Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1838-05-17
TWENTY-rIETH CONGRESS.
HOUSE or REPRESENTATIVES,.
Tnunspar, May 10.
SECOND SESSION
STATE OF THE TREASURY.

The following message WAS received from the
President of the United States, by Mr.. AnRAu,m
VAN BuRrs, his Private Secretary: s
To me Senate and House NJ Representatives.
submit 10 the consideration Of Congress Il state
ment, prepared by the Secretary of the Treasury. by
which !, appears thai The United States, with over
twenty eight millions in ,ieposlte with the States. and
over fifteen millions due from individuals aud banks.
are, from the situation in which those funds arc
placed, M immediate danger of being rendered una
ble TO discharge. with good faith and promptiiudb
the various pecuniaiy obligations of the Govern.
ment.
The occurrence Of this result has for some time
been apprehendod, and efforts made 10 avert il. A
The principal difficulty arises from Il prohibition in
the present law to reissue such Treasury notes n,
might be paid III before they tail due, and may be e.
leeiuaily obvlatcd by giving the Treasury. dirin. the
whole year, the benefit of The full amount Originality
authorized. the remedy would seem To be obvious
aud easy.
The serious embarrassmenls likely 10 arise from a
longer continuance oi the present state Of things
induces NE respectfully 10 invile the earliest action Of
Congress To the subject whicl, may be consistent will,
u due regard 10 Other public interests.
MAY 10, ls36. M.VAN buren,.
TRr,sunr DEPARTMENT., May 10. 1888.
The undersigned would respectfully submit to The
President the following statement concerning some
fiscal cmbartassmcnts which are likely soon to hap.
pen, unless avelted BY c,rly legislation.
II has been usual for the Secretary uf tic 'Trea-
sufy, except III the annual report on the finance rs and
IN replies TO special calls or directions by either
House III Congress, 10 give information respecting Ill
matters which appertain To his office, through let.
tets addressed To the appropriate committees. For
somo months past, aud on srsefal occasions. that
mode has been pursued IN respect To these threa-
tened enlbartessnents, by giving TO the Commit
tee oi Ways aud Means such information cnncef.
nlng them rs the public exiecncies aud u seasonab
foresight seemed 10 require. Some suggestions and
facts connected with them have likewise been intro
dnc'd INTO icpoits made 10 Congress. Bun the re.
l,ei desired having not yei been granted, and n longer
omission 10 provide for this emergency having n ten
dency TO impair public credit, To the great prejudice Of
contractors aud w%oikncn, as well as Of pensioners.
the Army, Navy, and many other classes, the under
signed deems II his duly to apprize The Executive also
OF the impending diheultl.s. IN order that he may
take such further steps Ms appear proper to promote
a lh'h'ui discharge oil the lecunlaiy obligations oftile
Government.
The peculiarly in he present condition of the Il.
nanees can be very briefly explained. 1t has arisen,
not nom any actual deficiency Which has yet oe-
CURED III tho amount OF receipts anticipated Tor the
year not irom any excess of Appropriation which has
yet been made cor either ordinary or extraordinary
objects but from II prohibition 10 use, Tor the pay.
meni OF the public dues, what is required by law 10
be received for them.
In the act of October last, authorizing the issue
of treasury notes, they were made receivable At any
time for those dues, but were expressly forbidden.
after such receipt, from being feissued IN discharge
OF clalms on the Treasury. From this citcln,-
stance, coupled with the protraeted failure of most
OF the banks To resume specie payments, little
has of late been received TOR revenue except
Treasury notes. Over five aud a half millions of
them have been already pail in, though none fall due
TIL about the LIST OF November next. stlese Gamer
be pad out again, oil others IN their place, I'LL the
restriction before mentioned is modified, II has fol-
lowed that n great portion Of the receipts Of the year
have thus far been entirely useless Tor aiding TO de-
Tray the large expenditures charged upon l., aud re-
sori has OF necessity been had 10 the emission of
more Treasury notes under the original act. until
the whole amount authorized, except Sol6, 800, has
been exhausted.
The only other means available 10 meet the public
engagements, with the exceptions rs 10 trusts md
the Mint, detailed in Il special report on the CON
dition ofthc Treasury to the House Of Representa-
tives the Goth OF March last, are reduced 10 about
S3i7 ,i32,
These constitute an aggregate of FIVE hundred aud
sixty -lonf thousand two hundred aud thirty four
dollars thus available, Instead of a balance OF from
two to SIX millions, which II has generally been
considered wise to retain on hand, in order, with the
AID OF the current revenue, to insure punctuall Y, and
guard against the embarrassments incident 10 nuc-
tuatlohs ana other contingencies. During the pre-
sent year, however, the revenue has been paid in
Treasury notes 10 such an extent that only about
one fourth Ct a million, monthly, has been received
from II in money, so as to assist in discharging the
current expenditures. These last, ON an average,
have been over two millions monthly, aud in April
nearly three millions.
As more than four millions oft1e Treasury notes
are still outstanding, aud The banks generally have not
YET 'csune specie fayments il is probable that II
great pant Of the revenue will, for some limo to
come, be paid in a similar manner. Under such cir
cumsiauces, and when il is considered thar large sums
due from the postponed custom-h house bonds, the
banks, and the States, are not yet payable, and that
no power now exists, except in Congress-, to recall
the d~eposites from the latter that there is no re-
served fund to resort to. or any other authorized
means by which the wants of the Treasury can be
supplied, ii is manifest that the Department is ex-
posed weekly and almost daily TO be deprived of the
whole OF lis available meaus, and the credit of the
Government to be injuriously affected, both al home
and abroad.
Congress could readily avert these results, if APP
proving the course suggested in the last annual re-
port on the finances. Ii could remove the prohibit
ton to reissue the notes which may be or have been
prenalurely paid 10 and redeemed, and, where they
have been cancelled, permit others TO be issued in
then stead on ii could effect the same object by al
lowing other notes to be emitted, instead Of such AS
have been and shall hereafter be paid in before the
year Tor their redemption expires. BY the seasonal
BILE adoption oi either OF these measures, all antici-
pated embarrussnents during 1888 can probably he
obviated. For. in that event, no provision of dddi-
tonal means to meet the expenditures OF the year
will be necessary hereafter, unless before the close
Of the session it shall appear that new appropriations
have been made, or are likely to be made, exceeding
the estimates submitted by the Department in De-
ceuber last, by several millions, or that the revenues
received will be materially less. 9a4
On the contrary. il neither of the measures above
proposed should meet the appreciation of congress. it
Is obvious that among the various substitutes which
may be thought of, or which This Department has