood of communication and commerce. They are an essential condition of progress. The Republican party aided the earlier steps of our continental system of inter-communication : and if it be charged that it was ungarded in granting privileges and bestowing subsidies, it may fairly point in defense tc the system as inaugurated by Stephen A. Douglass and bis Democratic confreres, and since sustained by Democratic votes in National and Stale legislation. To Republican statesmen and journals must be first attributed a systematic agitation against the land grant system, as soon as it became evident that more evil than good would result from its continuance. Hon. E. B. Washburne was among the very first advocates of legislation to control the great railroads lor the public weal Gen. Gar¬ field, in 1866, proposed a railroad bureau. Other distinguished Republicans have as clearly indicated that these questions were fair ly within the province of national legislation to consider and act upon. As early as January, 1876, an effort was made to regulate this important matter by appropriate legislation. Inthat month Gen. J. R. Hawley (Ref.) of Connecticut, offered in the House of Representatives a resolution to suspend ihe mice and p.ss a bill to provide for the appointment of commissioners to collect information in relation to railroads forming lines between the various States. But the House refused to suspend the rules, two-thirds being required; and so ibe measure of inquiry was signally defeated The following 13 the vote of the .House apon it, Democrats being in italics and liberals in small capitals. V I.'. vi..l i\i. TOTE FOR AND AG A l !• S_T UIlGOLAT RAILROAD FREIGHTS. Veas — Messrs. Averill, Barber. Bur y. Bf nc-u J 6. Blair, Boi es, Buckley. Bun¬ nell, Burchard, Bnrdett- R. B. Butler, v . \ . < obb. Ccg hi an. Cotton, Da rrall. Dickey, Donnan, Duell, Dunneli, Fames. Esty, Finkt-inburg, W. 4>. Foster. Erye, Garfield, Haldeman, Barmer, Havens, J. B. Hawley. R. Hawley. Hay. Hays, Gh W. Hazel- ton, J. W. Hazel ton, G. F. Hoar. Kendall, Ivillitger,' Lamport, 'McCormick , Mc¬ Crary, McGrew, McHenry, McJunkin, Merri. in. Mow re. Morey. L. Myers, Orr, Packard,Packer,I. C.Parker.Peck.Pendleton.Porter.E H Roberts,Shanks Sheldon, Shellabarger, L. D. Shoemaker. H. B. Smith, .J. A. Smith, Sprague. Starkweather, Stevenson, Stoughton, Stcwell, W. Townsend, Tyner. Waken an V ;.i ; --i, Wheeler, Wkiteley, Williams of Indiana, J. M. Wilson, and J. T. Wilsoti—75 Nays—Messrs. Acker, Adams. Archer, Arthur, E. W. Bed 7 > / » Beck . JS. Bell, Bingham. Bird, A. Blair, Boatman, Braxton, Bright, Buffintot . B F. Butler, R. P. Caldwell , Comingo, Conger, Conner , Cox. Critchcr, Grassland. Buddy Box, Du Bose, Duke, El-dredge , »S. Ely , Getz, Giddings, E. Hale. Hancock, 11- niley . Banks, Harper, G. E. Harris../. 2’. Harris, Hereford Hern den, Hibbard diii.th oper, Kerr . King. Lamison , Leach. J. H. Lends , J. Lynch, Hanson . Marshal!, McChUaud. McIntyre , McKinney, McNeely , Herrick, B. F. Meyers. Mitchell , AT rryaw. A. /. MB dark, II. E. Hiblack , //. Porker, E. Perry , Peters, Poland. Potter , Ramey. Pa Ball) Head, E. Y.Rice, J. M. Rice , Ritchie, W. R. Roberts. J C. Robinson. J Jlt dgers. S. i/. Iiodgcrs . Sargent, Sawyer, Scofield, //. Sherwood, Shober, Slater. Sb» ton, Sloss, R. M. Speer, B. II. Stevens, Storm. Swann, r J affe. Turner, TuthiU. Fpton, Fcm Trump, Voorhees , Waddell. Warren, C. W. Willard, Winchester, and iif. // Young —98. Of the 75 votes in favor of Mr. Hawley's motion 69 were Republican, and only Democrats and ‘‘Liberals.’’ Of the 98 votes against inquiry, 79 were Democrats and only wine Republicans, showing almost a solid Republican vote on the side of the producers, and astill more solid Democratic vote against their interests. Nothing more could- be done to protect the farmers against high and ruinous freights during that session of Congress, and the subject rested where that emphatic Democratic vote left it till the session of 1873--4. AT THE RECENT SESSION” .. ._ j _ _important report of the Senate’s Select, Committee on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard is a perfect text, so far as the law and its interpretation is concerned. One of its most notable chapters discusses the decisions made at difiereht times by the Supreme Court. . y From these decisions (especially the latest—that of Philadelphia and Reading Railroad vs. Pennsylvania) the committee argue : 1 . That the power of Congress ever inter-State commerce extends to the land as well as to water. # . 2 . That transportation by rail from one State into or through another is a con¬ stituent of inter^ State commerce itself. 