Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1892-01-07
TREASURY CLEANED OUT.
The Net Cash Balance Now Less
Than Thirty.Five Million
Dollars,

Than Thirty-Five million
Dollars.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 3.-The condi-
tion of the treasury is s4,5OO.OOO worse
than any previous monthly debt state
ment. The net cash balance has
steadily dropped since Sept until it
has nearly dropped out of sight. The
figures by the debt statement, made
public today, are $34, STE, ,12s. Look
at the steady decline indicated by the
figures for the last four months: Sept.
l, $3.50, ,274.394; Oct. l, s44, ,96S 1898; Nov.
/, s3O,671 ,920; Dec. 1, s39, ,12e,el7; Jan.
l, S34,574, ,12s.
The entire cash balance today is less
than the aggregate of the unavailable
funds in the national banks and in
worn out fractional silver which were
included IN it four months ago. The
money tied up on Sept. was s17 ,5OO,-
26l in the national banks, S1S, ,440, ,721
in subsidiary silver, $369, 1854 in minor
coin and So ,04s, 1853 in trade-dollar bars,
making a total Of 500. .35s, 100. The
earnest efforts of the treasury officials
have reduced this total in four months
to 1928, 9,546, ,653, which still has to be de-
Quoted from the present method of
stating the net balance to indicate the
paltry S5,000.000 scattered through the
treasury and its dozen branches.
With less than million of good
money available at any one place. the
government is evidently in straight
ened position. It will be a good deal
more Strengthened inside of fort
night. The end of the month usually
shows the treasury balance at it's best.
The beginning of a new month always
brings heavy drafts for pensions, and
the beginning of this month brings the
interest payments on the per cent
bonds, amounting to $685. The
pension payments will take about s1O,-
100000 before the month is over, but
they will be made'in the smallest pos
sible driblets in order to prevent the
exhaustion of the treasury. The war
department drafts are still 'more hon
ored in the breach than in the observ-
ance," as in the recent case in New
York, where Colonel Gillespie dis
missed crowd of workmen with two
months pay due them. The depart
ment officials explain that the money
was mailed to Col. GillespieIth night
before the dismissal and that if he had
gone to the sub treasury that morning
he might have gotten it. 1t is fair
illustration of the close calls which the
beneficiaries of the treasury are suffer
ing all the time in these days of its
grinding poverty.
How the treasury can meet SIS, ,5OO,-
900 in interest payments and $1O,OOO,-
900 in pensions in the next few days,
will be about the toughest problem
Secretary Foster has had to deal with
since he entered Office. The solution
will probably be found in not meeting
the problem at all, but in trusting to
luck that pensioners will not demand
their pensions on the first pay day,
but will considerably wait until the
government has scraped together a
little more money to pay them.
The following from the pen Of Joseph
Donoghue, the champion amateur
skater Of the world, will be Of interest
to many Of our readers who enjoy the
Iexhilerating sport Of. skating but have
much to learn in. order to be classed
among those who are called agood
lskaters:'' SIS
The first thing skater must learn is
to stand perfectly even on his skates,
that is 10 keep the skates from cutting
THE leo. which increases the friction.
Having gained headway lean forward
at an angle Of about As degrees, place
the hands behind the back and clasp
ing them let the arms rest loosely on
the hips, this throws back the shoulders
and bringS the chest forward, making
i the lungs 0xnanll and enables the ska