American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1874-02-28
Mr. Dawes Recent Speech ON the Con.
dillon of the United States
Treasury.

Congress on Thursday last on the embar-
rassed condition of the Treasury and the
proper mode of obtaining relief. The
speech was a plain statement OF actual
facts, bringing no accusation of criminal
ity against any person, but showing con-
ciusiyely the responsibility of Congress
for the present plight of the Treasury
An attempt has been made to excite the
luminosity of Republicans against MIR.
Dawes, and to accuse him of seeking to
injure the party" but the country at
large will read the speech with the inter
est that an honest statement of facts can
alone command His review of the pres
ent state of the Treasury shows this con-
dition of things:
Al the beginning of the fiscal year 1873
"A there was in the Treasury over $751;
OOO, 900. Deducting what was due on call,
the available sum July /, 1873, was $780,
OOO, 600, of which over 5000, 900 was in
coin The receipts from July to Feb l,
and the estimated receipts to June 30,
1S74,were S2Sl 100000. The expenditures
made and authorized for which the Gov
eminent is liable amount to $685. ,OOO,O 600.
The resources, including the cash balance
at the beginning of the year, are but S341,-
OOOOOO leaving a probable deficit of So,
GOO, 600 on July 1, 1874. Included in these
demands standing against the Treasury are
sundry balances of appropriations made
several years ago, and OF these perhaps
$72, 600 600 would not be called Tor. As
Stunning this, the actual cash balance in
july next would be sci 100000. Even at
this showing, the Government would have
$50 900 600 less money than at the begin
ming of the year. 1t would, in fact, be
still worse off There were several de-
ficiencies for the present year, amounting
to not less than $500 900, leaving the
actual cash balance at the close of the
year about $4,000, 900. This statement
did not include any part OF the S44, OOO.oOO
of Treasury notes which the Secretary had
issued. The Secretary had paid out the
paper and retained coin in an equal
amount, except, perhaps, to the extent of
s., OOO, 900, which had been added to the
public debt The result of it ali was that
the cash balance of S6O,OOO,OOO with
which the year begun would be reduced
to $4,000, 900 at the close of the year, and
he considered that margin entirely too
small for the proper administration of the
Treasury, liable as it was to countless I'M
expected contingencies. The response
biiity for this condition of things, he de-
clared, was upon Congress. In May,
1872, Congress had repealed the tax on tea
and coffee, causing loss of revenue of
sos OOO, 900, without the least advantage
to CONSUMERS. AT later date it had re-
pealed some other taxes, by which
$4,000, 600 revenue had been lost, or, in
all, q reduction of $44 100000
The remedy was to be found in one of
three measures-by increase of taxation,
by a loan, or by cutting down expendi-
lures. He opposed increased taxation,
declaring that there had never been an in
stance in the history of the Government
when, in time of peace, new taxes have
been imposed for the purpose of meeting
current expenses. The country was
emerging from a system of taxation made
necessary by overwhelming necessity.
From time to time those taxes have been
reduced, and, while he had opposed the
removal of the revenue tax on tea and
coffee he was not in favor of restoring
them The industries of the country are
Just lifting themselves up from the bur
den of past taxation, and out of a depres-
sion unparalleled for its suddenness and
severity. He was opposed to renewing
any tax already repealed, so long as there
was any other remedy. He opposed, also,
the idea of loan in time of peace, when
there was no sudden demand on the
Treasury Shall the United States adver-
tise to the world that they have no means
of meeting current expenses except by
borrowing money? Shall they say to the
people who are asked to purchase the
national bonds that the United States
must borrow the money to pay the inter-
est? In answer to a suggestion that this
had been done in Buchanan's time, he
stated that twenty millions were Dor
rowed, and the Government shared the
fate of every man and nation that borrows
money to meet their current expenses
Its credit fell enormously. He held up
10 the view of the country the expendi-
lures for the past five years, and they
show as follows:
Years. Expenditure. DeM raid
1870 .-.-.-.. $:6s0OO,oU Sido'00M
1872. 29O, 100000 @00O,O0
1879 2I9.OCO.pO 42OOQOO(
1874. 319OOO,OOO Nothing
Congress was responsible for the i'm
mense increase of the expenditures which
were shown by these figures. In this
year there would be $319,0OO,0OO paid
out, without the reduction of the debt one
dollar, while two years ago there were
but $277 ,OOO, 900 expended, and 500, O00,O O(
of the debt paid off.
He then addressed himself to specific
items where reform in expenditure might
be made, including the abolition of thirty
six ports of entry, with their force of Col
lectOrs, Appraisers, ETC., where the whole
amount of revenue collected fell short OF
the salaries of the officers. The cost OF
collecting the customs revenue had in
creased from - DOC, 600 in 1866 to sc, 800,
600 in 1870, and to over IS 1000, 900 in 1873
Another item of wasteful extravaganza
was the construction of public buildings,
on which there had been expended since
1865 the enormous sum of $103, 100000!
Here, then, we have from the head OF
the Committee of Ways and Means an in
telligent and carefully prepared statement
of the condition of the Treasury, the
causes which produced the present EN-
barrassment, and of the remedy. The
embarrassment has been caused by the
vast increase of expenditures and by the
repeal of purely revenue taxes in order tC
keep up protective taxes; the remedy is
the plain and obvious one of a reduction
of expenditure by cutting off the extrav
agance and waste which have marked
past legislation and bringing the outlay
within the income of the Government
Chicd10 Tribune, February 16.
Washington dispatches state that nc
speech delivered in Congress this session
has produced so " startling" an effect al
the one recently made by Mr.. Dawes
What was there startling about it? There
was certainly nothing very startling in the
matter of the speech, since the essential
facts stated by Mr.. Dawes have long been
known to the newspaper-reading public
If not to members of Congress. One OF
the most startling" facts stated was that
the ordinary expenditures were greater
last year than the year before, and that
they would be greater this year than last
But this fact was very well known before
the adjournment of the last Congress, and
was clearly presented in the report of the
Secretary of the Treasury made two
months and half ago.
Another of the facts stated by Mr..
Dawes was paying out considerable sums