8. That being a constituent of inter-State commerce, such transportation by rail is under the exclusive control of Congress by virtue of the power to regulate com merce among the States. VT i. I tiJ-U V CU v * vs/ ----- 7 i'-7 - tf ' i and extent of the operation of that Congressional power by which commerce is to be regulated. VOTE OX THE 1L CHARY BILL. On the 20th of January, 1874, Mr. McCrary (Rep.) of Iowa reported from the Committee on Railways and Canals a bill to regulate commerce bv tailr ads among the several States. '1 his bill was carefully prepared, and seems designed to remedy •> - - * • * * * * * the evils of which the producing classes so loudly corap.am. : ur. \e seen Lv the following yeas and nays upon its passage, March 20th, 1874, only six Democrats voted for it, while 71 Democrats and two Liberals voted against it: DEMOCRATS STILL AGAINST THE FARMERS. Yeas— (Republicans) —Messrs. Averill, Barrere, Barry, Degole, Bundy, Burch* ard, Burrows, B. F. Butler, Cain, Cannon, Cason, A. Clark, Clayton, Clements, S. A. Cobb, Coburn. Conger, Corwin, Cotton, Crounse, Crutchfield, Curtis, Danford, Darrall, Dawes, Donnan, Dunnell, Elliott. Field, Fort, C. Foster, Freeman, Frye, Garfield, Gunekel, Hagans, E. Bale, Havens, J. B. Hawley, Hays, G. W. Hazel ton, .J. W. Hazelton, G. F. Hoar, Hodges, Hoskins. Howe, Hubbell, Hunter, ITurlbut, Hyde, Hynes, Kasson, Lamport, Lawrence, B. Lewis, Loughridge, Lowe, J. R. Lynch, Martin, McCrary, A. S. McDill, J. W. McDill, MacDougall, McKee. Mc- Nulta, Monroe, Nunn, Orr; Grth, Packard, Page. I. C. Parker, Pelham, Philips, Poland, Pratt, Purman, Rainey, Pansier. Papier, Ray, Richmond, E. H. Roberts, J. W. Robinson, Ross, Rusk, Sawyer. H. B. Saylor, Scofield. Sessions. Shanks, Sheats, Sheldon, I. R. Sherwood, L. 1-). Shoemaker, Smart, II. B. Smith, J. Q. Smith, W. A. Smith, Snyder, Sprague, Starkweather, Strait, Taylor, Thornburgh, Todd, Tyner, Wallace, Walls, Whiteley, C. G. Williams, Williams of Indi¬ ana W. B. Williams, J. Wilson, J. M. Wilson, and Woodworth— (Democrats) — Messrs. Holman, Kendall, Robbins, and Wolf, Luttrell—(independent.)—12i. Nays — (Republicans) Messrs. .Albert, Banning , Barber, Bass, Biery, Bradley, berp.Buffinton, Cessna,Crooke,Eames,Gooch, Harmer, 13. W. Harris,Harrison, J. R. Hawley, E. R. Hoar, Hooper Houghton, Kelley, Kellogg, Lansing, Lawson, Lowndes, Merriam, W. S. Moore, L. Myers, Negley, Niles, O'Neill, Parsons, Pend¬ leton, Phelps, Pike, H. J. Scudder, I. W. Scudder, Sener, A. H. Smith, W. Town¬ send, Tremain, Waldron, J. D. Ward, M. L. Ward, Wheeler, Whitkhousf., C. Wil¬ lard, G. Willard—( Democrats )— Messrs. Adams, Archer, Arthur, Ashe. At¬ kins, Barnum, J. B. Beck, H. P. Bell, Berry, Bland, Blount, Bowen, Bright, Buck¬ ner, J. H. Caldwell, J. B. Clark, Clymer, Comingo, Cook, Cox, Crossland, I)eWitt ? Durham,Eldredge,Giddings;Glover,Hamilton, Hancock, H. R. Harris, J. T. Harris, Hatcher, Hereford, Herndon, Huntoon, Jewett, Knapp, Lamar, Magee, Marshall, Milhken, Mills, Mitchell, Neal, Nesmith, W. E. Niblack, O’Brien, H. W. Parker, E. Perry, Potter, Randall, Read, W. R. Roberts, J. C. Robinson. M. Sayler, Sloss, Southard, Speer, Standelord, Stone, Storm, Vance, Whitehead, Whitthorne, Willie, E. K. Wilson, Wood, J. D. Young. P. M. B. Young—115. Liberals in itali-cs. The bill did not pass the Seriate, not having been reported for action because the Windom committee desired first to test the sense of that body on their water-routes improvement plan by the voting of an appropriation to defray the cost of preliminary surveys. It remains on the docket to be considered next winter, as does also the motion of Senator Morton to appoint a commission of experts to make a thorough examination of the railroad system of the country, and report fully thereoD. espe¬ cially as to its relations to the Government. THE POSTAL CAR CONTROVERSY AND THE LAW THEREON. Besides the positive declarations thus affirmed, and to a large degree accepted, must'be added the special report of SenaKir Mitchell, as a sub-committee of the Win- dom eommitlee, to whom was referred the matter of postal cars and the proposed refusal of certain railroads to furnish and transport them except on other terms of compensation than those now allowed. This report takes the broadest grounds as to the power, duty, and rights of the Government, affirming that it has the right to take possession of railroads for postal purposes, and run trains over them, paying due compensation. Of course it can compel, according to this logic, the several cor¬ porations to transport the postal trains or cars over their several roads. These steps seem to indicate distinctly the views of the Republican majority in Congress. RAILROAD LEGISLATION ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED. Besides the declaratory action above stated, Congress, under the control of tho Republican party, past and present, has passed several specific acts of control and 6 regulation, some of which are of general import, while the others are significant, but relate more distinctly to the Pacific railroad system. THE GENERAL ACTS AFFECTING RAILROADS are as follows: The act of July 15, 1866, passed