The evening times., 1898-12-31
The Treasury Heaped Up with
Precious Metal.
A Cash Balance on Hand of About
$3.50, 600, 900.
Large Expenditures for Civil and
Military EstabIishments-CO of
the Spanish War.

| ment than at any time since the Civil
War. but closes with more money in the
! Treasury than when it began.
The cash balance on January 1, 1898, was
S235, 474 769; the amount today is about
| s29O, 900 900. The increase has come from
the issue of three per cent bonds and the
| proceeds of the new revenue law, whlch
more than covered the expenses OF the
/ Spanish war.
The entire proceeds of the loan up to
the present time have been $l99 ,09S, ,fl9.
| The remainder of about $1,O0o,OOO will be
! paid in small installments within short
| time The new revenue law has added
/ about $50, ,000 600 to the revenue from OLD
! laws.
This war fund has amounted, therefore,
! to about $3.50 900, 600 up to the present
! time. while the actual expenditures on ac-
! count of the war have been about Slso,
| 000, 900.
| The 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 fall
ure of the old laws to cover ordinary ex-
| penditures upon peace basis and partly
! to the confusion introduced into the ac-
counts by the settlement of the Pacihc
Railway Indebtedness.
The actual expenditure on account OF
the war is obtained by deducting from
the drafts of the War and Navy De-
partments since March l OF the present
year the amount OF the warrants drawn
during the corresponding months OF 1897
The difference represents approximately
the increase in expenditures caused by the
war.
The total drafts of the War Department
from March | TO December 80 have been
| $194 052, i51. and the xecess of these drafts
over the same period of 1897 has been
s144 sos, 50T. The navy drafts for the same
time have been s72, ,S33. 1876. which is an eX-
cess of $44124, 764 over the expenditures
of 1897.
The combined amounts thus indicated
for war and navy expenditures on account
of the war are $1sS, 1884, ,271 This is sub
| iect to an additional item of about $4,000,
0O0 on account of large river and harbor
drafts in 1897 that 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 eH-
penditure.
Actual expenditures for the war, there
! fore up to the present time stand at about
| sl94 900 600. This amount would nearly
absorb the proceeds OF the per cent bonds
but would leave the proceeds of the new
revenue law as an aQdlIlon 10 tue aNaii-
! able funds Of the Treasury
The customs receipts and the internal
| revenue alike have shown marked i'm
/ proyement during the second half OF the
| wear 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 expsndi-
| lures upon the peace basis prevailing be-
! fore the Spanish war.
The customs receipts, which reached a
maximum during the first half OF the year
! of only S14, 500, 729 in June, have never
/ since been less than $4,000, 900 a month,
! and have three times been above $4,000,
! 0o0 The customs receipts for December
will be about s17. GOO coo, and will raise the
! total for the calendar year 10 SltI ,000, 900.
| About $3.50 900 per month of the customs
revenue has been derived since June from
| the new duty on tea. but this would not
reduce materially the favorable showing
on behalf of the Dingley law.
| The internal revenue receipts, which
were below $4,000, coo up TO April, have
not been less than s21 100000 during any
month since June. and will be about So,
/! 500. 600 for December.
The proceeds of the old internal revenue
! laws may fairly be stated at an average OF
about $13,500000 per month during the
| last six months, which leaves an average
| of about $10000.000 per month from The
new revenue law. The proceeds of the new
| law have not been so large as 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.
If war expenditures have been s194 600,
| 900, and the new revenue law has covered
| sec. .00O. 900 of this amount, the deficiency in
| ordinary receipts would stand at $134, 900,
~ 10 no
peace establishment. The reported deficit
| in receipts at the close of November was
| s123, ,372 to which should be added the
| proceeds of the Pacific Railway settle
| ments which were not legitimate part of
| the revenue from customs and internal
! taxes.
The Pacific Railway revenues were s14-
| S41. 4O1, which would carry the deficit In or
binary receipts to s1SS, ,456,773. If s134,
| 600 600 of this was properly chargeable to
| the war, the actual deficit for twelve
months under the Dingley law would stand
at $4,456,773.
All of this deficit was incurred during
| the first half of the year, and will be
wiped out in the future if the present high
| rate of receipts continues. This calcula-
| tion 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 construction of new ships and the for
! tification of the Sulu and Philippine Is
lands, the old laws will hardly be sufficient
| to cover the requirements of the new poE-
! cy upon which the country has entered.
The new revenue law will furnish some
| thing more than 500 000, 900 per year, and
| this may cover the expense of garrisons
| in the dependencies. 1t will hardly cover
| the expense of permanent works unless
| - orrcD fI,a
works can be charged against the revenue
| of the dependencies. 1t is not yet possible
| to determine what this revenue will be or
| how far it will go in covering the new de-
mands upon the Treasury.
| 1t has been estimated that about SIS
| 10000 would be derived from Cuba and
| an equal sum from the Philippines, but
new tariff regulations are about to be put
| in force and the expenses of local admins
tration In the islands are still an undeter-
| mined factor.
One of the striking features of the Treas
sury situation during the year has been the
| growth of the gold reserve. The reserve
stood on January / at s160 0,911, $40. The
| tendency of the reserve was almost stead
! lily upward during the year. in spite OF
some reductions of the cash balance during
| the spring. There was marked improve
ment In the payment of gold for customs
| dues at the New York custom house. which
| carried the percentage of gold payments tc
| SO per cent in April and 73 per cent in
| May.
| The Treasury became so surcharged with
| gold that the payment of gold coin was
ordered at all the sub-treasureies and
| great care was exercised in the distribu-
| tion of small notes. The golden tide be-
| came torrent when the 8 per cent bonds
were issued and the gold rose to $189, ,444,
| ia at the close of July. $217, ,904, ,4S4 at the
| close of AUGUST and s012 oQi 5A2 OF n1