Democratic enquirer. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1867-1873, 1868-12-31

If.the statement Of the public debt on
the first day Of April, 1865, had included
all debts dueat that time, and " ,ozz,0oO,-
$50. 68 had really been expended In pay
ment of the interest on the public dehb
and the current expenses Of the govern
menf between that day aud the first day Of
November last, there would have been Q
profiQacv and recklessness in the en-
penditures Of the public moneys discredlt-
able TO the government and disheartening
to taxpayers. Fortunately this is not the
fact.
The statement las is true Of all other
monthly statements of the Treasury ex-
hibited only the adjusted debt according
to the books of the Treasury, and did not,
and could not, include the large sums due
10 the soldiers Of the great Union army
Numbering at that time little less than
million of mem for pay and for "boun-
ties" or on claims Of various kinds which
must of necessity have been unsettled.
For the purpose Of putting this matter
RIGHT, the Secretary has endeayored TO as
certain from the War and Navy depart
ments how much of their respective dis
bursements, since the clos9 of the war, has
been in payment Of debtsproperly chargea-
bic to the expenses of the war. The fol-
lowing il the result Of his inquiries;
By the War Department ....."s $685., ,lSl 10 70
BY the Navy Department. t.......,,. 3o,OOVVOV'Oo
II has been impossible to obtain an ex-
act statement of the amount of such debts
paid by the Navy Department, but sufi-
cient information has been received to JUS
tify the Secretary in estimating it in round
numbers at thirty-five millions, which IS
probably an under rather than an over-es-
innate. The expenditures Of the War De-
partment have been furnished in detail,
and are believed to be substantially cor
rect.
These figures show that the money ex-
pended by the War and Navy Departments,
between the 1st day of April, 1865, and
the 1st day Of November, 1868, on claims
Justly chargeable to the expenses ofthe war,
Amounted to. ..s,........,. $3.50, ,43l, 1880
To which should be added amt
advanced 10 the Pacific roads AZ, l9l, $4,000
Amount paid for Alaska. ,,.a 12OO,OOO'VO
$679, ,S25, 1850
Deducting this sum from the amount Of
tho revenues, 81, ,662, 476, 062 20, and $780,
ia. ATS. .48, the increase of the public debt
the remainder, 81, 142, 1926, 411.78, for an
average of S31S 1928, OIL. 80 per annun, is
the amount actually expended in the pay
ment of current expenses and interest.
REDUCTION OF THE DEBT.
1t is thus shown that within period OF
three years and seven months, the reve-
nues or the receipts from all sources OF
revenue reached the enormous sum OF
81, ,662, 496 062. 90, and that $3.50, 431, 125,9 90
were paid on debts which were ac-
tually due at the close of the war, and for
bounties which, like the pay of the army,
were part of the expenses Of the war. =
Adding the amount thus paid to the debt,
as exhibited by the books of the Treasury
on the first day of April, 1865, it tappears
that the debt # the United States at that
time was 50, ,997, 1856, 203.24, and that the
actual reduction has been s470, 256, 65O42;
and but for tho advances to the Pacific
roads, and the amount paid for Alaska
would have been -s591, $50, 650.42,
The Secretary, therefore, renews the
recommendations made in his first report,
that certain definite sum be annually ap-
piled to the payment OF the interest and
the principal of the debt. The amount
suggested was two hundred millions of
dollars. As the debt is considerably small
er than its maximum was estimated at, the
amount to be so applied annually might
now safely be fixed at S175, 900, 900, &c
cording to the estimate already made in
this report.
GENERAL OPERATIONS OF THE TREASURY.
In concluding this communication, it
may not be inappropriate for the Secretary,
in few brief words to review some points
in the general policy Of the administration
of the Treasury for the past four years;
The following statement-published in
the last Treasury report Exhibits the con-
dition of the Treasury on the 1st of April,
1QeS.