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EDITED BY THOMAS HAYNES.
VOL. VI. NO. 4.
of
BY P. E. ROBINSON, State Printer.
And Publisher (by authority) of the Laws of the Cnited States.
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KT TERMS.—Three Dollar* per annum. No subscription taken for less than a
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' mining several thousand names.
ADVERTISEMENTS inserted at the usual rates. Sales of I.AND. by Admi
■istrat.'rs, Executors, or Guardians, arc required by law to la' held on the first Tues
day in ihp month, between the hours of ten in the forenoon mid three in the after
at tiie Court House in <he county in which the property is situate. Notice of
cheto Mlea must bo given iu a public gazette SIXTY DAYS previous to the day of
•ale.
Sales of NEGROES must be at public auction, on the first Tuesday of the month
tieiween the usual hours of sale, at the place of public sales in the county where the
Setters trxtimentanr t of Administration or Guardianship, may have been granted, first
giving SIXTY DAYS notke thereof, in one of the public gazettes of this State,
anJ at th»’ door of the Court House where such sales are to be held.
Notice tor the sale of Personal Property must be given in like manner, FORTY
•AYS jMevioas to the day of sale.
Noise to lire Debtors and Creditors of an Estate must be published FORTY
DAYS.
Notice that application will be made to the Court of Ordinary for leave to sell
LAND, must be published for FOUR MONTHS.
Notic. fiw leave Ho sell NEGROES, must bo published for FOUR MONTHS
before aay wrUer absolute shall be made by the Court thereon.
Notie. al Application for Letters of Administration must be published THIRTY
BAYS.
Notice ol Application for Letters of Dismission from the Administration of an Es
tate, are required to be published monthly for SIX MONTHS.
MISCELLANEOUS.
«ssaT-»-- ' a m jb-i ■
GENERAL LOVER.
There dwells in the city of Balli a very respectable lady,
the widow of a dignitary of (he church. She is a universal fa
vorite with all the young people who have the pleasure of her
intimacy, and no wonder that it is so—the goodness of her
heart, the equanimity of her temper, her gay, cheerful disposi
tion, and the grace, ease and dignity of her manners, although
belonging to the old school, render her society more accepta
ble and agreeable than that of many females having greater
advantages in possessing youth and beauty, but destitute of
the charm of good nature and good breeding, which distin
guishes the conversation of Mrs. VV. The old lady, is, how
ever, a little deaf, and upon a consequence of this infirmity
hinges our story.
A gallant livutenant-colonel in the service of her most gra
cious majesty, was equally celebrated for his devotion to the
fair sex and for his bravery in the field. The fascination of
bis manners and the beauty of his person rendered him a dan
gerous enemy to the peace of many a fair bosom, but no ore
ever heard that Colonel A ever made a serious proposal.
In the words of Miss Edgeworth, he was a male jilt or mascu
line coquette ; but he always so managed matters that, what
ever pangs he inflicted, he always escaped the expressed indig
nation of the Indies, and the significant remonstrances of fath
ers and brothers. Such was Colonel A when he paid a
visit to the renowned city of Bath.
Ot course such a distinguished personage was received with
open arms into the best society of such a gay place as U.o city i
ofKing Bladud, hut, by some accident, be had not had the
honor of an introduction to the worthy widow we have men
tioned. The gallant colonel commenced in Bath that system
of general flirtation he had so successfully practised elsewhere.
In vain the ladies sighed, the Colonel was not to be had—mid
he continued his gay career, as ret kless of the mortification
and misery he caused as if he had been really an unprincipled
man instead ofbeing only unthinking and vain. Now our
worthy widow gave a ball, to w hich, of course, all the elite of
Bath were invited. To this hall did Colonel A accom-
pany a friend, though not him-. If inviim, it being understood
that the willow would receive the friends of her friends without
the remilar formality of invitations. The Colonel looked for-
to the pleasure of flirting with half the pretty girls ini
Poor man ! he little knew what wag hanging over his
head. As soon as be entered the reception-room a
ijKgffer.il whisper attested the notoriety or tame of the new cotn-
unfortunately two words caught the ear of the widow
lover.” The Colonel and his friend made their way
•to the lady of the mansion, wh » was surrounded by a crowd of
friends; the gallant officer was introduced, but, the widow be
ing deaf, his nam? did not reach the tympanum of lierear.—
Judge, if you can, of the Colonel's horror when he was ad
dretced as General Lover! The widow belonged to that old
school ol' politeness which considered individual introduction
necessary, and “ General Lover, Mr. Harcourt—Mr. Harcourt,
General Lover—General Lover, Miss Hardcastle—Miss Hard
castle, General Lover,” sounded through the room in the wid
ow’* clearest and loudest voice. There was no possibility of
mistaking the name ; the lady’s deafness had become infinitely
worse since morning ! no explanation could stop her rapid in
troduction of General Lover to her numerous friends. No
merely human muscles could stand this—a general roar of
laughter pervaded the rooms, and the poor C'douel broke awav
from the widow, and rushed from the room in an agony of
mortification. From that day Colonel A- ceased his flir-
Xajjous, but he was ton fine a fellow to be allowed to remain a
bachelor, and his wife blesses the day when she made a bene
dict of General Lover.