at the instance of the railroads themselves, which authorized companies chartered by the States to carry passengers, freights, &c, over any road connecting the several States, aad to allow them to connect so as to form continuous lines of transportation. What has been done can in some degree, subject to vested righis that have grown up thereby, be undone, or at least controlled. Another measure, directly affirming the . power of Congress, is that known as the ‘‘cattle law,' 1 passed in 1872-73, by which j regulations are made for more humane treatment of cattle in transitu. J The acts passed at the recent session, affecting in the main the land-grant rail¬ roads. are: 1. An act protecting the rights of settlers on such public lands as are included within an./ railroad grants- Disputes have constantly occurred, generally ending lo the disadvantage of the settler who may have occupied a homestead in good faith, supposing it to be public land,and afterward found a railroad claiming it. Hereafter the latter must leave the settler alone, and receive other land in lieu of his quarter section. Another act requires the land-grant railroads to take out patents for such lands as have been transferred to them in pursuance of their grants. About thirty-four mil¬ lion acres out of the two hundred and twenty-five million acres granted have been so transferred, and are to all intents and purposes corporate and private property, justly liable to taxation by the States or Territories in which they are situated, a taxation that, has been evaded so far by a systematic avoidance of perfecting the titles, so that the larger part of this area is still regarded at law as public lands, free from local taxation. The next step is an act by which one-half or more of the cost of Government trans¬ portation over land-grant railroads is to be retained by the Treasury. In several cases it is expressly provided by the terms of the grant that such transportation is to be free ; in most of the others one-half is stipulated, and in a few instances the intent of the law is disputed. The companies are allowed their remedy in the courts. These remedial measures are supplemented by another in relation to the Pacific railroads, which declares the Union, the Central, and their leading subsidized branches to be finished, and thereby requires the five per cent, sinking fund to be formed from the net earnings of the roads. This recapitulation of acts done must be increased by the actor resolution of the Forty-Second Congress requiring the Treasury to retain the whole ot the Government transportation accounts held by these Pacific railroad corporations in payment of their unliquidated interest account. SUSTAINED BY THE SUPREME COURT. That the Republican party, in moving forward on this general line, is but inter¬ preting the Constitution in the spirit oi its framers and the general purpose of that instrument, is quite evident from the fact that the Supreme Court, in an unbroken line of decisions relating to commerce, its character, and the constitutional power of control, has deliberately affirmed that ‘Transportation” is a part thereof, coining within the purview of Congress whenever it assumes an intef-State character. Marshall declared commerce to be “a unit, every part of which is indicated by the term buyer to gam the freight.” Justice Story declared commerce was not limited by admiralty law—that it was not ‘ confined to acts none on the water, as has been argued by some. Taney declared the “Constitution makes no distinction” as to commerce on land or water. In the recent tonnage tax case--that of the ‘‘Phila¬ delphia and Reading Railroad vs. Pennsylvania,” Mr. Justice Strong said: “Itejond i 7 all question the transportation of freight, or of the subjects of commerce, for the pur¬ pose of exchange or 6ale, is a constituent of commerce itself-* r Mr. Justice Miller, in the Clinton Bridge case, also places himself on the side of the power of Congress to regulate railroads when forming the means of commercial intercourse between the States. The Republican party in Congress is, therefore, acting in accord with set¬ tled docrines of judicial interpretation ; while the Democrats have nothing to offer as a policy, but an arraignment of the old States rights’ theories, their opposition votes in Congress, and glittering, but contradictory, resolutions, like the following, passed by the recent Illinois Democratic State Convention : “ Fourth. The right and duty of the State to protect its citizens from extortion and unjust discrimination by chartered monopolies. “Fifth. Rigid restriction of the Governments, both $tate and National, to the legitimate domain of political power, by excluding therefrom all executive and legis¬ lative intermeddling with the affairs of society, whereby monopob’ Q s are fostered, privileged classes aggrandized, and individual freedom unnecessarily and oppres¬ sively