| Gross expenditures in 1866 and 1867 | $3,223,323.46 |
| Average annual expenditure during these years | 1,601,661.73 |
| Gross expenditures from August 11, 1868, to Jan. 1, 1870 | 2,260,252.15 |
| Gross expenditures in 1870 | 1,444,816.73 |
| Gross expenditures in 1871 | 1,476,978.86 |
| Average annual expenditure during this period | 1,554,614.32 |
A comparison of gross expenditures, however, is of no significance unless the sums contrasted represent payments for the same purposes. Under the earlier administration the government undertook large expenditures for the relief of destitute persons, especially of wounded soldiers and the relicts of soldiers.[337] This accounts for the remarkable size of the amounts credited to “special appropriations” in the report for 1866 and 1867. Under Bullock’s administration the government spent nothing for these purposes. For a fair comparison of the economy of the Johnson government and the reconstruction government, it is necessary to compare the amounts which they spent respectively for the same objects. Their payments for the more important administrative purposes are shown in the following table:[338]
| 1866. | 1867. | 1868. | 1869. | 1870. | 1871. | |
| Civil Establishment | $20,771.66 | $75,222.44 | $50,373.72 | $85,666.41 | $77,851.77 | $78,365.21 |
| Contingent Fund | 6,128.62 | 15,430.74 | 10,059.06 | 19,968.16 | 38,284.44 | 20,296.95 |
| Printing Fund | 1,021.75 | 16,114.90 | 20,452.96 | 7,673.38 | 60,011.78 | 20,000.00 |
| Special Appropriations | 304,955.05 | 879,897.77 | 210,916.11 | 261,097.37 | 260,442.05 | 806,419.08 |
These figures show that almost all the annual expenditures of Bullock’s administration, aside from “special appropriations,” were well above those of the preceding administration, and that the payments from the printing fund, especially in 1870, and from the contingent fund in 1870, were so large as to convict the administration of great extravagance.
The reconstruction legislature was reproached because of its large per diem—nine dollars. This per diem was established by the Johnson government,[339] and is, therefore, not a charge against reconstruction. But the other expenses of the legislature fully corroborate the charges of extravagance made against it. This is shown by the following table:[340]
| Length of Session. | Total Expenditure. | Average Expenditure per month. | |
| 1865 and 1866. | Dec. 4 to Dec. 15. Jan. 15 to March 13. Nov. 1 to Dec. 14. ———————— 3⅔ months. | $121,759.75 | $33,207.18 |
| 1867. | No session. | ||
| 1868 and 1869. | July 4 to Oct. 6. Jan. 13 to March 18. ———————— 53⁄10 months. | $446,055.00 | $84,161.33 |
| 1870. | Jan. 10 to Feb. 17. Apr. 18 to May 4. July 6 to Oct. 25. ———————— 5½ months. | $526,891.00 | $95,798.32 |
The state debt created by the reconstruction government was of two kinds; direct and contingent. When the reconstruction government went into operation the state debt was $6,544,500.[341] The reconstruction government incurred a bonded debt of $4,880,000.[342] This includes bonds to the amount of $1,880,000 which were issued to a railroad in exchange for its bonds to a greater amount and bearing interest at the same rate. This amount, therefore, was not a burden on the state, provided the railroad remained solvent; though in form a direct, it was virtually a contingent liability. Further, $300,000 of the money borrowed was used to pay the principal of the old debt. Deducting these two sums, we find that the burden of direct debt was increased by $2,700,000.
Contingent debt was incurred by the indorsement of railroad bonds. In 1868 the state offered aid of this kind to three railroad companies,[343] in 1869 to four,[344] and in 1870 to thirty.[345] The state offered to indorse the bonds of each of these companies to the amount, usually, of from $12,000 to $15,000 per mile, sometimes more and sometimes less. If all the roads had accepted the full amount of aid offered, the state would have become contingently liable for about $30,000,000.[346] But only six roads accepted, and the contingent liability thus created was $6,923,400.[347] The laws offering the aid involved little risk to the state; they made substantial progress in construction and substantial evidence of soundness conditions precedent to indorsement, and secured to the state a lien on all the property of each road in case it defaulted. The indorsement of railroad bonds is not a reproach to the reconstruction government. The great policy of that government, when it was sufficiently free from partisan labors to have a policy, was to repair the prosperity of the state, and the construction of railroads was an important means to this end.[348]
The worst stain on the reconstruction government is its management of the state railroad. The Western and Atlantic Railroad, owned and operated by the state until 1871, was placed under the superintendence of Foster Blodgett by the governor in January, 1870.[349] Thenceforth hundreds of employees were discharged to make room for Republican favorites; important positions were filled by strangers to the business; the receipts were stolen,[350] or squandered in purchases made from other Republicans at monstrous prices; and the road suffered great dilapidation.[351]
The preferred object of the Conservative abuse in the reconstruction government was Governor Bullock. We have seen that he was remarkably powerful as well as remarkably active in promoting the interests of his party. He was abused for that. For the extravagance of the state government the governor was held largely responsible. He was abused for that. But he was further accused of fraud in financial matters.