The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-10-20

Washington, d. c., Oct 19.-The fact
that while the Democratic presidential
nominee, William Jennings Bryan, Is
perambulating the country advocating
the unlimited coinage of silver as a
panacea for all the ills to which the
American public has fallen heir, the
government of the United States-un-
der the operations of the Democratic
tariff bill, which Mr.. Bryan was lnstru-
mental in formulating, and which ne
declared would lift from the shoulders
of the farmers and laboring classes the
burdens under which they were then
struggling, owing to the imposition or
the iniquitously high rates of customs
duty imposed by the Mckinley bills
running in debt at the rate of nearly
u half million dollars a day, Is COM
mented on here as a rather singular
coincidence.
Day by day. since the commencement
of the present campaign, the Boy Ora
tor of the Platte has been endeavoring
to divert public attention from the real
cause of distress i'm the country, ana
at the same time asserting that the
bond issues which have occurred under
the present administration were made
for the specific purpose of maintaining
the gold standard and to keep intact
the gold reserve.
Ht tDly WHICH Nti w
offered for Mr.. Bryan's present position
is that he is desirous of covering up the
effects of the very legislation he not
only advocated, but was Instrumental
In passing through the house of repre-
SentatiVes.
simultaneously with the failure of
our tariff laws to meet current eX-
penSes cane the trouble with the gold
reserve, and a careful examination of
h. nrIt, 90 I..tN ,,,t ,n,t
discloses the fact that the proceeds Of
the bonds sold have gone to make up
the deficit in the revenues of the gov
ernment created by insufficient reVe-
nues. In fact, from the very moment
1t became apparent that the customs
duties We're to be reduced there was
perceptible decrease in the receipts
OF the government. caused by the hesl-
tation on the part of the American i'm
porters to purchase abroad the usual
quantity of goods owing to the pros
pcctive tariff changes.
The trouble began in the fiscal year
1894, when the revenues of the govern
ment fell 500, 260.5S short of the eX-
penditures, and the stat gent of the
treasury department for that year
shows that there was withdrawn from
the cash in the treasury. to make up
the deficit occasioned by insufficient
iNNSHuVS, @iV,V-f,oft.to. MS suffrage
of receipts has continued year by year
since the commencement of the fiscal
year 1894, until on Saturday last 1t
amounted to $2l3,975,5O9.
IN COLD TYPE.
Here it is in cold type. taken directly
from the treasury statement, showing
conclusively that almost the entire
amount of money derived from the
hos 4,
deficit created by the Wilson German
tariff bill, which Mr. Bryan cham
uoned:
Amount of cash in treasury in
cluding gold reserve, July ],
1888 ......................... SlGU 45O, GS2
Amount derived from sale of
government bonds since Febru-
ary. 1894 Observation-Disclosures. o93 454, 2s6
Total :....................s .si5S, ,9O4, ,9Gs
Amount Of cash in treasury. in
Guiding gold reserve, February
10. 1895 s2s9, ,s29, 459
Amount paid out by government
IN excess of receipts since July
l, 1885 2l3,910,5UJ
This statement does not include the
amount withheld by the secretary of
the treasury for the erection of public
buildings throughout the country au-
thorized by acts of congress, river and
nafDor improvements and the preServa-
tion of the sinking fund for the reduce
tion of the national debt. which foot up
grand total of nearly $50, 100000
To further illustrate that the trouble
with our financial system does not lie
in the redemption of treasury notes and
greenbacks In gold. and that the
sharks of Wall street have not the
power to loot the treasury whenever
they see fit, the following statement
clearly demonstrates:
On July /, 1893, the cash in the treas
ury amounted to $16O.45O,6S2 Since
that time there has been derived from
the sale of bonds $293, 454, ,2S6 in gold,
making total of S453, ,9GS, which
would be in the treasury today If the
revenues of the government had equal
ed the expenditures. AS it is the total
amount of cash in the treasury at the
present time amounts to only $239, ,929,-
459. being $213,975.509 less than it would
have been had the Mckinley law re-
mained on the statute books. Assum-
ing that the proceeds of the bond sales
We're applied to the redemption of treas
ury notes, and assuming that the GUS
toms. internal revenue and miscellane-
Gus duties collected equaled the eXpen-
ditures, the treasury statement would