p X fl SPEECH HON. GILBERT DEAN, OF NEW YORK, THE PUBLIC EXPENDITURES, THE PRESIDENCY, &c., DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AUGUST 23, 1852. WASHINGTON: PRINTED AT THE CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE OFFICE. 1852. T3 4 o *7 THE PRESIDENCY, &c. j The House being in the Committee of the Whol , on the state of the Union (Mr. HARRIS, of Ten nessee, in the chair) Mr. DEAN said: Mr. CHAIRMAN: More than two months hav ; now passed since the Whig party, or rather a sec lion of it, nominated its candidate for the Presi dency with the sole and avowed intention of re , tain ing for itself official position, by disregarding capacity, and grasping for that most unsubstantia shadow, availability. The more certainly to ac complish this object, its recognized committee havi scattered broadcast over theland, pictures so ridic ulous as to excite only emotions of contempt ir the minds of those to whom they were addressed and provoke to scorn the men whose judgment has been insulted by so unworthy an appeal. These pictures, or caricatures, were accompanied by stories so ntw, marvelous, and apocryphal, tha the tales of Munchausen, and the narration of Sin - bad are veritable history in comparison. To those who feel an interest in the problem we are so hap- pily solving the power of man to control his indi- vidual action, to determine his own choice it is a source of the highest gratification that all these appeals have met with no response from the pop- ular heart have created no excitement in the pub- lic mind. This experiment has taught its originators a truth they should have learned before, that when the country is prosperous, trade moving in its ac- customed channels, agriculture receiving its wonted reward, manufactures and the mechanic arts all successful, the people cannot be stirred into com- motion by the sound of a trumpet, or waked to enthusiasm by the sight of an epaulet; that rea- son alone can permanently influence or control the judgment, though prejudice and fiction may occa- sionally and temporarily excite the passions. Jn this state of the public mind, it becomes im- portant to understand the position of parties, and to ascertain what are obsolete, and what living is- sues, to be determined by the people at the ballot- box. The validity or binding efficacy of the several acts known as the compromise measures, are not an issue between the Whig and Democratic par- ties. The Convention of each, whether wisely or rightly I will not now say, for the declared pur- pose of preserving the nationality of its party, without reference to individual opinion, has de- termined, as a political organization, to acquiesce in those measures. And although there are indi- viduals North and South who do not approve of all of the series, yet, if there is any efficacy in paper platforms or party professions, then for four years, at least, whichever candidate for President, nominated at the Baltimore Conventions, is elected, he is bound to regard those measures as a settlement of the matters to which they relate. The position of General Pierce; upon this question is undis- puted that of General Scott is equally unequivocal here; but at the North, where opposition to one of these measures might be profitable, he is repre- sented as occupying ground upon this subject which his language and public pledges repudiate. In some of the leading papers of the party which he now represents, the resolution on the subject jf the compromise has never been correctly pub- 'ished; and a telegraphic dispatch, which is quite mportant in this connection, has been wholly suppressed- From a document issued at the office of the Republic, in this city, and which has been circulated in great numbers in the South by the Whig National Committee, entitled " The Presi- fential Canvass, or why southern Whigs should upport the nominees of the Whig Convention," extract the following resolution, from what it erjris THE OFFICIAL PLATFORM OF THE WHIG NATIONAL CON- VENTION. " 8. The series of acts of the Thirty-first Congress, cora- ;onJy known as the compromise or adjustment, (the act for ic recovery of fugitives from labor included,) are received nd acquiesced in by the Whigs of the United States as a ,nal settlement, in principle and substance, of the subjects o which they relate, and so far as these acts are concerned, ve will maintain them, and insist on their strict enforcement, ntil time and experience shall demonstrate the necessity f further legislation to guard against the evasion of the aws on the one hand, and the abuse of their powers on the ther, not impairing their present efficiency to carry out the -"- - equipments of the Constitution, and we deprecate all * U further agitation of the questions thus settled, as dangerous to our peace, and will discountenance all efforts to continue or renew such agitation, whenever, wherever, or however made, and we will maintain this settlement as essential to the nationality of the Whig party and the integrity of the Union." This document, after publishing the resolutions duly authenticated, says: "Resolved, That these principles may be summed up as comprising a well-regulated national currency a tariff for revenue to defray the necessary expenses of the Govern- ment, and discriminating with special reference to the //ro- tection of the domestic labor of tke country the distribution of the proceeds of the salesof the public lands a single term for the Presidency a reform of Executive usurpations." The following is the meek and tame resolution Have the candidates, then, accepted the platform, and !| of this year, on the subject of the tariff: will they act up to its requisitions? If they are men of i "o- Government should be conducted upon principles of honor and truth, if they have not replied to the Convention : the strictest economy, and revenue sufficient for the ex- with mental reservations that would disgrace them forever, | j P"ses thereof, in time of peace, ought to be mainly derived they have assumed all the obligations which that platform ! frot a duty on imports, and not from direct taxes; and in 1 levying such duties sound policy requires a just discrimina- tion and protection from fraud by specific duties, when practicable, whereby suitable encouragement may be as- ured to American industry, equally to all classes and to all ' nposes, and will discharge all the duties it involves. " What was the course of General Scott? Immediately j on receiving news of his nomination, the General addressed ; a telegraphic dispatch to a friend in the Convention in the i following words : ' Having the honor of being the nominee ' for President by the Whig National Convention, I shall j portions of the country." It is true, that this resolution has been de- ' accept the same, with the platform of principles which the j j nounce d by the gentleman from Pennsylvania, ' Convent^ ha.iaiddown.