Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1890-12-11
The treasury.

port OF the secretary OF the treasury on !,
the state of the finances for the year !
1890 has been made to Congress It is in !
part as follows:
In estimating the revenue for the next /
fiscal year the loss from articles transferred |
TO the free list is placed at $4,000 600 but AZ /
the increasing demands of the people must |
swell the volume OF imports in other COM |
modties, and the enforcement of the Gus
toms laws under the operations of the adj |
ministrative &C. of June 10. lSs1. by the pre-
vention of undervaiustions and the closer
collection of duties. will materially increase
the revenue, it is estimated that an addi- |
tional collection of not less than ls.ooo,o oo |
will be obtained under these conditions.
Upon this basis the net loss OF revenue for
the year is put down at s., 600, 600
PENSIONS
The estimate OF ss,sss.oS5, made by the
Interior Dep artm-nt. for the year 1892. is
based upon the fact that over 10000 Of the
claimants for pensions under old laws have
availed themselves of the right to present
their claims under the act Of june y.
1897 Claims presented under the new
law will draw a less monthly rate. and
carry arrearages for only a short time. and
for small amounts. while under the old laws
many of them carry very large aTrearages,
and many Of which will have been paid dur
ing the fiscal year 1891 The transfer If
claims from the old to the new law Will
therefore very largely reducs the average
annual value of pensions, and q reduction
in the amount of averages alone Is esti-
mated at $40 ono 90 for the year 1s2 For
these reasons il is estimated that the
amount above named for 1S9. will be suffi-
cient to meet the aggregate requirements
for this year.
The total apparent surplus on September
10, when the money strngency eliminated
was ses.5o9 22o So. OF this amount s24,2l6.s4s'
was on deposit in the banks, and presume
bly, in circulation among the people, and
s21. 7os BAIT was fractional silver which had
been in the Treasury for several years, and
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bursements- Dedueting the sum OF these
two items. viz. 81, sos ISIS. left an actual
available surplus of on.y 56,2lI,22L25 The
amount OF the Eank-note redemption fund
then in the Treasury. which had been trans
ferred to the available funds by the act
of July IA. 1891 was 100000. being
substant ally the amount OF tire aV all
aele surplus on September 10, 1897 This
bank-note fund had been in the Urea ury in
varying amounts for many years In Au-
gust. 1887 1t was s105,S1s. U9j.e0. who had
been gradually r~duced by disbursements
to the amount above named. 1t is appsr-
ent, therefore. that the finan cial stringency,
under d scussion, was not produced by the
absorption of money by tie Treasury, but
by causes wholly outside OF Treasury oper-
atoms At the lime when the financial
pressure in September reached its climax,
the extraordinary dfsburseme ITS for bond
purchases had substantially exhausted the
entire ordinary Treasury accommodations,
and but for the fact that Congress had wise
ly transferred the bank note redemption
fund to the availab'e cash, there would have
been no money at command in the Treasury,
by which the strained financial conditions
could have been relieved. and threatened
panic and disaster averted. Had this fund
bsen In the ba ks instead Of the Treasury
the business IF the country would have been
adjus ed to the creased supply, and when
thu strain came it would have been impos-
sible +. T The banks to meet it The Govern
ment could not have Withdrawn it from the
hanks without compelling a contraction OF
their loans, and thus dim fishing their abIl-
ity to give relief TO their Gus omers
INTERNAL REVENUE.
The report of tn Com missioner of Intern
al Revenue, showing in detail the opera
tions of this bureau. is transmitted here
with. The following summary will disclose
at glance the satisfactory conditions OF
that branch of the public service. and the
very effit lent and economical manner in
which it has been conducted:
The receipts from all sources
of internal revenue for the fis-
cal year ending Jane 81, 1897
were SlA2, ,bS6 81
The receipts from the same
sources for the fiscal year
ending Junes, 1889, were---.-- 1so,s94A34 20
Making an increase in the re-
ceipts for the fiscal year just
ended of.-------- --------s II. 70e,252 81
SILVER PURCHASES.
Under the operations of the silver bullion
law, the amount of silver purchased from
August Il, 1899, to December /, 1880 aggre-
gated us, ls5 fine ounces. costing sls,67l,-
O75, an average of 81 lips per fine ounce
On the 1st of July. 1890, the price Of silver
was s4O4. 6 To July Ii. the price had ad
vanced to 81 0s; to August Is. 81 Ii. and to
September s1-21, the hg hest point reached.
Since that date there has been a docline,
with some fluctuations, to the present time,
the price falling as low as so97
FOREIGN COMMERCE.
The value OF our foreign commerce during
the last fiscal var was greater than for any
III
ag .inst 81 .4S7 s,o27 during the fiscal year
IS 9, increase of 1885 $685.
The total value of exports of domestic
merchandise was $50. 293 S2s. an increase of
s115 oil PIG over the preceding year, and
WAS greater than that of any other year ex-
cept 1881.
31o,4o9, increase of s4i,17s ~ over the pre-
ceding year, of which ethe sum of 50 Isl ,551
represents free merchandise and So, 997 6
dutiabie merchandise.
Mexico Central and South American States,
British Honduras and the West Indies. dur
ing the fiscal year 1880, amounted to S1yS.-
$40. 49, 25-21 per cent of our total imports
of merchant Sc.
The value of our exports OF merchan 3fse
to these same countries during the same
period was $50 S., 1oS, CT los per cent of the
value Of our total exports of merchandise
Our total imports and exports OF merchan-
disc from and to these countries, during the
sam period, amounted to $3.50 s26 61s or IL
per cent OF our tOt2l ports and xporT8 or
merchaE disc
ALIEN CONTRACT LABOR
With the a administration. at New York, OF
the immigration laws entirely within the
control OF the de partrn emit, m satisfact-
DRY and effective enforcement has been pos
sible of the laws against the Introduction
into the United States of laborers who
come under contract The inspectors APP
pointed by the department. work under
the direction of and in sympathy with
the superintendent Of immigration,
and in a unity of interest to this end the OBJ
tect of the law Is surely obtained.
From April ls, 1880, to October 1, 1890. 1zs
aliens were detected and returned, while
during the longer period, from March l.. 1899,
to April 19, 1872. but forty such persons were
sent back From all the ports less than fifty
alien contract laborers were returned dur
ing the four years preceding March /, 1889,
while since that date 200 have been SO de-
ported
PUBLIC BUILDINGS
During the past year there were under the
control of this Department. and receiving
the attention of the Supervising Architect
In course of construction, including eX-
tens ions and re pairs specially appropriated
for sixty nine public build Ings
OF which number, there were completed
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