Morning journal and courier., 1881-12-07
Price Four Cents.

the exports of specie exceeded the imports The largest excess of such exports over i'm
 ports was reached during the year 1861, when it amounted to $92, 2sO, ,929; but dur
 ing the year ended June 30, 1880, the imports or coin and bullion exceeded the exports by $75, ,891, ,391. and during the last fiscal year l the excess of imports over exports was SgI,- 166, $50.
 In the last annual report of the Secretary | of the Treasury, the attention of Congress 1 was called to the fact that $469, ,651, O5O in five per cent. bonds, and $203, ,573, 75O in six | per cent. bonds would become redeemable fduring the year, and Congress was asked to authorize the refunding of these bonds at a lower rate of interest. The bill for such re-
 funding having failed to become law the I fled the holders of the $199, ,69O, 400 six per ! cent bonds, then outstanding that | the bonds would be paid at par on the Ist
 day of July following, or that they might
 be "eontinued" at the pleasure of the gov
 ernment to bear interest at the rate of three
 and one-half per cent. per anrlum. Under
 this notice SITS, O55, 15o of the six per cent
 bonds were continued at the lower rate and $17, ,635, ,250 were redeemed. In May like
 notice was given respecting the redemption
 or continuance of the $439, ,S41, 1850 of five per cent. bonds then outstanding, and of
 these S401, ,504, 300 were continued at three
 and one-half per cent. per annum, and $3S,- | 336, 450 redeemed. The six per cent bonds | of the loan of February 8, 1861, and of the
 Oregon war debt, amounting together to
 $14, 125, 800, having matured during the ! year, the Secretary of the Treasury gave
 notice of his intention to redeem
 the same, and such as have been pre-
 sented have been paid from the surplus | revenues. There have also been redeemed at par $16, 179, 100 of the three and half per ! cent. 'continued' bonds, making total of | bonds redeemed, or which have ceased to ' interest fho of da1 ] $50. The reduction of the annual interest
 on the public debt through these transac- | tions is as follows: By reduction of inter-
 est to three and one half per cent, $1o, 473,-
 952.25 by redemption of bonds, SC, 352,- | 2+0; total, SIG, ,S26, 292. %.
 | The three and one-half per cent. bonds. l being payable at the pleasure of the govern ' ment, are available for the investment of \ surplus revenue without the payment of pre- | miums.- Unless these bonds can be funded ! at a much lower rate of interest than they | now bear, agree with the Secretary of the Treasury that no legislation respecting them i is desirable.
 | It is matter for congratulation that the I business of the county has been so prosper ! ous during the past year as to yield by taxa ! tion large surplus of income to the govern ment. If the revenue laws remain uncnang- ed this surplus must year by year increase, on account of the reduction of the public debt and it's burden of interest, and because of the rapid increase of our population. In 1 1860, just prior to the institution of our in- ! ternal revenue system, our population ex- ! ceeded 90, ,00O 900. By the census of ISSO it | is now found to exceed 50, ,OO0, 900. It is es- tlmated that even if the annual receipts and expenditures should continue as at present, | the entire debt would be paid in ten years In view, however, of the heavy load of taxa | tion which our people have already borne we may well consider whether 1t is not the part of wisdom to reduce the revenues, even if we \ delay a little the payment of the debt. It I seems to me the time has arrived when the people may justly demand some relief from \ their present onerous burden, and that by | due economy in the various branches of the public service this may readily be afforded. therefore concur with the Secretary in rec ommending the abolition of all internal rev | enue taxes, except those upon tobacco in it's various forms and upon distilled spirits and fermented liquors, and except also the spe- cial tax upon the manufacturers of and deal CTS in such articles. The retention of the lat ! ter is desirable, affording the officers of the government proper supervision of the arti- I cles for the prevention of fraud.
 I agree with the Secretary of the Treasury that the law imposing stamp tax upon matches, proprietary articles, playing cards ! checks and drafts may with propriGty be re- pealed, and the law also by which banks and bankers are assessed upon their capital and deposits. There seems to be general senti- ment in favor of this course. In the present condition of our revenues the tax upon de- posits is especially unjust It was never i'm posed in this country until it was demanded by the necessities of war and was never ex- acted, believe, in any other country even in its greatest exigeneies Banks required to secure their circulation by pledging with the Treasurer of the United States bonds of the general government. The interest upon these bonds, which at the time the tax was imposed was Six per cent, is now, in most instances, three and one-half per cent. Be- sides, the entire circulation was originally limited by law and no increase was allowa- ble. When the existing banks had practically monopoly of the business there was force in the suggestion that for the franchise to the favored grantees the government might very properly exact tax on the circulation, but for years the system has been free and the amount of circulation regulated by the public demand The retention of this law has been suggested means of reimburs- ing the government for the expense of print ing and furnishing the circulating notes. If the tax should be repealed it would certainly seem proper to require the national banks to pay the amount of such expense to the Comptroller of the Currency.
 It is perhaps doubtful whether the imme- diate reduction of the rate of taxation upon liquors and tobacco is advisable especially in view of the drain upon the Treasury which must attend the payment of arrears of pen sions.
 A comparison, however, of the amount of
 the taxes collected under the varying rates of taxation which have at different times pre- vailed suggests the intimation that some re- duction may be made soon without mate- rial elimination of the revenue. The tariff
 laws also need revision, but that a due regard
 may be paid to the conflicting interests of
 our citizens important changes should be
 made with caution. If Q careful revision
 cannot be made at this session a commission
 such as was lately approved by the Senate
 and is now recommended by the Secretary of
 the Treasury, would doubtless tighten the
 labors of Congress whenever this subject
 shall be brought to its consideration.
 THE WAR DEPARTMENT.
 The report of the Secretary of War will
 make known the operations of that depart
 ment for the past year. He suggests meas
 ures for promoting the efficiency of the ar-
 my without adding to the number of its off,
 cers, and recommends the legislation neces-
 sary to increase the number of enlisted men
 to 30, GOO, the maximum allowed by law.
 This he deems necessary to maintain quiet ness on our ever shifting frontier, to pre- serve peace and suppress disorder and ma- rauding in new settlements, to protect set- tiers rand their property against the Indians and the Indians against the encroachments of intruders, and honorable, peaceful immi- grants to establish homes in the most remote parts of our country. The army is now necessarily scattered over such g vast extent of territory that whenever an outbreak oc- CUTS endorsements must be sent from many quarters over great distances, and always at heavy cost for transportation of men, horses, wagons and supplies. I concur in the recom- mendations of the Secretary for increasing the army to the strength of 30, GOO enlisted men. It appears by the Secretary's report that in the absence of disturbances on the frontier the troops have been actively employed in collecting Indians hitherto hostile and Ioca- ting them on their proper reservation; that Sitting Bull and his adherents are now pris- oners at Fort Randall, that Utes have been moved to their new reservation in Utah, that during recent outbreaks of the Apaches it was necessary to re-enforce the garrisons in Arizona by troops withdrawn from New Mex ico, and that some of the Apaches are now held prisoners for trial, while some have es- capped and the majority of the tribe are now on their reservation. There is need of legis- lation to prevent trespass upon the lands set apart for the Indians. A large military force at great expense is now required to patrol the boundary line between Kansas and the