CiiAr. XV III. 



FINANCES. 



309 



tlie strength of the guano monopoly almost all the taxes have 

 been abolished, the tribute of the Indians amongst them, 

 and the revenue is composed mainly of three items — guano, 

 customs, and stamps. A biennial budget, containing the re- 

 ceipts and disbursements, is laid before Congress every ses- 

 sion. I have these budgets before me for several years back ; 

 but that for 1859 will suffice to show the extraordinary natm-e 

 of the revenue, and the still more extraordinary way in which 

 it is spent : — 



Receipts. 



Dollars. 



Giuuio 15,875,352 



Customs, &c. .. 5,079,439 

 Surplus from 1858 938,389 



21,893,180 



Disbursements. 



Pay, &c., to members of Congress .. 

 Army and navy, with pensions 



Civil expenses, with pensions 



Payments to ecclesiastics 



Public works 



Education and charitable institutions 



Police 



Compensation for slaves and internal debt 



Redemption of Bonds 



Miscellaneous 



Interest of all kinds 



Surplus 



Dollars. 



2 11, 084- 



9,740,432 



2,129,904 



63,296 



718,124 



332,471 



92,807 



1,576,004 



3,218,700 



107,146 



. 2,191,777 



20,387,745 

 . 1,505,435 



21,893,180 



The foreign debt is 21,205,400 dollars, and the internal 

 debt and compensation for slaves amount to a still larger sum. 

 But the great drag upon the public treasury is the enormous 

 army of 15,000 men for a population under two million, with 

 upwards of 2000 officers, those who are unattached being still 

 retained on fuU pay. This will give some idea of the number 

 of families who are living in luxury and idleness on the public 

 money, and of the distress that will follow the sudden stop- 

 page of their incomes, which is inevitable when the guano 

 comes to an end. It will be an embarrassing and difficult 

 question for some future Government to decide upon the 

 proper measures for the disposal of an unwieldy army and a 

 crowd of hungry beggared officers. The best suggestion on 