> || [Mr . JOHN W. HOWE,] and others, as being "Lo- ' If I were disposed to criticism, I would ask, j co f O co, and not Whig doctrine." It is the doc- what it is the General accepts the nominee or the Convention ? He has been quite as unfortunate in the use of the English here as in his former epistolary efforts. But I leave this to insert the language of the official document in relation to this pledge, its purport and effect in securing the " unanimous nomina- tion:" ' ' "If General Scott on such an assurance should omit to act up in fidelity to the principles of the Whig platform, would he not stand in history as a dishonored man ? So it was understood and received by the Convention, and on the strength of this communication, the nomination was made unanimous," So far, therefore, as the candidates are concerned , trine of the Whig party as declared by the Con- vention and sanctioned by the candidate. The tariff of 1846 makes not only a "just discrimina- i tion," but a great discrimination. It discriminates j in its duties on different articles, dividing them in nine classes levying upon the first class, consist- ing of luxuries, a duty of one hundred per cent.; upon the second, forty; upon the third, thirty; fourth, twenty-five; fifth, twenty; sixth, fifteen; seventh, ten; and eighth class, five per cent.; while the ninth class is admitted free of duty each article, therefore, named in these different schedules is protected to the amount of the duty and cost of transportation. And the propriety of they occupy the same position in reference to this !| making them specific, instead of ad valorem, when- subject, with this exception: that the unanimous lever practicable, is a question of detail, and not of nomination was given to General Pierce, unpledged ifprinciple. | The bank has this year disappeared and unquestioned, while General Scott, after a I from .the family of Whig measures; distribution session of nearly a week, only obtained it " on the if of the proceeds of the public lands, the abolition strength of this communication." Southern Whigs, 'j of the veto, and reform of Executive usurpations, | it is true, in large numbers, both in and out of ' Congress, refuse to support him, but they do it ! ' because the the truth of the declaration of a certain influential Whig journal, that it was the result of a " cor- rupt bargain," by which one section was to have each have been buried in silence, with no monu- ment to mark the tomb. The grand edifice erected Sy the genius, and supported by the eloquence, of Clay, has now lost its symmetry and beauty one by one its columns have fallen. It awaits only the shock of the approaching earthquake to totter the principles, and the other the candidate, and con- j j into ruin; like the tree whose spreading shade sequently the patronage of the Government. Know- jj refreshed our boyhood, stretching out its fibres ing, as they do, that the creature cannot dethrone j[ and grasping the earth for support and sustenance, the creator, the instrument can be no more potent !j now scathed by the lightning, leafless, branchless, than the power that originated its movements; j affording no shelter, the naked trunk only remains, that General Scott must therefore be controlled by i ready to fail at the first impulse of the popular the same corrupt influences which produced his i breeze. nomination; that the patronage of his administra- j tion must be bestowed upon a section only of the i party that the appointments to office which j would be the result of his election, would afford i constant evidence of their humiliation, serfdom, and submission; they, and many of their asso- ciates in the North, prefer to stand aloof from the contest, or even vote for the Democratic nominee rather than aid in the elevation of those who would look upon them as vanquished rivals, and whose success would be a continual memento of the bondage and degradation of all who had op- ' posed the movement which resulted in the election of the candidate of a faction of the party. ** The question of a protective tariff is not an issue between the parties. In 1844, the Whig National Convention which nominated Mr. Clay, put forth the following bold and direct resolution in refer- ence to Whig principles: I hear gentlemen around me say, " That is true." " These questions are passed." Let no one conclude from this that there is no issue be- tween the parties at this election, and consequently no necessity for a contest. Those (if any there are) who take this view of the subject do not dis- tinguish between principles of action and the ad- ministrative measures which are used to carry out those principles confound causes with results. "There is the same difference now between the op- posing parties that there was in the times of Jeffer- son, Madison, and Jackson. The one directs its energies to secure the advancement and progress of the race; the other exerts its influence to effect the purposes of individual desire. The one seeks the public good; the other the accomplishment of pri- vate interests and ends. The one has an abiding hope, a living faith, in the capacity of man; the other places Us reliance upon forms and statutes to restrain his impulses. The one is advancing II nish means for enriching themselves and their de- with the present and seizing upon the future; I pendents, and not as stations to be occupied for the other reposes in the shade of the past and ad- the benefit of all who look to the salary, and not heres to its antiquated formulas. The one is in the discharge of official duty, as the end and ob- consonance with the pulsations of the popular iject to be sought who hold the pay, the emolu- heart; the other seeks to stop its beating; and the I ment, which is only the incident, as the principal, various governmental or administrative measures! the sole inducement; and, by the facts which I which have been adopted or proposed by these | shall adduce, show that the question between the parties have been the means, the instrumentalities j parties is, whether