The Washington herald., 1908-06-23

Within the next few weeks the Secre-
tary OF the Treasury will determine what
disposition shall be made Of the Spanish
American war loan of Ss4,o0o,o00, which
was negotiated on June lS, 1895. This
loan. which was incurred on account Of
war expenditures ten years ago. is re-
deemable after August l OF this year. 1t
bears interest al the rate Of 3 per cent
while the great bulk Of the national debt
is in per cent bonds. Nearly all the old
loans have been refunded TO bear the
lower rate of interest.
TWO courses Of action are open TO Sec
retary Cortelyou He may redeem the
whole loan out Of available cash In the
Treasury, or he may convert il into per
cent bonds. which would probably be is
sued for a long term Of years. Mr.. Cor
telyou has given no intimation Of which
course he Intends TO pursue. and he may
not decide tho question until some time
next month
Favor Refunding.
The chances are believed 20 be strongly
IN favor Of refunding the per cent loan
into long-term Is, this disposition Of the
matter being urged by the present con
dition OF the Treasury finances. and by
the prospects for the new fiscal year,
which will open on July l.
The available cash balance in the Treas
ury is now much larger than II has been
at any time since the November panic
for the condition of the money market
has made II possible TO withdraw
large deposits of public money from
the national banks There Is still a
large amount Of money in the
banks. and Il is not improbable that fur
ther Withdrawals will be made between
now and July Il. This fact might induce
the belief that Secretary Cortelyou viii
find il feasible to redeem the $64e0o0D
loan in cash were Il not for the insistent
circumstance that there is large de-
felt in the Treasury. which Will certainly
extend many months into the new fiscal
year.
II is true. probably. that the new cur
rency law will make IL less necessary FOR
the Treasury 10 come 20 the aid Of Wall
street" during the next crop-moving sea
son. certainly on the large scale which
was witnessed in the panicky period of
last winter Nevertheless. Secretary Cor
u
tanning a cash balance OF fair proportions
TO meet the emergencies OF the business
world. and 90 pay the current obligations
/ OF the government. These obligations will
be large after July l. for the first session
of the Sixtieth Congress broke all records
/ in the way OF appropriations.
The revenues of the government are not
/ increasing. and nobody believes that the
/ disbursements in the next few months
can be kept within the current income
| from customs, internal revenue taxes. and
miscellaneous sources.
Some Uncertainty.
The Treasury authorities are compelled
also 10 look forward with some uncer
tainty 10 the latter part of the fiscal year
when the revision Of the present tarif
law will be under way. A good many o.
the most insistent tariff reyisionists seen
20 take II for granted that the revision
will be downward" and not upward =
that Is. that the new tariff law whicl
Is 10 be placed on the statute books vii
produce less revenue in several impOrtan
schedules than the present Dingley Law
produces.
1t may turn out Of course. that the new
ent law, but the Treasury Department
can only surmise what the result will be
Taken all IN ALL the outlook from N
Treasury standpoint is one OF much un
certainty, and this Is regarded as a goo