restrained.” HOLDING KAILEODS TO THEIR OBLIGATIONS. • Charges have frequently been made that law’s are unduly construed in favor of the land grant railroads, where their interests were concerned. When sifted, these charges, if they possessed a basis in truth, resolve themselves into two points; First , a compelled adherence to the accepted rules of legal interpretation, which may sometimes woik a seeming inequity in special cases, certainly not designed or fore¬ seen when the law w r as passed, but from which officers construing them on legal principles, laid down in the authorities and long accepted by courts and expounders, cannot possibly escape. Second , decisions in the General Land Office, made by such chronic Democratic interpreters and officials as the former Commissioner, the late Joseph S, Wilson, who notoriously favored great land monopolies, whether in the form of railroad or Mexican land grants- The Attorney General has recently overruled the most flagrant of Mr. Wilson’s land grant decisions, and has decided that the General Land Office must construe the law relating to the forfeiture of land grants to railroads by the plain intent of Congress, and not by the common law, as heretofore has been the case. Under the terms of the several grants ten years are given in which to construct the roads. If this requirement is not met the land re¬ verts to the public domain. In most cases the words of the graatare not mandatory as to the land officers. The ruling heretofore has been to the effect that Congress must legislate in each case, and by distinct enactment return the land to the domain. Under that of the Attorney General, the law will be fulfilled without remanding the matter back to the legislative arena, there to be the subject of discussion and bar¬ gain- The following railroads and grants are affected by this opinion: Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile, 160 miles, uncompleted ; 600,000 acres reverted. Pensacola and Louisville, 43 miles; 165,000acres, Alabama and Florida, 150 miles, 304,000 acres. Coosa and Tennessee, 35 miles; 67.784 acres. Mobile and Girard, 140 miles; 300,000 acres. North Louisiana and Texas, 90 miles; 250,0 0 acres. St. Croix and Lake Superior, 220 miles; 1,180,000 acres. Jackson, Lansing and Sagi¬ naw, 50 miles; 150,000 acres. Total, 888 miles ; 8,106,784 acres. THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND THE WORKINGMAN. If the entire policy of^tke Republican party had been shaped with sole reference to the interests of the workingmen of the nation , it would hardly have differed from what it has uniformly been since it came into power in 1861. For nearly half a cen- tuiy previous to that time, with one or two brief intervals, the Government of the nation had been in the hands of the slaveholding Democracy, and controlled by the principle that 11 Cajiital Should, Own Labor l" Every act of legislation for that long, dark, dreary period was designed to count out free , and to extend and strengthen slave , labor. The people were nothing, slavery was everything, The very first act of the Republican party upon coming into power was to repudiate \ 8 u;il l!i •ii've and degrading policy, ar>d practically to declare that the Government was of the people and for the people* Jn accordance with this theory, the first act of a Republican Congress was to pass a law giving to every head of a family, who would settle upon it, a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres of the public domain. HOW THE PEOPLE ARE ANNUALLY TAXED TO PAY THE COST OF THE DEMOCRATIC REBELLION. i he annual expenses of the Government lor all purposes have averaged for three years past, in round numbers, $290,000,000. Of this sum over $157,000,000 yearly has been to meet the expenses arising directly from the late Democratic rebellion in the interest of slavery. Ihe following table exhibits in detail the items which make up tbje amount, of this Democratic pro-slavery legacy to the American people for the Dscai year ending June 30, 1873 : ANNUAL COST PAST DEMOCRATIC RULE. Joint Select, Committee on Alleged Outrages in Southern States. investigations in relation to elections in Louisiana and Arkansas...”. Payment of judgments Court of Claims. . Southern Claims Commission. Tribunal of arbitration at Geneva. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W W ". Expenses of national currency... . Expenses of national loan... .a”!!.".”.*”.".!.*.*.”” Refunding national debt. !...............'.'