The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-02-25
OJR RESOURCES
for All Requirements of War.
Cougrs ssman Do~kery Gives Some Inter
estipg Facts and Figures


Washington Post, February 2I.)
THE late civil war called into exis-
tence a stupendous military establish
ment,' said Representative Dockery,
| Of Missouri, yesterday. The govern
| ment laid the burdens OF taxation in
all constitutional directions 20 meet the
| enormous expenditures to the prosecu-
| ton of the war. From the 1st Of July,
| 1861, to the Goth Of June, 1866. h act
| ual outlay of the national. treasury was
| g 1878, 1S9, STA t~heordinary income of
| the government for the same period
| having been but 81, 321, 05s, 1872. That
Is to say, notwithstanding that extra
| ordinary taxes were levied to supple
| ment the ordinary revenues, the treas
ury income was insufficient by s., 522,-
| 131, 084.33 TO meet expenditures. The
revenues derived from u5tOlnS were
increased during the period to which
/ have averted by increasing taxation
from an average IF 1884 per cent. ON
dutiable goods fy~aS1 to an average of
| 1913 per ent internal revenue and
| direct taxes were invoked to aid the in
| come arising from customs in meeting
| the heavy demands upon the treasury.
| A tax was also imposed on home manu-
| features, which yielded a large annual
revenue. A tax was also evied upon
| incomes to relieve the stringent treas
| ury situation. The income tax added
to our in 1866 $72, 600, 600,
which was paid by 46O,171 persons.
| congress also levied taxes on the re-
| ceiptS of railroad companies, insurance
| companies, and express companies.
| Banks were also required to aid the
| government by taxes, which We're col
| lected on their capital, deposits, and
| checks. The national Income being
still inadequate to meet the liabilities
| of the war, congress authorized the is
| sue of bonds to meet the hen ever-in-
| creas.ng deficiency. Many of the bonds
were sold for ~greenbacks at 40 to 60
| cents on the dollar, measured by a coin
standard. 1t is obvious, therefore,
from this exhibit, taken from official
reports, that the government secured
the larger part of the income to main
tain it's armies in the field by the sale
Of bonds authorized by various acts of
| congress from 1862 to 1865"
PREsENTAVAILABE RESOURCES.
Referring to the financial resources
of the government available for war
uses, and the probable methods the
government would employ now to raise
money in the event OF war, MIR. Dock
cry continued as follows:
THE government had, on Saturday
evening, an available cash balance in
, the treasury of 1925, G17 ,G32.19. This
treasury balance, exclusive Of the
$500, 900, 600 gold reserve, is available to
meet ALL treasury liabilities. In the
event gold reserve should be trenched
upon, the resumption act Of January
IA, 1875, authoriZs the secretary of the
treasury to issue coin bonds to main
tain resumption. This is the only law
now authorizing the issue of bonds,
the president might invoke its aid
to maintain the gold reserve, and by
the existing treasury construction the
money thus procured from the sale of
bonds could be used to meet current
expenses after having once performed
redemption functions. Should war be
declared, however, the president would
not be required to thus secure money
by what seems to me to be a pernicious
treasury construction. Congress would
at once provide the treasury with an
| ample income, as it did from 1861 to
| 1865, by taxing, if necessary, u
! lures, express insurance
| companies, banks, and other owners of
| wealth., and by granting authority to
the secretary OF the treasury to issue
bonds, and thus supplement any de-
| ficiency in revenues not met by these
| extraordinary methods of taxation.
The only income the national treasury
| enjoyed during the war period which
+! could not now be awaited OF would be
the revenue derived from the tax upon
incomes. The recent decision of the
! supreme court having declared such
taxation to be unconstitutional, the
| people woul be compelled to maintain
the army and navy without any aid
from a tax upon incomes. l wholly
| dissent from the justice OF that Opin-
ion of the supreme court, but h epeOple
| of this country will maintain nat
ional honor and uphold our flag even
though the holders of unproductive
| capita escape their just share of the
burdens of government.
MILITARY AND NAVAL EQUIP
MENT.
IF war should come, the resources
of the republic will be ample to meet
it's liabilities without the hardships of
taxation entajiled by the civil war.
Then Our people were ~estranged and
divided; now they are united and ready
to contribute whatever may be essen
tia1 to uphold the dignity and n of
the nation, either upon land or sea.
Since the civil strife our population
has more than doubled; the mileage of
railroads more than trebled; all our in
dustries have multiplied greatly, and
the national wealth now reaches the
mighty total of more thar $40, 900, 000,-
900. Our financial resources, therefore,
are fully adequate to meet all the pos
sible requirements which war might
entail upon the treasury. Our army,
it is true, is but a skeleton army, con-
sisting of but $1,000 men, but that
army would swell to millions upon the
call of congress and the president. Our
new navy, while not so powerful as the
navies of England, Germany, and other
| great European powers, as yet fOrml-
| dable, and if the occasion arises, will
prove a worthy successor of the old
time navy The superb onduc OF
! Captain Sigsbee, amid the awful hor-
rors incident to the destruction of the
| battleship Maine, shows that the valor
of our seamen IS not d~ecadent.
Since 1883 a authorized
| the construction of seventy sever war
| vessels, at a cost of 1874, 439, 101.1 Six
| teen of the vessels have not yet been
| completed. The vessels authorized
/ since 1888 are as follows: