Economy In Public Expenditures

Economy in public expenditures is sure to be a vital question in the campaigns of the near future. The nation has been trotting too fast a clip in the matter of its expenses. The republican party, during its ong period of ascendancy, has devoted its energy to the building up of an industrial system by means of jublic taxation for the benefit of mvate enterprise and has made the securing of public revenue a secondary consideration. In fact in order o satisfy the ever increasing demands of the protected subsidists, hey continued year after year to aise a much larger sum than was necesaary to run the government, even in the prodigal fashion which they instituted. At the same time they taught the people that it made no difference to them anyway, since a method of taxation had been devised whereby foreigners were compelled to bear our governmental burdens. The chief attention being given to the private beneficiarles of the protective system rather than to the necessitties of the govérnment economically administered, the result has been to curse the nation witb revenues so large as alm'ost to defy expenditures and the efforts of succeeding congresses have been directed to devising means for getting rid of thealmost unwelcome surplus. A redundancy in the public revenues always results in the same way. Extravagances and supernumeraries of all kinds have fastened I selves up the admirnstration of public affairs. Although the population and wealth of the country have increased with a marvelous rapidity, the cost of the government has outstipped thera. The truth of this assertion is shown by the following tabulation taken from the lately issued statistics of the Treasury Department. Per Capita l'opuNet, ExpendiTears. lation. Expenses.' tures. 1840 17,08'J,4ñ3 24,317,570 Í1.42 1850 23,191,876 3H.543.492 1.71 1860 :;i, 433,321 63,180.698 2 01 1870 3s,55S,371 309.6fi3.S61 8.03 1880 _ 50,155,783 27,64t,958 5.34 1890 62,6H2,250 318,040,710 5.07 1893 ,946,000 383,477,853 5.7o Of course the decade endingwith 1870, including as it does the war period, would show a tremendous increase in the per capita cost of the government, and it is but fair to say that much of the great expense of the present time is due to the pension list; but, making due allowance for these expenditures, the fact still remains that the government cost has increased 200 per cent, in fifty years. Now nosuch increase can be satisfactorilv explained on the ground of the grdwth of population and the consequent necessary increase in public business. Leaving out of the reckoning our pension legislation, which has been extavagant and wasteful beyond compare, the abnormal increase has resulted from the passage of private bilis, milage grabs, increase of salaries and to the multiplication of offices, not to meet the needs of the business of the government, but as sinecures for the dependants and relations of senators and tives and other bosses. Owing to the opulence of the nation's resources, all this has been borne with but little murmuring by the people, but if we mistake not the time is at hand when the people will demand in no unintëlligable manner that their representatives return to the pathway of reasonable economy in the administration of the people's business, and that they give their best thought to the scientific management of the nation's budget. The necessity of conducting private business on a sounder and more economical basis will direct attention to the extravagances of the government and lead to a [demand for retrenchment and reform there. May God speed the day when reasonable economy in the administration of all public business shall be the demand and the practice of all parties.