. Cost ol assessing and collecting internal revenue, including payments of drawbacks and amounts illegally collected. Deluding claims for cotton seized. Salaries of direct tax commissioners... Expenses of collecting direct tax in Delaware. . . Repayment for lands sold tor direct taxes.... Return of proceds of captured and abandoned property. Collection of captured and abandoned property, records ol evidence respect' ing same. Refunding internal tuxes illegally collected. Refunding proceeds of cotton seized . Premium on bonds purchased in currency. Payment of interest on the public debt. Bounties... Keeping, transporting, and supplying prisoners of war. Military telegraph .. National cemeteries. Maintenance <>t steam-rams. Gun-boats on western rivers. Providing for comfort of sick and discharged soldiers. Payment of stop pages or fines due National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers . ’..'raveling expenses of California and Nevada Volunteers. Traveling expenses of First Michigan Cavalry. Commutation of rations to prisoners of war in rebel States?. Draft and substitute fund. Appliances of disabled soldiers... Transportation of insane volunteer soldiers. •. Support ol Freed men’s liospitai and Asylum, Washington, I). C. Support of Bureau of Refugees, Freeumen, and Abandoned Lands, (regular). . Support of Bureau of Refugees Freeumen, and Abandoned Lands (transfer).... Horses and other property lost m the military service. Reimbursing State of Kansas lor military expenses. . Reimbursing State of Kentucky for mi n ary expenses.-.. Refunding to States expenses incurred in raising volunteers . Defraying expenses of minute-men and volunteers in Pennsylvania, Mary¬ land, Ohio Indiana, and Kentucky.7—. Supplying arms and munitions of war >o loyal citizens in revolted States.. Capture of Jefferson Davis.... Claim of loyal citizens for supplies furnished (luring the rebellion. Bounty for destruction of enemy’s vessels.. Payment to captors of the rebel ram, Albemarle... Payment to officers and crew of the United States steamer Kearsarge. Pensions*....--- Relief acts, (various)...$ .; .i ____ • •. f i K* lotal $1,087 20 20,000 00 489,034 7e 62,800 04 62,210 22 181,664 84 2,806,863 04 64 726 83 6,667,039 49 62 05 640 55 22 46 9,<‘75 00 1,960,679 20 84,459 60 1,507 4-1 3,282 00 5,105,919 99 104,750,688 44 465,049 14 258,080 11 17 220 3(5 431,219 22 14,648 93 33,498 28 1,306 79 193,750 69 28,000 00 5 ifl 00 2,0G(f 00 42,792 84 8,000 00 1,000 00 72,000 00 93,9/4 79 12,871 S * S9 975 85 336 S17 37 625,253 72 758,110 31 28,762 32 916 38 2 061 GO- 927 .910 19 133,S02 28 202,912 90 141,37? 00 29,359,426 S6 797,748 78 *157,262,416 SI *A small portion of this amount is lor pensions to soldiers of the war of 1812. . 9 \ Deducting this suni from ibe whole expense of the Government for the yetr named will reduce the amount to less than $133,000,060, which, reduced to the standard of gold, would leave less than $120,000,000 as the present cost of the Gov¬ ernment, including all expenditures for public woiks, had the Democracy spared the nation the bloody rebellion into which they so ruthlessly plunged it! GRADUAL ANNUAL DECREASE OF TAXES AND GOVERNMENT EXPENSES BY THE REPUB¬ LICANS. The following official table exhibits in parallel columns the annual receipts arid expenditures of the Government from 1806 to 1873 inclusive : Receipts and Experuliturts vf Hit Government. For the fiscal your aiming— 95 i •—1 W W v S © « C P. to Receipts ex¬ clusive of loans. June So, 1866.. Page. 2 $558,032,620 06 490,634,010 27 405 63S.083 32 June 39, li63. S3,34 June SO, 186R. . 24,25 20 June 30, 1869. 370,943,747 93 411,255,477 32 383,323,944 81 Juno 30, 1670. 3 June SO. 1871. 5 June 30 , 1872. i> 374.106 967 66 June 3p, '1873. 4,5 333,738,204 67 i Expenditu res exclusive of principal o'. public debt. $520,750,940 46 346,729,129 S3 377,340,284 bo 321,490/97 76 309,6.53,560 76 2.92,177,168 26 277,617,962 <17 290,345,245 33 From this table it will be seen that, in every year, save one, since the war, the revenues have been decreased by the reduction of taxes; and in every year, save two, the expenditures have decreased. Two forces have been constantly at work; the one reducing expenditures, the other repealing taxes. And yet, by the aid of one and in spite of the other, a handsome surplus lias been maintained in each of these years. By comparing the two columns given in the table, it will be seen that, notwithstanding the diminution of taxes, the surplus increased, until in 1870, it reached $100,000,000. Keeping in view the column of receipts into t he Treasury, let us call to mind the various acts and amounts by which the burdens of taxation have been removed. The echoes of the last battle had hardly died away when Congress began the grateful work of reducing taxation. By the act of July 13, 1866, customs duties were repealed to the amount, to. $65,000,000 By the act of March 2, 1867, customs duties were further reduced by the s-urn of. . 40 , 000,000 By t he acts of February, March, and July, 1S68, customs duties wevp still further reduced by the sum of...•. CS,ooo,ooo By the act of July 14, 1870, the reduction was : On customs.. $55,000,060 On internal revenue.. 