Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1868-09-16

COm DdIdCltCly MISREPRESENTATION
April 1, 1865, to June 80, 1865 sl0,s95,955
july l, 1865, to " 80, 1866 69,159,l54
q" l. 1865, to 80, 1867 4S.lSS $50
i" 1, 1867, to % 80. 1865 49,sOO,00O
Total FISTS, 100
REHABILITATION
Customs $54s, 97s ,53s
Internal Revenue sl2,336 27s
Miscellaneous lis, 743, 769
Total s154O,o5s, $50
The above total therefore represents the
exact amount which the Treasury OF the
United States has received from sources
other than loans since the close of the war.
WHAT BECOMES OF THE MONEY?
And now we come to the main question.
In what manner has this sum Of money
amounting to three-ifths the present amount
of the public debt, been disposed of?
This is uestion which the people have
right to ask, and which propose to answer
to answer in the most simple and straight
forward manner, and in a manner which can
be verified by any man who will take the
pains to examine the finance reports of the
last three years, issued by Hon Hugh
McCulIoch, Secretary of the Treasury.
Although active hostilities virtually ended
with the surrender of the great rebel armies
in April. 1865, the expenses of the war did
not and of necessity could not cease at once
The military and naval forces were at that
time IN state of the gratest efficiency.
In number they Appropriated to a million
OF men in active service, and preparations
had been made for prosecuting the war at all
points with the greatest energy during the
ensuing season.
WAR EXPENSES AFTER THE WAR.
1t was obviously impossible for the gov
ernmont to cay TO it's million of soldiers
and sailors the moment the rebels laid down
their arms-Go we have no further use for
you to the sick. wounded and disabled
take care of yourselves To the owners of
half constructed vessels. and to those who
had contracted in good faith to supply food
clothing and ordinance-we repudiate onr
contracts and refuse your supplies No all
these matters were TO be settled upon prin-
ciples OF justice, honor and humanity but
to accomplish such result the treasury
found itself in a position of embarrassment
and danger which few either knew or appre
ciated
The credit Of the government had become
greatly impaired, the 40 loan was sell
ing at less than par even in the currency,
and all other means adopt ed for raising
money during the proceeding year had
proved or were then proving comparative
failures. There were in April, 1865. accounts
the extent of one hundred and twenty m i'll
ions of dollars; while all the available cash
funds, coin and currency, which the govern
ment could then command was less, all told
than seventeen millions of dollars
OUR CREDIT Low.
Treasury vouchers, issued for supplies TO
the army and navy, were being sold with
difficulty by their holders at ten to twenty
per cent discount, the pay of the army
itself was and had been for months largely
in arrears. Horatio Seymour and other rich
democrats were then refusing. as they al
ways had refused, to subscribe for or to
hold the bonds of the United States In
short. the Treasury was 50 near 20 absolute
bankruptcy that the old officials, to whom
almost alone these facts were known, dreaded
the collaspe which they feared might come
at any day.
But fortunately the system of internal
revenue. the establishment of which had
been only too long delayed. was beginning
TO prove effective, and the receipts from
this source and from the renewal Of snb-
scriptions to the : $40 loan tided the Treas
ury over a most critical period
The inevitable result was, however, that
large payments, the liability for which &C
tually existed during the time. and which
were properly part and parcel of the expen
SEES of active war, were carried over into the
year succeeding the war, and were then
largely paid from the enormous receipts of
revenue Of that year
BACK PAY OF TROOPS
This liability for back pay, for the pay of
the troops to the date of their possible dis
charge-for their transportation, and for
the settlement of contracts, formed part
of the debt of the United States on the lst
of April. or on the LIST of August, 1865, as
much as if it had been all settled and the
bonds issued and entered upon tho books OF
the Treasury Department. These disburse-
nents, under the direction of the War De
partment. from the 1st of April, 1868 TO
the 80 of June, 1866, period of only fifteen
months, were es follows
April /, to June so, 1865 tl4,l96,371
July /, to september 80, 1865 l65, 3t9.2S1
October l, to December 81, 1850 tsl2294l
January l, 1866, to June 30, 1856 oo'e''' 923
Total Is months s69s ,546o 7s
During the same period the expenditures
made under the direction of the Navy De
Iartment were as follows,
April /, to December 81, 1865 ., si1ss9
January l. lot6, to June 30, 1866 Il, 4"i, So
Total - months s76,3ls,773
1t thus appears that the Disbursements
made under the direction of the Army and
Navy Departments during the fifteen months
Immediately succeeding April 1, 1860. the
month in which the rebel armies surrendered,
ammounted to $774,S65 S5i.
WE OWED THIS APRIL, 1865.
Ii is estimated that very large proper
ton of this sum. not less than $500, 600, 900
was on account of expenses incurred and ac-
counts rendered from three to twelve months
prior to the termination of active hostiliies,
and which had been allowed by the Treasury
to remain unliquidated, simply by reason of
great financial embarrassments.
The,remainder is made up mainly OF the
following items
Paw OF the army u months $205 5000 G0'
CoInmissary and Quartermaster De
partment for subsistence and trans ~ .o,
portation, about tO,OUV,VO'
Medical and Hospital Department "'oo
Arrears of pay of discharged or ,eo N,
deceased soldiers, 10 io!,oo'
Rnnnties l0,42y,00C
Prize money paid by Navy Department, 3,s75O.
/ 1t is therefore not only legitimate, but
strictly in accordance with the facts, to as
sumo that this large expendltu of nearly
o;obt hundred billions dnllars from April ]
( 1853. to June 30. 1866. was in every
sense a war expenditure, and that it was a
liability on the LIST of August, 1868, the
date on which our debt appeared to be at IT.
maximum by the Treasury books, as mucf
as if $40 notes or 500 bonds had been is
sued and entered upon the ledger; and th
expenditure is to be measured and estimated
nv the same standards as those by which thu
expenditures of the active war are adjudget
to have been necessary and unavoidable OF
the one hand, or unnecessary and inexpedien
on the other
THIS NOT ALL
But the liability which existed at tina
dote was even more There were the debt
, which humanity and honor alike have i'm
posed upon the country, aud which Congress