American Republican And Baltimore Daily Clipper

[For the American Republican.]

RETRENCHMENT.

Messrs. Editors—In order for our State to meet her liabilities, it is not only necessary to raise funds by taxes, but to retrench expenditures in every practicable way. It requires a proper, rigid course of retrenchment, lopping off all unnecessary grants and appropriations to useless projects, however small the amount; followed up by rigid laws for the collection of taxes levied, to enable our State to meet her liabilities. Such a course as this would give our people confidence in our State government; they would submit to almost any thing in reason, and put their shoulders to the burden of debt that now weighs down our energies, and once more be free. I was a good deal surprised to see by your paper of this morning that you were opposed to withdrawing the State appropriations from academies and the Colonization Society. I am in favor of education as much as any one, perhaps; but I like to see States as well as people just before they are generous. And there certainly is little justice (however generous it may be) to give away our funds to such purposes while we are unable to pay our debts. If we were clear of debt, or had enough income to pay the interest on our debt, I would have no objection to assist academies, but when we are some $200,000 short of sufficient to pay interest, and now have to resort to additional taxation to raise it, we ought to stop these appropriations to private institutions. Suppose an individual was in a condition similar to our State, what would his creditors think of his making large donations to objects, (however good,) while he failed to pay his just debts? It would be very difficult, I think, to make them believe he was honest. The same would be the conclusion in reference to our State.—However clear it may be that academies are 'important to the interests of our State,' it is not so clear in reference to the Colonization Society. It has now been in existence some 20 or 25 years, and has succeeded in colonizing some 2000 persons on the Coast of Africa at an immense expense. How this can conduce to the interests of the State I cannot imagine. It cannot remove any thing like the increase of the slave population of this State; how then can it remove the slave population, increase and all, of the United States? The idea is preposterous! What folly, what madness for our State to waste her funds to the injury of her creditors, to assist such a Society as this. Besides, the amount to be saved by stopping these appropriations, is not so inconsiderable as you suppose. There are, I think, twenty-one counties—$800 to each county, and $3200 to Annapolis College, makes the snug sum of $20,000 annually, exclusive of what paid to the Colonization Society. This may be 'small pickings,' but is as much as is proposed to be saved by some of the bills now before the Legislature; and considerably more than can be had from those officers, whom you think can bleed so freely. It is a subject well worthy the attention of the Legislature.

H.