Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-04
THE NEW TREASURY STATEMENT.

The statement of assets and liza bilities sent
out by the United States Treasury repre-
sents slower changes in its policy, but not
less complete than the changes in the phases
of the moon. Some years ago Democratic
administration of the Treasury got up a
statement especially for the purpose of
showing small surplus. Now Republi-
can administration produces one for the sake
of showing how large the surplus is. No
one supposes that the figures in either were
falsifed, but by difference in treatment Of
the various funds and in the classification
OF assets they were made to tell very different
stories.
There is much room for criticism of the
method used In the latest statement. Some
items are classified In strict accordance with
the law, but are not less at variance with
correct bookkeeping. There is no more rea-
son for classifying the S4s2, ,0OO, 900 of gold
and silver certificates as trust fund for
which dollar for dollar must be held in the
treasury, than for doing the same
thing with the legal tenders. Both
classes of liabilities are promises to
pay, for which the faith of the United States
Government is pledged. A hundred mill
ion dollars, or 80 per cent, of the legal
tenders is proved by experience to be an
ample reserve to redeem all possible de-
mauds; and the same percentage would be
ample for the certificates. Yet the law re-
Quires the money for the certificates to be
stacked up in the Treasury, while the state
ment under review does not even include in
the trust funds the S10O, 00O, 600 reserve for
the legal tender notes! The utter ilIogicality
of this contrast is shown by the fact that the
silver certificates circulate at par, not be-
cause of the silver dollars in the Treasury,
but because they are convertible into legal
tenders, which in their turn are convertible
into gold. If the silver certificates could
only be redeemed by the silver dollar in
the Treasury, and those coins bad 20 circu-
would very promptly fall to discount
There are other curious points in the
statement The SAL ,0OO, 900 for the redemp-
tion of retired national bank notes is very
properly included in the trust list. But the
per cent national bank note redemption
fund, which is of exactly the same charac-
ter, is put in the current liabilities, while
the matured debt and unpaid interest, on
which tine Government is calling upon its
creditors to come and take the money, are |
given the same treatment. Yet if any
form of Treasury liability requires the |
money to be ready dollar for dollar, these |
would seem to be the ones. The haphazard |
classifcations that prevail in the Treasury
are shown by the fact that if the 500, 00O, 900
reserve on legal tenders were put in the trust |
funds and the total legal tender issue taken |
out of the current liabilities, the result |
would be a surplus of S52, 600, 600; while if |
the law permitted the strong reserve of 80 |
per cent in cash to be held against the cir |
culating issues of the Treasury, there would
be a practical surplus of nearly $780,
600, 900.
Although there have been some partisan
attempts to prove the contrary, there is no
doubt that the Treasury has not only money
enough to meet all demands, but an actual
superfuity on perfectly sound principles
o finance. The proper criticism on Repub-
lican management is not that it
has made the Treasury unable to
meet its liabilities, but that it
has swelled appropriations so enormously
that, unless the policy is changed, such
mPy be the case in future.