The herald., 1897-03-12
A BIT OF HISTORY

Republican jingoes, but they are very
careful not to give comparisons of the
condition of the treasury when Mr..
Cleveland received it from Mr. Harrison
with its condition when he gave way to
Mr. Mckinley. 1t is an old saying that
facts are stubborn things, and that fig
ures do not lie. Let us, therefore, exam
inc the facts and the figures as they re-
late to the condition of the treasury on
March 4th. 1898, and March 4th, 1897.
But while we are at it, let us go back
to the last treasury statement under
Mr. Cleveland's first administration.
At the beginning of Mr.. Cleveland's
first term the outstanding interest
bearing debt was 81 1S2, 149,05o, and when
he made way for Harrison it was ss44.-
log, 200, showing that s33S, ,042. $50 of the
public debt had been paid during the four
years ended March 4th, 1889. During
his term of office Mr.. Harrison paid
$3.50 O71, $50, or s7s,97oS7O less than Mr..
Cleveland paid. Mr.. Cleveland reduced
the public debt by applying the surplus
revenues to that purpose, but did Mr..
Harrison do likewise? Let the official
statement of the treasury department
answer.
The net gold in the treasury when Mr..
Cleveland's first term expired was $685.
000, 900, and in addition to that there was
81 /, ,000 900 in subsidiary silver coin and
s154 ,O00. 900 of deposits of national banks
to redeem their notes. Early in 1890 the
treasury added the subsidiary silver
and bank note redemption fund to the
assets side of the ledger, making the
total sum inherited from the Cleveland
administration 267,OOO,00o. On March
4th, 1S93 when Mr.. Cleveland again be-
came president, there was s146,000,000 in
the treasury, of which S100,000,0 900 was
the required gold reserve, but s6s, 100000
was secured to the treasury, as we have
already shown, by juggling the books
that is to say, by counting money as
assets that belonged to the national
banks, and subsidiary silver coins that
were not a legal tender for sums ex-
ceeding five dollars. There was, there
fore, $121, 100000 less in the treasury
when Mr.. Cleveland commenced his Sec
ond term than when he completed his
first term, to which should be added
s7s,oOo,ooO. in round numbers, being the
difference between the bond reduction
during Cleveland's first term and Har-
rison's four years, thus making the Har-
rison administration cost the people
$500 900, 900 more than Cleveland's first
term
But there is more yet. The surplus
revenue of 1890, before the Mckinley
bill became operative, was s1o5, .O00
The first year of the operation of that
bill produced a surplus revenue of s37,
900. 900, the second year the surplus was
s10.0O0.00O, the third year it was s2,000,-
900 and the fourth year it caused de-
ficit of s70,000,000. The annual average
customs receipts for the four years
ended with the beginning of the opera
tion of the Mckinley tariff was s222,000,
900, and s1s3, ,OOO 900 during it's lifetime
of four years, but the last year of its
operation the receipts were only a lit
tie over $3.50 900, 900.
The condition of the treasury when
Cleveland retired on the 4th OF the pres
ent month was: Total available funds,
s219, 900, against s146.OOO00O on the
corresponding day four years ago. On
that day the gold reserve was S103 000,-
OeO, now it is s147, 900, 900. The available
cash balance four years ago was s49,-
100000, but counting out the unavaila-
BILE subsidiary coin it was about s34,000,-
900, while now it is s113, 900, 900
OF course, Mr.. Cleveland sold bonds
for gold amounting to s262, 600 900, but
let us see why the treasury was short
of gold. During Mr.. Clevelands first
administration we imported gold coin
and bullion amounting to Sis, 300 900 and
exported sos. 900, leaving US a net
gain of $23, 100000 During Mr.. Harri-
sons administration we imported gold
coin and bullion amounting to s94, $780, 900
and exported s252, 100000 which was a
net loss of $15S, 600 600, and loss of $751;
100000 as compared with Cleveland's
term. During two years only of Mr..
Cleveland's first administration did the
gold exports exceed the imports, while
every year during Mr.. Harrison's ad-
ministration we shipped more gold
abroad than we received. In the last
three months of Harrisons adminis-
tration $36,000,000 in gold was drawn
from the treasury for foreign account,
and only $32 100000 during the first four
months of Cleveland's second admin
istration. The treasury was never in
stronger position than when it was
turned over to Mr.. Harrison on March
4th, 1889, and it never was in as weak
and uncertain a plight as when Mr.
Harrison delivered it to Mr.. Cleveland
on March 4th, 1898. .. ,,.......
To sum it up Mr.. Cleveland received
STAG, 900 from the Harrison admins
tration, and sold bonds amounting to
s262, 100000 to make good the gold with