AMERICA

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 143, 8 June 1876, Page 4

AMERICA

tv^Th'e following in tersting article on the •present condition of the; TJnited tpS'iatepr' is /frj>m tlie &ucb\*nd Hi&did Vf ; "' $% .;slst „ : uJ t jmd: fefiie : ;'Staten" are! now dealing with one of the .troublesome legacies 'left by the Civil itfftfl ' They /Buccesljf^llf expressed ..Rebellion ..an.4 .reorganised the South, with slavery abolished i if'or ,eve?, c - 'fhey combating vigorously and : with of Bqp.cess, against the ' coriruptianT^r.abpiai J and Apolitical — en- ; gendered: by the - expenditure of ; a thousand millions sterling within a few 'years.'" It was impossible that this Vast Bum could be expended without bringing to: the surface men who were; mere 7 gamblers; devoid of principle or prustfehceV5 tfehceV ignorant how to -use power for i( any but emallt selfish ends, .yet possessed o( Very great influence • derived from antf ill-spent gains. Injmu'•incipal"affairs- men 'like ;: Tweed and -have, had a sbortjlife and : a. merry .iqne. !. In the. political world [ v vigorous efforts are being made to root out the d remnahtsof corruption. The highest ( 'oMcialß in the land, the Vice-Preeident r ,of the j&tatea, and^ the Secretary at War for example, have'; been boldly imc impeached. ■> The return to specie payments w.ill be the. next mosF'tiifficuJt " updertakibg, but the, legislature and r:the; people are facing it > with the resolution that has marked their proceedings t c t%pjs^lT|p|ati, : \/|6f.eetib>ckßLwilV/.soon v be yUnknpwK -$H : ( t)«fore h replacing pth.e.ra * with' specie the Government (have enVtered ; on* a* task -of which the. difficulty *irneVer felt till fairly faited.; This new task is the retrenchment of thenational (expenditure in all departments bo as to 'b to. sp^et^i^g^like the simplicity and; economy that .characterised; it • before ; the Civil War — withV itS/.TBSt expenditure, began. _The firsts object, then, to which the Legislature has turned its attention is the •military. 'It is bent on reducing the army to 1 8,000" men. Before the "Civil .War it >'■■ was kept at 14,000, and "has' been brought doWn'; to already. |, but that, number is considered still too large, and the "principle that a large standing army iB a danger to the . 'libeVties of the people seems 'deeply implanted in the American mind. (Thej frontier that this sm&ll army has toj guard is enormous, while' the tribes of i hoetHe wild Indians are still powerful, and not easily accessible. ; The policy! of": the > United States has always been' to depend for /internal defence on the! 1 Militia, .of the coubtry. They ft Ve| 'obliged, however, to keep up an effi-l , „cienfr jStßff f and the ., cadres of a 1 large .'regular force as a nucleus in case of war. have military! sohoola for; cadets, as. well as military! training schools for officers^ Their .artillery. an»i. cavalry, their medical, staff and their: commissariat; must, be so organised that tbey^ could be ex-: panded rapidly if it were' neceaaary tq L support * honor or dignity' • -of 5 sj country ranking among the first Powers' in the : wdrld^ In vie w^of these con-j siderations, the number fixed by the Legislature for the ■ standing -.army is certajuly. small. r Only 18,000 mien, of' all arms and of all ranks, for aj nation approaching nearly 50,000,000 strong, is quite unprecedented in the history of the, world, . It , would .be 1 .impossible in the United States had the x', Southern Confederacy been allowed to form itself on she frontier, and it affords a striking illustration of the benefit ■', Federation has bestowed and must'continue to bestow on the American peo- ' pie. The classes who have been raised into existence by the great expenditure of the past are, however, powerful in \ the Congress and outside. Nothing •'■ could have been more liberal .than the) mode in , which the army has been dealt with, and in which pensions have been awarded to the widows and orphans. of the rank and file, as well as the officers to whom these pensions are, in Euro- ;-. pean practice, confined. Yet the opposition to retrenchment has been determined . in the .extreme; The bill to effect it has been the subi ject of keen and prolonged discussion; MrKasßop^a representative from Ipwai moved to amend its title, so that it - ; should read as a Bill. "to punish tb^ army of the United States for the gall lant /services it had rendered in prej serving the Union." This was rej ejected by 151 to 62, and the salaries ( ',twere reduced in all the . grades: The 0 . amounts voted are interesting :-— Genej rale will v receive £2,000, a year, Lieutenant Generals £1,600, Major-Gene* rals £1,200, and ., Brigadiers £1,000. Colonels will receive £700, Lieutenants Colonels £600, kajors £500, G»ptains I/£36Oj' Adjutants £360, First-LHeuten-f ants £300, and Seoond'-Lieutenantfl will receive £240 a year. This cannot be considered illiberal as a measure of necessary retrenchment, but it is in the 1 ' reduction 61' the" number, rather than in the salaries, that' economy has been attempted. The majority ot tha Legiß- /■ laturo were determined on retrenchuaent. Ihe Executive were less in earnest, and threw all possible ,obstai dee m the way. 'lhey desired, among other things, to pass 'the appropriation for ; contingencies, or what we should call uuautuorised expenditure, of the previous year, before tukint? up the r«i trenohmeut question. The Legislature retußed; and.tbe Secretary ot State, in / oruer 10 excite public feeling, went so b tar as to stop luol ana gas in the public ofiices until tbe appropriations were made., The Legislature adhered to this resolution in spite of the odium inr, ciirred by the Poßt-olfices having to pay, by Bubicription among, the officials, ±or r the nicesaary light tor night work^ and the olerku beiog aigo obliged to