the happiness of the people is to be promoted, and the resources of the nation developed by the due and proper exercise of the constitutional functions of the Government, or its powers perverted, its Treasury applied to schemes of individual cupidity and the mainte- nance of a system of political pauperism, and only, by which they have sought to develop their | principles. * As a consequence of this diversity of sentiment, the Federal party has never proposed a measure ! which has been adopted and acted upon as the set- | tied policy of the country; but, on the contrary, j has invariably manifested its hostility to the ad- | vance steps of Democratic progress. After a con- j test between right and prerogative, and the popu- lar verdict has been pronounced, the instinctive I propensity of this party to keep the position of official recipiency compelsa reluctantacquiescence; j find the persons composing it equally hor- j whether the civil or military is to be the predomi- nant power in the Government. In doing this, I am obliged to examine in detail the action of the present thoroughly Whig Administration, and compare its management of finances with that \ which immediately preceded it. *"**,. Mr. Polk was inaugurated March 4, 1845. The fiscal year begins on the first day of July, and is but we rifled and astonished at the next movement of the public mind; hence they have received thedescrip- n estimated for by the various Departments the pre- tive and appropriate cognomen of the party of | ceding December, and the Congress of that winter .-,! TI v^,~ v,~* *!, ^K^ut* il a i wa y g makes appropriations for the year com obsolete ideas." They have not the slightest comprehension of the principles of Republicanism, or the symmetry of our system. They look upon Government as an artificial arrangement, a purely factitious creation, instead of the natural state of existence. They hold that its safety is dependent upon the checks and restraints it imposes upon the mencing the succeeding July. The last fiscal year of Mr. Tyler's administration ended on the 30th of June, 1845. Mr. Folk's administration is responsible for the expenditures from that date. Tt is also proper to state here, that there existed at that time a large public debt, which "-" J - J - fell due dur- people, and place their faith in these' rather than in J| ing his term of office, but for which he is in .nowise the actual and existent principles of which it is only responsible. By an examination of the official the external manifestation. Whenever, therefore, ! reports 1 find that for the fiscal year ending June they have been intrusted with the management of j 30, 1846, the total receipts were, $29,499,247 06.*" the Government, they have shown their absolute i , , i incompetency to direct its harmonious movements, or develop its inherent powers. Though the igno- ramus, destitute of the first rudiments of math- ematics, may, by an acquaintance with the tables which science has prepared, calculate the contents of a field, or the occurrence of an eclipse, yet it i requires the mind, disciplined by study, and en- lightened by learning, to prepare these, and with | them reveal the secrets of nature, follow the plan- ! ets in their course, and discover the causes which j produce such results. So with our system, ema- nating from the people, experience has proved that only those whose feelings and sympathies are with the people, Democratic, have ever been able to grasp its significance, or guide its movements. *A reference to the history of each Administration would prove the truth of this position, would show that every increase of national domain, every assertion and maintenance of international republican law, every advancement of popular rights, has been the work of Democratic Adminis- trations the result and direct product of Demo- cratic thought and action; while all that the op- posing party have ever achieved has been to retain the position its predecessor had acquired. m I do not propose at this time further to enlarge upon or elaborate this subject, but to confine my- self to the other and equally conclusive manner of proving the incapacity of ( the anti-Democratic 'party to administer the Government, by showing that it has increased the public expenditure; brought into the management of public affairs a set of men who regard the Treasury as lawful prize who look upon the offices as places to fur- Total expenditure for that year, 28,031,114 20. / The Mexican war broke out in- May of th^* f fiscal year. It had been for 'months threatened and impending, and there were largely-increased expenditures for warlike munitions; and by the report of Secretary Walker, in December follow- ing, we find charged to Mexican hostilities in that fiscal year War Department ....... . .............. $-3,304,848 04 Navy Department ...................... 1 47,619 40 Payment on account of public debt $3,459,467 44 1,217,823 31 $4.670.290 75 This amount deducted from the total cost of the year, leaves the sum of $23,360,823 45 as the whole peace expenditure of that year. This in- cludes also a large item paid to militia of States and Territories, chargeable, I suppose, to the war; but I have not deducted it. For the fiscal year ending June 30th, 1847, the whole receipts of the Government were, $61,152,- 428 90. Expenditure, #59,451,177 65. During this year the payment on account of the public debt was, $3,522,082 37; leaving the total expenditure, omitting public debt, $55,899,095 28. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1848, total receipts, $58,394,701 84. Total expenditure, $58,241,167 24. During this year the payments on account of the public debt amounted to $15,429,197 21 which, deducted from the whole expenditure leaves the amount, (omitting the public debt, $42,811,970 03. t, l >) / For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1849, the total receipts of the Government were, $48,983,- 632 10. Total expenditure, $46,798,667 82. During this year there was paid on account of the public debt, and installments to Mexico, $16,453,272 39. Omitting payment on account of the public debt, the whole expenditure was $30,345,395 43. We find the expenditures of Mr. Folk's admin- istration of four years, including the public debt and all the cost of a war, in which there were eighty thousand men in the field, amounted to the sum of $192,522,126 91; making a yearly average of $48,130,531 72. The amount of public debt, in- cluding the sum paid