A Biography of Henry Clay, the Senator from Kentucky / Containing Also, a Complete Report of All His Speeches; Selections From His Private Correspondence; Eulogies in the Senate and House; and a Poem, by George D. Prentice, Esq.

by Unknown

The third resolution concludes,

‘That the rate of duties on foreign imports ought to be augmented beyond the rate of twenty per centum, so as to produce a net revenue of twenty-six millions of dollars—twenty-two for the ordinary expenses of government, two for the payment of the existing debt, and two millions as a reserved fund for contingencies.’

The fourth resolution asserts,

‘That, in the adjustment of a tariff to raise an amount of twenty-six millions of revenue, the principles of the compromise act generally should be adhered to; and that especially a maximum rate of ad valorem duties should be established, from which there ought to be as little departure as possible.’

The first question which these resolutions suggest, is this: what should be the amount of the annual expenditures of this government? Now, on this point, I shall not attempt, what is impossible, to be exact and precise in stating what that may be. We can only make an approximation. No man, in his private affairs, can say, or pretends to say, at the beginning of the year, precisely what shall be the amount of his expenses during the year; that must depend on many unforeseen contingencies, which cannot, with any precision, be calculated beforehand; all that can be done is to make an approximation to what ought to be or what may be the amount. Before I consider that question, allow me to correct, here, an assertion made first by the senator from South Carolina, (Mr. Calhoun,) and subsequently by the senator from Missouri near me, (Mr. Linn,) and I believe by one or two other gentlemen, namely, that the whig party, when out of power, asserted that, if trusted with the helm, they would administer this government at an amount of expenditure not exceeding thirteen millions of dollars. I hope, if such an assertion was actually made by either or all of these gentlemen, that it will never be repeated again, without resorting to proof to sustain it. I know of no such position ever taken by the whig party, or by any prominent member of the whig party. Sure I am that the party generally pledged itself to no such reduction of the public expenses—none.

And I again say that I trust, before such an assertion is repeated, the proofs will be adduced. For in this case, as in others, that which is asserted and reiterated, comes at last to be believed. The whig party did promise economy and retrenchment, and I trust will perform their promise. I deny (in no offensive sense) that the whig party ever promised to reduce the expenditures of this government to thirteen millions of dollars. No; but this was what they said: during the four years of the administration of Mr. Adams, the average amount of the public expenditure was butthirteen millions, and you charged that administration with outrageous extravagance, and came yourselves into power on promises to reduce the annual expenditure; but, having obtained power, instead of reducing the public expenses, you carried them up to the astonishing amount of near forty millions. But, while the whigs never asserted that they would administer the government with thirteen millions, our opponents, our respected opponents, after having been three years in power, instead of bringing the expenses below the standard of Mr. Adams’s administration, declared that fifteen millions was the amount at which the expenditures should be fixed. This was the ground taken by Mr. McLane, when he was at the head of the treasury. I have his report before me; but as the fact, I presume, will not be denied, I forbear to read from it. He suggests, as the fit amount to be raised by the tariff he had proposed, the sum of fifteen millions of dollars as sufficient to meet the wants of the government.

I hope now I have shown that the whig party, before they obtained power, never were pledged to bring down the public expenses, either to thirteen or to fifteen millions. They were pledged, I admit, to retrench unnecessary expenditures, and to make a reasonable deduction, whenever it could properly be made, consistently with the public service; that process, as I understand, is now going on in both houses, and I trust the fruits will be seen before the end of the present session.

Unpledged, therefore, as the whig party was, as to any specific amount, the question recurs, at what sum can the expenses of the government be now fixed?

I repeat that the exact amount is difficult to be ascertained. I have stated it in the resolution I now offer, at twenty-two millions; and I shall soon show how I have arrived at the amount. But, before I do that, allow me to call the attention of the senate to the expenditures of the preceding administration; for, in attempting to fix a sum for the future, I know of no course but to look back upon the experience of the past, and then to endeavor to deduce from it the probable amount of future expenditure. What, then, were the expenditures of the four years of the past administration?

In 1837 the amount was	$37,265,037.15
In 1838 it was	39,455,438.35
In 1839 it was	37,614,936.15
In 1840 it was	28,226,533.81
Making an aggregate of	$142,561,945.46