Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1888-12-12
FAlRChlLD ON FINANCE.

FAlRcHlLD ON FINANCE.
Operations OF the Treasury Department
l. Detailed In tho sooretary's Annual Re-
y port-Enormous Receipts ansl Expsnd-
u lures Commont ON the surplus, Ronds,
silver Ualnage, Foreign Comln sross leto.
S WAsH1NozoN, Dec. s Tho annual report OF
4 the Seoretayy Qt the TreAAury bo8tnA With IN
fisoai yesr ioSstSer wisnn
pied no erdiass sss eiss Il
9s"s g. s. %srs So sss sss 'a oa
Ns9 4 ae7. This left . surplus 81 slissla,-
pas in A way. s. lev nss
left q balance added to the olsh In the Treas.
ury Of esaa27, Tl0.5a The receipts Of 1888 ex-
eo, 47a a078 was internal revenue and sl,UO4,-
5000 customs. There Was 9 decrease u the
ordinary expenditures OF q -7a, 9sl3O.
mated. upon the, baa,s Of existing Jaws, 6 eas7,
Ulo.nN, and the total expenditures, including
aink,ng tSnd. 6 ess:. g; 4ss 81 leavtpG 8 sur
Ing the sinking fund, DO, Is: !, '1l.B6 Tho re.
QuirementS Of the, net Of Februaryss26, 1881 (R.
s.,. a,6es,3ss9). essaelishlnE 9 s.nking fund for
estimatedfor the current fiscal year az Ssl7,-
$4,000, have beenahus far met by' The redemp.
ton OF treas9nynotss ~ cttonal currency. aud
to bear interest amounting to N7,79z85, and
by the purohase Of 5 6,8a9,6O Of the funded
loan Of 1877 and ~, 143, $50 of the funded loan
s sas saa RlS@se@ q g
the latter loan. J
.rHHssgFApr1y Accpn TING spErLUa i,
that the 1even l,s for the year to end June 80,
1883, would exceed the ordinary expenditures,
not including the sinking fund, by Sis, ,OO.
/. d, el2, iidvo more than the department est
mate. 1t was also estimated In the Same re.
port that the like surplus for the fiscal year to
Judging from the ACTUAL expenditures Tor the
first quarter Of this fiscal year, and lin the light
OF receipts and expenditures to tbs middle Of
viii prove to have been fairly accurate, and
predicted sum. p E& ssf - s5 Es $s52 81,
was e06, a44. S'o.84; the surplus revenues from
that date to June 80, 1882 Is estimated IRE $780,
49,, zoo. Is, making the total accumulation ON
Of bonds, si7i, sio, dsxCeJ; however. between said
September % and November q, "a, $50 SOC. SO
has been paid for bonds; consequently II no
more bonds were bought between now and
june so next the surplus would then amount to
Sl:1,O0 ',0OO Upon the basis Of appropriations
recommended by the Department. asd upon the
years to end June so, 1899 and 1880, will be
equal, the surplus revenues for the latter fiscal
year will be tlOl. 10000. which, with the sur
ready accumulated, make total Of 1$saOO0,-
COO. which might be used during the next nine.
teen months in the purchase of the interest
bearing DEBT and which ought to be used for
that purpose, unless the laws are so changed
as to reduce the difference between expendi-
lures and revenue by nearly that sum.
are now outstanding: they are payable septem
Der !, 1891. The total amount of interest which
will accrue on them from now until their ma
quently the present surplus and the. surplus
which will probably accrue before July l, 1890
W,il suftice nee to Pay the . princ,Pal Of those
accrue upon them should they be per-
mitted to remain unpaid until their ma
turity .s The eo pHncpal Of the per cent oonds
accrue upon them until their maturity in 1907
Is about e50u00O, 0Oo; calculation will show
that the present surplus revenues, II contin-
ued, would pay before 1900 all of these per
cent, bonds and al OF this interest. or course
all the money which is saved by purchase Of
bonds at less than the principal and the inter.
the bonds may be paid ii the holders will sur
render them.
WASTE OF PUBLIC MONEY CONDENSED.
Nothing more is needed than the foregoing
statement to show the absolute necessity Of 3
REIMBURSEMENT. OF the punlic revenues At the
earliest possible date. That it will be neces-
sary to pay nearly the whole Of the interest
which Will ACCRUE upon the public debt il an at
tempt is made to invest the present surplus
revenues in it before its matur ty is evident
realizes only about IN per cent. annually and
receives but meager offerings Of them at that
price. 10 continue taxation with no other use
for its proceeds than such an investment ia a
cruel waste OF the peoples money. ,,@
BOND PURCHASES
The purchase OF bonds was resumed under q
circular of April II, 1885, and since that time
nearly all the bonds which have been offered
for sale to the Government have been bought
by it. Ninety.four millions Of dollars OF bonds
have been secured under this circular, and q
premium paid for the privilege Of buying them
Of about S1a 00O.000; the net rate of interest
realized from this investment is only about 2
Of interest which would have been paid had
maturity is about 100000 T Had taaatte1 %
been reduced SO as to leave this money W: tn
the people, and If. it 10 worth in their business
6per cent. per annum, the total value OF the
money to them during the term which these
thus. there is a resulting loss to the people Of
s56, COO GOO upon this transaction alone; II this
overtaxation is not stopped, and II the Govern
ment is forced to continue to be purchaser of
Its own bonds at the holders prices, the loss
to the people, as could be shown by like cal-
culation. must be hundreds OF millions OF
dollars. &5e ..' - =
URGING TARIFF REDUCTION.
The Secretary repeats his recomm endation
OF last year to reduce taxation and az far az
pOSSlOle WITHOUT TOO SuuQo0 disturbance OF
existing interests, to make this reduction in
| customs taxation, to the end that the people
may get the greatest possible benefit from the
reduction. Besides the vexed eGonom:c Ques-
tion as to whether country can make itself
prosperous by tariff there Is higher moral
question which may well be asked, aud that 10 |:
Can . Government be kept pure and FREQ
which, through the agency of its laws, offers
vast pecuniary temptations to some kinds of
business? n Mr. - ~;
There are many indications that this ques-
ton must be answered in the negative. There
are many proofs that large classes of our bus-
ness men have come to depend for success
upon their skill in manipulating Governmental
agencies rather than upon industry. intell
gence and honorable competition. Is 1t not
possible that eagerness for the money which
men assume comes to them only through q
government may lead them to use an
ever-growing proportion of their gains to
possess and influence the supposed source
OF their wealthY And will not the en-
deavOr to make men rich soon become
the chief function OF our Government Il not
this already the case3 II these dangers exist,
II they are not Overestimated, and they do OK.
list and are not overestmated, then can it be
doubted that the true welfare of our people
calls for the rescue of the Government from
them as speedily as may be?
This can only be dOHe by severing Govern
ment from private business Steps should at
once be taken in that direction, always, how
ever. let me rene8t hear nQ In mind interesta