Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1841-07-02
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, FRIDAY, July ,, 1911.


and has since passed away, IL would have been manly
and proper, If deemed compctcn 10 have revoked The
summons for the session, u would be well now 10
close II by early adjournment. But II there was
then some fiscal difficulty of sufficient magnitude
alone Justify all this Inconvenience o forcing SIX or
seven States INTO premature elections virtually DIS
iranchisng States that have not been able yet To
make elections md imposing an expense on Inc irea
sury of than hall million Of dollars, then let us
see what was. There was, To be sure one appalling
discovery or explosion about that important end IN
connection with The Treasury Department; but he.
ievc that all the events connected with Il were over
come before nighal and that without the help OF any
extraordinary session of Congress The President II
Is UNDERSTOOD believing, from some contemplate spy
that some Of the old officers committing errors III
passing an account, rrsorlrd TO the novel and mi
tary al stopping by his snpie rnf, the whole
operations o tha, Department. The SnbTrcasurv, ns
we'll as the settlement al accounts 10 dead halt,
without the help of the bill Of repeal from the Senator
from Kentucky, and I'm act for which General Jack
.on would have been assard throughout the Union,
and Iinprrcbcd hrrean act Ia suspend all the fiscal
laws instead Of seeing that they he executed, was
soon found Ia be unnecessary, illegal and unc"nstitu-
tona IL be revoked early, and the origin OF II not
now pretended "a lac one Of those wcIghiy matters
which haze led Ia tins early meeting.
What, then, those matters 'prnclpally pertain
ing (as The proclamation says To the innmccS ana
revenue Of The country Was it some lnonstr"ns
arr,aroys af forig millions that should b. imihed'-
Al,
grave calculations had puzzled some great financial
Grams III and of Congress for several months
previously None, none. Even now, alter three
quarters ii year POSSESSION o the books ana MES
IL admitted by the Secretary TINT there was then
balance hand Of money and other resources am
ply sufficient 10 meet all artearages then or since eA-
,s,rng And here must express my obligations per.
sonnly TO The Secretary Tor having now made public,
officially, the important fact that more money was
found b. hand the ith Of March than vas esl''
mated is his predecessor THIS appeared also, clear
lv either from those old books, which seemed very
obscure last the financial talents OF some Sc
nniofs or from those notable mr. bo0kS which were
opened and hv some Wing magic, were 10 detect all
kinds 81 eiubrsxirncnt and vllia'ny.
/ Nv table b. annexed to this report, j, srcms that
from fiy To seventy thousand dollars more money was
ascerta,ned 10 IN the Treasury Than the accounts
rrnurcd Gratifying result, rcr,ainy-a most com
mcndab!c KIND Of ncialcatlon-aiier n the calunnlous
ruuors as high populations brutcd over the coun.
4 RS then and since
4 N,Nt let ur ingure. il there any deficit on the
I 18th IL March, when ihs session was summoned:
invite gentleman OF the Committee q" Finance
palnt u out ii stated III The report. There
But | wll irll you what y found there instead .! It
. no deficit thea whatever
Was there any deficit on The :'aih Of May-t!'e day
We met None But the Secretary and President adj
nil $50 70 three millions Of available resources Oh
, hand, h,sdes the arcru,ng revenue:
l. there any deficit now Far from IT, ! ask,
more then, why We are convened at an cxtraor.
binary season and al great inconvenience and cost Z
L. IT. torsoo,b that the Secretary gursses e.;ma'es
,la, bv the 1T September there viii be SON" dtfcn
and by the close Of The year, further small addition
To il aud, consequently, that !, might be prudent 10
provide for them months IN advance Concrde
THIS mode OF arguing be right, If the deficit
certain yet, session, not early by two months.
could have been enough 10 remove the cvi ana
ALLOW ed longer time la con ;c,c elections. Besides
tls, The supposed dccit, then, Fl The close 81 The
year, u entirely unccrlnin. II is dependent upon
under estimate Of some receipts, and system ~
premature expenditures oi existing appropriations, a
we'll estimate ni others 10 hrua II about, and
addition 10 them of new appropriations not yet sane
TONED by Congress.
Whether tins deficit then, is likely 10 happen under
ey,slng appropriations, matter Of sheer conjecture,
and 10 which have not every light, Inch vas 10
he expected ia communication which looks 50 lucid
TO Us friends as THIS report. When The Secretary had
facts 10 the pa4i three months concerning boih thor
receipts and expenditures, he rvcs Us not syllable
relation them But where he had no facts relation
TO the next three months, he gives ms many hypnlhe
cal alcua,irns and guesscs without communicating
either the experience Of the past 10 rcc,iy es
mates Of the future, the grounds OF what appears 10
e Of the most extraordinary attempts ever made -
form a d.Gcit paper, which ought not 10 happen.
do not 10 be understood by ,is that vii! not
in reality happen because deficit can always D.
made distant day, hen the balance on hand
small, and easily be accomplished by pushing
pTematurey and avishly every possible expenditure
by making hasiy contracts and by giving large ad
TO discussing agents But the great enquiry IN
examining whether this early necessary must
he could d,Gu well and easily have been AVOID
ed, only September, but till the usual period
Of the session Of Congress and thus the country been
saved all The cost Inconvenience and other evils Incl.
de nj to the present meeting undertake to Say that,
,hc Secretary : showing, no deficit would *
~ under any appropriations made before
Il. DI on or
two millions Of dollars. instead OF more than hive nl-
lions he computes It, Because, IN order 10 conjure
up his large deficit, he has TO add for appropriations
not vet made the expenses Of Tins very session and
winch must Of course, br justified BY deficit existing
nde pendent Of IT, # II all He has 10 add also, other
new appropriations, amounting with tins To more than
three millions Of dollars In this last way also must
be- there is no trouble IN any occasion, whenever
a deficit wanted Ia fix the time nj distance md
call intermediate session, and make apbroprla.
tons enough 10 produce the deficit desired
In this way, deficit for thirteen thirty millions
easily be estimated and produced Of FIVE
millions, like that on tins occasion. The Secretary
may he entirely innocent Of any such views, and nav
caretssly be pushed this by the opportunities and
pIaus,hes Of others protesting laudabe objects
But II yuu calculate his supposed deficit ony exist
np appropriations II dwndlrs tn about two millions on
lis face aud as shall! attempt TO show hereafter, de.
ducng further manifest excuses in expenditure and
adding manifest Deficiencies receipts, there would he
no dcict whatever, but balance of from one TO two
millions in The Treasury on the lst of September 70
be- SUR, before remarked, this balance he defeat
ed; but will demonstrate that, if the expenditures
have since the lth OF March, and shall, till the Isl of
September, be kept down 10 the usual and proper
the whole existing appropriations, il would
not be probable and hardly possible, to make d,fct
As difficult would ii he found also, 10 make one for
he whole year And 20 into this last, because some
gentlemen may argue that II is not now to" soon To
provide for likely 10 happen at any time before the
year closes Grant then, for the sake Of the present
examination, that this last reasoning is plausible and
yet will he found, little scrutiny Of the report
that there is no likelihood of any deficit for the
year, than for the next three months, unless as before
remarked in respect to that the Secretary produces
by unjus,aby large expenditures existing appro-
priaons, we, ourselves, hereafter produce by our
new and additional appropriations.
But before entering into critical examination Of the
character and amount of these supposed deficits here.
after having yet occurred, as both the report and
message ndmit-et us inquire n moment whether any
debt has occurred which is DUE 10 have required
this early session: aud if so, what is lis real amount.
under all the exaggera,ions which have hecn circulated