Excerpt from Speech of Hon. Eugene Hale, of Maine, on National Expenditures, Economy in the Past and Economy in the Future, in the House of Representatives: January 26, 1876

Mr. Chairman: The Committee on Appropriations is now fairly entering upon its work for this session, and I have deemed it fitting to take some survey of the subject-matters that will come before the House this winter in the way of appropriations. The field, Mr. Chair man, is a broad one. Our annual expenditures are immense. Govern ments. Like families, cost more and more as they grow; and the cost of governments, like that Of families, is apt to increase in a geometrical ratio with their growth.

Any man who contrasts the population and the wealth of this coun try now with what they were in the first days of the Government will be reconciled to a great advance in its expenses. In that wonder ful chapter of Macaulay, wherein he presents the material condition of Great Britain at the time when the crown passed from Charles II to his brother, the historian notes, as a remarkable fact, that in the time covered by two long lives the taxation of the British people had been increased thirty-fold. We have, Mr. Chairman, owing to great events in our history, especially owing to the events of the last fifteen years, gone beyond what in Great Britain Seemed startling to Macaulay. It could hardly have been imagined by any person liv ing in the administration of John Quincy Adams that in fifty years from that time there would be collected from the American people an nually and spent ln one way or another nearly $300, 000, 000. There 18 no subject of greater interest to the people than that involved In the ques tion of how all this money is spent, and it is for that reason that I have ventured to trespass upon the attention Of the House at this time.

In starting it is worth while to bear in mind that, in time of pro found peace, with no war apparently lowering upon the horizon, and no preparation for war being made, the last Administration before the rebellion broke out - that of Mr. Buchanan - spent in one year $75, 000, 000, and during its continuance ran the Government 111 debt nearly $100, 000, 000.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.