The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1908-06-18
The Governments Balance Sheet.


passed in the late session of Congress.
On the face of the figures the aggre-
gate appropriations were little over
S1,00O,OOO,000. But some of the ex-
penditure permitted here is theoreti-
cal only. BY a fiction of bookkeeping
$5S.0000C0 goes to the sinking fund.
which will not take a cent out of the
treasury. BY another fiction S223,-
100000 is charged TO the postal serv-
ice. As the Post Office almost pays
it's own way this appropriations will
take not more than SS.g90,0OO or S10,-
100000 out of the pockets of the peo-
pie. except through the stamps which
they pay for their mail Something
over S25,000,000 of the big total Will
go for the redemption of national bank
notes, another item that represents no
money that is TO be raised by taxa
ton. When these items are deducted
from the total, that big aggregate
shrinks into very much smaller pro-
portions than are carried ON the face
of the returns.
If the Democracy attacks some of
the other items in the appropriations
it will find that they are loaded. Some
of the increase over last years appro-
priatiOns are for pensions Now let
us see if the Democrats will assail
this outlay. Other expansions in out
go are for increased pay for the cOun-
try's soldiers and sailors, and for the
civil servants of. the government Is
any Democrat, either in the National
convention or on the stump, going to
condemn this increased expenditure?
The army and navy cost more now
than they did in Cleveland's days, but
sensible Democrats know that a great
many things have taken place since
then to make this increase inevitable.
They know that the Spanish war, the
acquisition of territory i'm the Gulf of
Mexico and in the Pacific, and the big
increase which has been made in the
armies and navies of the great ma
tions have not only justified this ex-
pansion on our part, but have made
it imperative. Sane Democrats will
not provoke the Republicans into tell
ing these elementary facts to the peo-
pie. A good deal of the extra ex-
that of a few years ago is due to the
Panama Canal Where is the Demo
crat who, either in Congress or in
Denver, will seriously propose that the
United States shall hand back the
canal zone to the Panama Republic
and step out Of the isthmus? To the
brash Democrat who may be tempted
in Denver or during the campaign to
charge that the Republican party is
a spendthrift, these items, and others
which can be cited, sound a warning
cry, DON'T"
For unwary Democrats there is dy-
Mantle in this balance sheet, as they
will discover if they tamper with it.
There is trap, too, for the reckless
Democrats who may be tempted TO
use promiscuously some treasury fig
pres which will be published in all
the newspapers of the country to-
day. These figures will say that for
the eleven months just ended of the
fiscal year 1908 the governments in
come fell S63,OOO0O0 short CT its out
CO. But the shortage Is due wholly,
or almost wholly, TO the business set
back which cut down the revenues.
The governments receipts for the
eleven months were $JG,O00.O00 less
than those for the corresponding time
i'm the previous year. Had the finan-
cial scare, and the consequent BUSH
ness reverse, been ayerted the rev.
enues would not only have not fallen
off but they would have increased.
and there would have been no deficit
for the eleven months, or, If there
had been any, it would have been SO
small as not to be noticeable. The
Democrat who may base big general
izations on this deficit for the past
eleven months may easily run up
against disaster. A few days after his
nomination in ST. Louis in July, 1904,
poor Parker predicted that there
would be n deficit of more than $780,
JOO,OUO lOE tut ilSttil Ntdl NniCu lisiu
just begun. The actual deficit turned
ont to be S23,OO0,OO0. and then came
surpluses The fate of that unfor-
tunate parsonage should deter the
Democrats who may be tempted to
try the role of soothsayer in this ex-
igency. Business is improving. and
with this Improvement will come an
increase in the governments rev.
enues. If, as is probable, we have an
average crop in the great staples this
year, big impetus will be given to
general trade. If, as Is also extremely
probable, the Republicans carry the
country In November, the deficits
DAYS will be numbered. All the indi-
cations point to an early return of
Republican prosperity, ard with 1t
will return the old flush days in the
treasury when We shall have to deal
with SURPRISES instead of deficits.-St.
Louis Globe-Democrat.