Litchfield enquirer., 1837-02-02
a,,fr oIIRPLns REVENUE.

M 'as uo .Sased leave to introduce Bill to ex- .s .s.a ,,rovisions of certain sections therein SaH.4sI, If inc act of 23d of June. loS0' Tor ,su.a'~,isfing inc Deposites of the Public Moncy wSich may be in the Treasury ol tne O' D. (U January, 1898. o~ol
 Mr. Calhoun said that he had nor prepare1 Rh;a bili without having first satlSiled hln1seu
 tnls ytn .sao-e v,o1lId he considerable surplus !n !nst ,s,e Treasury at the end of the year. He r-ss .r mi nrepared to say what the amount of that s,,rntus would be. The annual Report of the Treasury had just been laid on the tables, h,,t he had not, as yet, made any calculations. Allowing the most liberal appropriations, he hod satisfied himself that there would be at tho end of the year not less than eight mill ions, and there might, perhaps, be nearly 1onble that amount. The Secretary of the Treasury had, he knew, come to different conclusion, but he Believed that the Secreta- rv was mistaken. He would have felt unwil- ling to apply such an expression to any for mer Secretary of the Treasury, but so vague, SO contradictory, so unsatisfactory, and so er- roneous had been the reports of the present head of the Department. that the term was to his reports pefectly applicable. He proceed ed to give a comparative statement m refer- epce to the Treasury reports ot the last and present years. In the report of the last year, inc Secretary had estimated tho receipts of the present year at SIG, ,75O,O ,OOO, while the report of the present year shows the actual receipts to be S47,69l, ,999, leaving difference be- tween his estimate and the true result of near lv $2aOOO,OOO, the excess of the receipts ex- ceeding by about one third the entire esti- mate of the Department. Again, the Secre- tary, in his report, estimates the balance in the Treasury on the 1st of January, 1886. at $ls,O47,7eO, whilst the last statement shows it to be in fact $26, ,l49,9O3, yet the estimate was made up very near the date tsel1.- Whether these errors were the effect ot neg fipence. or to subserve any particular condl- tion ofthings, it was not for him to say. It was enough for him to show that he was correct in stating that the Secretary had been guilty of freauent errors. Mir. c. went on to show still further discrepancies in the estimates of the available means of the Treasury and of the expenditures, as compared with the actu- al results. In his estimate concerning the next year, the Secretary had profited in some degree by his error of the last year. He had come nearer to the truth, but was still far rec moved from it. He held out the idea that there would be an income of twenty four millions.
 MT. c. said he would like to see any ad- ministration acknowledging an income of "A millions, which would call on the States for a return of the deposites lodged with them. He believed that any administration which would attempt to reclaim this money from the States except on the event of a foreign war, would be very deficient in economy. It would be precious fund for the Government to look to on the occurrence of such contin- gency. He appealed to gentlemen who were here in 1872, and who perfectly well knew the difficulties into which the Government was plunged for want of such a resource.- Supposing there should be a surplus of eight millions, the question presents itself what will be done with it He would not now en- | ter into any argument which would open the 1 question to debate but it must be obvious ] that if there was this surplus in the Treasury, 1 it ought not to be left there, It ought to be ! deposted with tue SLatcS-tnat Is ItIo sttieSS f place, and is more just as well as more safe ] depository than the Deposite Banks. This was the principle which was at the bottom of the bill of the last session-an act which dis | tinguished the 24th Congress, and which had received the almost unanimous appreciation 1 of the country, and the applauses of foreign CTS and foreign nations, as peculiarly exhib- iting the true genius of our institutions There ought to be no surplus, if it can be a. voided. It was absurd to collect a revenue
  the people. Now this was the point and the true point at issue. Can we reduce the rev. enue to the expenditures, without infiicting too severe an injury on the great interests of the country-he was under the impression that this might be done, and under that view he had day or two since, moved the refer- ence of so much of the Presidents message as relates to the reduction of the revenue, to the committee on Finance, because he knew that majority of the members of that Conn., mittee would exert themselves to make all practicable reductions, from their hostility to the Distribution Bill. He was opposed to any movement coming, in the first instance, from the South, because it would be consider ed as an attack on the Compromise Act. It should come from the other sections of the country. A majority of the Committee came from the North, and they can act without sub- jecting themselves to such charge. Mir. c. then went on to show that 1t was his position and that of the South to follow and not to lead. in any movement which might be made
 for reduction of duties.
 He stated that when the Compromise Act
 was passed, the manufacturers were only
 able to bear the gradual reduction of duties
 and the reduction was placed on the only
 ground on which 1t could be safely placed =
 There were even then some who were more disposed to collect the highest amount of rev
 enue, and to collect that at the point of thu bayonet, rather thap concede single iota.- The Southern States have derived incalcu liable advantages from the biTI, and they ha, right to claim those advantages to their full extent. The operation ofthe act had been t
 effect prodigious diminution in the public
 revenue. There were few gentlemen wh'
 were aware of the extent of this reduction
 He estimated the clear diminution to be up
 wards of 20 millions. The South feels thu
 invigorating effect of this new policy. Hc