The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1897-03-26
The Treasury Deficit-The Remedies.

In spite of all Secretary Carlise's prog
nostications to the contrary, the Treasury
deficit keeps right OH growing at all unpre-
cedented pace. For the seven months of
the present fiscal year, this shortage, due
to expenditures in excess of receipts of
money, is nearly $44, 1000, 900
The Republicans attribute this to the
present tariff law, and to the Democrats
who made that law. But they pretend to
forget that the deficit began under the
late Mckinley law, and before the Cleve-
land Administration went into office.
| No other reason has been generally
| assigned by Congressional advocates of
the present banking or usurer rule of our
Government.
Not word will these advocates, who
form the majority of Congress, listen to
about the real cause of the deficit They
at once frown upon and put their fingers
to their lips to urge silence the moment
another Congressman tries to explain that
this poverty Of resources is all the result
of currency and bank loan contraction of
the peoples money. They refuse to listen
to that for a moment, and desert the Con-
gressional floor the moment it is preached
in any seeming length.
Tariff Tariff Tariff is all these ig-
| norant advocates will see, hear, or think
of. Increase or decrease it, and the prob
lem is at once solved-to their mind.
They absolutely refuse to listen to any
thing else; except perhaps the rantings of
the usurers belonging to the Admnistra-
ton. who are now repeatedly crying out
that idiotic plea of, Get the government
out of the banking business "
Well, suppose the tariff is increased at
once. What will be the result? What
man can prove or party prove by any
known facts that this would help the
deficit today? 1t might or it might not.
1t is all guesswork. People might under
it import much less of foreign goods than
they now import. If so, where is the
increased revenue to come from? The
chances are that they would under it i'm
port less; because times are getting harder,
if anything; and people cannot consume
foreign goods so readily in hard times as
in good times hard times means the con-
sumption of larger quantities of cheap
goods, not expensive, imported goods
The issue is not raised here of the ad-
vantages or disadvantages of protection
by means of tariff. The issue is, "How
to meet the Treasury deficit"
The first way is to reduce expenditures
according to income.
The next is to impose internal taxes
sufficient to meet it.
The third and best way, is for this
Government to create business through
out the United States on large scale, by
means of putting the people in the way of
getting money to carry such business on
That is the whole secret of a solvent
Treasury in a nutshell.
There are statesmen in plenty in Con-
gress who understand, appreciate and ad-
vocate this third plan; but unfortunately
for the public's health, they are grievously
in the minority, and the county is now
being ruled by lot of Congressional ig-
noramuses-not counting those who get
rich by means of continued existence of
hard times.
The people cannot do business without
money. When will the average law
maker get that A B c fact into his head
And when the business of the people
cannot be carried on, because of no or
limited means to carry it on, Treasury
deficit is necessarily a foregone con-
clnsion, so long as expenditures are not
reduced to receipts.-Hem.