LOVE OF COUNTRY.
Wherever, O man, God’s first sun beamed upon thee—
where the stars ofheaven first shone above thee—where his
lightnings first declared his omnipotence, and his storm-wind
shook thy soul with pious awe—there are thy affections—there
IS thy country.
Where the first human eye bent lovingly over thy cradle—
where thy mother first bore thee joyfully on her bosom—where
thy father engraved the words of wisdom on thy heart—there
are thy affections—there is thy country.
And though it he among bare rocks and desert islands, and
though poverty and care dwell there with thee, thou mayest
love that land for ever; for thou art man, and thou canst not
forget it, but it must abide in thine inmost heart.
And freedom it no empty dream—no barren imagination—
but in her dwell* thy courage, and thy pride, and the certainty
that thou art of high and heavenly race.
There it fret <1 urn where thou canst live in the customs,
and fashions, and laws, of thy fathers; where that which re
joiced their hearts rejoiced thine ; where no foreign oppressor
can command thee, no foreign ruler drive thee according to
Jiit will, as cattle are driven at the will of their drivers.
This thy country—thy free country—is a treasure which
contain* within itself indestructible love and faith ; the noblest
good, (excepting religion, in which dwells a still higher free
dom ) which a virtuous man can possess, or can cowl.—Arndt.
A country clergyman, some lime since was abruptly called
upon by a rustic, who very earnestly entreated him to accom
pany him immediately to christen a few new born children.—
‘A few!’ replied the ‘don’t you know how many
of them there are?’ Not rightly, says the fellow, scratching
his head; 'there was hut three of them when I qime out- but
the Lord knows how many there are by this time!’
The shortest way to murder character.— Profess great friend
• *hip for the matt —tell how much you love him ; proclaim bow
many excellent traits he possesses; and then, with a very sanc
tioned look and most impressive sigh, express your fear, yes
your fear, that all is not as it should be! Whisper suspicion’
and let the conjecture with giant strength work out the ruin!
-g/.—<G'
MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA, TUESDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 19, 1539.
POLITICAL.
STATE OF THE TREASURY AND EXPENDI
TURES OF GOVERNMENT.
! In House of Representatives, January 24, 1839. —Mr. Cam-
BRELENG, from the Committee of Ways anti Means, submit
ted the following report on the state of the Treasury and the
expenditures of Government:
By the 63d rule of the House of Representatives, it is made
the dul y of the Committee of Ways and Means to “inquire into
the state of the revenue and of the expenditure, and to report,
from time to time, their opinion thereon.” The condition of
l our finances renders the discharge of this duty particularly
necessary at the present time. Our extraordinary expenditures
have, within a few years, been unavoidably large, and our rev
enue has rapidly dec ined since 1836. In that year our in
come from customs and lands was more than forty-eight mil
lions; in 1837 (including the postponed bonds) was about
twenty-four millions; and for the past year (deducting the
postponed bonds) about fourteen millions and a half. The
revival of trade will increase the revenue both from customs and
lands, and, notwithstanding the progressive reduction in our
tariff, it will probably be sufficient to meet the wants of an
economical administration of our Government. We have,
I however, no just reason to anticipate such an excess of revenue
as to warrant a continuance of extravagant expenditures; and
lite present reduced state of the Treasury affords a proper occa
sion to inquire what branches of these have been unnecessarily
increased, and to endeavor to restore the aggregate expense of
the Federal Government to the economical basis contempleted
by the act of the 2d of March, 1833, and corresponding with
the maximum duty of 20 per cent, ad valorem after June, 1842,
proposed by that act.