work in great-coats Jahd .mufflers : in the absence of the usual fires,. The Government were opposed to vigorous retrenchment, but the Legislature felt they had the people at their back, and were f n'ot : ta be terred from carrying out the reforms in all departments which were needful ndt only as financial ffiSasureis, but for the - purity of thia (jo'vernnient of the country. , ..... .. ; The most noteworthy thing in connection withahis dispute between; Government and Legislature — for such it seems to have finally become — is tlie vindication of the American, system from The charge of weakness in the Legislature often levelled against it. No responsible Ministers could, have faced the obloquy, or hoped to carry the measure through successfully.' The defeated party would have remained a standing menace, to turn the Government out of office on the first occasion that it could join 'with' those) who mtght become dissatisfied on other grounds. The Americans /have responsible Ministers and the Government has no representative] in -: the House.' ; The : Legislature meets, and : appoints its pwn committees on finance, on foreign relations and on all other matters; and the chairmen of these committees take the place of the responsible Ministers in our own and in the English system. The chairman is, for the session, the • person- in trusted with the departments . connected with his oommittee^He hasfull acceßß to all sources of information. The^ Sjcr^tary X 'tHe: Treasury* for example, is an officer 'appointed b^ the President and aiiswerable l^tirmp 1 , frames the .' estimates' - , f^ r ibei year. They are banded! t6 the, chaifnaftn of thefinanoe oommittee and dealt with.by that cdmmittee: ia detail) j 'the •System is ' so\ entirely ioppo/s&dljto^oui ! j.'qiw^ that it ,be incpmp^enpn|s;ibl^ifir ;^ • many at the first -,- glance, but humify, certainly" in> this caSe ivindica^ed its "ejkjfjto t kq| tieil pronjptly antf effdhtually the gfc^at''4iffiqiiliyj ( of , men t, one of Ithe grea test, 'tt at \C( h beset any Government or Ma':-. any changes' • thai • may be >mad^ ! osss.;'. ■constitution, it might, in view' of these facts,;,' be worth considering how far" Am'ericatt precedents can. be madeuseful.; They are based on the ext ! p^rierice/b/iriany^ yea,rß ! ;and on a copdi- ..;. tion of society not; unlike our. own* It •is difficult to say that responsible Government has been a success in [any of'the Australian colonies or New Zealandi. tXt; has . ahown a constant tendency to increased pomp; increased ciro iimlpcur,,. tiooi and inereaaed expenditurel in .lieu 'of the'V simplicity, iiirectness, andeconomy that ought Jto be the ehief ; characteristics of a Colonial Govern- . . ment. t .lf, vre .remember Varight, .Mr Seedi tiie r Secretary for | Customs; was. rdespatched to the Uuited States and Cabada last year for the purpeseofi i^g. the ! ir r sjßteaas' of ' Got v ern-^ ment. ' His 1 report ought to be idteresting and will, we jiope r be laid before f;th« Assembly as early, as .possible after its meetings - ; -; ■•,-.. ■,-■•■.