The San Francisco call., 1898-02-22
Uncle Sam Has Got the Credit for the
 Game.
Some of the Ways in Which Revenues Could Be Increased If 1t Should Be Found
 Necessary.

NEW YORK, Feb. 21.-The Wash ington correspondent of the Herald sends the following: The successful prosecution of modern war depends as much on well-filled money chest as on a well-filled powder magazine Should the United States be plunged into war the taxpayers of the country would have to pay the bills, which would be even larger than they ought to be because the shortsight parsimony of Congress has prevented the army and the navy being put upon footing which would make such war quick and decisive.
 That the resources of the country would be equal to the strain, there can be no doubt. At the close of business in the Treasury to-day the net cash balance in the vaults amounted to $225,- 143,969. Of this amount s10O,0O0,0 900 con- stitutes the gold reserve held for the redemption of legal-tender notes, and the balance, or little over $125, 900, 600, would be quickly absorbed by extraord- mary expenditures which would be re- quired. The present average receipts Of the Government do not quite equal the average ordinary expenditures, and all extraordinary expenditures that would be necessitated by war would therefore have to be provided for in two ways-by increased taxation and by borrowing money. Increased taxes would doubtless be imposed by Con- gress without delay. The tariff law would have to be carefully revised to see just where and how additional rev enues could be derived from customs taxation. In some instances increases could be obtained by increasing duties, while in others where duties have al- ready been placed above the maximum revenue producing point for the pur- pose of protection increased revenue could only be obtained by reducing the rates imposed.
 Most of the increases would have to come from internal taxes however, and these would have to be very largely in- creased At present the principal sources of internal revenue are whisky, beer and tobacco. The tax on whisky is at present about the maximum reve- nue producing point and it is doubtful if the increase of this tax would in- crease the receipts appreciably, Beer does not pay as much as it ought to, even for peace times, and should war taxes become necessary there would be little difficulty in raising 0,000,0 more year by doubling or tripling the tax on beer. The policy of Congress for some years has been to decrease taxes on tobacco and to exempt from taxa tion some kinds of tobacco These taxes could be restored as a war meas ure and s15. .OOO, GOO or $2O, 100000 addi- tional could be raised from this source.
 Other millions could be raised by taxing proprietary medicines and other preparations of this character, including cosmetics and toilet articles, and still other millions could be brought in by stamp tax on legal and commercial papers. Still other taxes, such as an income tax or other form of direct taxation apportioned among the States in proportion to population so as to be constitutional, might be inn posed if necessity were urgent.
 At best these additional taxes would not yield enough money to meet the current expenses of war and to SUD- ply the ready money for the necessary outlays for procuring, while the war was in progress, the enormous SUD- plies of materials of all kinds which ought to have been provided gradually during the years of peace so as to be on hand for an emergency. They would be useful in raising money to pay a war debt after peace had been re- stored, but the great bulk of the money that would be required for the prose- cution of the war would have to be secured by borrowing.
 The credit of the United States is good in spite of the efforts of the Bryanites to break it down. and even with a foreign war on it's hand and conservative administration of the Treasury Department. it would be possible to borrow all the money needed