Our Federal expenditures have been rapidly, though irregu
larly, increasing, from 1798 to the present time. The fluctua
tions appear to have been simultaneous with an increasing or
decreasing revenue—an overflowing Treasury uniformly pro
ducing a sudden augmentation of our appropriations. Inde
pendent, however, of such occasional extravagance, it was nat
ural to anticipate, especially in the first half century of its exis
tence, a steady increase in the civil, military and naval expen
ditures of a Government which had no such establishments at
its origin; and particularly in a country which has, in so short ;
a period, doubled the number of Slates in the Confederacy, i
enlarged its boundary of settlement to near five times its extent
in 1790, increased its population from less than four to near
seventeen millions, and extended its post routes from 1,875 to
near 135,000 miles.
But w hile a considerable increase of our expenditures for
purposes strictly national—for the common defence and com
mon government of a rapidly growing and now enlarged Co:i
federcy—may be satisfactorily accounted for, if not entirely ;
justified by the circumstances, other expenditures, foreign, as j
your committee believe, totlie original design of the Constitu
tion, have arisen through a departure from the principle of
taxation by which our Union was governed for nearly thirty
years. Prior to the late war with Great Britain, oqr tariffs
were revised and our taxes levied to supply the actual wants of
Government, how ever they might operate, incidentally, on the
internal industry of the country. It was never then designed to
raise more revenue than was actually necessary to supply our Fed
eral wants. During the war, large investments were made by our
capitalistsilt manufactures; and when it was over, the princi
ple of our revenue laws was entirely reversed. Our taxes were |
no longer graduated by the wants of Government, but by the j
demands of our capitalists for protection ; thus substituting the
incident lor ttw Our tarifis were revised without
any regard to the condition of our finances, and a broad i
foundation was laid for a redundant revenue. The conse
quence was a rapid extinguishment of a public debt, funded and
unfunded, of one hundred and fifty millions of dollars. An
ticipating this redemption, appropriations iu every branch of
the public service were increased, and still more extensively to
absorb a prospective surplus, new objects of expenditure were j
sought for, which had been before considered under the juris- 1
diction of the States. Surveys were authorized, laying the
foundation fora Federal system of roads, canals, harbors, and :
other improvements, sufficient to exhaust any surplus which
might possibly occur. Extravagance was deemed patriotic, as \
designed to perpetuate protection to manufacturers. The one
was indispensable to the other, and, lor a time, the rights of
the tax payer were wholly disregarded.
This attempt to interfere with the rights ofthe Slates, and to
enlarge Federal jurisdiction, expenditure, and patronage, was i
partially arrested at an early stage, by leaving to the States the i
exclusive and constitutional control over their roads and canals. !
But there still remained other expenditures, which will be no
ticed hereafter, equally foreign, as the committee think, to the ■
legitimate duties of a confederated Government. But not- 1
withstanding these, the extravagant tendency of a surplus, and
the rapid redemption of our public debt, we have been already
compelled to deposite eight-and-twenty millions with the States.
Fortunately, however, this association of protection, surplus,
amt extravagance, is no longer the policy of our Government.
Both Houses, by overwhelming majorities, revived our ancient
principle of revenue in the act of 2d of March, 1833. The
fourth rhiuse of the 3d section of that act provides that alter the
30th of June, 1842, “duties shall be laid for the purpose of
raising such revenue as may be necessary to an economical ad
ministration of the Government.” Believing, as the commit- '
tee do, that no other policy can be permanently sustained in a :
confederacy of independent Slates, they deem it expedient to
examine our expenditures in tietail, to ascertain what reforms
j can be introduced to bring them down to the economical stand
ard permanently contemplated by the act of 1838.
Before noticing the permanent expenditures of the Govern
ment, it is ptoper to advert to those of an occasional or tempo
rary character, which have very largely and unavoidably in
creased the amount of our annual appropriations for a few
I tears past; these are in the Indian branch ofthe public service.
