Evening star., 1898-12-31
Increase in Balance Compared With
Last January.
HEAVY EXPENDITURES OF TIE YEAR
Proceeds of War Loan and Reye-
nue. Bill.
INCREASED GOLD SUPPLY


closed today at the Treasury Department.
The year has witnessed larger expenditures
for the civil and military establishment than
| at any time since the civil war, but closes
| with more money in the Treasury than
| when the year began. The cash balance
| on January 1, 1S3S. was $685. 474, ,169. The
| amount is now about s290,000,000. The
| increase has come from the issue of 3 per
| cent bonds and the proceeds of the new rev.
| enue law, which more than covered the ex-
penses of the Spanish war. The entire pro-
| ceds of the loan up to the present time have
| been s199.09S, 119. .The remainder of about
| 81 100000 will be paid in small installments
| within a short time. The new revenue law
has added about $50 600. coo to the revenue
| from old laws. This war fund has amount
| ed, therefore, to about $500, 900 up to
the present time, while the actual expendi-
| lures on account of the war have been
| about $3.50 900 900.
| This discrepancy between the excess of
| war revenue over war expenditures and the
| actual increase In the cash balance during
| the year is due partly to the failure of the
| old laws to cover ordinary expenditures
| upon peace basis. and partly to the con-
| fusion introduced into the accounts by the
| settlement of the Pacific railway indebted
| neSs. The actual expenditure on account of
| the war is obtained by deducting from the
! drafts of the War and Navy Departments
| since March 1 of the present year the
| amount OF the warrants uraWn during the
| corresponding months of 1897. The differ
| ence represents approximately the increase
| in expenditures caused by the war. The
| total drafts of the War Department since
| March ! to December 30 have been S194, ,O52.-
| 431, and the excess of these drafts over the
| same period of 1897 has been S144 ,603, ,5o7.
| The navy drafts for the same time have
| been ST. S:t3, 496, which is an excess of
| $i4 T64 over the expenditures of 1897.
] The combined amounts thus indicated for
war and navy exLenditures on account of
| the war are s1SS, 734, 271. This is subject to
| an additional item of about $5.000,000 on ac-
| count of large river and harbor drafts in
1897. which were not duplicated in 1898,
which went to swell the figures for July of
| the earlier year and diminish the apparent
difference on account of war expenditure.
Actual expenditures for the war, therefore,
| UP TO the present time stand at about
| $194. 900. 900. This amount would nearly
absorb the proceeds of the per cent bonds,
| but would leave the proceeds of the new
| revenue law as an addition to the available
| funds of the treasury.
Increase of Receipts.
| The customs receipts and the internal
| revenue alike have shown marked i'm
| provement during the second half of the
| year. The friends of the Dingley bill will
| be able to claim with some degree of con-
| fidence that the measure will soon afford
| a sufficient revenue for ordinary expendi-
lures, upon the peace basis prevailing be-
| fore the Spanish war. The customs re-
ceipts which reached a maximum during
| the first half of the year of only S14 800, 729
| in June, have never been less than S15 ,Go0-
600 per month, and have three times been
above SIG. 600 900
The customs receipts for December will
J be about $1I,0000G0 and will raise the total
| for the calendar year to Sill, 900. About
| $3.50, 600 a month of the customs revenue
has been derived since June from the new
| duty on tea. but this would not reduce ma
aterially the favorable showing on behalf
Tf
receipts. which We're below s13, 100000 up to
| April, have not been less than S21 900 900
| during any month since June, and will be
| about s22.500GG0 for December. The pro-
ceeds of the old internal revenue laws may
fairly be stated at an average of about S13,-
100000 per month during the last six
months, which leaves an average of about
$10,0O0O00 per month from the new reve-
nue. law. The proceeds of the new law
have not been SO large this during a
part of this time, but the average is swell
ed by the large receipts of the first two
| months and the favorable showing for De-
cember.
Deficit in Receipts.
If war expenditures have been $194 900 600
and the new revenue law has covered $780,
0O0000 of this amount, the deficiency in
ordinary receipts would stand at S134 ,000,-
600. if previous laws covered the cost of the
peace establishment. The reported deficit
in receipts at the close of November was
$123, ,615 ,372, to which should be added the
proceeds of the Pacific railway settlements,
which were not a legitimate part of the
revenue from customs and internal taxes
The Pacific railway revenues We're S14,-
S41 401, which would carry the deficit in
ordinary receipts to $13s,456,77 If S134,-
O0O0O0 of this was properly chargeable to
the war, the actual deficit for twelve
months under the Dingley law would stand
at $4,i.6 1I3
All of this deficit was incurred during
ha txrirl nod
out in the future If the present high rate of
receipts continues. This calculation is
based, however, upon the ordinary cost of
the peace establishment before the Spanish
war. If a large increase is to be made in
the expense of the regular army the con-
struction of new ships and the fortification
of the Sulu and Philippine Islands, the old
laws VIII hardly be sufficient to cover the
requirements of the new policy upon which
the country has entered.
The New Revenue Law.
The new revenue law will furnish some
thing more than $100,0O0,000 year and
this may cover the expense of garrisons in
the dependencies 1t will hardly cover the
expense of permanent works unless either
the garrison expenses or the new works
can be charged against the revenue of thu
dependencies. 1t is not yet possible to de-
termine what this revenue will be or how
far it will go in covering the new demands
upon the treasury. 1t has been estimated
that about Slo,O00000 would be derived
from the West Indies and an equal sum
from the Philippines but new tariff reguIa-
tions are about to be put In force and the
expenses of local administration in the is
/ iands are still an undetermined factor
Growth of the Gold Reserve.
one of the striking features of the treas
ury situation during the year has been
the growth of the gold reserve. The re-
serve stood on January l at s16O911 546
The tendency of the reserve was almost
steadily upward during the year. in spite
of some reductions of the cash balance
during the spring. There was a marked
improvement in the payment of gold for
customs dues at the New York custom
house, which carried the percentage of gold
payments to % per cent in April and 13
per cent in May. The treasury became SO
surcharged with gold that the payment of
gold cCin was ordered at all of the sub
treasures, and great care was exercised
in the distribution of small notes. The
golden tide became torrent when the 1
per cent bonds were issued and the gold
S1S} Al. ia at the close of J,,Ix