Lexington weekly intelligencer., 1881-09-24
WHAT OUR MONEY GOES FOB.

lleheQ tabular EXHIBIT OF the national
revenues aud expenditures from 1856
to 1881, both financial yearsinclasive.
This exhibit shows that, as recently
stated ip these colnmns, the receipts
from customs duties were greater
last year than ever before, except in
1871 aRd 1872, 2,sand that The recelpts
from internal revenue were greater
than i'll any year since 1871, while the
total net revenue was greater than in
any year. since 1872. Nothing was
received for premiums on loans aud
sales of gold coin last year. aud only
$110 the year before. The, receipts
from these sources were great est in
1866, when they reached $38, ,OS3, ,056
In the same year the total miscellan-
e6us receipts, including premiums,
| etc. reached the maximum of $67, 49,
$40, against $25, ,154 ,851 last ear from
the same sources. The relative in-
| significance of direct taxation i'll our
revenue system appears from the fact
that the largest amount derived from
this sourceln any one OF the twenty-
six years covered by the table wac.
| 81. 200, ,234 in 1867, when the total net
revenue was $3.50, ,634, 4,O1O. In twelve
of the twenty-six years no direct
taxes we're collected, and in all of
them less than $15 600, 900 out ofAa'
total net revenue of over 6, ,87s, ,OO0,-
600. sI@F
Under the head of expenditures.
the column covering civil aud mis-
ceilaneons items, exclusive of premiS
ums on loans. etc., is especially inter-
estlng. This column covers expendi-
lures for the Legislative, executive,
and Judicial departments, for light
houses, collecting revenue, postoffice,
deficiency. public buildings, surveys
of public lauds-in short pretty much
everything outside Of thesyw aud
navy departments, pensions and IN.
terest OH the public debt. 1t covers
most of the cost of civil government
The table shows that thezexpendi.
lures .forsthesel purposes daring the
five years before the war amounted to
about $l38. 400, 600, aud during the
five years including the war period to
just about the same sum, or less than
S10O. 600 more. But. after . the war
there was an increase, and the total
for five years following was nearly
1886. .O00, 600, or about 84zper cent.
more than during. the war period.
During theenext i've years, ended
Jupe 80, 1875, the total amounted to
1886, SOC. .00o. or, nearly SO per cent.
m re thai DOR the five years next pre-.
ceding, aud Upward of 142 per cent.
more than during the war period.
The largest expenditure in this
column was $7S. 1913. .11O in 1s7S,, and
the smallest was e21. .40s, 1865 in 1862,
the second year OF the war. In 1874,
the year following the maximum
civil expenditure, -the. people made
up their mfhdss that some little re-
form was necessary, aud they elected
"a congress which made its first ap.
preparations for the year 1876, aud
during the five years beginning with
1876 the expenditures were $297 ,0OO,-
900, in round figures, or about IS per
cent. less than during the preceding
five years. The least expenditure in
the latest period named was $5S. .177.-
703 in 1878. Since then there has
been an increase again, and the ex-
penditure for the year ended June
3Oth last was 1854, 4,416,325, or almost
exactly three times the expenditure
for 1862. Aw ~
The war and navy department
expenditures were comparatively
light, of course, before the civil war,
and heaviest during and immediately
after the war. Lnlthe war department.
the expenditures rose from Sl6. .94S..
1877 iu 1856 to $25, ,485, 1884 in. 1883 and
fell again to 316 6.4O9, ,767 in 1850.
The war expenditures first appear In.
the account for 1862, when thew were
1884 ,S6s, 4O7 i'll the war aud $42, $685.
277 in the navy department.. In 1869
they were $599 ,298, COL in the war aud
S63 ,22l. 1854 i'll the navy department.
In 1864 they were $500, ,791 .84S in the
war and S85; ;725, ,995 in the uayv de-
partment. Iu 1865 they mounted to
the maximum OF $1,031;323 361 IN the
war and $122, ,6l2, ,945< III. the navy de-
partment Tue leastsexpenditure i'm
the navy department before the war
was $11,514. 1865, in G1860s@s The expeu-
ditures i'll both departments continu.
ed to be large forsome years after the
war, those i'll the War department
having been $284, AS, ,7O2 in 1866. S95.-
224, ,416 in 1867, $123, ,246, $40 in 1868.
aud S78, sol ,991 in 1869; while in the
navy department they were $43.324.-
118 in 1866, $31, ,O94, oil in 1867 and
$25. .775,5Q$ in 1868. The lowest -ex.
pendlturesince the war. on these ac-
counts was 1892, 154. 148 in the war
department i'll 1873, or about so per
cent more than the average for six
years before the war, aud ,$1S. $50. .985
III the navy department in 1880. or
about half a million more than the
average for those six years.
The expenditures for pensions and
interest are almost wholly due to the
civil war. the pension charge having
been only about one million, and the
interest charge about four millions.
i'll 1861. While the interest charge
has largely decreased siuce the war.
the pension charge has largely in.
creased. Thus, the interest charge
fell from $143. .7s1, 1892 in 1867 to Ss2.
508, ,741 in 1881, while the pension
charge rose from $50. $50, ,552 in 1867
to $56, ,777.174 in 1880, falling back to
$50, ,O59, ,280 i'll 1881. This charge had
been steadily, decreasing for four
years until 1879, falling to S27, ,137 Ole
in 1873. The Subsequent increase has
been due to the arrears-of. pensions
act. which has already taken over
$50, 600, 900 from the treasury and tie
end is not yet.