The times., 1897-12-04
Bad bookkeeping.

We never have bad the satisfaction Of
regarding Mr.. Gage as an economist or
a financial philosopher. We have given
him the credit of being an astute Western
banker of reputable personal character,
and one who would not falsify his books
to meet the views OF the bank Inspector
when the periodical visitations of that
functionary should occur. 1t must be adj
mitted that the personal associations and
interests OF the Secretary of the Treasury
are not such as to create any confidence
that his individual ideas and purposes are
in consonance with the good of the Amer
lean people, but, heretofore, we have not
thought that he would go beyond the
advocacy of vicious system, strictly in
the interests Of his own trade, and would
undertake TO make misleading and lille
gitimate presentment OF the Treasury con-
dition for the delusion of the Congress and
the country.
If we know anything of the first
principles Of bookkeeping, he has done so
in his Statement of the Public Debt,
and of the Cash in the Treasury of the
United States for the Month OF November,
1887" Mr.. Gage is frank enough TO in
clude in revenue the S13,645. .25o paid
into the Treasury on account of the Cleve-
land deal with the Union Pacific syndi.
cate, and by so juggling the figures he
makes a November surplus of $3.50 900.
The trouble about this is that, next month,
Mr. Gage is understood TO intend to force
a balance The Union Pacific pa yment
viii be exhausted by the Government Is
paymentOfthe honds originally issued which
it represents. But that disbursement OF
between thirteen and fourteen millions viii
not be SO reported. 1t will go to bond
redemption" account, and the sum Will be
maintained upon the books as revenue,
which is untruthful and dishonest book.
Keeping.
We are afraid that the officials OF the
Treasury Department are resurting to les-
perate methods to cover the blunders IF the
party il power. This is regretta ble from
their own point OF view, because it is
futile. They VIII not be able to cover The
facts liz any way to their, or their party's,
advantsge The September deficit was
S3,435, 900; that of October was S8,310,
900. Ii November it was SIS, ,O92, 900
omitting the Union Pacific redemption
money, the national revenue shortage to
the present time aggregates $40, ,1O1, ,4s4
That it is not much greater, results from
the fact that the internal revenue receipts
for which the most extreme partisan viii
not say that the Dingley bill is TO be
credited, have shown an increase. Customs
receipts, which, ostensibly, the measure
was framed to promote, are ridicllously
small. 1t is worth mentioning that the
receipts from that source a year ago, when
the country was demora lized by one OF
the greatest political struggles in our his
tory, were leIger than they We're in Novem-
ber, the fourth month of the Dingley fis-
cal law. Even the customs revenues un-
der the Wilson tariff, in the depressed
Novembers Of 1894 and 1895, avera ged
2 million dollars more than they did in No
vember, 1897.
1t, Therefore, must be apparent to Mr..
Gage, and other gentlemen connected with
the financial policy OF the Administra-
ton, that the book of Republican apo.o
getics is a satanically hard one to write,
ana that. being written, few there are
who will be convinced by it.