The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-11-04
TREASURY DEFICIT
LOOMS IN VIEW
State of Affairs That Causes
Administration Leaders
Much Anxiety.
Globe Special Washington Service,

1417 q Street.
WASHINGTON, d. c., Nov. 3.-It IS
nv no means unlikely that, when the
presidential campaign opens next year,
the Republican administration VIII
have to shoulder the responsibility OF
treasury deficit. The Republican stump
orators in 1896 made much capltal out
of the fact that there had been del-
icit in the treasury almost constantly
during the last Cleveland admln1Stra-
ton. With the revival Of industry ana
trade which began in 1897, the 1mpor-
tations of foreign made goods in
creased the customs receipts were con-
seuuently larger, and the deficit in the
federal treasury was accordingly trans
formed into a surplus. The extraordl-
nary internal revenue taxes imposed on
account of the Spanish war were great
ly in excess of the needs of the occa-
sion, and for that reason-among oth-
ers-there was an enormous excess OF
government receipts over expenditures
in each year from 1898 to 1903.
Now the conditions in the United
States treasury have been all but re-
versed At the close of October-the
date which marked the end of the
first one-t third of the fiscal year 1904
the surplus was only about 100000.
Ontthe same date of last year the sur
plus was about $4,000, 000-and that
was a smaller amount than that of the
1901 surplus, for many of the war
taxes had been repealed.
Administration Leaders Worried.
There is little reason to believe that
the treasury situation will improve
IL g he, q
condition is seriously regarded by some
of the administration leaders A few
weeks ago, when Representative Can
non, who is to be speaker of the house,
announced that he should counsel eco
nomical appropriations at the coming
session of congress, many persons re-
fused to take the matter seriously.
They regarded the statement merely as
characteristic of Mr.. Cannon, whose
methods as head of the house commit
tee on appropriations were we'll known.
Within the last few days, however,
it has been made known among the
leaders of the administration that
policy of rigid economy in public ex
penditures is to prevail during the
coming session. The feeling is that
the administration cannot afford to go
into next years campaign with the
stigma upon it of a deficit in the ma
tfOnal treasury.
The expenditures of the current fiscal
year, however, will not be affected in
any way by the action of congress with
reference to appropriation bills. The
funds appropriated at the coming ses-
sion will not for the most part, be-
come available until the beginning Of
the new fiscal year on July l. 1904, and
a large part of the appropriations will
not actually be paid out of the treas
ury for many months after that
Shrinkaae in Customs Receipts.
The treasury officials are worried by
the decline in the customs receipts.
The importations of goods from abroad
are not smaller than last year, but the
somewhat singular circumstance ex-
lists that the dutiable imports have de-
creased considerably while the classes
of goods which are free of duty are
coming In larger quantities than ever.
The leaders of the senate finance COM
mittee and of the house ways and
means committee think it an especially
inopportune time to talk about tariff
revision, for revision would almost
certainly mean further decline in the
customs receipts. Yet the Republicans
are divided on the subject of tariff re-
vision. In Boston a few nights ago
Secretary of the Treasury Shaw adj
dressed a great political gathering.
The secretary is an anti-revisionist. 1t
happened, however, that Representa-
tive George P. Lawrence, of Massachu-
sets, presided at the meeting. He is
not only a revisionist but he had the
temerity to tell the audience so from
the same platform on which Mr.. Shaw,
the principal speaker of the evening,
was sitting.
Not only have the customs receipts
decreased during the last four months,
but the expenditures of the govern
ment have increased. In October alone
the disbursements of the government
were about $5,000,000 in excess of the
receipts, and about the same amount
in excess of the October expenditures
of last year. The deficit in the treas
ury for October was $5,044,786. The
surplus for the first one third of the
fiscal year dwindled in that month to a
meager $5S5,58S. The cash balance was
lower than it has been for long time
Exclusive of the funds deposited in
national banks the working balance"
in the treasury at the end of October
was only about 55,000,000. There has
been an unwritten rule among sue
cessive secretaries of the treasury that
this balance should never be allowed
to fall below $50,000,000.
Walter E. Clark.