UNITED STATES, FINANCES OF THE. 



763 



the fiscal year 1864 to the close of the fiscal 

 year 1888, it has been maintained by each suc- 

 cessive Secretary of the Treasury under the 

 discretionary authority conferred by law. The 

 aggregate amount of public funds handled 

 during the twenty-five years by this important 

 adjunct to the Treasury has been nearly $5,000,- 

 000,000, and the balance held has varied at 

 different dates from $6,000,000 to $62,000,000. 

 At the close of 1864 the balance was about 

 $40,000,000, and during the four years follow- 

 ing declined steadily to $23,000,000 in 1868. 

 Since that year it has never risen to the latter 

 figure except in 1873, when it exceeded sr,-2.- 

 000,000, and during the past fiscal year, when 

 it again rose to this high sum, and has been 

 maintained for several months at about $60,- 

 000,000. From 1874 to 1887 the balance never 

 exceeded $15,000,000, and it is to-day nearly 

 three times as large as it was two years ago. 

 During the entire period the Government has 

 never been subjected to the slightest loss ex- 

 cept during the earliest stages, when the sys- 

 tem was imperfect and the necessary safe- 

 guards had not yet been applied. 



During the year just closed the number of 

 depositaries was increased more rapidly than 

 ever before. The system has proved itself to 

 be an important monetary agency of the Gov- 

 ernment safe, economical, efficient, and ex- 

 peditious in the discharge of public business. 

 The important changes of policy toward the 

 depositaries during the past year have relieved 

 the system of the suspicion of favoritism and 

 have placed it upon a basis of better business 

 principles. The undue expansion of the balance 

 tar beyond the amount necessary for the true 

 scope and purpose of the depositary system is 

 due exclusively to the present excessive tax 

 laws, and whatever objection is justly made to 

 this large balance will apply with greater force 

 to any other disposition which the Treasury 

 could have made of the money. 



The holdings of public money by depositary 

 banks were almost exactly the same at the 

 close, of the year as at its beginning, or about 

 $52,000,000. 



The following tables exhibit in detail the 

 revenue and expenditures of the Government 

 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1888 : 



REVENUE. 



Customs f-219.091.173 63 



Internal revenue 124.296. --71 95 



Sales of public lands 11. 2"2.lU7 23 



Profits on coinage 9.857.684 43 



Consular, letters patent, and land fees 8.433.44-5 99 



Tax on national bants 1.74S.566 85 



Customs fees, fines, etc 1,097.445 20 



Pacific Railroad sinking- fund 1,170.331 43 



Pacific Railroad interest 6S1.696 95 



Sales of Indian lands S50.">7 43 



Soldiers' Home fund 433.15929 



Sales of Government property 8t>5.*77 26 



Tax on seal-skins ". 317,500 00 



Immigrant fund 291.1 S9 50 



Surveying public lands 16; 



Deductions on mutilated notes, etc 112.422 05 



Sale of naval vessels 1: 



Revenues of District of Columbia 2.650.350 31 



Miscellaneous. . . 1.535.712 54 



EXPENDITURES. 

 Civil list .................................. $22.552.834 OS 



Foreign intercourse ........................ l..V.''J,4<;i -id 



Indian service ............................. 



Pensions .................................. 



Military establishment .................... 



Naval establishment ........................ 16,926,487 65 



Miscellaneous, including public buildings, 



lighthouses, and collecting the revenue 4v.j-.351 89 



District of Columbia ...................... 4.-J7-.113 43 



Interest on the public debt ................ 44.710.<,Ni7 47 



Total 



Total $379,266,074 76 



Leaving a surplus of ................. $119,612,116 09 



Which was applied as follows : 

 Purchase of bonds for the sinking-fund, in- 



cluding $2.- : for premium ____ $46,577,165 68 



Purchase of 4 and 4J per-cent. bonds other 



than for the sinking-fund, including $5.418,- 



&26.5S for premium ...................... 81.99fl.326 58 



Redemption of 3-per-cent lean of 1-52 ...... 4,175,750 10 



Redemption of other loans, fractional curren- 



cy, etc .................. ................. 341 .163 05 



Total .................................. $S3,OS4,405 51 



Leaving a balance added to the cash in 

 the Treasury of ...................... 86.527,710 58 



Total .................................. |1 19,612,116 09 



It will be seen from the foregoing that, of all 

 the items in the national expenditure, pensions 

 constitute much the largest, and exceed the 

 total cost of administering the legislative, ex- 

 ecutive, and judicial branches of the Govern- 

 ment, as well as the Indian and diplomatic and 

 consular branches. The pension-roll costs the 

 Government more than twice as much as its 

 military establishment and engineering-works, 

 and more than four times as much as the navy, 

 even during these days of increased expendi- 

 ture in naval construction. This item of pen- 

 sion payments is the only one that is growing 

 in amount. It was $5,000,000 more in 1888 

 than in 1887, and $12,000,000 increase in 1887 

 over 1886, while the aggregate of other expen- 

 ditures was no greater for 1888 than for 1887. 



As compared with the fiscal year 1887, the 

 revenues for 1888 increased $11,041,749.38 in 

 the foil owing items : Internal revenue. 5,473.- 

 480.76 ; customs, $1,804.280.50 ; sales of public 

 lands, $1,947,730.81 ; profits on coinage, $458,- 

 381,65; consular fees, $161,426.40; deduction 

 on mutilated notes, etc., $112,422.05; sale of 

 naval vessels, $105,665.88 ; sale of Government 

 property, $103,044.94; customs fees, $97.871.- 

 98 ; surveying public lands, $67,601 ; immi- 

 grant fund, $32,787; fees on letters patent, 

 $14,487.36; revenues of the District of Co- 

 lumbia, $828,290.18 ; and miscellaneous items, 

 $339,278.92. There was a decrease of $3,178,- 

 952.28, as follows : Soldiers' Home fund, 

 $793,070.18 : tax on national banks. $637,284.- 

 33 ; sales of old public buildings, $624,882.20 ; 

 sales of Indian lands, $598.941.38 : Pacific Rail- 

 road interest, $233,096.18; Pacific Railroad 

 sinking-fund, $194,104.44; customs fees. - 

 373 : land fees. $44,111.93 ; and customs tines, 

 penalties, and forfeitures, $3,088.64; making a 

 net increase of revenue for the year of $7,862,- 

 797.10. There was a decrease in the expendi- 

 tures of $15.377.724.31, as follows: Civil ex- 

 penses, $12,312,564.79 ; interest on the public 