to Mexico under the treaty, was $36,622,375 28, being a yearly average of $9,155,593 82 paid during a war. The whole amount of expenditure, deducting the amount paid I on the public debt, is $155,899,751 63; theannual /average expenditure being $38,974,937 90. ^"* l We commence now, the three years of Whig Administration of the finances, during a time when we were " at peace with all the world and the rest of mankind," beginning with the fiscal year com- mencing July 1, 1849, and ending June 30, 1850. The total receipts for that year, were $45,959,- 813 18. Total expenditure, $43,002, 168 69. There was paid, on account of public debt, $7,437, 366 41; J^leaving the expenditure J$35,564,b02 28. I This T**year had been estimated for by Mr. Walker, in- f eluding public debt, Mexican installments, and all other expenses, at $33,213,152 73. f The actual expenditure of the first year of Whig rule, there- fore, exceeded the necessary and -estimated ex- , penditure, $12,746,660 35, or over fifty per cent. I of the whole peace expenditure of Mr. Folk's ad- ministration. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1851, the whole receipts were, $58,917,524 36. The whole expenditure, $48,005,878 68. There was paid this year on the public debt, $4,217,986 10. The total expenditure omitting the public debt was _ $43,787,892 58. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1852, the total receipts were, $49,745,598 72. The actual amount of money paid out prior to July 1, 1852, was $45,735,591 73. But a deficiency bill, to make up for moneys which the Administration had spent beyond the appropriation, had a long time prior to this been reported, but had not yet become a law, which, however, has subsequently passed, amounting to $5,434,882 36, and is to be added to the preceding amount, which will increase the total expenditure for the fiscal year ending June 30, ^.,1852, to $51,170,474 09. There has been paid during this year on the public debt, $6,022,115 53. Leaving for the actual expenditures, exclusive of debt, for the year ending June 30th, 1852, .. $45,148,358 56. The total expenditures for the three years of the Whig Administration, including public debt, is $142,178,521 46 being an annual average of ^,$47,392,840 48. The total amount of public debt paid during this period of three years is $17,677,468 04. Yearly average, $5,892,489 34. The total amount of expenditure for these three years, omitting the amount paid on account of the public debt, is $124,501,053 42. ^ Yearly average, $41,500,351 14 exceeding the yearly average of the time of Mr. Folk's admin- istration the sum of $2,525,313 24. The yearly average of public debt paid by this Administration has been but $5,892,489 34, while the yearly average of Mr. Folk's administration was $9,155,593 82. Annual average excess, $3,263,104 48. 1 have thus shown that, omitting the amount paid for principal and interest on the public debt, the annual expenses of this Administration, in a time of peace, have exceeded by more than $2,500,000 the expenses of the preceding Democratic Admin- istration in conducting for the first time in our his- tory an expensive and protracted foreign war, which resulted in doubling the area of our terri- tory. This is a startling announcement, and the natural inquiry is made, where has the money gone? Before proceeding to answer that, I desire to call attention to the obvious fact, that no com- parison can be fairly made between the total ex- penditures of these two Administrations, because one had only to provide for a peace establishment the other had to bear the enormous burdens and multiplied exactions necessary to the support of an invading army quartered upon foreign soil. I find in a speech made in this House, February 14, 1850, by the Hon. GEORGE W. JONES, of Ten- nessee, on the finances of the Government, that he has examined the documents, and deducted from the annual expenses of the administration of Mr. Polk those items which were clearly charge- able to the war, and that during the three years in which the war was actually carried on, the ex- penditures of the Government, exclusive of the war, were as follows: For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1846. . ."$22,864,296 52 For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1847. . . 24,728,245 61 For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1848. . . 23,522,068 40 From the report of the Secretary of the TreasF" ury, in December, 1850, it appears that the average annual expenditures of the Government for the three years ending June 30, 1843- '44- '45, exclu- sive of public debt, was $21,277,901 64. We have seen that now, after a lapse of only seven ! years, the average yearly expenditure is more than "$41,500,000 exclusive of the payments on account of the public debt. But why this enormous increase ? We are an- swered, " on account of the-extension of our ter- ritory." This will not do when we conquered that territory, and held it by the force of our arms, and supported there an immense army at a less expense. But the treaty of Gnadalupe Hidalgo was concluded in February, 1848, and published by the President here in July of that year; so that for one whole fiscal year, ending June 30, 1849, the last of Mr. Folk's administration, we were in possession of every acre of this territory; and it being the first year after the war, it was necessa- rily the most expensive. We were obliged to provide and locate there a peace establishment, and undergo very many expenses which could never again occur; and yet we find that during that year, including the entire cost of the Army jand Navy, and pensions, the whole expenditure vtas only $30,345,395 43 more than $11,000,000 less than the yearly average of the three succeed- ing years. I have shown that the first year of General Tay- ^ lor'a administration exceeded by $12,746,660 35 J the estimates of Secretary Walker. But the first 1 ^ / year of Mr. Fillmore's, under the administration I of the Treasury Department by Mr. Corwin, ex- ceeded the estimate of Mr. Meredith, General Taylor's Secretary of the Treasury, by the mod- ^ erate sum of $8,856,504 77. So that it seems that even the Galphin Cabinet has been outdone by their Gardiner successors. 