29,626,410 - 84,526,410 By the qcts of May 1, and Jane 6,1872, the reduction as stated by the Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, was, for eleven months of last year: On customs.... $44,365,364 On internal revenue.. 17,696,466 ! ' - 62 , 06 c,820 Making a total reduction, since the close of the fiscal year I860, of.$319.527,230 REPUBLICAN RETRENCHMENT IN THE INTERNAL REVENUE BUREAU. The following comparative statement of the number of persons employed by the ■" •< . Internal Revenue Bureau, December 1 , 1866, and December 1 , 1873,—the same • ' period as covered by the expenses of the General Government in tbe foregoing % 10 table — will show that retrenchment and economy are carried into aLi the branches of the Government: Collectors. Deputy collectors. Assessors.,. Assistant assessors, at $5 per diem. Tobacco inspectors, paid by fees. Revenue inspectors, at $4 per diem. Inspectors of coal-oil, paid by fees. Inspectors of distilled spirits, paid by fees. General inspectors of distilleries, paid by fees. Special agents. Revenue agents.. Store-keepers, from $4 to $5 per diem. Gaugers, fees. Surveyors of distilleries. Supervisors. Commissioner, $6,00o per annum.. Deputy commissioners. Solicitor, .*4,000. Heads of divisions, at $2,5o0 per annum. Fourth-class clerks, at *1.800. Third-class clerks, at $1,600.. Secoud-ciass clerks, at $1,400. First-class clerks, at $l,20o.. Copyists, at *900. Messengers, at $1,000. Messengers, at $840.. .Laborers, at $720. Laborers, at $300-. Grand total. December 1, 1866. December 1,1873. 241 225 1,850 882 241 8,318 None. 748 19 178 None. 106 None. 1,309 None. 393 None. 10 None. 12 25 942 987 150 10 1 1 2 3 1 None. 3 7 23 33 39 47 42 4.5 15 35 51 84 4 1 3 S 9 27 2 8,599 3,533 t Here is a reduction in this one Bureau alone of 5,066 Government employees, and a saving of not far from one million dollars annually in salaries since the close of President Johnson’s administration. GREAT REDUCTION IN THE APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE YEARS 1874 AND 1875 BY LAST CONGRESS. The following table exhibits the appropriations made by the sessions of Congress of 1873-'4, and also at the last sessions for 1874-’5. Twelve regular appropriation bills for the fiscal years 1S74 and 1975. Title of bill. Navy. Army. Fortification. Legislative, executive, judicial. Indian. Military Academy. Deficiencies. Post office. Consular and diplomatic.. Pension. Sundry civil.. River and harbor. Total decrease. For fiscal y’r ending June 30, 1874. For fiscal y’r ending June 30, 1875. Increase. Decrease. $22 276 257 65 $16 818.964 20 • $5 457,311 45 31,796.008 SI 27,788,500 00 ' 4.007,503 SI i, SOS,000 00 904,000 00 995,000 00 23,753,633 86 20.613,8S0 80 3,139,753 06 5,541,418 90 5.656.171 00 $114,752 10. 344,317 56 339,S3-3 00 4,482 56 12,978,418 60 4,033,914 26 S,894,504 34 5.396,602 00 5,497,842 00 00 1.311.359 00 ,405,404 00 2,114,045 00 30,480.000 00 29.980,000 00 500,000 00 32 186,i29 09 26,895.545 25 5.290,583 84 6,102,900 00 5,218,000 0b 884,900 00 26,863,006 96 ♦ A glance at this comparative table will show what redactions in appropriations have been made. It will be seen that these amount to uearly $5,500,000 in tha Navy, and are little more than $4,000,000 for the Army. The reduction in the appropriations for fortifications ie nearly $1,000,000, and i8 . Four vears ended December 31, 133'/.. 1 40.5 1 20.5 Four vears ended December 31, 336. 90,086.099 61 122,319,929 61 108,834.416 15 173,382.131 80 I4,579j5o0 1 54 4 Four years ended December 31, 134'.'. 16,348,000 IS,551.000 21,143,000 23,995,000 21,256,000 30,596,000 33,365,000 36,211,000 |> 39,672,000 1 87.0 From January 1, 1841, to June 3o, 1843, four and a half years. 1 30.3 Four '.‘ears ended June 3<>, 1349. 2*05.0 i- uni' vears ended June 30, 8/>3 181,494,378 23 254,503,60S 13 273,401,624 42 rs9,i 2 33.4 Vnnr years ended .Tune 30, 1S:")7 . Foui years ended .June 3o, 1861. 2 23.4 Four > car's ended June Go, 166:"). 3,350,090,808 35 1,576,829,070 67 5 1,169,693,957 00 25 90.2 Four years ended June 30, i860 . 10 88.6 Four vears ended .Tune 30. 1373 . < 7 37.1 l 311,125.633 S3’- l 1 9*3.0 * Expenditures ui the four ytais etui eel 30th June, 1*73, less !|.S58,561,323.12, expenses proving out of the war. i tv.' table exhibits the fact that in 1861. the expenditure per capita averaged i ‘2o.4 ; and that iu I 860 , when the war closed, it had reached the enormous average of S’J-3,10.2 to each individual in the Union, showing an increase of nearly S-'-l. ‘JO per capita, but the present economical Administration has again reduced the pe • capita average to $1.96, deducting the expenses which belong to the late war and its incidents. DEMOCKATIC ECONOM Y. Hut as au example of modern Democratic statesmanship, the following is sub¬ mitted. premising that no deductions are to be made for war expenses, that the ©m- 1 -iy is simply the cost of civil government, and that the result follows a period of un- !