The expenditures for the Indian lands and warshave amounted,
within a few years past, to about fifty millions of dollars.—
Tt.e purchase of their lands, and the removal of the Indians be
yond the Mississippi, were unavoidably connected with the
settlement ofthe country, however it might afl’ect the various
i tribes. Il is satisfactory to know that their condition has been
; ameliorated by removal. The addition of thirteen new States
to the Union, embracing withiti their boundaries most of these
! tribes, made it necessary, especially in latter years, to purchase
their hinds, in order to advance civilization; to remove obvi
, ous obstructions to the settlement and cultivation ofthe coun
! try ; to prevent collision, and to preserve the lives and pro
perly of the inhabitants of our States and Territories from In
dian deredations. These purchases have also been founded,
almost exclusively, upon compacts formed with some Slates
j more than thirty years ago ; on our implied obligation to olh
|er States; and on resolutions and appropriations by both
Houses of Congress, extending through every administration
ol the Government. They were, moreover, justifiable on mere
financial grounds. By referring to the documents annexed,
it will be seen that we have acquired by Indian treaties, since the
4lh of March, 1829, one hundred and thirty-seven millions of
acres. There now remain, of unbought Indian lands, less than
thirty-five millions of acres. No extraordinary expenditure can,
therefore, be hereafter anticipated for this object; nor is it
probable that there will be such extravagant demands upon the
Treasury for Indian wars, owing to the removal of almost all
the tribes, and to a change in the plan of operations in Flori
da, but principally to the recent increase of the army. One
half of the amount expended in these wars has undoubtedly
arisen from the extraordinary expenses arising from suddenly
calling into the field numerous bodies of militia and volunteers,
which we were obliged to do in consequence of the inadequate
force of t(je regular army. The increase of that force w ill en
able Government, in some degree, to dispense with these calls
in future; and many millions in our annual expenditures will
jbe saved by preventing Indian depredations, and promptly
I suppressing them when they may occur.
Ottr Coiurience—Our Country—Our Porty.
Owing to appropriations of the character referred to, and to
others which will be noticed, there is a very considerable ap
parent increase of the Federal expenditures in the last ten
years. The appropriations for 1838, including those under
permanent acts, amounted to about thirty-eight millions of dol
lars. In Comparing these with the expenditures in 1829, the
following items will be found iti the former which were not in
the latter, viz:
For preventing and suppressing
Indian hostilities
the same, and for the
okee treaty 6/740,000
removal of In-
dians, annui-
ties, &c. $3,060,000
Do. do. in 1829,
only 420,000
For appropriations for the Post Office, not em
braced in any' bill iintil and since 1836, as
these expenses are paid out of the posta
ges $4,560, r OO
the protection of the Northern frontier 625,000
a nominal item in the navy appropriation
bill, being a mere transfer of an unexpend
ed appropriation for the gradual improve
ment of the navy to the years 1839 and
1840 ’ * 1,500,000
17,065,000
There has been an increase in almost every
branch of expenditure, but principally in the
following:
The appropriations for pensions
in 1838, were $2,058,500
Do. do. under permanent
acts 1,350,000
3,408,500
Total expenditures in
1829, revolutionary $764,492
Do. do. do. other . 185,102
Harbors, &;c. appropriations in
1838 1,535,000
Expenditures in 1829 505,000
Congressional expenses, appro-
priations in 1838, owing, in
part, to the long session 982,000
Expendituresin 1829 467,000
Light-house, appropriations in
1838 663,000
Expenditures in 1829 291,500
I>soo 1 > 500
In Executive, Territorial, judicial and miscella-
neous exjienditures 880,000
$22,320,406
Our naval and military expenses have been greater since
1829: the former owing, in part, to the uncertainty, atone
time, of our relations with France, and the latter to Indian
wars. But our expenditures have been, since then, increased
in every branch by an augmentation of the amount of com
mercial credit, which adds to the cost of all our supplies.
In examining into our expenditures, there will be found, in
many of them, much abuse requiring reform. Two branches
do not come annually under the consideration of Congress—
the expenditures for the Post Office service, and the expenses
of collecting our revenue. The former, not being a charge
upon the public Treasury, (except for the expenses of the
General Post Office.) are regulated by the income from posta
ges, which are annually increasing the number of our routes
and the frequency of the transportation of the mails. Ofthe
immense increase in this branch of the public service, some idea
may be formed from the increase in the transportation of the
mails. It was not, probably, more than 100,000 miles in 17-
90; 845.468 in 1793; as l ite as 1803 it was 3,504,800; it is
now 34,580,202 mdes. Though not a charge upon the public
.Treasury, we are hound, as the tiustee of the fund, to see that
it is administered with economy, in order that our mail routes
may' be extended to the remotest quarters of the Union. It
has been, accordingly, the stilject of investigation ; the .De
partment has been reorganized, and is believed now to be well
administered. There is charged upon this fraud, for the ser
vice of the present year, $5,100,000. If it is designed that
this important establishment should support itself, there seems
to be no reason for discriminating between the expenditures for
the offices throughout the Union and of the General Post Of
fice, by charging the former upon the fund ofthe Department,
and the latter upon the Treasury.