1 now proceed to show in what manner this money has been shoveled out of the Treasury; for it would seem they could not have taken time even to count or weigh it. We cannot go into the various Departments while under the control of their present heads, and see how or where the treasure is abstracted. Most of the abuses are concealed. We can only observe results, trusting that a light will be kindled in those dark recesses that will reveal the secret pipes which have been draining this almost inexhaustible reservoir. Until that time we must wait, contenting ourselves with the indicia of fraud the occasional debris or scat- tered remnants that we can find the tracks we can discover, which point invariably in one direc- tion. The Army is the great pregnant mother of a monster-brood of abuses. I have been amazed, at examining the reports of the War Department, with its hydra-headed military bureaus. We have, in addition to the Secretary of War, nine military bureaus, each presided over by some dis- tinguished chieftain, residing in Washington, re- ceiving large salaries, and provided with their chief clerks and subordinates for what? To transact the civil business of the Army! But let us see how this Department is managed. The last re- port of the Secretary of War shows that there were on the lists, during the last year, ten thou- sand five hundred and thirty- eight men , which , owing to desertions, sickness, and deaths, will afford " an effective force of eight thousand five hundred." I had made an estimate of the amount which it costs per man, according to the documents sub- mitted; but since making it, I have found the fol- lowing 1 , from a speech delivered in the Senate on the loth of April last, by Senator HUNTER, of Virginia, chairman of the Finance Committee; and as he has every opportunity for the most ac- curate information, and is known to the country by long and faithful service in Congress, I prefer giving his statement rather than my own. He eays: " I find, on comparing the expenditures for the yearend- | ing the 30th of June, 1845, and the year ending June, 1851, | that, in 1845, the whole expense under that head was $3,155.027; and in 1851, the expense of the Army proper was $8,949,000. When you come to add to that $1,221, 856, The expenditures for the Quartermaster's De- partment alone, for the year ending June 30, 1852, are thus shown to be nearly ftSOtVper man; and the whole expense, per man, $955. IJl|45, a time of peace as now, the wholE^pensesoT'the Army proper, per man, were yfif] 50-. and in the Quartermaster's Department, less than &115 per man; showing an increase in the Quartermaster's Department, since 1845, of more than four hundred per cent. During the year 1847, the mosTSxpen- sive year of the Mexican war, the cost of each soldier, per capita, in the Quartermaster's Depart- | ment, was $37481; and now it costs much more I to keep our soldiers resting, than it then did to maintain them fighting. But the question returns to plague the managers of this Department, how are these amounts made up? Thepay of each soldier is eight dojn^rsjper monthTorliinety-six dollars per year. ""TPlfis" amount is not included in the expenditure of the quartermaster. Nor is it any of his business to furnish subsistence, ord- nance, ammunition, or medical expenses. There are a few items to which I desire to call attention, which, in a very limited examination of the official i reports, have seemed worthy of notice. Byappen- dix C to the Quartermaster General's report, I find that, July 30^1850, L. G. Capers was paid ninejy- sixjcents per oneTiundred poundsTTor transporting in wagons from San Antonio, in Texas, to Fort Merril, 67,500 pounds of freight nearly one dollar per hundred. There are other charges about the same date, some at the ss.me rates, and others a trifle lower. What is the distance and character of the road? By a subsequent portion of the re- port, we find Fort Merrill is one hundred miles south by east of San Antonio; and on the same page, in speaking of the roads to San Antonio, it says, "all generally good natural roads." This j wouldseemtobeamostexorbitantprice. Whether I the contractor and any of the officers at the station divided the profits, we are not informed by the official documents. The inference, however, is I irresistible. -',.%... From the same report, I extract the following comparative statement of expenditure: Year ending June 30, 1845. Do. 1851. For forage $99,794 20. ... $1,287,327 91 For constructing and repairing military buildings 97,161. 76 558,254 33 For rents 63,685 21 187,323 78 For incidental expenses 89818 60 392,728 14 For transportation 130,053 52 2,194,408 51 Traveling allowances for offi- cers.... 47,650 83 106,759 65 It will be seen by the above, that while every to be for expenditures in the auartermaster's I)lpStment; |f branch of expenditure has increased greatly the 'iave an expend- J| one for forage has in six years been multiplied by not appearing in the Register's books, you \ iture for the Army proper of upwards of $10.000.000 be- ing more than three times as much as it was in 1845. We have the estimate for ten thousand five hundred troops in the field ; and when we come to take the expense for the Quartermaster's Department for the last fiscal year, we find more than ten, and that for transportation by nineteen. One cause of this is, in purchasing at distant places, and unnecessarily paying for trans- ' portation, when the same articles could be pur- it comes very nearly to $500 per man under that head || chased as cheaply at or near the stations. But alone. In the Army proper, the expense, when the sum of |j nn f nrtnn tplv for the Government, the contractors $1,221,000 is added as above to the Secretary's statement, is about &965ner man. And the whole military expend- itures of tnaTyear are $11, the Secretary of the Treas mode of estimating these comparison, is to take those for the Army proper ; and un- I der that head we have, as I have before stated. $965 ner man for the last fiscal year. But when we comeTrlTWR at some of these items, we find they are of a character that must of a necessity startle us. During the last fiscal year they spent in Texas alone 1,040,000; in California, $827,- 0UG; in Oregon, $187,000; in New Mexico, $80.6,154." unfortunately for the Government, the contractors the men who are to make the money by furnish- 1,811,792, as stated in the report of i] ing these supplies do not inhabit the Territories, isury.'" * * * " But the fair || t } ie y ii ve m the States, and are rewarded for party e expenditures, for the purpose of , services b y contracts, to furnish articles at extrav- agant prices and great distances from where they are needed. This