The Portland daily press., 1898-04-27
CHAIRMAN DiNGLEYs REPORT.
Revenues Would Have Been All Right Blu
For War.

Washington, April 26.-Chairman
Dingley, of the ways and means COM
mittee, today submitted report to the
House with the war revenue bill. 1t is
in part as follows:
The precipitation on the United States
OF war with Spain has rendered it
necessary to Immediately provide ways
and means to meet war expenditures on
the scale demanded by modern naval and
military operations
There is no doubt that if present con-
| ditions bad continued the estimate of the
Secretary of Treasury that.the revenue
for the next fiscal year would reach
$3.50, 900. 000-excIusive of postal receipts
-S63, 0000, GOO, in excess of the revenue
for the fiscal year 1896, and more than
that sum in excess of what the revenues
for the next fiscal year 1897 would have
| been if it had not been for anticlpatory
| importances in the last four months OF
| the latter year to avoid the increased
duties of the new tariff would have been
more than realized; and these receipts
would have fully met the expenditures
for the next fiscal year if it had not been
| for the increase caused by the difficulties
with SPAIN inasmuch as the expendi-
lures for the fiscal year 1896. exclusive of
postal expenditures paid by postal reve-
nue., were only $3.50, 600, 600 and for the
| fiscal year 1897 only 1865, 900. 900.
| The destruction of the United States
| battIeship Maine in tho harbor of Ha-
| vana on the 10Th day of February last,
SO intensified the situation that Congress,
| few weeks thereafter, realized the neces-
sity of taking prompt measures to prepare
for any emergency and by joint resolution
| -4.xl e.. II 4
Tense. Upon the authority of this joint
resolution about $35, 900, 900 of this appro-
priation has already been pract icalIy
used, although payments have as yet been
made for only n part of this sum and
liabilities for the remainder of the appro-
Ration bill have been incurred within
two weeks.
An examination of the condition of the
Treasury will make it apparent that no
time should be lost in providing ample
ways and means for carrying TO sue
cessful conclusion the war in which we
are now engaged.
1t will be necessary in order to meet all
the expenditures under the $50, 900, 900
appropriation-all of which will have
been expended within few weeks-to
use $25, 100000 Of the Bank Redemption
Fund part of which must be replaced
before the close of the present calendar
year. AS the expenses of the prepara-
tions Tor Fdefense that have been going on
for nearly two months are at he rate of
$25, 000.0O0 per month or $500, GOO, 600
per annum and the expenses of actual
war will be much MORE your committee
are of the opinion that the necessities of
the country as well as the early success
full conclusion of the war call for such
ample provision both by taxation and
authority to llInake loans for means to
carry on naval and military operations
as will inlpress1 the great powers of Eu-
rope as well as Spain, with the conviction
that the people Of the United States are
united in the determination to prosecute
the war on a scale and with a vigor that
make prolongation Of hostilities useless.
| With this object in view, your commit
tee recommend the levying of internal
revenue taxes either on articles of volun-
tary consumption or ON objects that will
make such taxes fall mainly on persons
able to contribute to the national defense
which will in the aggregate yield from
| ninety to one hundred millions of addit-
| ional annual revenue.
| The report then enumerates the differ
emit articles to be taxed and the estimate
| heretofore published of the amount of
revenue to be derived and continues:
| These are all international revenue
war taxes that can be collected by the
existing internal revenue officials, slight
L q
pense, and with the minimum distur-
bance of trade, although they are all taxes
which are unwelcome and which it
would not have been necessary, to impose
| if war had been avoided.
! While all of the additional taxes are
war taxes which would be naturally re-
pealed or modified, when the necessities
of the war and the payment of war ex-
penses have ceased. yet it is impossible
now to place limit on them not only
| for the reason that no one can intelligent
| " forecast the length of the war, but also
for the reason that war always brings
train of extraordinary expenditures which
do not terminate with the close of the
actual hostilities. 1t is evident that it
will be necessary in order to maintain
the public credit, not only to raise the ad-
ditional revenue provided by the accom-
panying bill, but also to authorize the
Secretary to borrow on the credit of the
government from time to time as the pub
lie necessities will require.
| We have given therefore, authority to
issue and sell not exceeding $500, 600 600
of 1920, three per cent coin bonds to be
offered as popular loan believing as
we do that such bonds viii be taken from
time to time by the masses of the people.
| We have fixed ten years as the period
after which the bonds authorized may be
redeemed at the pleasure of the United
|
necessary to do this inorder to secure sub
scriptions at par for the later issues, but
also because the fact that the 500, 900, 600
| five per cent loan of 1904 and the large
four per cent loan of 1907 would ineyi-
tably .be paid or refunded by the govern
| ment before three per cent bond would
be redeemed, makes bond that can he
redeemed at the end of ten years as de-
sirabie to issue as one that can be re-
deemed at the end of five years.
In view of the fact that it would be
necessary in very few weeks, before the
proposed war taxes can bring results and
before the loan authorized can be placed
to provide means to meet the rapidly
augmenting war expenditures authority
is given the Secretary of the treasury to
temporarily borrow money, in no case
exceeding one year, by the issue of three
per cent certificates of the Indebtedness
1t is important that the Secretary of the
Treasury shall have this authority in any
exigency thai may arise in the future.
Portland Daily Press Stock Qoutarions.
Corrected by Swan s. Barrett. Bankers. 1856
Middle street.
STOCKS.