The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-09-16
X comranrsor.

There is suggestion of profit in ex-
 amining the condition, of the Treasury
 at the incoming and the outgoing or
 tine two Democratic administrations
 which the country has enjoyed since the
 Civil War. The Republicans in their Chicago platform of this year have not
 one word to say of economy in public expenditures. They do not with all
 their boosting pretend they have been prudent in spending the people, s
 money and they carefully refrain from
 making any promises for the future.
 The same singular omission is notice-
 able in Roosevelt's letter of accept
 arce. ,...
 When Arthur turned over the Gov
 ernment to Cleveland in 1885. the books
 for the current fiscal year ending June 30. showed the receipts had been $323,-
 eso, 7os: the total expenditures s26O,22S.- ss6. with a surplus of s63,46s,77o. Cleve- lands last year of his first term show ed receipts amounting to $3S1, 1,05O,OoS, expenditures of s2S1, ,996,615, making a surplus of s105.O53,44s. The surplus had been steadily mounting during the fcur years the Democrats were in power at the White House, and it will be remembered that it was the huge sums so manifestly exacted wrongfully from the people that were made the basis of the Presidents famous tarin reform message of 1887.
 During four years of Republican ad- the surplus dwindled, go- ing down fin 1891 to $37,2s9,762 and in 1892 to S9,914,453 and three months af- ter Cleveland's induction into office it had descended to the alarming amount of only $2,34l,674.. Mir. Cleveland had left to General Harrison in 1889, to- tai of available funds $2S0,S4S,916.12. General Harrison left MT. Cleveland in 1893, in total available funds, s62,45e,- 575.1s. It is we'll knownvsecretary Fos- ter was making ready to issue bonds in the winter of 1ss2-93, in order to save the gold standard.
 We have had eight years more of rule and extravaganza and in the face of enormous appropriations, so enormous that the billion dollar Congress of Reed seems a modest one in comparison and at the same time the fl, st two months of the current fiscal year show a deficit of $24,000,d00.
 What is the remedy proposed? Of course, the Republicans think the true remedy, is to retain them in power and the actual plan as suggested by Sec retary Shaw Is to raise the rates of the tariff schedule still higher to get more revenue. This unquestionably is what will be done if the party is successful They never touch the tariff but to raise 1t and nothing can be more certain than that still another raise will still fur ther diminish the receipts from the customs and all the more certainly swamp the finances of the Government; ; unless. indeed, they turn about and seek new sources of internal revenue. It would be one of the ironies of fate if the Democrats should be confronted after success in November with the ne- cessity of bringing order out of the dis order engenlered by Republican mal- administration and be compelled to ad- dress themselves to the task aided by a big deficit. Thanks to MT. Cleve- lands courageous honesty in 1893, nev- CT again will there be a need to pre- serve the country's honor by preserving the medium for the payment of the debts.