affords another class of con- tractors a remunerating job for transporting these supplies; and though it'be "carrying coals to New- castle," yet it answers the end intended an ex- 8 Jcuse for putting their arms in the Treasury. Dur- 1 ing the Mexican war, in the same climate, it cost nothing for forage for horses, mules, &c. Now, more than a million is annually paid for this alone. Hay, where it can be had for the cutting, is pur- chased at $50 per ton, in a climate where "grazing is good for all but two months in a year," and in some places the "ivhole year," and corn $3 50 per bushel, where the soil yields its natural products a hundred fold. But the secret of it all i is to be military power a greater preponderance than it now possesses in the Government. """The last Congress cut down the estimates for the War Department one half. Did that stay the expenditure? Not at all. This branch of the Gov- ernment, adopting " the military rule of conduct," went on arbitrarily, in defiance of law, and took $730,000 of unexpended balances which had been appropriated in 1847 and 1848, to pay soldiers in the Mexican war, and used it without authority, found in the fact, " that the officers attached to and in direct violation both of the Constitution and the A rmy at the different depots, availing them- the statute. Senator HUNTER, in speaking of this selves of their positions, have speculated in those |case, uses the following language: * articles with which it was the duty of the Q,uar- nf* The Secretary of War went to an appropriation, made I termaster's Department to supply the Army." Ion 2d March, 1847 , for pay of ten regiments of regulars, C W* find another verv larffe increase in the table ! and on 23d April, 18ol, -he transferred that appropriation^of examining ters hired at a most exorbitant rate. I will not I cite instances in California, where everything is known to be high, but in New Mexico, where | there is no reason for more than the average prices. " One house, occupied as quarters by Bre- 1 vet-Major O. S. Sheppard, Lieutenant L. N. Ban- ' non, and Quartermaster's store-room, $85 per month," or $1,020 per year. " Quarters for Colo- Lnel Alexander, commanding, $50 per month," or $600 per year, and numerous others in pro- portion. Little did our revolutionary soldiers and officers, sleeping during our northern winters in tents and barns, or General Jackson and his brave associates in later times, suppose" that their successors were at the public expense to quarter in princely palaces, and revel in royal hails ! But into such degenerate hands have we fallen in these "piping times of peace." Who is responsible for such flagrant and long-continued abuses? General Scott, who now and for years has stood at the head of the Army he is the General-in- Chief he occupies a room in the War Depart- ment which he terms " HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY," and is receiving a large annual salary amounting to more than the head of any Depart- ment of the Government. Instead of reforming [ or retrenching, we find him, in his report made December 18, 1849, recommending the increase of our military establishment by the addition of thj^ee its to the Army, which at the present I n of the appropriations shall continue but two years? Was not that a violation not only of the spirit but of the letter of this provision ? He trans- ferred in this way, after Congress had said he should not have these appropriations, about the amount for which he applied to the Committee on Finance, and which was not given- to him; and thus money which Congress appropri- ated years ago for the payment of regulars in the Mexican war, not dreaming that they were to be carried to such a service, was used more than three years afterwards for the service of the Quartermaster's Department." **And not being able to find enough of old and unexpended appropriations in the Treasury, the War Department went on an d^ con traded liabili- ties for a large amount, and sent them to us in a deficiency bill, and we had the alternative pre- sented to pass the bill, and thus provide for the payment of these debts, or repudiate the action of the Government, and take away the protection due to the settlers upon our frontiers. p* The Navy Department is, by no means, free from abuses. Officers, with no duties to dis- charge, are hanging around this capital, or vis- iting Neptune only at the watering places, and receiving pay for years together under the name of" officers waiting orders." Four hundred and seventy-nine thousand four hundred and fifty dol- lars went into the naval appropriation bill of this year for these respectable gentlemen. In this place should the knife be applied. But we hear no word from the Secretary, recommending a reform of this crying abuse. If there are more officers in the Navy than can find employment, let the num- new regiment rates, woula f ture of ne t _. _ y . to , l ..... . - -. . if! BCIVIUC. jjy iciciczice lu me I November last repeats it, slightly varied only, and | find the fou J wing expenditures: \ refers to his former report. IL For ^ * "^ ^902,845 93. The present Congress has been alike inattentive If For Uie year cndin | June 30 ' i&46,M450,862 70. to this order, issued and dated in the General's ;T For the year ending June 30, 1847, f 7,931,633 68. comfortable rooms in Washington, at the " HEAD- 1 1 For the year ending June 30, 1848, $-9,406,737 28. T?^i. lirt *rrn^ rm.4ii.nr Tints* ')H 1Q/1G ^Q QQ tt 1 Q Oft For the year ending June 30, 1849, $9.869,818 20. For the year ending June 30, 1850, $7,923,313 18. For the year ending June 30, 1851, {$9,044,597 11. QUARTERS OF THE ARMY." Should he, unfortu- nately, be able to add to this, " Headquarters of the Treasury," with a hundred thousand office-holders i ^ . t , ,. , bowing at his nod, and a Congress of his own, I But Je Secretary, in his report of the expendt- have no doubt he would be able, in a single year, ! tures of the y ear 1851 ' adds: to double this standing army that is now eLing \\ ^^^^^^^ outour substance, and which could then be brought j W | lich wi ii be required to meet the outstanding obligations, to bear upon the deliberations of this body. The due on account ofthe objects for which these appropriations experience of this nation has shown that a large . were made." standing army is wholly unnecessary; that the It will be seen by this that the late Secretary moment a war is declared, the boldest and the j and now Whi^ candidate