The bee., 1908-10-08
A SURPLUS, NOT A DEFICIT
The Democratic Candidate Must
Either Confess Himself Stupid
Novice i'm Regard to Public FL
nance or Else Appear as One
Deliberately Seeking to
MisIead the American
People as to Facts.

of railways, is ScrublulAlhb INC
of Republican administration during
the past twelve years with micro
scope to find some peg on Which 10
hang an attack. 1t would not De al
together surprising If a party Whlch
had done so much in this period to adj
vance the glory and economic prog
ress of the country has made casual
error here and there. These twelve
years have witnessed the war Win
Spain, which gave freedom to CuDa-
and Porto Rico and brought the Pnll-
ippines under American authority
They have witnessed the emergencs
of the country from depression ana
financial uncertainty upon the hrm
ground of the gold standard, enacted
into law by a Republican Congress:
They have witnessed the creation OIL
a navy which is carrying our nag
with honor around the world. insy
have witnessed the extension OF the
strong hand over the railways and
fine great CORPORATIONS in behalf OF
equality of treatment for all cltlzens-
In sum and substance these twelve
years have witnessed for the average
man a degree of prosperity and COM
fort never before equalled under any
flag in any country since the WORTH
began.
In picking flaws in this record Mr.
Bryan has taken upon himself TO CRIT
icise the appropriations OF the last
Congress and to make the declaratloh
that there was deficit of some $6O,--
100000 in the last fiscal year. IL
Mr.. Bryan knows what he is talking
about this reference to a dehcit ls'
amazingly disingenuous. Secretary
Cortelyou punctured this particular
Bryan gas bag effectively soon after
the fiscal year closed on June 80. He
issued a statement showing that when
the proceeds of bonds sold were add
ed to the receipts from taxation and
miscellaneous sources, and allowance
was made for the reduction of the.
public debt, there was no deficit, but
a surplus. The appearance of de-
felt was only arrived at by counting.
all expenditures for the Panama Ca
nal and other public works, and fail
ing to count on theside of the receipts
the proceeds of the bonds sold for the
construction of the canal. 1t is the
custom in nearly every other civilized
Government to issue bonds for all
public works, but so large have been
the receipts of the Treasury of the.
United States that it has been the
custom to pay for these permanent
investments of capital out of current
receipts. 1t is a bad system of book
keeping, and Secretary Cortelyou has
announced that he proposes to correct
it. 1t might have been pardonable-
for "the man in the street" to be mis-
led by the present form of Treasury
1t is not pardonable on
the part of a man who pretends to be
q OF nf
Bryan must either confess himself a
stupid novice in regard to public
finance or as deliberately seeking to,
mislead the people as to the facts.
The tremendous expansion of mill
tary and economic activity through
out the world has undoubtedly led to.
a volume of expenditures which calls
for serious consideration. In Ger
many 1t became necessary last spring
to issue a large loan to cover ordin-
airy expenditures and to consider every
possible means of increasing taxation.
In France the ministry even pressed
the Chambers the proposition
to tax the coupons of the public debt,
thereby taking back from the citizen
in taxes what it had promised to pay
him in interest when he loaned his
capital. In Great Britain changes
in the rate of the income tax afford
ready means of adjusting income to
butthe burden falls heav-
lily first upon the small shopkeeper
and is shifted by him largely to the
masses whom he supplies with daily
necessities. In all these countries
all public works of a
character, whether great
OF small, are charged to special ac-
counts.
Secretary Cortelyou has already
that he is having the sys-
tenn of bookkeeping at the Treasury
Overhauled and modernized. All ad-
in the United States are
prevented from applying the pruning
knife resolutely to expenditures, be-
cause there is not the complete con-
.rol of the budget by single Minister
which prevails in Europe. Some steps
N this direction should undoubtedly
De taken, but few voters are likely to
be misled as to the relative efficiency
and intelligence In taking such steps.
which would be shown by a
Bryan administration on one hand
)r a Republican administration
headed by Mr.. Taft on the 9TH
sr. Mr.. Taft in his speech Of
acceptance requested the supporters
If MIR. Bryan to put their fingers on
he items where expenditures could be-
egitimately reduced. He pointed out
hat the increase was due chiefly to
he enlargement Of the navy, the con-
of the Panama Canal, the
extension of rural free delivery, the
of the pure food and
neat laws, which have probably saved
hundreds of lives, the rigid supervis-
On of tha railWayg which has bQon
demanded by public opinion, the rec
amation of the arid lands and the
of our national forests.
I Mr.. Bryan knows anything about
nance let him put his finger on those
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