The Carlisle independent., 1909-12-09

United States in the sense of the stat
 ute referred to. The great scope and
 complexity of this work. as well as
 the obligation to lend all proper aid
 to our expanding commerce. is met by
 the expansion of the bureau of trade
 relations as set forth in the estimates
 for the department of state.
 Government Expenditures and Reve-
 nues.
 Perhaps the most important question
 presented to this administration is that
 of economy in expenditures and suff-
 cieney of revenue. The deficit of the
 last fiscal year. and the certain deficit
 of the current year prompted congress
 to throw greater responsibility on
 the executive and the secretary of the
 treasury than had heretofore been de-
 clared by statute This declaration
 imposes upon the secretary of the
 treasury the duty of assembling all the
 estimates of the executive departments
 bureaus, and offices of the expendi- lures necessary in the ensuing fiscal
 year, and of making an estimate of
 the revenues of the government for
 the same period and if a probable
 deficit is thus shown. 1t is made the
 duty of the president to recommend
 the method by which such deficit can be met.
 The report of the secretary shows that the ordinary expenditures for the
 current fiscal year ending June 30, 1910, will exceed the estimated receipts by S34,075.620. If to this deficit is added the sum. to be disbursed for the Pan anna Canal, amounting to s3S,000.000, and S1000, 900 to be paid on the public debt, the deficit of ordinary receipts
 and expenditures will he increased to
 total deficit of s73075.62O. This de- fieit the secretary proposes to meet by nf tn
 the cost of constructing the Panama Canal approve this proposal. The policy of paying for the con struction of the Panama Canal, not out Of current revenue, but by bond issues.
 was adopted in the Spooner act of 1890. and there seems to be no good
 reason for departing from the prin- eiple by which a part at least of the burden of the cost of the canal shall
 fall upon our posterity who are to en- | joy 1t: and there is all the more req son for this view because the actual cost to date of the canal. which is now l half done and which will be completed
 anuary l, 1915, shows that the cost of engineering and construction will be l s2a7.766, 000 instead of $139. POO, as 1 originally estimated In addition to engineering and construction, the other 1 expenses including sanitation and gov l ernment. and the amount paid for the I properties, the franchise and the privi- l lege of building the canal, increase the 1 cost of ST5.435 000, to a total of $375.- 1 201,000. The increase in the cost of 1 engineering and construction is due to l substantial enlargement of the plan 1 of construction by widening the canal 1 100 feet in the Culebra cut and by in- 1 creasing the dimensions of the locks l to the underestimate of the quantity of 1 the work to be done under the orig 1 inal plan, and to an underestimate of 1 the cost of labor and materials, both of l which have greatly enhanced in price since the original estimmate was made
 In order to avoid deficit for the l ensuing fiscal year. I directed the l heads of departments in the prepara
 tion of their estimates to make them
 as low as possible consistent with inn perative governmental necessity. The l result has been, as I am advised by the l secretary of the treasury, that the 1 inmates for the expenses of the gov 1 ernment for the next fiscal year end | ing June 30, 1911, are less than the ap- | propriations for this current fiscal
 year by SAP SIS, 900. So far as the sec | retary of the treasury is able to form
 judgment as to future income and l compare it with the expenditures for | the next fiscal year ending June 30. 1 1911, and excluding payments on ac | count of the Panama Canal, which will | doubtless be taken up by bonds, there VIII De d SurpluS O1 S30,SSl,UUU. In the present estimates the needs | of the departments and of the govern | ment have been cut to the quick. so to | speak, and any assumption on the | part of congress, so often made in l times past, that the estimates have l been prepared with the expectation l that they may be reduced. will result | in seriously hampering proper admin | istration.
 To reduce the cost of permanent administration, says the president, a
 thorough reorganization of bureaus, offices and departments would be nec- | essary. An expert accountant has | been making an investigation into this | matter and the result of his work | shows opportunity for both substan- | tial reductions in cost and increase of | efficiency.
 | Frauds in the Collection of Customs. regret to refer to the fact of the dis | covery of extensive frauds in the collec- | tion of the customs revenue at New York | city, in which a number of the subor- | dinate employees in the weighing and l other departments were directly con cerned and in which the beneficiaries were the American Sugar Refining Com | pany and others. The frauds consisted
 
 l of sugar. The government has recovered l from the American Sugar Refining Com- | pany all that 1t is shown to have been de- | frauded of. The sum was received in full | of the amount due. which might have | been recovered by civil suit against the | beneficiary of the fraud, but there was an express reservation in the contract of l settlement by which the settlement should not interfere with prevent the crim- | inal prosecution of everyone who was | found to be subject to the same.
 Criminal prosecutions are now proceed l ing against a number of the government | officers. The treasury department and the | department of justice are exerting every | effort to discover all the wrongdoers, in- | cluding the officers and employees of the | companies who may have been privy to | the fraud. It would seem to me that an | investigation of the frauds by congress at | present, pending the probing by the treas | ury department and the department of | justice, as proposed, might by giving i'm munity and otherwise prove embar- | rassment in securing conviction of the | guilty parties.
 Maximum and Minimum Clause In Tariff Act.
 Two features of the new tariff act call | for special reference. By virtue of the | clause known as the maximum and min imun1' clauSe it is the duty of the exec