The expense ofcollecting our revenue from customs amount
ed, in the fust ten years after 1789, to about $293,000 annu
ally ; for the last ten, ending 31st Hecember» 1837, to $1,232,-
000 ; it is now about a million and a half. By referring to the
table ol tonnage, it will be seen that the amount of tonnage en
tered from abroad has increased from 605,000 tons in 1790 to
2,065,000 tons in 1837. The expenses of collecting the reve
nue was in 1829 $1,013,000, and in 1837 $ 1,492,000. The
tonnage entered from abroad was 1,003.000 in 1829, and
2,065.000 tons in 1837. The annual amount of revenue is no
criterion ol the expense of collection ; because, although we
have relinquished the duty on more th m half of our importa
tions, the great increase in this branch of trade creates a neces
sity for an increased number of inspectors. We have also, of
late years, introduced many very complicated provisions in
our tariff laws, and added to the expense of collection. But a !
part of this increase is owing to the neglect of Congress in not
limiting, from time to time, the number of officers to be em
ployed ; and in permitting the collectors to pay the whole ex
pense of our custom-houses out of the revenue received, with
out even transferring it to the public Treasury. Had Con
gress periodically limited the number of our officers, directed
the collectors to pay all the money received by them into the
Treasury, required annual estimates, and made specific appro
priations for this, as in other branches ofthe public service, it
would have operated as a sensible check on the extravagance
of some of our collectors.
Although the subject of tonnage is only indirectly connected
with the question of expenditures, the committee cannot dis
miss it without calling the attention of the House to the fact
disclosetl in the table annexed, that while the American ton
nage entered from abroad increased from 872,949 in 1829, to
1,299,720 tons in 1837, the foreign tonnage rose from 130,743
to 765,703 tons in the same perim'—l result owing, among
other causes, to our unwise taxes on navigation, and to an
abuse of credit at home, which enables foreign nations to build,
supply, and man their ships cheaper than we can, and slowly
to undermine the basis of our naval power.
The Legislature expenses of the Federal Government for
the first ten y ears were annually, on an average, about $171,-
000 ; the appropriations for the year 1838 were $982,000. A
part of this has arisen from the increase in the number of mem
bers of Congress ; but the most extravagant increase lias oc
curred in the contingent expenses of iiotli Houses. In the first
ten years these did not amount to more than SIO,OOO annually,
while the appropriations for the past year were $373,960. Al
though under the immediate observation and exclusive control
of Congress, there is nobranch ofthe public service where
there has been more abuse and extravagance. Thousands of
documents, in many instances of no importance, are usually
printed ; and the contingent funds of the two houses have
been, for some years past, charged with the expense of fur
nishing members with books. There has been, and remaims
to be paid, on two contracts alone of this character,s7Bl,o23 37,
not only to supply those who are actually in Congress, but
others who have not been members for many years past.—
Should such expenditures be continued, this will very soon be
an important item ; and, in any event, a large amount will still
be lequired to fulfil contracts for books in no maimer belong
ing to the legitimate contingencies of either House of Con
gress.
1 he expenditures of the Executive Departments were, in the
ten years, alter specific appropriations were made, about
$195,000 annually; the approyriatmn for 1833 was $795,000.
This item has steadily increased with the grcpvth of our coun
try and its various establishments, requiring Executive agency
and superintendence. Something would probably be saved if
tlwre were one contingent fund under the control of the Sec
retary for all the offices of each Department. Our complicated
system of accounts, too, was established many years ago, and
a more judicious organization of the Departments might intro
duce greater simplicity and economy. It is impossible, how
ever, to avoid a uniform increase iu this branch of the public
expenditure, while we continue to multiply our laws at every
session, which must be carried inloeflect by the Executive De
partments ; and while we rapidly iwrease, as we have done of
late, the number of resolutions in both Houses, calling for in
formation, and frequently involving great labor and expense.
Connected also w ith the Executive Departments are various
expenditures, which were very inconsiderable, or did not exis,
at all, at the commencement of the Gov ernment —such as those
for the Mint, Territorial Governments, the coast survey’, arm
ing and equipping militia, the public lands, and public build
ings. 1 hese, which in early legislation were quite unimpor
that, now amount to nearly a million annually.
