FINANCES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



285 



"Rufus Choate"; "A Plea for Cheerfulness," 

 etc., were enriched with reminiscence, and en- 

 livened by humor that rendered them every- 

 where popular. Mr. Fields never abandoned 

 his pen-work, and the latest issue of " The 

 Congregationalist," dated April 26, 1881, has 

 an article, " Letters from an Oid Treasure- 

 Box," in which he writes of Bayard Taylor, 

 and gives some interesting letters which he re- 

 ceived from him in 1846-'54. 



So active and useful a man must he a serious 

 and much-lamented loss to any community. 

 During a period covering half a century, Mr. 

 Fields was identified with the interests of Bos- 

 ton, and filled a large sphere in its local life; 

 his share in the development of its literary in- 

 terests will fix his name high in the chronicles 

 of its literary history. Nor will he be soon 

 forgotten among the champions of philanthro- 

 py and religion, with whom he wrought as 

 zealously as was possible, considering the vari- 

 ous demands in other directions upon his time 

 and energies. 



FINANCES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

 Notwithstanding the moderate harvests in some 

 portions of the country, there has been no ap- 

 parent check during the year 1881 to the abun- 

 dant prosperity which for several years the na- 

 tion has enjoyed. In that portion of the great 

 Northwest which geographers, a few years 

 since, were pleased to distinguish as the Great 

 American Desert, and which still later has been 

 officially pronounced as an arid waste, immense 

 sections of land, of surprising fertility, have 

 been opened to settlers, and already the surplus 

 grain of the country is mostly produced west 

 of the Missouri River, thus adding to the grow- 

 ing wealth of the country the resources, as it 

 were, of a new continent. To these newly de- 

 veloped regions have gone the surplus capital 

 and labor of the East, for both of which re- 

 munerative employment has been found. The 

 individual prosperity which has so generally 

 prevailed, has been reflected in the financial 

 experience of the Government. AVithout ad- 

 ditional imposition of taxes the revenues of the 

 country have been largely increased over those 

 of last year, while by judicious and economical 

 management the expenses have been somewhat 

 reduced in the same period. 



The receipts of the Government for the fiscal 

 year ending June 30, 1881, have been as follows : 



From customs $198,159,676 02 



From internal revenue 185,264,885 51 



From taxes on circulation and deposits of 



national banks 8,116,115 72 



From miscellaneous sources 19,242,115 82 



Total $860,782,292 57 



During the same period the expenditures were : 



For interest on the public debt $82,508,741 18 



For pensions 50,059,279 62 



For military establishment 40,466.460 ."5 



For naval establishment 15,686,671 66 



For civil expenses 17,941,177 19 



For foreign intercourse 1,093,954 92 



Forlndians 6,514.161 09 



For miscellaneous 46,442,441 83 



Total 1260,712,887 69 



Leaving a surplus of 100,069,404 98 



Compared with the previous fiscal year, the 

 receipts have increased as follows: In customs 

 revenue, $11,637,611.42; in internal revenue, 

 $11,255,011.59; in tax on circulation and de- 

 posits of national banks, $1,101,144.28; in 

 miscellaneous, $5,359,133.81 ; making a total 

 increase of revenue over previous year of 

 $29,352,901.10. The expenditures show a net 

 decrease over previous year of $6,930,070.19, 

 the principal item of decrease being that of 

 interest on the public debt, $13,248,833.93. 



Of the amount of surplus revenues for the 

 year, $14,637,023.93 remained in the Treasury 

 at the close of the year. The remainder, $85,- 

 432.381.05, was applied to the purchase or re- 

 demption of obligations of the United States, 

 all of which were interest-bearing, except the 

 comparatively small amount of $109,001.08 of 

 fractional notes. 



This excess of revenue promises to continue. 



For the quarter ending September 30, 1881, 

 the receipts have amounted to $108,181,043.09, 

 against $97,889,239.92 for the same period in 

 1880; and the expenditures to $75,051,739.39, 

 against $77,018,531.78 for same period in 1880. 

 The accounts have not been closed to a later 

 date, but the indications strongly point to an 

 annual surplus largely in excess of that of last 

 year, unprecedented as that was in amount. 



The condition of the Treasury, however, is 

 shown by statements published at the close of 

 each month. As compared with January 1, 

 1881, the condition of the public Treasury, at 

 the beginning of the present calendar year, may 

 be stated as follows : 



Statement showing assets and liabilities of United 

 States Treasury on the 1st day of January, 1881 

 and 1882: 



