The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-12-26
DINGLEY'S CANT.
SpeciouS Excuses for Tariff
Revision in the Interest
Of Monopoly.
FINANCIAL SITUATION FALslFlED
Report of the Ways and Means Com
mittee Accompanying the In
famous Republican
Bills.

famous Republican
Bills.
| WASHINGTON, Dec. 26, 1S95.-In the
| House of Representatives today the full
programme of the Committee on Ways
| and Means, so far as it referred to an
| early presentation of measures for reve-
nue. relief, and for the issuance of bonds
| in aid of the exhausting condition of the
| treasury reserve, was carried out by Mr..
| Dingley, Chairman of the committee pre-
senting both tariff and bond bills as they
| have been agreed upon by the majority
| Of the committee The bills were ac-
companied by the following report
| The Committee on Ways and Means,
| to whom was referred so much of the
| Presidents annual message and so much
| of the annual report of the Secretary of
| the Treasury as relates to revenue and
| the condition of the treasury and also
| the Presidents special message, pre-
senting the urgency of immediate action
| of Congress in direction calculated to
| bring relief. report that the committee
appreciate the seriousness of the situation
and the Importance of prompt remedies,
so far as Congress can give them
| Your committee regard the chronic de-
| ficiency of revenue for the past two years
| and a half as most potent cause of the
| difficulties which the Treasury has en-
| countered, and an important factor in the
| creation and promotion of that serious
| distrust which has paralyzed business
| and dangerously shaken confidence, even
| in the financial operations of the govern
ment. 1t is as impossible for govern
ment to have continuous deficiency of
revenue for two years and half with
| out affecting its financial standing, as
| it Is for an Individual. 1t is impossi-
Bile also for a government to continue In
| this condition without casting shadow
| of doubt and encouragement over all
| business operations within its borders.
The serious fact which we are called
upon to confront is that in the two and
a half years that haves elapsed since
July l, 1898, this government has had
an insufficiency of revenue to meet cur
| rent expenditures amounting in the ag-
gregate to about $4,000 600. And even
| in the first half of the present fiscal year
the deficiency will reach about s2o,O0O,-
| GOO, and about $3,0OO.O00 in this present
| month.
1
no sufficient ground for opining that this
| sufIiciency of revenue will not continue
during the remainder of the fiscal year,
and how much longer no one can safely
| predict.
If the consequences Of such a chronic
deficiency We're only the necessity of
borrowing money to get current ex-
pehses in time of peace, even this would
afford abundant reason for increasing
| the revenue But the consequences
are more wide-reaching than that. In
sufficiency of revenue has made it ne.
cessary to use the redeemed United
| States legal tender notes to pay current
| expenditures, and thus to supply addi-
| tional means to draw gold from the
greenback redemption fund-in short,
| to create the "endless chain of which
| the Secretary of the Treasury COM
| plains, and which has made it neces-
| sary to sell issue after issue of bonds
| to replenish the reserve.
This will be clearly seen when it is
| remembered that the Secretary of the
Treasury has issued and sold little
| over $182 100000 of 5 per cent. ten years
| and four per cent. thirty years bonds.
from which he has realized about $182,-
| 600, ,000 and after redeeming $1S2 000, 600 of
| United States legal tender notes with
| the proceeds, has been obliged to i'm
mediately pay out $133, 600 of these
demand notes to meet current expendi-
| lures, and thus has furnished $133, ,000, COG
of governmental demand notes to be
again and again used to draw gold
| from the Treasury. 1t is evident that
so long as there is insufficient revenue
this performance will go on, and bond
sale after bond sale will be required.
1t is also evident that if there had been
a suff1ciency of revenue these redeemed
legal tender notes would not have been
paid out at once, and there would have
been so much the less opportunity to
draw gold from the Treasury. Indeed,
there is good reason to believe that if
in the first six months of the distrust
which inaugurated the run on the re-
demption fund the Treasury had been
receiving revenue more than adequate
to meet expenditures so as to temporar-
| lily hold the redeemed government notes
| the disposition to present these notes
| for redemption would have soon been
overcome. That would have undoubt-
| edly been the case if the resumption
| fund had been increased in the spring
| of 1893 and never allowed to fall below
| the $100, 900 minimum. And the ne
cessity for more revenue from the point
of view of the maintenance of the re-
| the TACT that we have 5O,O0O.o 600 of cash
in the Treasury In addition 70 the s1oo,-
| OOo. COO (part gold) required for the re-
denption fund and the twenty odd mil
| lions required as a working balance.
This $50, 100000 represents $50, 900 of
redeemed United States legal tender
| notes. for whose redemption we bor-
rowed s50OoO,oOo in gold. e We we continue %
revenue. then presently they will come
back again to draw $4,000 900 more from
| the Treasury, which we must supply by
selling s5o.e6ooeO more Of bonds. The
| suggestion, therefore. that we need no
more revenue because we have cash
balance Of $50oo0,0o0 Of governmenl
| notes in the Treasury that can be used
to pay any deficiency for the next sir sis
| or twelve months is in effect a PROPOSE
| ton to issue more bonds to meet de-
| ficiency which should be met at once
/ by providing more revenue.
In other words those who oppose rails
| in effect-whether they intend to. do SO
or not-favor borrowing In preference
Your commis5ee beaieve that IT. It i is ,,!dS the
| to which body. the constitution. commits
the Inauguration of revenue bills, to
| f,sa17,a a nd mass a measure that Will WELD