The expenses of the Judiciary in the first ten years after
specific appropriations were made, did not amount to more
than about $61,000 annually; the appropriation for 1838 was
$484,000. The increased expense for the salaries of judges
has not been beyond what might have been anticipated. The
expense, however, ofthe courts ofthe United States has in
crewed from about $30,000 to $342,000, which is the esti
mate for the present year. In this branch of the public ser
vice, reform seems to be required. While the clerks of our
courts are appointed by the judges, and the fees of the former
amount to a much larger sum annually than the salaries of the
latter, the appointing power may be tempted to participate in
the profits ol the clerkship, and to sanction the most exorbitant
charges. The fees of our district clerks and attorneys ought
to be more precisely regulated by law, and the clerks ought
not to be appointed by thejudges.
The expenses of our intercourse with foreign powers amoun
ted in early years to about $50,000 annually ; the estimate for
the present year is $266,484. This expenditure was consid
erably augmented by the revolutions in what was formerly de
nominated Spanish America. The estimate for the present
year is not, however, so great as the expenditure for 1829,
which was $289,140 07.
The current expenses ofthe Indian Department were unim
portant and irregular in early years,'but all the expenditures in
this branch for the first ten years amounted to less than $32,000
annually ; the estimates for 1839 amount to $866,960, includ
ing some appropriations not for current expensi s. The in
crease is owing almost exclusively to annuities and stipulations
under treaties with the Indians entered into since 1789.
Having no military establishment worthy of notice at the ori
gin of the Government, the expenditures in this branch of the
public service have of course increased. When it is considered
that the settled area of the United States has increased, accord
ing to the calculations of a scientific engineer, in the ratio cf
210,575 in 1790, to 1,013,664 in 1839, some idea may be
formed ofthe vast extent of our present boundaries; and we
may well doubt, notwithstanding the recent increase of the ar
my, whether it will ultimately be found adequate to protect all
our extensive frontiers.
Although we have been more liberal in our naval appropria
tions, that establishment still bears an unimportant rank in
comparison with that ofevery other maritime nation. The im
provement in steam navigation, however, seems to promise a
revolution in the mode of conducting maritime war, which may
render this difference of less importance as it regards existing
navies, and may require new and considerable expenditures in
this branch of the public service, which will be noticed here
after.
The appropriations for roads in 1838 were $540,000. —
There was no such Federal expenditure in early years.
Ju the expenses for light-houses there has been a considera
blMncrease, especially within the last two years. The annual
amount expended in the first ten years, including the mainten
ance of the establishment, was less than $35,000. For many
years past it was less than $300,000 annually ; but in 1»37 it
was suddenly increased to $1,220,019, and included $921,964
for new liirht-houses, &tc. In 1838 the appropriations amount
ed to $663,873. The estimate merely for maintaining the ex
isting light-houses in the year 1839, amounts to $394,000
The appropriations for new works of this kind were authorized
without prqgar examinations, and much money has been wasted
in this branch of the service. Two years ago Congress di
rected such examinations to be made before any new work
should be The officers reported in favor of sus
pending the appropriations for thirty one of the number of
works authorized by the act of 1837. There is a large amount
now remaining unexpended in this branch of the service.
The expenditures lor fortifications were irregular in the first
years; but from 1789 to 1798 the annual average was
SIOB,OOO. The appropriations for 1838 amounted to
$1,015,000; and the estimates for 1839, $1,269,100. This
part ofthe national defence is still in a very' incomplete state.
The improvement in steam batteries within a few years past
renders it, however, a question worthy of inquiry, whether it
will not also produce an entire revolution in the plan of harbor
defence ; and whether it would not be most judicious for the
present to confine our expenditures to the armament of the for
tifications we have finished, and await the result of future exper
iments which will become necessary to ascertain whether float
ing steam batteries are not superior to stationary fortifications
in guarding the entrance into and in defending harbors. There
are other reasons for suspending new appropriations for 1839.
Those existing were not made until the 7th July last, and the
act directed that one-half of the amount should be expended in
the present year; and there remained undrawn from the Treas
ury, on the Ist January, $704,369 56, besides the balances in
the hands of our disbursing officers. Under such circumstan
ces, with a deficient revenue, and while there is a probability
that a change will be made in the plan of harbor defence, and
tlr.it the public money may hereafter he more advanta
geously expended, the committee are of opinion that it is not
expedient to add $1,269,100 to the large amount unexpended
and in the hands of disbursing officers.
