780 



PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



action of certain banks on the occasion referred to in 

 the Secretary's report. 



Of the fifteen millions of fractional currency still 

 outstanding, only about eighty thousand has been re- 

 deemed the past year. The suggestion that this 

 amount may properly be dropped troin future state- 

 ments of the public debt seems worthy of approval. 



So, also, does the- .-uin^'-turn of the Secretary as to 

 the advisability of relieVing the calendar of the United 

 States courts in the Southern District of New York, 

 by the transfer to another tribunal of the numerous 

 suits there pending against collectors. 



The revenue from customs for the past fiscal year 

 was $198,159,676.02, an increase of $11,637,611.42 over 

 that of the year preceding : $188.098,562.39 of this 

 amount was collected at the port of New York, leaving 

 $50,251,113.63 as the amount collected at all the other 

 ports or the country. Of this sum, $47,977,137.63 was 

 collected on sugar, melado, and molasses ; $27,285,- 

 624.78 on wool and its manufactures ; $21,462,534.34 

 on iron and steel, and manufactures thereof; $19,- 

 038,665.81 on manufactures of silk; $10,825,115.21 on 

 manufactures of cotton ; and $6,469,643.04 on wines 

 and spirits ; making a total revenue from these 

 sources of $133,058,720.81. 



The expenses of collection for the past year were 

 $6,419,345.20, an increase over the preceding year of 

 $337,410.04. Notwithstanding the increase in the 

 revenue from customs over the preceding year, the 

 gross value of the imports, including free goods, de- 

 creased over twenty-five millions of dollars. The 

 most marked decrease was in the value of unmanu- 

 factured wool, $14.023,682, and in that of scrap and 

 pig iron, $12,810,671. The value of imported sugar, 

 on the other hand, showed an increase of $7,457,474 ; 

 of steel rails, $4,345,521 ; of barley, $2,154,204 ; and 

 of steel in bars ingots, etc., $1,620,046. 



Contrasted with the imports during the last fiscal 

 year, the exports were as follows : 



Domestic merchandise $833,925,947 



Foreign merchandise 18,451,399 



Total $902,377,346 



Imports of merchandise 642,664,628 



Excess of exports over imports of merchandise. $259,712,718 

 Aggregate of exports and imports 1,545,041,974 



Compared with the previous year, there was an in- 

 crease of $66,738.688 in the value of exports of mer- 

 chandise, and a decrease of $25,290,118 in the value 

 of imports. The annual average of the excess of im- 

 ports of merchandise over exports thereof, for ten 

 years previous to June 30, 1873, was $104,706,922 ; 

 but for the last six years there has been an excess of 

 exports over imports of merchandise amounting to 

 $1,180,668,105, an annual average of $196,778,017. The 

 specie value of the exports of domestic merchandise 

 was $376,616,473 in 1870, and $883,925,947 in 1881, 

 an increase of $507,309,474, or 135 per cent. The 

 value of imports was $435,958,408 in 1870, and $642,- 

 664,628 in 1881, an increase of $206,706,220, or 47 per 

 cent. 



During each year from 1862 to 1879, inclusive, the 

 exports of specie exceeded the imports. The largest 

 excess of sucn exports over imports was reached during 

 the year 1864, when it amounted to $92.280,929. But 

 during the year ended June 30, 1880, the imports ot 

 coin and bullion exceeded the exports by $75,891,391; 

 and during the last fiscal year the excess of imports 

 over exports was $91,168,650. 



In the last annual report of the Secretary of the 

 Treasury the attention ot Congress was called to the 

 fact that $469,651,050 in five per centum bonds and 

 $203,573,750 in six per centum bonds would become 

 redeemable during the year, and Congress was asked 

 to authorize the refunding of these boiids at a lower 

 rate of interest. The bill for such refunding having 

 failed to become a law, the Secretary of the Treasury, 

 in April last, notified the holders of the $195,690,400 

 six per centum bonds then outstanding, that the bonds 



would be paid at par on the first day of July following, 

 or that they might be " continued' 1 at the pleasure of 

 the Government, to bear interest at the rate of three 

 and one half per centum per annum. 



Under this notice $178,055,150 of the six per centum 

 bonds were continued at the lower rate, and $17,635, 

 250 were redeemed. 



In the month of May a like notice was given re- 

 specting the redemption or continuance of the $439,- 

 841,350 of five per centum bonds then outstanding, 

 and of these, $401,504,900 were continued at three and 

 one half per centum per annum, and $38,336,450 re- 

 deemed. 



The six per centum bonds of the loan of February 

 8, 1861, and of the Oregon war debt, amounting to- 

 gether to $14,125,600, having matured during the year, 

 the Secretary of the Treasury gave notice ofhis inten- 

 tion to redeem the same, ana such as have been pre- 

 sented have been paid from the surplus revenues. 

 There have also been redeemed at par 16,179.100 of 

 the three and one half per centum " continued " bonds, 

 making a total of bonds redeemed, or which have 

 ceased to bear interest during the year, of $123,- 

 969,650. 



The reduction of the annual interest on the public 

 debt through these transactions is as follows : 

 By reduction of interest to three and one half 



per cent $10.473,952 25 



By redemption of bonds 6,352,840 00 



Total $16,826,292 25 



The three and one half per centum bonds, being 

 pavable at the pleasure of the Government, are avail- 

 able for the investment of surplus revenue without 

 the payment of premiums. 



Unless these bonds can be funded at a much lower 

 rate of interest than they now bear, I agree with the 

 Secretary of the Treasury that no legislation respect- 

 ing them is desirable. 



It is a matter for congratulation that the business of 

 the country has been so prosperous during the past 

 year as to yield by taxation a large surplus of income 

 to the Government. If the revenue laws remain un- 

 changed this surplus must, year by year, increase, on 

 account of the reduction of the public debt and its 

 burden of interest, and because of the rapid increase 

 of our population. In 1860, just prior to the institu- 

 tion of our internal-revenue system, our population 

 but slightly exceeded 30,000,000; by the census of 

 1880 it is now found to exceed 50,000,000. It is esti- 

 mated that even if the annual receipts and expendi- 

 tures should continue as at present, the entire debt 

 could be paid hi ten years. 



In view, however, of the heavy load of taxation 

 which our people have already borne, we may well 

 consider whether it is not the part of wisdom to re- 

 duce the revenues, even if we delay a little the pay- 

 ment of the debt. 



It seems to me that the time has arrived when the 

 people may justly demand some relief from the_ir 

 present onerous burden, and that ? by due economy hi 

 the various branches of the public service, this may 

 readily be afforded. 



I therefore concur with the Secretary in recommend- 

 ing the abolition of all internal-revenue taxes, except 

 those upon tobacco in its various forms, and upon dis- 

 tilled spirits and fermented liquors ; and except also 

 the special tax upon the manufacturers of, and dealers 

 in, such articles. The retention of the latter tax is 

 desirable as affording the officers of the Government a 

 proper supervision of these articles for the prevention 

 of fraud. I agree with the Secretary of the Treasury, 

 that the law imposing a stamp-tax upon matches, pro- 

 prietary articles, playing-cards, checks, and drafts, 

 may with propriety be repealed, and the law also by 

 which banks and bankers are assessed upon their 

 capital and deposits. There seems to be a general 

 sentiment in favor of this course. 



In the present condition o_f our revenues the tax 

 upon deposits is especially unjust. It was never im- 



