The Lafayette gazette., 1893-05-06
4 oirFicUL1 slTUATiofs.

OSSet6Oeu 0suOAIt0Ns
rAs Rev ADMINISTRATION IIandioapp~a ny
RepablAean AGAsnanaEsm~oe.
The condition of the treasury when
striking contrast with what it was
WREN he entered upon the presidency
eight years ago. The so-called treas
ury surplus was then beginning to as
sume large proportions. and it grew
steadily until it's amount in excess of
demption of notes, and $50, oO0, 900 of
fractional and minor coin, and a NUM-
ber of other items which have since
been absorbed into the general cash
account, became $50. OO0, 900 in July,
1855. and sllO, 1000. 900 in April, 1888
o11ectually wiped out that, in spite of
various changes of bookkeeping with
. view to increasing the apparent bal
ance it has recently been question
whether the treasury could keep up
the appearance of any surplus at all in
excess of the st00. 00o, 600 reserve.
For the first fiscal year which closed
q few months after Mr.. Cleveland en-:
tered Office. the receipts Of the govern.
mcnt were more than 500, 600, 900 in
excess OF its ordinary expenditures,
and throughout his term of Office the.
management of = redundant revenue,
was among its serious problems. All
huence of the increasing scale of pub
lie expenditures. until the treasury sur
plus has disappeared and the revenues
barely sufficient for the current needs,
and the requirements of the sinking
fund law are ignored.
The change in the money circulation
Of the country has been quite as great
as in the condition of the treasury.
The expansion of more than $780,:
900, 900, which has occurred during the
eight years is fully accounted for by
the increased issue of silver paper; the
greater in amount by more than $780,
100000 than in March. 1855. and more
than $125, 900, 600 OF the new treasury
notes having been issued under the
Sherman law.
There can be no question as to the
significance of these changes in fnan-
cial conditions and no room for doubt
as to the duty which they impose. The
scale of public expenditure which has
wiped out the great treasury surplus
of few years ago must be reduced
and the silver legislation which is
draining the government of its gold
and undermining its power to preserve
the einterchaugeability of its currency
issues must be repealed.
The conditions that confront the new
administration differ widely from those
OF eight years ago. and yet the main
source OF danger and difficulty is one
that then existed and was clearly rec
ognized by Mr.. Cleveland. Silver pur-
chase legislation had already become a
source of anxiety and financial dis
turbancc, and Mr.. Cleveland applied
himself from the day OF his election to
the task of averting its dangers. The
expedients which he adopted. and
others that have since been tried, are
now we'll nigh exhausted, and nothing
remains, if the worst of the threatened
results are to be escaped, except the
prompt repeal of the silver law.
There is as yet little definite knowl-
edge of the intentions of the now ad-
ministration in regard to financial
policy, and assumptions on the subject
are unsvarranted. Mr.. Cleveland and
Mr.. Carlisle have properly refrained
from committing themselves in ad-
vance, and kept themselves free to act
as the case may require when they as
sumo responsibility. Temporary make
shifts are not now to be considered.
The prosperity of the country for the
next four years depends on the prompt
avowal of a policy that will ensure
financial stability and confidence, and
the new administration must meet the
require ments of the emergency.-N. Y.
Commercial Bulletin.