FINANCES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



255 



Of the loan of January 1, 1861, the sum of 

 $7,022,000 is outstanding, and payable on the 

 1st of January, 1871. The loan of 1858, of 

 $20,000,000, is payable in 1873. The bonds 

 known as ten-forties, amounting to $194,- 

 567,300, are not payable until 1874. The six 

 per cent, bonds, payable in 1881, amount to 

 $283,677,600. The bonds known as eighty- 

 ones and ten-forties, amounting in the aggre- 

 gate to $478,244,900, are not payable and can- 

 not be paid previous to 1874 and 1881. The 

 five-twenty bonds, amounting in the aggregate 

 to $1,602,671,100, are either payable or will 

 soon become payable, and it is to this class of 

 the public debt alone that attention should be 

 directed. 



Of this amount, the sum of $75,477,800 has 

 been purchased since March last, and the bonds 

 are now held by the Government. Before any 

 measure for funding the five-twenty bonds can 

 be consummated, the Government will be able 

 to purchase, at least, $75,000,000 more. There 

 will then remain, on the 1st of July, 1870, 

 about $1,450,000,000 of the five-twenty bonds 

 in the hands of the public creditors. Of the 

 entire indebtedness of the United States only 

 the unimportant sum of $27,000,000, will be 

 payable previous to 1874. It is the funding 

 of the whole amount of these five-twenty 

 bonds, except about $250,000,000, which the 

 Secretary recommends to be done. The 

 amount thus excepted might, in his opinion, 

 be purchased or redeemed previous to 1874. 

 Between 1874 and 1881, the ten-forty bonds 

 could be paid and provision made for the re- 

 demption of the bonds payable in 1881. Sup- 

 posing the proposed loan is for an amount not 

 exceeding $1,200,000,000, he would offer it in 

 three classes of $400,000,000 each, of which 

 the first class should be paid in twenty years, 

 the second class in twenty-five years, and the 

 third class in thirty years. The conditions of 

 the loan should be, that the principal and in- 

 terest shall be made payable in coin ; that the 

 bonds known as five-twenties shall be received 

 in exchange for the new bonds ; that the prin- 

 cipal shall be payable in the United States, 

 and interest payable either here or in Europe ; 

 that the rate of interest shall not exceed four 

 and a half per cent, per annum ; that the sub- 

 scribers in Europe shall receive their interest 

 at London, Paris, Berlin, or Frankfort; that 

 the bonds, both principal and interest, shall be 

 free from all taxes, deductions, or abatements 

 of any sort, unless it shall be thought wise to 

 subject citizens of the United States to such 

 tax upon income from the bonds as is imposed 

 by the laws of the United States upon income 

 derived from other money investments. 



In the opinion of the Secretary of the Treas- 

 ury, the success of his proposed loan depends 

 upon the continuance of the existing revenue 

 system as an essential condition. The magni- 

 tude of the national revenue will furnish such 

 a certainty that these bonds are soon to be re- 

 deemed, as to induce holders of the five-twenty 



bonds to surrender them and receive a bond 

 upon a longer time and at a lower rate of in- 

 terest. The reduction of the revenue is re- 

 garded as a measure to take place after this 

 funding of the debt shall have been completed ; 

 then also will be the time to enter upon the 

 work of reducing the taxation, which, at the 

 earliest moment, may be at the commence- 

 ment of another session of Congress. 



The three per cent, certificates, of which 

 there were outstanding, on December 1, $49,- 

 716,150, are largely held by the banks as a 

 portion of their reserve, and form a substitute, 

 to a considerable extent, for United States 

 notes. These should be redeemed, in the 

 opinion of the Secretary, and an addition of 

 $35,000,000 made to the circulation of the 

 banks in those States where the circulation is 

 less than the share to which they may be en- 

 titled. 



Such are the views of the Secretary relative 

 to the more immediate arrangement and man- 

 agement of the public debt, but there are other 

 aspects of the subject looking to its future pay- 

 ment, which are dependent on the national 

 resources, the industry and commerce of the 

 country, and which should not be overlooked. 



As previously stated, the receipts of the year 

 exceeded the disbursements $49,453,149. The 

 excess of receipts over expenditures since the 

 close of the war has been as follows : 



1865-'66. ... . . $37,281,679 58 



1866-'67 143,905,880 94 



1867-'68 28,297,798 46 



49,453,149 46 



The amount of the public debt on Septem- 

 ber 1, 1865, less the cash in the Treasurv, was 

 $2,757,689,571.43. On December 1, 1869, the 

 public debt, less the cash in the Treasury, was 

 $2,453,559,735.23, making a total reduction 

 since September 1, 1865, of $304,129,836.20, 

 and for the calendar year of $87,147,466.02. 



Since the close of the war, the population of 

 the country has shown a general and rapid 

 increase. Its minimum rate is estimated at 

 1,100,000 per annum. The alien immigration 

 into the country since the close of the war, or 

 during the five years ending June 30, 1869, 

 has been 1,514,816. The course of the Chi- 

 nese immigration for a series of years has been 

 as follows : 



1856 4,733 



1857 5,944 



1858 5,128 



1859 3,457 



I860..., .. 5,467 



1861... .. 7,518 



1863 7,214 



1864 2,975 



1865 2,942 



1866 2,385 



1867 3,863 



1868 10,684 



1869 12,874 



Total in fourteen years 78,817 



The increase in the construction of railroads 

 during the year 1869, throughout the country, 

 is estimated to reach about 5,000 miles, mak- 

 ing the total construction, since the close of 

 the war, about 13,000 miles. The facilities 

 afforded by this additional construction are 

 regarded as reaching an extent of country of 

 390,000 square miles, which, for the purposes 