For the first six-and-twenty years the average amount annu
ally paid for pensions was less than $84,000. As late as 1814
it was about $90,000, and in 1815 less than $70,000. The
late war added about $200,000 for invalids, and the widows
or children of those who had died of wounds received in bat
tle. The whole pension roll of the United States arising from
the Revolutionary, Indian, and British wars, -fid not then ex
ceed $300,000 annually. The appropriations for pensions in
th • present year amount to $2,500,000; to which are to be
added the permanent appropriation of $ 1,000,000, and unex
pended appropriations amoiintinii to $741,000, making a'n ag
gregate for pensions in 1839 of $4,241,000 ; and we have now
charged upon the public Treasury 42,500 pensioners. z\ bdl
was passed at the last session, without debate, and approved on
the last day of the session, which draws from the Treasury in
the present year $1,372,000 ; and there are three general pen
sion bills now pending in the House, which would, if adopted,
probably double the annual amount appropriated for pensions.
This result, and in so short a period, could not have been
anticipated by the framers of our Constitution. The claims of
our revolutionary soldiers rested on peculiar grounds. Their
services and sufferings were of an extraordinary character, and
we had from necessity been compelled to violate our contracts
with them. In their case we were warranted in departing from
ordinary usage when our means were ample to indemnify them.
Pensions to invalids, and to the widows or children of those
P. L. ROUIWSOIV, PROPRIETOR.
«ho ate killed or who die of wounds ren ived in battle
form a part of the contract, where su< h laws exist, between the
Government and the soldier. But in granting pensions, as we
have done, in cases where the soldier was neither killed nor
wounded in battle, we violated the pension principle, and
charged the public Treasury with half pay to the representa
tives of all who enlist in the service of Government, whether in
peace or in war, in addition to the compensation stipulated for
their services. Prior to 1836 there was no departure from tbfr
ordinary pension rules, except as to Revolutionary soldiers*
but iu that year provision was made generally for pensions in
ordinary cases of death, while in the service, after the 20th of
April, 1818, w hether of wounds or not. The same rule was.
extended to the navy pension fund, whit b will be very soon de
stroyed by such improvident legislation. Prior to 1837, this,
fund was amply sufficient to provide for our naval invalids, and
for the widows or children of those who had been killed in bat
tle. It was invested in stocks, and amounted, on the Ist
March, 1837, to $1,115,239 53: it is now reduced, under the'
operation of recent laws, to $293,363 09. Should we have
no reform in this branch of legislation, it will be difficult to an
ticipate the amount w hich n.ay be annually rt*tjuired fur this
expenditure. If we continue to grant pensions in cases of or
dinary death, in peace or in war, to the representatives of all
who are employed in the military service, w hether of the regu
lar army or not, and to all in the naval service, we shall soon,
follow the example of some monarchies, and extend our pension
roll, and with equal justice, to the representatives of all who
die in the civil employments of Government.
The committee i’eel it to be theirduly to bring to the special!
notice of the House the heavy and rapidly increasing expendi
tures upon harbors and rivers. This item was unknown in the
early legislation of the Federal Government. The first appro-,
priation was made in 1802; but prior to 1816 only $36,449'
had been expended upon two works, connected directly and
indirectly with navy-yards and light-houses. In 1816 and
1819 two other appropriations were made, amounting to,
$34,000, both connected with light-houses. A few appropri
ations were made in 1820, 1821, 1822, and 1823, in the neigh
borhood oflight-houses and navy-yards, amounting altogether
to $51,750; and in 1823 two harbor surveys were authorized,,
at an expense of $350.
After we had adopted the policy of raising more revenue
than was required for Federal purposes, and as the period ap
proached for the redemption of the public debt, this was one
ofthe new branches of expenditure resorted to in order to ab
sorb a contemplated surplus. Accordingly, and for the first
time in the history of our legislation, an act waspassed on the
20th of May, 182 G, “ for improving certain harbors, and the
navigation of certain rivers and creeks ; and for authorizing
surveys tube made of certain bays, sounds, and rivers, therein,
mentioned.” On the 2d of March, 1827, this was followed
by a regular annual bill, “ to authorize the improving of cer
tain harbors, the building nf piers, and for other purposes.’*’
These expenditures immediately increased, in 1827, to $82,500;,
in 1828, to $121,000; and in 1829, to $505,000. In 1838,,
the appropriations w ere more than a million and a half, and ther
’estimates for 1839 amount to $1,713,000.
