FINANCES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



307 



Of Ion* obligation* .... $1,761,482,080 00 



ma- 

 in i,,r In 1-^1.) 



.iinvncy. 441,850,120 88 

 . crevntaclu, fractional rur- 



tiilrutes of deposit. .. 402,835,677 89 



$2,836,609,848 09 

 Amount In Treasury 188,998308 02 



<l ilrlit, lew cash In the Treasury... $2,491,804,400 00 



reduction of the debt is on an average 

 :eti million- of dollars per month; and 



tli.'it (if tin- interest obligation, calcnlated at six 

 iitum on the amount of the abatement of 



tin- deht, is $15,971,107 per annum. The obli- 

 ot' tin' (iovertimcnt for interest on the 

 i- it existed November 1, 1807, may bo 

 as follows: 



Coin Interest 5 per cent Bonds $9,942,267 



6 " " 94,755,733 



st $104,693,205 



Currency Intcivst (5 per cent Bonds 



Md Compound-Interest Notot $4,886,056 



'24,4ir,,862 



8 percent. Certificates 846.800 



Total Currency Interest 29,609,718 



Total Interest $184,807,923 



Supposing the amount of debt bearing no in- 

 terest (currency and gold certificates) to remain 

 unchanged, and the debt bearing currency in- 

 . with t lie exception of bonds issued to 

 the Pacific Railroad, to be converted and funded 

 into long bonds bearing 6 per cent, coin interest, 

 the total annual obligations on account of in- 

 terest on the national debt would be as follows : 



Coin Interest $129,221,808 



Currency Interest (6 per cent Pacific 



ro:i,l) 1,082,520 



Total Interest $130,804,823 



Supposing, on the other hand, the non-in- 

 terest-bearing currency to be withdrawn at the 

 rate of four millions per month, and converted 

 into 6 per cent, bonds, paying interest in coin, 

 the interest obligations from this cause would 

 be increased at the rate of $2,880,000 per an- 

 num ; which increase would continue during 

 about eight years, the minimum period requisite 

 to effect an entire withdrawal and conversion, 

 with the conditions of restriction heretofore im- 

 posed remaining in force. 



The results of the funding process, so far as 

 applied to the short-date interest-bearing obli- 

 gations, have been to relieve the Treasury from 

 the embarrassment and danger of excessive and 

 early maturing liabilities, and will ultimately 

 obviate to a considerable extent the necessity 

 of hereafter maintaining a large currency bal- 

 ance. Upon the completion of the funding 

 process, probably within the next fiscal year, 

 the discontinuance of the issue of bonds with 

 so high interest as six per cent, may be antici- 

 pate!, and also the purchase of bonds in open 

 market with the surplus revenues. 



The estimates of the ordinary expenditures 

 for the fiscal years ending each on June 30, 

 1868 and 1869, are about two hundred and ten 

 millions of dollars. The receipts of national 

 revenue for the fiscal years ending June 30, 



1806 and 1867, were respectively $559,712,790, 

 and $490,520,947, showing a falling on" in the 

 !:.!!! year of $44.986,509. This is ascribed 

 chiefly to an abatement or repeal of taxes \ 

 by Congress, although the la<t of the two years 

 was one of groat commercial and mercantile 

 depression, a year in which the crops were 

 much below the average. 



In the opinion of the Special Commissioner 

 of the Revenue, any calculation of the future ex- 

 penditures of the Government should take into 

 account the sum of fifty millions of dollars, 

 which should be annually set aside for redemp- 

 tion purposes, and which, with the interest of 

 the debt, would amount to one hundred and 

 eighty millions, and be a constant quantity for 

 which an equal amount of revenue must be pro- 

 vided. It appears that the gold value of the 

 imports during the last five years was in excess 

 of three hundred and twenty-one millions of 

 dollars, with a tendency to increase constantly 

 under the gradual growth of the country. With 

 a tariff, therefore, in which the rate of duty 

 shall be fixed, not so much by what the respec- 

 tive advocates of free trade and protection may 

 desire, or by what abstract economic science 

 may teach, but rather by what, under existing 

 circumstances, is most expedient, the commis- 

 sioner is of opinion that tbere seems to be nei- 

 ther motive nor occasion to question the ade- 

 quacy of the gold revenue from customs to meet 

 so much of the interest on the public debt aa 

 may now or hereafter be payable in coin. The 

 ordinary expenditures are under the control of 

 Congress, and may be arbitrarily increased or 

 diminished at its pleasure. But the data al- 

 ready presented clearly show the character of 

 these expenditures, and are a sufficient argu- 

 ment to prove that the first practical step to be 

 taken in the direction of financial reform, and 

 for the relief of the country from the present 

 burdens of taxation, should be prompt affd ex- 

 tensive retrenchment. The special commis- 

 sioner, after an investigation of the various 

 civil expenditures, recommends as a matter of 

 absolute necessity rather than of expediency, 

 and as a condition precedent to any legislation 

 looking to an abatement of taxation " 1. That 

 all expenditures for the Navy be restricted to an 

 amount merely sufficient to maintain the police 

 of the seas, and preserve the public property 

 from deterioration. 2. That the numerical 

 strength of the Array be not increased, but re- 

 duced, as soon as practicable; that no appro- 

 priations be made for ordnance except what 

 is necessary for immediate use, or for fortifica- 

 tions beyond what is required to keep the same 

 in repair. 3. That no appropriations be made 

 for public works, other than fortifications, ex- 

 cept such as are of the most urgent necessity. 

 4. That, so long as the necessities of the nation 

 are paramount to those of individuals, no claims 

 for damages sustained in consequence of the re- 

 bellion be either paid or considered. 5. That 

 the heads of the various departments be re- 

 quired by Congress to practise the most rigid 



