Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-17
Commissioner Evans on Payments
This Year.
TAKING ACTION ON MANY old CLAIMS
Does Not Look for a Deficit in
the Revenues.
RECEIPTS WILL INCREASE

Anxiety mas been expressed i'm some quar-
ters lest there is to be large deficit in the
revenues of the government at the end OF
the fiscal year. This solicitude is based
mainly upon the fact that the receipts from
customs under the new tariff law for the
hrst month of its operation have fallen be-
low the estimate, while the expenditures.
notably for pension payments, show an in
crease over the estimate
Il do not anticipate any deficit i'm the
revenues Of the government this year."
said Col. III. Clay Evans. the commissioner
OF pensions, to a Star reporter today, AL
though the expenditures for pensions will
be greater than the appropriations there
by necessitating a deficiency appropriation,
Tor their payment. 1 do not look for as
large an increase. however. as the pay
ments for the quarter ending September 30
about S40oo0.ooO. would seem TO Indicate
Ihat amount includes certificates that have
been held up
Il estimate that the total navments for
the year will not exceed Si41 800 600 That
is not an appalling excess. by any means
the appropriation for the year being sl3l-
1850. If there should be an unexpected
railing off In the revenues the pension
payments might be curtailed toward the
end OF the year. although L do not think
that is at all likely"
Many Old Claims.
How is the increase for the year ac-
counted for?" Col. Evans was asked.
We'll, to begin with, there are something
like 100000 old claims pending before the
bureau. which will be acted upon as rapid-
ly as We can get to them. A great many
of these are good claims. ought 10 be and
will have to be allowed They will inyolve
a considerable amount of money probably
So.vO.O0o. although no definite estimate Of
this can be made now.
linen there is a~remarkable increase in
the number of new applications for pen-
sions. For instance, in the last six months
Of the fiscal year of 1886 the applications
under the general law were 15.an. whiIs
IN one month alone in 1897, the month of
June. they were 1S16S. The applications
Under the act of June "a, 1890 for six
months in 1S9G were 10.S65 and for the
month of June, 1897, were %, COL"
hat occasioned such a marked i'm
crease i'm the applications?"
well, while 1 have no psychological
communication with the old soldiers 10
determine what moved them I'm the mat
ter. 1 think could make pretty good
surmise. l guess some of the boys had
been holding of under the last administre-
ton from applying for pensions, conclud-
iEg that they would rather trv tha;r
chances or getting their applications grant,
ed with a republican administration After
the wholesale onslaughts which had been
mace upon the pension rolls by the demo-
cratic administration not much encourage
ment was held out to the veterans IN mn,
in their claims.
More than that. however. I believe that
thousands of applications We're the result
of the hard tines through which the conn
try had been passing and now. happiIy
over. Men who were just as worthy of a
pension as any on the rolls had refrained
from making application for il as long as
they were In good circumstances, but when
bankruptcy came, and the pinch of poverty
was felt, pride could hold them back no
longer.
Does Not Look for a DeAcft.
AS to the outlook for a deficit in the
revenues of the government for the year."
continued Col. Eyars "as I said before /
do not think such a condition will material
ize. II is true that the receipts from Gus
toms for the month of August the first
month of the operation Of the Dingley law,
fell below the normal. but that was taken
into consideration in the estimates Of the
makers of the bill.
"The appraisers of customs in New York
tell me the warehouses are piled high with
imports that were brought in under the
Wilson act, in anticipation of the higher
protective duties of the Dngley bill. Nat
uraly, these anticipatory importations
caused a falling OF in the customs receipts
for the month of August.
Il see by the treasury statement that
the receipts from customs for August were
s69S7. 102.s4, while for the same month
last year the receipts were Sl2.329. 1855.
importatiols. hut The same thing happened
when the Mckinley bill went into effect.
Revenues VIII Soon Increase.
But that great volume of imports viii
soon be worked on and the receipts Will
begin to pour into the treasury again. The
earning capacity Of a great multitude
makes business. and business will soon
begin to absorb the importations as well
as the products OF our own mills. These
two million idle men have started to work
and are earning money. Storekeepers all
over the country are laying in large stocks
of goods, and men are consuming more be-
cause they have work and money.
That question of consumption enters into
the whole economy OF government and
people. Last year the price OF wheat went
down, did it not? Well men were living
on cornmeal, on potatoes. on cheap cereals,
and there was no demand for wheat. But
Eow they are going back to hot biscuits
and wheaton bread and the price of wheat
goes up.
"As business improves and money goes
the revenues will increase. There
will naturally be consumption of foreign
goods upon a larger scale. and the farmers
of the Dingley bill have made IL so that
while these imports will bring money into
the treasury. thew will not hurt our own