>t pee i Democraticsv'prerr'ocy in the municipal administration in NEW VO EX CITY. We Lave not included in the expenditures any of the money which has been paid from the City and County J reasuries and Sinking Funds in redemption of bonds. During the jear some fifty-five millions in bonds were sold, and some thirty-one miliious paid off, so that the debt has been increasing. The resources from which the City made the payments of fifty iniilious summarized below were derived from taxes, noud 3 , assessments, and miscellaneous sources, in round numbers as follows: From taxes.$27,000,000 From sales of bonds. 14,000,000 From miscellaneous receipts. 5,000,000 From assessments. 4,000,000 Total.$50,000;000 The conclusion which we derived from Mr. Green's report is this : that while the present scale of expenditure continues, sound financial policy and a decent regard for the ultimate solvency of the municipal government both demand that not less than forty million dollars be raised annually by taxation. 14 EXPENDITURES OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK FROM AUGUST 1, 1873, TO AUGUST 1, 1874. State taxes./.$11,296,982 66 Interest paid.... 7,345,833 45 Legislative Department. 331,080 51 The Mayoralty. 41,459 99 i Finance Department. 373,137 61 Department of Taxes and Assessments. 133,548 41 Law Department... 162,901 01 Department of Public Works. 2,160,447 65 Department of Parks. 531,539 41 Department of Buildings. 110,217 80 Department of Charities and Correction. 1,329,695 81 Health Department. 218,732 91 Police and street-cleaning. 4,339,867 59 Fire Department. 1,302,233 92 Public instruction. 3,345,105 14 College of the City of New York... 173,439 43 Advertising, printing, and stationery. 134,133 78 Salaries of the judiciary. 1,219,265 19 Asylums and charitable institutions. 670,601 44 Armories and drill-rooms. 96,371 92 Fourth-avenue improvement.?. 962.187 01 Coroners’ fees. 83,138 17 Election expenses. 149,970 94 Judgments. 21,187 40 Bureau of Municipal Correction. 28,693 44 Rents...... 88,581 29 Sundry miscellaneous purposes.;. 438,360 79 ^Opening and improving streets, &c. 3,676,498 43 ^Brooklyn bridge. 352,000 00 '*Building docks. 1,133,748 48 ’Croton water works. 1,778,097 98 ^Improvement of the Parks. 827.972 18 *Museum of Art. 38,6:33 74 ‘-‘'Museum of Natural History. 316,052 66 ^Street improvements. 4,316,802 28 ’‘Public school buildings. 106,350 34 ■’‘County Court-house. 7,000 09 ^Repairing sewers ...L.. 61,379 16 '*Improvement of lower reservoir. 21,824 90 '"‘Arrearages of 1871 and 1872. 35,189 50 '^Special donations from Excise Fund. 63,000 00 Commissioners of Excise. 42,708 65 ’‘For payment of judgments.. 460,167 77 Total. .....$50,024,141 54 *Funds derived from sales of bonds. Fifty million dollars of expenditure for 1,000,000 of people per annum ^or civil government alone, or $50 per capita. Forty million dollars annual direct taxation required to enable Democrats to gov¬ ern one million of people. Apply this ratio to the nation—40,000,000 of people at $50 per capita—$500,- 000 ,o00 per annum for civil government, and no pensions paid and neither the Army nor Navy provided lor. Four hundred million dollars of direct annual taxation, following the suggestion •f the Democrats of Maine, to support Democratic civil government. Who desires to try the experiment! REPUBLICAN OFFICIAL INTEGRITY. fa looking over the new platforms of Democratic State conventions the cntic will be surprised to find in each of them the same old charge of official defalcations under Republican Administrations. After investigations were demanded and granted on the charges made against the War arid Navy Departments with the most satisfactory results, and after thorough examination of the books, records, printing bureau, and money vaults of the United .States Treasury and sub-treasuries without discovering the loss of a dollar that had not already been officially reported and published to the world, die “ancient’’ Democracy must be hard pushed to find charges against the party in power before they would renew the exploded theme of official defalcations and malfeasance. These e nmrvtees of investigation were appointed by Congress, and were composed of Democra'ic and Republican members, who were afforded every possible facility in the prosecution of their investigations. On the committee investigating the Treasury Department were two prominent bankers, who were sup¬ posed to lean strongly toward the Democratic side of the House. Yet they found not even a minor * irregularity’' that LvI not already been reported, and the defaulters arrested, tried, convicted, and punished. .An official report of losses to the Government by defalcations of officials was made by Mr. Richardson, late Secretary of the Treasury, assisted by the Commissioners of Internal Revenue and Customs, the Comptroller of the Currency, and the United .States Treasurer, each basing his report on the records and books of his bureau. The result