for Vice President- bravest soldiery the world has ever known springs ; presents no claims to economy, but keeps up the into existence as if by magic from the volunteer ^expenditures in his Department even beyond the yeomanry ofthe country. And that will be a sad '|war standard, .day for public liberty, which shall give to the jf^ But great as has been the increase in expendi- 9 ture in the various departments of the Govern- ment, none has been multiplied in a more rapid ratio than the Indian Department. Where we formerly counted by thousands, now the estimates are made by millions, with constantly-accruing deficiencies. The cause is to be found in the gross abuses which prevail, one of which consists in the appointment, from the old States, of Indian agents as a reward for political services. General Hous- r ton, who is most familiar with this subject, in the Senate, in June last, said: V* " The national expenditure now in New Mexico, to main- f tain the troops and give ostensible and nominal defense, is $6,000,000 annually. Have the troops there killed one [n- dian ? Have they made reclamation of one horse ? Have Grhey rescued one person, or prevented the taking of one scalp? " These are facts which I present. If men who are qual- ified to discharge the duties of agents men who know the habits of Indians; who are familiar with their mode of life, who can traverse the prairies with them, and exercise an influence and guardianship over them, were appointed, we should have a different situation of frontier security. But when men whether favorites or not I know not, and care not who are unacquainted with everything necessary to their duties, are appointed, it is an insult, and an indig- I iiity, and usurpation, on the part of the Administration." * But this abuse, great as it is, sinks into utter insignificance compared with others. We are in- debted to Hon. WILLIAM M. GWIN, United States Senator from California, for revelations of a most I startling character in relation to the transactions ' of the Government agents there. The first that I will notice is the appointment of General John Wilson, of JN/yssmiri, as Indian Agent to Salt Lake. His salary by law was $1,500 per an- I num. He was fitted out with a military escort f the cost of which for the Quartermaster's De- partment alone was $12,000, beside the pay and subsistence of the men, and the cost to the other Departments. He staid at Salt Lake, the place of his destination, long enough to recruit only a f few days; then went on, with his family, furniture, and law-books, all at the public expense, to Cali- fornia, deserting the post to which he had been | appointed, and for which he had received his sal- ) ary and such an enormous outfit by way of escort. When his conduct was known at Wash- j ington did the Administration censure him for this I criminal neglect of official duty? So far from it, f he was appointed to another office that of Navy Agent in California; and a detachment of United States troops was sent hundreds of miles back in | the mountains after these law-books, and other \ property, which he had been obliged to bury and abandon on his way to San Francisco. Senator GWIN uses the following language in relation to 4 this case: " About the same time, in 1849, a gentleman from the Btate of Missouri, General John Wilson, was appointed an Indian agent for Salt Lake ; and he, also, was furnished with an extravagant outfit and escort to conduct him to his < agency. " He went to the Salt Lake, and staid there long enough to write a letter or two. He then went to California with iris family, liis books, and his baggage of all descriptions. He was an emigrant, moving at the Government's expense. He reached tho valley of the Sacramento about the com- mencement of the winter season, could curry his effects no / further, buried them, and hurried on with iiis family. By ( an order that emanated from the Secretary of War, a de- tachment of the army was ordered out the following spring to brin in the private property belonging to this Indian agent transported for him at Government expense by the Salt Lake to California. I was told by the assistant quar- v termasterwlio fitted out the expedition, the principal object \ of which was to perform this service } that the cost was little less than $100,000. This is another of the items that creates the necessity of deficiency bills, and charged as an expenditure in California. After General Wilson got to California, he resigned his agency, but no censure was cast on him for having passed through the country where he was / assigned to duty, and emigrating, at such an enormous ex- I pense to the Government, to another part of the country : but he was actually appointed to another office in Califor- nia. He was made Navy Agent at San Francisco. This same gentleman is one of the high -priests of the Whig party in California. He lately presided over one of the largest * Whig Conventions which ever assembled in that State." - In September, 1850, an appropriation of fe25.nnn was made " to enable the President to hold treaties with the Indian tribes in the State of California. * The President, under this, organkf^ a board f commissioners, consistingof thret^ersons. "^Tnese \ modest gentlemen drew $150, OOP of public money \ from the collector at San Francisco, and started, to use their own language, " with an escort of one ' hundred and one picked men, ten officers, three * six-mule covered wagons, and some one hundred ( ' and fifty pack mules, to carry our provisions, 'ammunition, and Indian goods, all under the ' command of Captain E. D. Keyes, an experi- i ' enced and excellent officer." , This is indeed doing an extensive business on a yery small capital. Under an appropriation of $25,000, they, in violation of law, take $150,000, and start off with a cavalcade, the expense of which will be as much more. Surely, the credit system is not yet quite exploded. But an Indian agency thus commenced, is carried out in a style I of still greater magnificence. These commis- i sioners, after arriving among the Indians, made presents and gave entertainments that truly " as- tonished the natives;" and have, for this and other expenses, drawn drafts on the Secretary of the Interior amounting to nearly, or quite, onc^milli of dollars. They have usurped the powWs President and Senate, by making treaties with the Indian tribes, and proceeding to act upon them I without any ratification, the result of which must, f in