The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1891-12-19
SECRETARY FOSTERS REPORT.

The report of the secretary OF the
treasury was sent to congress at noon
the 9th inst. but it's full text had been
sent to newspaper editors with an in
junction not to publish it until released
by the Associated Press agent. The in
junction was needless for there is not a
journal in the country that would care
to reproduce all of its s~ixty-one pages
unless paid for at advertising rates. TO
one not skilled in the modern method of
bookkeeping the report would show the
national treasury in a healthy condition
while the reverse is true. And in max
ing a surplus appear where there is an
actual deficit Mr.. Foster shines as an
artist in bookkeeping.
He places the revenues of the govern
ment from all sources for the fiscal year
and it's expenditures for the same time
at si21 ,3Oi.410.4G. leaving an apparent
surplus of 81 lido, 1921. The receipts
for the year 1891, as compared with the
previous year. have fallen of sJ.4lS,-
1922. while the increase in expenditures
reached SJ1. G}G. l9S.1i. He claims there
is no outstanding liability against this
surplus of over So 100000, but of this
over 81 i,OOO.OOO are in small or subsidiary
coins, which are limited as legal tender.
while over S~16,000,00O are not in the
treasury at all, but in selected national
banks from which MIR. Foster dare not
draw the money for fear of causing loss
to those institutions. Neither does il
appear that the treasury is charged up
per cent bonds which the government
could not pay last September, but which
it extended by the issue of . per cents.
Again the billion dollar congress took
S14,2O1 800 from the national bank re
demption fund, which Mr.. Foster ap-
piled to the payment of the public debt.
This amount stands charged against the
public treasury, and yet by Mr.. Fosters
system of bookkeeping a surplus appears,
while, in fact, the treasury is behind ST.
100000, with increasing expenditures
and decreasing revenues caused by the
proh!bitive clauses Of the Mckinley
tariff.
There is n item in the report which
will interest the silver miners and the
people OF the west generally. Mr.. Foster
states that the governments net profit
on the coinage Of silver during the thir-
teen years from the passage of the Bland
act in the spring of 1878 to June 30. 1891,
including the balanccs-which were
small-in the coinage mints July |. 1878,
have aggregated the immense sum of
~$71,@52,39O.2J. That means that the
miners Of the silver producing states
have been robbed by the general govern
ment out of nearly s72,OOO,OOO in thirteen
years. 1t was done by the government
buying their silver bullion at market
prices and paying for it with standard
silver dollars at their full face value.
With free silver coinage the miners, not
the government. would have received
the S72,000.O0O. They can justly charge
this loss up to the republican gold bug
members of congress who have fought
free silver coinage from the dcmonetiza-
ton of the metal in 1873 to the present
time.
There is another statement made by
Mr.. Foster which. while it is not news to
our miners, will attract their attention
inasmuch as it comes from such high
authority as the secretary Of the treasury.
He says the price of silver fiuctuated
during the last fiscal year from 96.4 cents
to S1.21 per fine ounce, a variation of
nearly % cents per ounce. But Mr..
Foster is not candid or honest enough
to suggest the proper remedy to prevent
this ~fluctuation in the price of the metal.
The remedy would destroy the profitable
occupation of the spectators in silver
and break up a huge syndicate of silver
bullion buyers who are making a good
thing out of selling 100000 ounces of
the metal per month to the government.
Mr.. Foster presents much food for
thought in his report, and a vast amount
of matter for severe adverse criticism. 1t
will be handled without gloves by this
congress when it gets to work in earnest.
Our underground evening contempo-
rary pmaroal from its hurrow lonp apouph