Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1897-03-22

another law, passed in July, 1890, turn
ed into the treasury as a part of the
general assets to be used for paying
expenditures a trust fund of more than
So, 100000, which belonged to the ma
tional banks and had always been held
for the redemption of their notes.
Even before the Harrison admins
tration ended" says Mr.. Wilson, we
should have been confronted with a
large deficiency, but for the use of this
trust fund. and the further fact that
Secretary Foster, by change of book
keeping. added TO the treasury balance
twenty millions of token and subsid-
larry coin. not before treated as a treas
ury asset. With these extraordinary
additions. even, we wound up the fiscal
year. June so. 1898, with a surplus Of
only S2341.674. as against a surplus
for the fiscal year, June 80, 1890, of over
$50. 600. Geo. before the above trust fund
and subsidiary coin were touched. And
during the fiscal year ended June 80,
1894. through all of which the McKin-
ley bin was in force, expenditures eX-
ceeded the revenues TO the amount Of
500 E03.26l. Notwithstanding the fact
that the expenditures of the govern
ment were S15.952,674 less than in the
preceding year
These. by the way, are few import
ant and valuable statistics bearing on
the matter that President Mckinley
found it convenient TO overlook in his
message.
This statement Of Mr. Wilson, shows
how absurd and groundless is the claim
constantly made by monopoly organs,
taat recent deficits in f2yenue are due
20 the substitution of the existing tariff
for the Mckinley bill Nothing is
more certain than that if the Mckinley
bill had been in force during the last
three years the annual deficit would
have been immensely swollen, while
the people in a season Of depression
and hard times would have staggered
under much heavier burdens of taxa
tion. Even in this disastrous period,
customs duties under the existing law
have increased from less than S192,000,-
eco i'm 1894. the last year of the McKin-
ley bill. to even S152 100000 in 1895,
and to over $3.50 600 in 1896. In the
sugar schedule alone the balance in
favor of the existing law is about
S55.C00.0C0. The customs revenue
reached nearly $4,000, OO0 scarcely any
of which would have been receivable
under the Mckinley bill, and under
that bin we would have been paying
$15.COO.C0O in bonds Mr.. Wilson
makes these suggestions:
With the accumulated moneys i'm the
treasury We really need no new imposition
OF tlNt~ Ou the people TO conduct us 10 SUI
fcitut revenue or even "a comfortable sur
plus II W. will only invite back prosperity
by giving stability 20 business and reduce
Expenditures by a few obvious reforms.
I'm the POstotiice Department alone saw
ing OF from ten 90 twenty millions annu-
ally can be made 10y q few simple improve
m,nts u the business organization Of the
department and the withdrawal Of facii-
tics which the postal service was never IN
tended Co provide and which force II 20
90 tWo-thiUCS OF its work Tor less than
oue-thir,ieth OF its income.
This would be the true. the wise and
the honest way of meeting the def
cheney. and as all our great statesmen
in the past would have met it-by addi-
tional economy in expenditure. But
things are different in these days of
spendthrift Republicanism. And, fur
thermore, and most important to the
administration of all considerations,
Mr.. Wilson's method would not pay the
enormous debt the grand old party of
high moral ideas owes the trusts and
monOpOlies