UNITED STATES, FINANCES OF THE. 



827 



UNITED STATES, FINANCES OF THE. The in- 



coming of the year 1886 was by no means free 

 from apprehensions in respect to the financial 

 outlook. The depression of prices during the 

 latter half of the year preceding was thought 

 not unlikely to continue, to the injury of many 

 industrial enterprises, and to the prejudice of 

 the financial affairs of the nation. It was 

 feared that the accumulation of silver in the 

 Treasury vaults would render silver payments 

 compulsory, and that the large issue of silver 

 certificates, resulting in the general use of such 

 certificates in payments to the Government, 

 might leave the Treasury without sufficient 

 resources for payments in gold. Though Con- 

 gress did little to improve the situation, its 

 definite failure to do some things gave assur- 

 ance that for a time at least the foundations 

 of industry were not to be disturbed. The 

 defeat of efforts to secure the unlimited coin- 

 age of silver, and the compulsory disbursement 

 of the surplus in the Treasury, tended to re- 

 store confidence. The course of the Adminis- 

 tration was especially calculated to remove 

 distrust. By judicious measures, which were 

 warmly commended in business circles, the 

 Secretary of the Treasury made it clearly un- 

 derstood that gold payments could be, and 

 would be, maintained. The chief features of 

 the year's transactions were the large reduc- 

 tion of the public debt, the coinage and accu- 

 mulation in the treasury of the standard silver 

 dollars, and the gradual contraction of national- 

 bank circulation. The following statements ex- 

 hibit in detail the result of such transactions : 

 Receipts and Expenditures. The ordinary rev- 

 enues of the Government, from all sources, 

 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, were: 



Customs $192,398,73894 



Internal revenue 116.805,936 48 



lies of public lands 5,630,99934 



Tax on national banks. 



Profits on coinage 



Customs fees, fines, etc 



Consular fees, etc 



Pacific Railroad interest 



Pacific Kailroad sinking-fund 



Surveying public lands 



Sale of Government property 



Immigrant fund 



Soldiers' Home fund 



Sale of naval vessels 



Tax on tonnage 



Revenues of District of Columbia . 

 Miscellaneous 



2,693,712 87 

 5.904,619 26 

 1,014,783 58 

 3,383,570 19 

 679,189 43 

 1,097,905 47 

 192.735 63 

 268,390 89 

 181,547 00 

 245,486 98 

 40,357 19 

 506,284 50 

 2.105,830 61 

 20 



Total $336,439,727 06 



Ordinary expenditures for same period were : 



Civil Hst... $21,955,60404 



Foreign intercourse 1,332.320 88 



Indian service 6.099,158 17 



Pensions 63,404,864 03 



Military establishment . . , 



Naval establishment 



Miscellaneous, including public buildings, 



lighthouses, and collecting the revenue 



District of Columbia.. . 



34,324,152 74 

 13,907,887 74 



47,986,633 04 

 2,892.321 89 



Interest on the public debt 50,550,145 97 



Total "$2427483,138 50 



As compared with the previous fiscal year, 

 the revenues increased $16,369,663.78, the 

 principal items of increase being customs, 

 $11,433,184.10 ; internal revenue, $4,307,- 



210.94; customs fees, $107,319.31; and mis- 

 cellaneous, $521,949.43. There was a decrease 

 of $3,620,643.10 in consular fees, surveying 

 public lands, profits on coinage, national -bank 

 taxes, and other miscellaneous sources, making 

 a net increase of revenue for the year of $12,- 

 749,020.68. There was a decrease in expendi- 

 tures of $26,099,385.22, as follows: Military 

 establishment, $8,346,425.73 ; foreign inter- 

 course, $4,107,288.23; naval establishment, 

 $2,113,191.93; civil list, $1,871,338.07; and 

 miscellaneous, $9,661,141.26. There was an 

 increase of $7,302,596.54 in expenditures for 

 pensions, making a net decrease in expendi- 

 tures for the year of $18,796,788.68. The ex- 

 cess of revenue over expenditures was $93,- 

 956,588.56, of which $44,531,350 was applied 

 to the redemption of bonds for the sinking- 

 fund, and the remainder to ordinary redemp- 

 tion of the public debt. The revenue derived 

 from the various objects of internal taxation 

 during the last two fiscal years is shown in the 

 following table : 



The receipts from customs and internal rev- 

 enue by quarter-years during 1885-'86 were: 



* Includes tax on tonnage. 



The following table shows the receipts and 

 expenditures of the Government for the calen- 

 dar years 1885 and 1886: 



