Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-12-26
THE TWO REPORTS
Chairman Dingley's Reasons for
Submitting the Bills.
A CHRONIC DEFICIENCY OF REVENUE
No General Revision of the Tariff
Contemplated Now.
BONDS AND CERTIFICATES
4 CHRONIC DEFICIENCY OF REVENUE
BONDS AND CERTIFICATES

committee today reported to the House the
tariff and bond bills agreed on by the ma
jority of the committee They were accom-
panied by the following reports:
The committee on ways and means, to
whom was referred so much Of the Presi-
dents 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 presenting the
urgency of immediate action by Congress
in a direction calculated to bring relief, re-
port that the committee appreciate the Sc
robustness of the situation and the import
ance of prompt remedies, so far as Con-
gress can Civ them.
Chronic Deficiency of Revenue.
Your committee regard the chronic de-
ficiency of revenue for the past two years
and a half as a most potent cause of the
difficulties which the treasury has encoun-
tered, and an important factor in the ere
alton and promotion of that serious dis
trust which has paralyzed business and
dangerously shaken confidence even in the
financial operations of the government. 1t
is impossible for a government to have
continuous deficiency of revenue for two
years and half without affecting its finan-
cial standing as 1t is for an individual. 1t
is impossible also for a governn ent to con-
tnue in this condition without casting a
shadow of doubt and discoura cement over
all business operations within its borders.
The serious fact which We are called up
on to confront is that in the two and half
years that have elapsed since July /, 1893,
this government has had an insuificiency
OF revenue to meet current expenditures,
amounting in the aggregate to, about S1:.5
OOO,0oO. And even in the first half of the
present fiscal year the deficiency will reach
about S2OOOO.OG0. and about $3,OO0,G0O in
this present month 5rf
And up to the present time there is no
sufficient ground for opining that this insult
ficiency of revenue will not continue during
the remainder of the fiscal year, and how
much longer no one can safely predict.
Incorporating Consequences.
If the consequences of such chronic de-
ficiency were only the necessity of borrow
ing money to meet current expenses in time
of peace, even this would afford abundant
reason for increasing the revenue. But the
consequences are more wide reaching than
that. Insufticiency of revenue has made It
necessary to use the redeemed United
States legal tender notes to pay current ex-
penditures, and thus to supply additional
means to draw gold from the greenback
redemption fund-in short to create the
endless chain" of which the Secretary of
the Treasury complains, and which has
made it necessary to sell issue after issue
of bonds to replenish the reserve
This will be clearly seen when it is re-
membered that the Secretary of the Treas
ury has issued and sold little over s162,-
oOoOOO OF per cent ten years and per
cent 30 years bonds, from which he has
realized about S1S2,OOO.OOO and after
redeeming s1S2.OOO,0eO of United States
legal tender notes with the proceeds, he
has been obliged to immedia tely pay out
s133.OOO,OOO of these demand notes to meet
current expenditures and thus has fur
nished Sl33,OOO,oOO 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 sufficiency
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 inausurated the run on
the redemption fund the treasury had been
receiving revenue more than adequate to
meet expenditures, SO as to temporarily
hold the redeemed government notes. the
disposition to present these notes for re-
demption would have soon been overcome
That would nave undoubtedly been the
case if the redemption fund had been in
creased in the spring of 1899, and never
allowed to fall below the 800, 900 900 mini
mum.
Necessity for More Revenue.
And the necessity for more revenue from
the point of view of the maintenance of
the redemption fund is not taken away by
the fact that We have s50,OOOOOO of cash
in the treasury, in addition to the $780,
100000 part gold required for the redemp-
ton fund and the twenty-odd millions re-
CURED as working balance. This $780,
100000 represents s5O,OOO,0OO of redeemed
United States legal tender notes. for whose
redemption we borrowed $780, 900 in gold
If we continue to pay them out to meet a
deficiency of revenue, then presently they
VIII come back again to draw $4,000, 900
more from the treasury, which we must
supply by selling s5O,0OO,OOO more of bonds.
The suggestion, therefore, that we need no
more revenue, because We have a cash bal
ance of s50,Oo0OOO of government notes in
the treasury that can be used to pay any
deficiency for the next six or twelve
months, is in effect a proposition to issue
more bonds to meet deficiency which
should be met at once by providing more
revenue.
In other words, those who oppose raising
more revenue in such situation, in effect
whether they intend to do so or not-fayor
borrowing in preference to paying as we
go along.
The Duty of the House.
Your committee believe that it is the
duty of the House of Representatives, to
which body the Constitution commits the
Inauguration of revenue bills, to frame
and pass measure that will yield not far
from s4O.0000OO, sufficient to put an end to
deficiency-and to do this without delay
too-leaving to others, whose cooperation
is required, to finally place such legislation
on the statute books, to meet the RESPONSE
blity in their own way. And the Presi-
dents special message, setting forth so
pointedly the seriousness of the situation
and the necessity for the promptest action
only emphasizes the duty of the House.
In response to the urgent call OF the
President, your committee have felt i'm
PEELED to act with all possible dispatch
Two facts have led your committee to look
to an increase of customs duties as the
most appropriate source of additional rev.
enue. They are, first, the fact that we are
already raising disproportionate amount
from internal revenue, which has always