Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-11-18
|FE EDERAL FINANCES,
REMARKABLE PROSPERITY on
UNCLE SAM II REcEsr
YEARS.
COST OF WAR WITH SPAIN.
Estimates of officials Make 1t About
seoo,ooo.ooo.
CONDITION OF THE TREASURY.
Cash Balance ssse,421,s7s-Gold
Holding. seoe,sos,127, Next to the
LarEes. AMOUNT of tho yellow
Metal Ever Possessed by any
Country In the worId-Money In
Circulation Vow, sseo,s1e,5so.
OF THE TREASURY.
Circulation Now, ssso,s1e,oeo.

/ WASHINGTON D. c.. November H.
has paid for foreign war. that with
Spain; has bought and paid for the islands
Ill the Pacific and Atlantic oceans; has
carried on war in the Philippines at an
enormous cost; has Increased its army to
more than double, ard the navy prnpor>
t1onateiy: has erected public buildings
tall aver tile country at immense GOSH
spent millions on its rivers and barbors.
and is bettec off financially than it was
before the war. How many millions th4
war with Spain and the ensuing operas
| tons and acquisition of territory cost js H
matter largely Of opinion as no separata
/ books were ever kept 70 tell the story.
| Estimates of officials ana politicians have
| varied, bat the lowest figures are In tha
neighborilood of s6tn. .0OO,oGo. Therefore.
/ Uncle Sam has paid cut OF his pocket In
| five years the enormous sum OF money
| mentioned, mere than half a billion. and
| Is financially better off than he was be-
| fore, with millions of shining gold. and q
credit that is better than that of any other
nation In the world. While mis- citizens
nave grown ricner and more prosperous
| he has likewise had prosperity despite
| extraordinary expenditures on q sigaEaio
| scale. When he undertook a struggle with
| Spain he puzzled himself d great deal
| to tell Just how badly he would be In
/ debt when he got through EIe issued
! Slss,eO 900 of bonds and spent the money.
/ he increased TAXATION, but IL a few yearS
was getting along SO well that he knock
I a y .Jrl1b bo+vr fn
/ buy back his own bonds;
| The condition of the Treasury COM
/ rared To five Years ago is L matter OF
! deep concern and interest to millions OF
| !eople besides the students of finance.
/ On the last day OF October. 1885, six
months before the outbreak of the war
1 with Spain. the total interest-bearing
/ debt of the United States was sSi7, ,365. 500.
/ This included registered and coupon
| bonds of all descriptions The debt bear
/ ing no interest, for which there was no
/ trust fund. was S3?9.623,530 consisting
| mainly OF Cn.teI States notes. The cash
balance in the Treasury. including small
deposits in nationl bank repositories. was
| SlVs, !06030 Including the gold reserve OF
100000 600, The total s207. 1856 0g9. United
States Treasurer Roberts felt even then
/! that the Treasury was comfortably well
! off with $500, 3S7, ,256 of gold, which included
| the Sl00. 100000 gold reserve.
A Wonderful Story.
Comparing these figures with those OF
Oetoher 81. 1902. wonderful story is un-
folded The Understanding Gebt, despite
the issue of $685. 900. 600 in war bonds, re-
dueed by bond purchases almost wholly
during the term of Secretary Gage. stands
at S915, $40, go, increase of S1 254 010: but
n his cash account Uncle Sam Is so much
better Off than he was five years ago that
he could pay off this increase easily and
bxU ma MILL of
cash, more than he had when his bonded
debt was SSt7, ,365. $50 His available cash
balance October 81, 1902, was S206, Al. .SIa.
| independent of the gold reserve. There-
| fore, in respect TO cash on hand. the Trea-
sury is about s99, OOO 600 better off han five
years ago, md only S1,264.010 worse off
in respect to bonded Indebtedness. But
even this favorable showing in a cash
balance does not really represent the
financial achievements of the government.
The gold reserve five years ago stood at
s100G00,Oo0 Since the Spanish war it has
been increased to t50,G00,000. Five years
ago, when the gold reserve was included
with the cash balance. the total was s2Gl..
'56,099 Including the gold reserve to-day
as IS done in the monthly debt statement
the cash balance OF the Treasury is the
nugc sum of S356.421. SIS an increase IN
cash holdings over five years ago OF about
81 ID. GG6,G0. more than twice enough to
The debt bearing no interest Octomer 81.
1887. was s3I9, 62:3,5aG, and on the corre-
spending date of this year s39S. 312. $40, an
unimportant increase.
Gold and Silver.
Treasurer Roberts's gold holdings dvs
years ago are insignificant compared to
the mass of gold now in the Treasury.
The gold holdings now amount to $685.
29S 1T. divided as follows: Gold reserve,
n IL. r-nI cot hold nc rrt,- f,,rS}
FOR the redemption of an equal amount
CT gold certificates. s367, ,07S $50; gold coin
and bullion in the general fund. subject ].
to warrants. sS9. 220,5os. In tine yellow
metal the Treasury has more than dou-
bled its acquisitions, and now holds next
to the largest amount OF gold ever pos-
sesssd by any country IN the world
In silver. the Treasury is NOT as well off
it was five years ago. for which te is
doubtless profoundly thankful. October
j, 1891. the total amount OF silver in ths
Treasury was s5GS 3o1. 943 consisting OF
dollars, s3925I., ,0t5; subsidiary coin, s1t,-
ISL. .6IS: silver bullion. $40, ,s5ss51- The to-
tai silver October 81 1902 was S503 aSS1 474
made up as follows: Silver dollars $is7.
::22, 600, silver dollars of 1850 ST. 2S9 $685. bui.
lion, of 1880, s2i. $50. sci: silver dollacs ia
the general fund. s5Ss664: bullion in the
same fund s2,6I5. .212. fractional silver SS
700, sos 1t is noticed that the amount OF
ago was over siooeoo.og0 while IL Is now
little more than 100000.
Money in circu1ation.
The increase In the amount of money In
circulation is also of interest. The cer-
5iheates and notes IN circulation Ave years
ego amounted to $3.50 1888. while the to-
tai is now $3.50 SCI. .5s9. The increase is
largely In gold certificates
National banks have increased treil
circulation by Il large amount In ths
course of the ive years. and now have
over si50. .e00.o00 in currency more than for
she same time five years ago. October
3d. 1907 the national banks had In circu.
iatton ssS0. .a34 OF notes <3as 3so $40 being
secured by bonds. and the remainder by
lawful money. For the sanna period In
iss' the total circulation was $50 isa .i5.
OF which s227. $50 was secured by bonds.
and the remainder by lawful money. This
gives q fair tdea of the powerful growth &
OF national banks. and their ability to exc
pand their circulation when there IS =
demand for money.
Deposits In hanks.