The Washington weekly post., 1900-12-04


| Nicaragua. with Ecuador. with the Do
natnioan Republic. with Great Britain on
behalf OF the island of Trinidad. and
with Denmark on behalf OF the island OK
81. Croix. These viii be early cOnmuni-
Gated 10 the Senate. Negotiations with
| other governments are IN progress for
| the irrlurovernent and security Of our COM
| mercial relations.
The policy Of reciprocity so manifestiy
| rests upon the principles OF International
equity and has been 50 repeatedly ay-
proved by the people 9f the United statss
| that there ought to~be no hesitation IN
| either branch of the Congress IN giying
| TO 1t full effect.
This government desires TO preserve the
| most Just and amicable commeISial fe-
lations with all foreign countries. IN
moved by the Industrial rivalries neces-
| s;.rily developed in the expansion OF IN
ternationai trade. II Is believed that the
| foreign governments generally entertain
| the same purpose, although IN svioe IN
stances there are ciamorous demands
upon them for legislation specihcaliy nos
| tile to American interests. should these
demands prevail l shall eomnluhiease
with the Congress with the view OF ad-
vssing such legislation as may be neces-
| Sary 20 meet the emergency.
Radaio Exposition.
The exposition OF the resources and
prcducts of the western hemisphere, 10
be held at Buffalo next year, promises
| in,portant results not only for the United
States, but for the other participating
| countries. Ii Is gratifying tnat the
| I.atin-Anerican states have evineed the
| Iiveliest interest, and the fact that an IN
| ternational American congress viii pe
| held Ia the City of Mexico while the ex-
position is N progress encourages the
hope of a larger display at Bunaio tnah
| might otherwise be practicable Inc
work of preparing an exhibit of orr ma
| tIonal resources is making saustac'ory
progress under the direction OF dlIerehs
officials of the Federal government anu
the various States Of the Union haNe
shown a disposition toward the most hV-
eral participation in the enterprise.
The Bureau Of the American hepup:ics
| continues to discharge, with the nappiest
| results, the important WORK OF pionotihs
| cordial relations between tie United
/ Statss and the Latin American countries
all of which are now active members OF
the International Union. The bureau has
| been instrumental in bringing about the
| agreement for another internauonii
| American congress, which Is TO meas IN
| the City of Mexico in october, Isol. Ie
| bureaus future for another term or ten
| years is assured by the international CON-
| pact but the congress will doubtless nav.
| hucS to do with shaping new lines oil
/ work and a general policy. Its usefulness
TO The interests of Latin-Amerean tiaue
| Is widely appreciated and shows Sratl-
| flying development.
| Emcient Consular Service.
The practical utility of the consular SER
vice in obtaining a wide range of infor-
| nation as 20 the industries and COM
| merce of other countries and tie oppor-
| tunities thereby afforded for introducing
| the sale of our goods have kept steadily
| in advance of the notable expansion OF
our foreign trade. and abundant evidence
| has been furnished, both at home and
| abroad. of the fact that the consular re-
ports, including many from our diDio-
| matte representatives, have TO consid-
cradle extent pointed out ways and means
of dispcsing of a great variety OF manu-
| factured goods which otherwise might nct
have found sale abroad.
| Testimony of foreign observers TO the
commercial efficiency of the consular
corps seems 10 be conclusive, and our
own manufacturers and exporters highly
l'appreciate the value of the services ren-
| dered, not only in the printed reports, but
| also in the individual efforts OF consular
! officers to promote American trade. An
| increasing part of the work Of the Bu-
re2u of Foreign Commerce, whose FRI
mary duty 1t is 10 compile and print the
| reports, is to answer inquiries from trade
organizations, business houses, sc, as &c
conditions in various parts of 'he world
and notwithstanding the smallness OF the
force employed, the work has been so
| systematized that responses are mace
with such promptitude and accuracy as
| TO elicit flattering encomiums. The ex-
! pertinent of printing the cons s1lar reports
daily for immediate use by trade bodies.
| exporters, and the press, which was be-
gun in January. 1898, continues to give
| general satisfaction.
Large Surplus Revenues.
It is gratifying to be able to state that
| the surplus revenues for the fiscal year
ended June 60 1900, were s79, ,527 0601s. For
| the six preceding years We had only def
icits, the aggregate of which from 1894 TO
1899. inclusive, amounted to S2S3 OF, ,99l. Il
The receipts for the year from all sources
exclusive of postal revenues, aggregated
S567, ,240, ,S51S9, and expenditures for all pur-
poses, except for the administration of
| the postal department. aggregated $751;
| 7l3 791.7l. The receipts from customs were
$233, ,16f, ,S7116, an increase over the preced-
ing year OF 81, ,036, H. The receipts from
internal revenue were $295, ,327, ,926.76, an in
| crease Of 81, $50, 2 over 1899. The re-
| ceipts from miscellaneous sources were
$3S 74S 05397, as against s36, ,394, 92 for the
| previous year.
1t is gratifying also to note that during
| the year a considerable reduction is shown
in the expenditures Of the government
| The War Department expenditures for the
fiscal year 1900 were $134, ,774.7S7.7S. a reduc-
| ton of $95, ,O66, 500 over those of 1899. In
the Navy Department the expenditures
were 55,953.O172 for the year 1900 as
against ss3,942 10425 for the preceding
year, a decrease of s7.Ss90e653 In the
expenditures on account OF Indians there
was a decrease In 1900 over 1893 of $780,
6043S; and In the civil and miscellaneous
expense for 1900 there was reduction Of
| $13, AIS, ,065.74.
Because Of the excess OF revenues over
/ expenditures the Secretary OF the Treas
ury was enabled to apply bonds and other
securities TO the sinking fund to the
amount OF S5S,544, $500. The details a. the
sinking fund are set forth in the report
OF the Secretary Of the Treasury, to which
1 invite attention. The Secretary OF the
| Treasury estimates that the receipts for
| the current fiscal year Will aggregate
4 $50 600 and the expenditures 500 O0O. .OO0
| leaving an excess OF revenues over ex-
/
penditures Of $A6000.000 The present con-
ditiOn Of the Treasury is one OF undoubt-
| ed strength. The available cash balance
/ November 80 was s139, ,303. 1870 Under the
| form OF statement prior 10 the financial
/ law of March II last there would have
! been included in the statement OF avail
/ able cash gold coin and bullion held for
the redemption of United States notes.
II this form were pursued, the cash
/ balance, including the present gold re-
/ serve OF fI5o,g0.o0. would be S2ss.-
! aS.7si.5G Such balance November %. iSss
was SZS6, fs5. .3gi.55. In the general fund
which is wholly separate from the reserve
/ and trust funds, there was on November
| 80, 1909, 073i5 IN gold coin and bullion, 10
| which should be added s22, ,S57, go in gold
I certificates subject 20 issue, against
| which there Is held IN the division OF re-
| demPtion gold coin ana bullion, making
/ a total holding of free gold amounting To
I 1S3.0f7. .313l5.
II VIII be the duty. as I am sure II will