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 next resolution affirms a proposition which I hope will receive the unanimous consent of the senate. It is as follows.

‘Resolved, that it is the duty of government, at all times, but more especially in a season such as now exists, of general embarrassment, and pecuniary distress, to abolish all useless institutions and offices, to curtail all unnecessary expenses, and to practice rigid economy.’

And the seventh resolution declares,

‘That the contingent expenses of the two houses of congress ought to be greatly reduced; and the mileage of members of congress ought to be regulated, and more clearly defined.’

It has appeared to me, that the process of retrenchment of the public expenses, and reform of existing abuses, ought to begin in an especial manner, here, with ourselves, in congress itself, where is found one of the most extravagant of all the branches of the government. We should begin at home, and encourage the work of retrenchment by our own example. I have before me a document which exhibits the gradual progress in the contingent expenses of the two houses of congress, from 1820 to 1840, embracing aperiod of twenty years, divided into terms four years apart, and it shows that the amount of the contingent fund has advanced from eighty-six thousand dollars, which it was in 1824, to one hundred and twenty-one thousand in 1828, a rate of increase not greater than was proper, considering the progress of the country; to one hundred and sixty-five thousand in 1832; to two hundred and sixty-three thousand, in 1836; and, in 1840, it amounted, under an administration which charged that in 1824 with extravagance, to the enormous sum of three hundred and eighty-four thousand, three hundred and thirty-three dollars! I am really sorry, for the credit of congress, to be obliged to read a statement exhibiting such shameful, such profligate waste.And allow me here to say, without any intention of being unkind to those able and competent officers, the secretary of the senate, and the clerk[26] of the house of representatives, (not the present clerk,) that they ought to bear a share of the responsibility, for the great and sudden growth of this expenditure. How did it arise? The clerk presents his estimate of the sum that will be necessary, and the committee of ways and means, being busily occupied in matters of greater moment, take it without sufficient examination, and insert it at once on the appropriation bill. But I insist that it should be cut down to a sum of which members of congress may, with some decency, speak to their constituents. A salutary reform has been commenced in the house of representatives, which ought to be followed up here. They have already stricken one hundred thousand dollars from the contingent fund for both houses; but they should go much lower. I hope there will be another item of retrenchment, in fixing a reasonable maximum amount, to be allowed for stationery furnished to the members of congress. If this shall be adopted, much will have been done; for this is one of the most fruitful sources of congressional extravagance. I am told that the stationery furnished during the twenty-fifth congress averages more than one hundred dollars per head to each member. Can any man believe that any such amount as this can be necessary? Is it not an instance of profligate waste and profusion?

My next resolution is directed to the expenses of the judicial department of the government.

‘Resolved, that the expenses of the judicial department have, of late years, been greatly increased, and ought to be diminished.’

In this department, also, there has been a vast augmention of the expenses, and such a one as calls for a thorough investigation. The amount of the appropriation for the judicial department has sprung up from two hundred and nine thousand dollars, which itwas in 1824, to four hundred and seventy-one thousand dollars, at which it stood for the year 1840. Can any man believe that this has all been fairly done? that that department actually requires the expenditure every year of nearly half a million of dollars? I have no doubt that the district judges and the marshals, who have great control of the expenditure of the fund, and the clerks, ought to be held responsible for this enormous increase. Without any intention to indulge in any invidious distinctions, I think I could name a district in which great abuses prevail, and the expenditures are four or five times greater than they are in any other district throughout the country. I hope this whole matter will be thoroughly investigated, and that some necessary restraints will be imposed upon this branch of the public service. I am truly sorry, that in a branch of the government which, for its purity and uprightness, has ever been distinguished, and which so well merits the admiration of the whole country, there should have occurred so discreditable an increase in the expenses of its practical administration.

The next resolution asserts,

‘That the diplomatic relations of the United States with foreign powers have been unnecessarily extended during the last twelve years, and ought to be reduced.’