The aggregate amount already appropriated for these
works is $5,919,043 66, besides canal stocks, and the debt
assumed for the corporations of this District for investments in
the same, amounting to $3,383,490; making an aggregate of
$12,302,533 66. The estimates for completing some of these
worksatnount to $4,650,842 21 ; but, judging by our expe
rience as to former estimates, it will m ire probably require
ten millions, besides the cost of some of the most expensive
works, for which there are no estimates at all. In addition
to this, a bill is now pending, and would have passed the House
at the close ofthe last session butfor want of time, which, wulh
tl.e amendments, embraced appropriations for new works,
amounting to near a million of dollars, and involving an ulti
mate expenditure of probably five millions more.
I' l 1836 this subject was investigated by the Committee oi
Ways and Means, and a report submitted by one of its nu m
bers, (Mr. Smith, of Maine,) on the 10th of February . That
report stales that there was, even at that time, “ a real neces
sity for hesitation, if not of actual reform, in the further p 504-
ecution of public works upon the same system which h-a/J, of
late years, obtained under the Government ;” that they were
made subservient “ to the purposes of the individuali wealth
and profit of the agents and contractors immediately concern
ed ;” that the appropriation for one year, and for each suc
ceeding year, in many cases exceeded the whole of the origin,
estimate; that many tis the works were built over again, and'
that others were rotten before they were completed. On t,Ue
31st of January, J 837, the same gentleman made another report
from the Committee of Way’s and Means, referring to the for
mer as “ explanatory of the unproductive, yet growing expen
ditures of the Government upon harbors and rivers, and ex
pressive of serious doubts of’ the policy of following out this
branch of the public service, unless some more certain, and ef
ficient, and economical system for conducting it could be de
vised. The opinion of the committee had not been changed
by ‘the experience of another year j’ aad the repoit adds, that,
“ without some curtailment by Congress of the class of works
already projected as recipients of its bounty, and without a de
cisive limitation of its appropriations to works that may justly
be denominatedofthe first magnitude, and ofimperious neces
sity too, it requires no spirit of prophecy to predict that the
operations of the civil engineer department will, in a very few
years, rival, in expenditures and numerical strength of agent* *
and operatives, the military and naval service of the Govern
ment, and constitute a more alarming branch of public patron
age than is to b.e found elsewhere in the Government. From
the peculiar nature of their expenditures, corruption, favorit
ism, and peculation may be reduced to system more success
fully in them (ban in almost any other branch ofthe civil ad
ministration.”
If such was the opinion of the Committee of Ways and
Means in 1837, it certainly cannot be changed by examining
into the present condition of these improvements.
After an experiment of thirteen years on the 103 works for
which appropriations have been made, the following is the re
sult 1
Never commenced - - - - 3
Abandoned j
Suspended ----- 4
May perhaps be completed with existing appropriations 14
Completed ----- 20
Not completed - - - - - 61
Total - 103 t
Some of the works have been built over twice, and the
twenty, completed, cost but $409,178 25; leaving all the
pensive works yet to be finished, and at an expense which can-,
not even be estimated.
Such is the result of this Federal system of improving our
harbors, rivers, and creeks, anil building piers for our cities,
towns, ami villages; and such the prospect before us. The
time has certainly arrived when it becomes necessary to inquire
w hether all these expenditures belong to Federal legislation
and to examine a system which, if made permanent, must en
tirely change the character of our Government.
The utility of such improvements, generally, is not denied,
ami is not the question. The true inquiry is, under what au
thority and at whose expense they should be constructed. If
it is desirable to make a judicious selection of public works; to.
secure economy in expenditures ; to do justice to those who
contribute to their construction, and to ensure their completion
in some reasonable time, we should certainly confine our Fed
eral, State, county and municipal authorities within their ap
propriate spheres of action. We have confided to the Federal)
Government the high duty of superintending the construction
ol our works tor national defence. By interfering with
county, city, town and village improvements, it not only neg
lects its common obligation to the Confederacy, but mismana
ges and retards the prosecution of their works. A.s we hav«
seen, it extravagantly wastes the public moneys in many in
stances, on works which should never have been commenced}
on others, of a character strictly local j and in almost every
WIlOEa: NO. 264.