is as follows : INTERNAL REVENUE COLLECTIONS. From the statement of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, comparing total receipts of the office lor the three years from March 3, 1869, to March 8, 187k, with the portion of the receipts that had not then been paid into the Treasury, as per schedule furnished, it appeared that the cash balances outstanding against Late col¬ lectors of internal revenue during that period amounted to somewhat less than one tenth of one per cent, of the amount paid into the Treasury. The Commissioner added, and the books of the office show that hi.s statement has been very nearly verified, that ‘ of the latter amount it is estimated that not less than four fifths will eventually be paid either by the parties themselves or by their sureties, reducing the ultimate loss to the Government, daring the period mentioned, to less than one fiftieth of one percent., or less than two dollars in ten thousand dollars. THE CUSTOMS. According to the statement from the books and records of the Commissioner of Customs, showing the amount of money collected from customs for the period o 1 two years anerthree-fourths of a year, from the 1st of April, 1869, to the 3lat of Decem¬ ber, 1871, compared with the balances outstanding against officers engaged in the collection of customs during the period mentioned, the latter'is about one-fifty-fifth part of one per cent, of the former. The estimated ultimate loss to the Government was one two-hundredth part of one per cent., or less than five dollars in one hundred thousand dollars. SECURITY OF THE NATIONAL BANKS. The Comptroller oi the Currency furnished a schedule of all the national banks that had failed during the three years from June 1. 1869, to June 1. 1872, with their capital, the amount of claims proved, and the dividends paid on the claims; from which it appears that the estimated average annual losses of these years were from twenty-one thousand seven hundred dollars to forty thousand one hundred dolars, of which the mean is thirty thousand nine hundred dollars. This, based ou a constant average amount of deposits of $574,300,000, shows the ratio of annual loss to credi¬ tors to be the one oue hundred and eighty-sixth part of cue per cent of suefi de¬ posits, equivalent to five dollars and three eigths of a della” in one hundred thousand dollars. 16 THE TRASU&ER’S BUREAU. The United States Treasurer, General Spinner, furnishes a statement shotting the total a mount of money entries as they appear on the books in his office, covennga period of eleven and one-half years, from June 30, 1861. to January 9 , 1-872, to he $55,104,232,282 84. The loss during these eleven years was $56,057 45, or less than one dollar to each million of dollars that passed throgh the hands of the Treasurer and his subordinates. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE BUSINESS. These statements will be accepted, we think, by all reasonable minds as conclusive eu the subject of defalcations. Since the dates included in each division of the report no defalcation has occurred, to the amount of a dollar in the United States Treasury : and none in the Bureaus of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, or of the Collector of Customs of any importance. Irregularities in the receipts and some few losses have grown out of the paralysis in business following the panic of Sep¬ tember last: but these will, in nearly every case, be made good. The very fact that the internal revenue receipts for the last fiscal year exceeded the estimates of the Commissioner by about ten million dollars goes far to establish the integrity and fidelity of all connected with that department of the Government. Compared with transactions in private business these results show fewer losses than are met with in the best regulated and most cautious corporate bodies engaged in railroad, manufacturing, or other enterprises, or among business firms who scrupu¬ lously superintend their own mercantile affairs. Altogether the six and a half years of peace and Republican Administration that have already passed into history have carried with them a record of official integrity which may well command the admiration of the forty-two millions of people who mainly famish the annual revenues. VALUABLE POLITICAL DOCUMENTS. Tee Adddess of the Republican Congressional Committee, 16 pages, a portion devoted to important statistical tables condensed from the foregoing and pertinent to the pending issues ; $1.00 per hundred, postage paid by the Committee. Living Issues, 16 pages, sample herewith, containing important facts relating to Finance, Taxation, Public Expenditures, Railroad Legislation, Democratic Ex¬ travagance, Republican Economy, Official Integrity and record of Congressional votes on important questions ; $1.00 per hundred, postage paid by Committee. 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