CONGRESS. (PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.) 



217 





The expenditures are classified as follow : 



For civil expenses $23.826,942 11 



For foreign intercourse 5,439,609 1 1 



Forlndians 6,552,49463 



For pensions 56,102,267 49 



For the military, including river and harbor 



improvements and arsenals 42,670,578 47 



For the navy, including vessels, machinery, 



and improvements of navy-yards 16.021,079 69 



For interest on the public debt 51,386,256 47 



For the District of Columbia 8,499,650 95 



For miscellaneous expenditures, including 



public buildings, light-houses, and collecting 



the revenue. . 54,728,056 21 



The amount paid on the public debt during the fis- 

 cal year ended June 30, 1885, was $45,993,235.43 ; 

 and there has been paid since that date and up to 

 November 1. 1885, the sum of $369,823, leaving the 

 amount of the debt at the last-named date $1,514,- 

 475,860.47. There was, however, at that time in the 

 Treasury, applicable to the general purposes of the 

 Government, the sum of $66,818,292.38. 



The total receipts for the current fiscal year, ending 

 June 30, 1886, ascertained to October 1, 1885, and esti- 

 mated for the remainder of the year, are $315,000,000. 

 The expenditures ascertained and estimated for the 

 same time are $245.000,000, leaving a surplus at the 

 close of the year estimated at $70,000,000. 



The value of the exports from the United States to 

 foreign countries during the last fiscal year was as 

 follows : 



Domestic merchandise $726,682,946 



Foreign merchandise 15,506,809 



Total $742,189,755 



Gold 8,477,892 



Silver 33,753,633 



Total "$784,421^280 



Some of the principal exports, with their values and 

 the percentage they respectively bear to the total ex- 

 portation, are given as follow : 



Our imports during the year were as follow : 



Merchandise $579,580,053 80 



Gold 26,691,696 00 



Silver 16,550,627 00 



Total $622,822,376 80 



The following are given as prominent articles of 

 imports during the year, with their values and the 

 percentage they bear to the total importation : 



Of the entire amount of duties collected 70 per cent, 

 was collected from the following articles of import : 



Percentage. 



Sugar and molasses 29 



Wool and its manufactures 15 



Silk and its manufactures 8 



Iron and steel and their manufactures 7 



Cotton manufactures 6 



Flax, hemp, and jute, and their manufactures 5 



The fact that our revenues are in excess of the act- 

 ual needs of an economical administration of the Gov- 

 ernment justifies a reduction in the amount exacted 

 from the people for its support. Our Government is 

 but the means established by the will of a free people, 

 by which certain principles are applied which they 

 have adopted for tneir benefit and protection 5 and it 

 is never better administered and its true spirit is never 

 better observed than when the people's taxation for 

 its support is scrupulously limited to the actual neces- 

 sity of expenditure, and distributed according to a just 

 and equitable plan. 



The proposition with which we have to deal is the 

 reduction of the revenue received by the Government, 

 and indirectly paid by the people from customs duties. 

 The question of free trade is not involved, nor is there 

 now any occasion for the general discussion of the wis- 

 dom or expediency of a protective system. 



Justice and fairness dictate that in any modification 

 of our present laws relating to revenue the industries 

 and interests which have peen encouraged by such 

 laws, and in which our citizens have large invest- 

 ments, should not be ruthlessly injured or destroyed. 

 We should also deal with the subject in such manner 

 as to protect the interests of American labor, which is 

 the capital of our working-men ; its stability and prop- 

 er remuneration furnish the most justifiable pretext for 

 a protective policy. 



Within these limitations a certain reduction should 

 be made in our customs revenue. The amount of such 

 reduction having been determined, the inquiry fol- 

 lows, Where can it best be remitted and what articles 

 can best be released from duty, in the interest of our 

 citizens ? 



I think the reduction should be made in the reve- 

 nue derived from a tax upon the imported necessaries 

 of life. We thus directly lessen the cost of living in 

 every family of the land, and release to the people in 

 every humble home a larger measure of the rewards 

 of frugal Industry. 



During the year ended Nov. 1, 1885, 145 national 

 banks were organized, with an aggregate capital of 

 $16,938,000, and circulating notes have been issued to 

 them amounting to $4,274,910. The whole number of 

 these banks in existence on the day above mentioned 

 was 2,727. 



The very limited amount of circulating notes issued 

 by our national banka compared with the amount the 

 law permits them to issue, upon a deposit of bonds 

 for tneir redemption, indicates that the volume of our 

 circulating medium may be largely increased through 

 this instrumentality. 



Nothing more important than the present condition 

 of our currency and coinage can claim your attention. 



Since February, 1878, the Government has, under the 

 compulsory provisions of law, purchased silver bullion 

 and coined the same at the rate of more than $2,000,000 

 every month. By this process up to the present date 

 215,759,431 silver dollars have been coined. 



A reasonable appreciation of a delegation of power 

 to the General Government would limit its exercise 

 without express restrictive words to the people's needs 

 and the requirements of the public welfare. 



Upon this theory, the authority to "coin money" 

 given to Congress by the Constitution, if it permits 

 the purchase by the Government of bullion for coin- 

 age in any event, docs not justify such purchase and 

 coinage to an extent beyond the amount needed for a 

 sufficient circulating medium. 



The desire to utilize the silver product of the coun- 

 try should not lead to a misuse or the perversion of 

 this power. 



The necessity for such an addition to the silver cur- 

 rency of the nation as is compelled by the silver-coin- 

 age act is negatived by the fact that up to the present 

 time only about fifty millions of the silver Collars so 

 coined have actually found their way into circulation, 

 leaving more than one hundred and sixty-five millions 

 in the" possession of the Government, the custody of 

 which has entailed a considerable expense for the 