all probability, involve us in an Indian war; and yet these commissioners are not removed, or even censured by the Administration; and the / collector at San Francisco, who, in violation of { the sub-treasury act, paid them the money, is also retained in office. There is one other case of official delinquency \ in California which Senator GWIN has exposed, } and which I cannot omit in this place. I allude to the first collector of customs at San Francisco, Mr. Collyer. He was sent across the country with a"tmlflary escort, at an expense of $36,000^ when the cost of getting there by the usually^traT" eled and proper route the Isthmus would not \ have exceeded $500. Pie then, after seizing upon * large numbers of vessels, contrary to law selling the goods at a mere nominal sum, and thus caus- ing the loss to the United States of M. 000^00.0 became a public defaulter to a large amoum^tnd | was then agaij reno^^ated by the President for the same office;buttne w Senate, by nearlya unani- mous vote, refused to confirm him. I pass over the thousand other instances of profligate waste of | money by the Administration, in California such I as paying $100 per cord for wood; $5W per thousand for frJWber, to build useless barracks. These are nothing, compared with the cases I have < named. If a party which is guilty not only of j such gross and palpable violations of law, but I outrages upon the proprieties of official positionjj 10 and disregard of official responsibility, can be sus- tained by the American people, then are written constitutions a mockery and a cheat. But we need not travel to Texas, New Mexico, or California, to seek abuses for the purpose of ascertaining the true character of the men who control the administration of affairs. The proof is before us daily our own eyes must be closed, if we do not behold it our ears must be shut not to The Galphin and the Gardiner frauds, and the connection of members of the Cabinet with these, the selling of political influence for a money con- sideration by those holding high official position, ' have become matters of history; and though at- tempts may be made on this floor and elsewhere, to excuse or paliate those who have been guilty of these offenses, it is all in vain. No matter how ; : elevated the position, or exalted the intellect of the perpetrator, the stain is there, inwrought and j ineradicable; and though _the effort of a lifetime | should be directed to efface it, the " damned spot" will never " out." Rumors of a very suspicious was then made. Once, and perhaps twice, afterwards an attempt was made to reopen the account during Mr. Ilag- ner's term of office. He said that the only effect of the new evidence was to make him doubt the piopriety of the original allowance. He said, too, that the claim was closed. Both he and the Comptroller gave opinions against it. But on September 28th, 1850, it was allowed by the present Auditor, and an amount of M4.75Q found due by him. The question then arose as to theTrffians of paying the claim. A balance was found of an old appropriation made 23d August, 1842, for the payment of Florida militia for services in 1839 and 1840. This balance was transferred to the head of another old appropriation " the suppression of Indian hostilities" and thus paid." Fortjfc-four thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars paid o'n a cTalm twice rejected by a Demo- cratic Administration ! The way these things are managed, and the Treasury plundered, is said to be as follows: Some clerk, or other officer in the Department before which the claim is or has been pending, either buys it, or, like Mr. Corwin, in the Gardiner swindle, sells his services andinfiuence fora percentage " a contingent interest" in it. He is then in a position where he can find or simulate evidence. He sees each link that is wanting, and supplies it. The the office, and the allowance and payment of re- j! believe, is enormous; but we can never know the jected claims by those Departments after those "i claims had been purchased in whole, or in part by j persons employed in the Departments where they were to be allowed or rejected. In order that these rumors might be put at rest, and the per- sons implicated be, if innocent, exonerated from groundless suspicion, this House, on the 26th of January last, adopted the following resolution: f*"*' " Resolved, That the Secretary of State, the Secretary < of the Treasury, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secre- tary of the Navy, the Secretary of War; and the Postmaster General, be, and hereby are, instructed to cause to be re- ported to this House, as' soon as may be practicable, full and complete lists of all claims, if any, (including principal and interest, and designating 'each separately,) allowed and paid by the respective Departments, or any B ureaus thereof, since the 4th day of March, Anno Domini 1849, which had been previously presented, suspended, 'or disallowed in whole or in part, and specifying the character of such claims ; and also, that they cause to be reported the names of all persons who at any time acted us the agents or solicitors for said claims, and the persons who received any portion therc- i, of, or were interested therein. " T** To this resolution neither of these suspected Departments have made any reply. This is what the lawyers would call taking the bill as confessed. Why don't they answer it? Would the answer I show how certain persons with small salaries, only sufficient to yield them an economical sup- port, can live in fine style, keep their retinue of servants, and make investments in stocks? Would it show the people, the voters, the tax-payers, how a man can take the Bankrupt act, and in less than ten years, occupying a subordinate position in one ' of the Departments, be able to build and own fine city houses, and speculate in property? Such knowledge might be useful to the public. It was for such information we sought in the resolution. We cannot get it, it seems, until the Administra- *' tion is changed. How many cases like the fol- lowing would an answer to the above resolution 've us? I quote from a late speech of Senator HUNTER : A claim for compensation was made on the part of the owners of the steamboat Watchman, for its use in 1835 and 1836. This demand was presented soon after that time to Mr. Uagner, and an allowance of something like $2,700 whole until after a full investigation. There is a double evil here an inducement for thes