The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-07
GENERAL MESSAGE TO CONGRESS

adopted the course of sending three ol l four messages during the first 10 day. l of the session, so as to include reference
 10 the more important matters that should be brought 10 the attention of the Con- gress.
 Business Conditions
 The condition of the country with ref erence to business could hardly be better
 While the four years of the administra- ton now drawing to a close have not
 developed great speculative expansion
 or wide field of new investment, the recovery and progress made from the depressing conditions following the panic of 1907 have been steady and the inn provement has been clear and easily traced in the statistics. The business of the country is now on a solid basis. Cred
 it's are not unduly extended, and every phase of the situation seems in a state of preparedness for period of uneX- ampled prosperity. Manufacturing con- cerns are running at their full capacity and the demand for labor was never so constant and growing. The foreign trade of the country for this year will eX- ceed Si,OO0, GOO, 600, while the balance in our favor-that of the excess of exports over imports-will exceed s5OO, ,000,0 ,0O0 More than half our exports are manufactures or partly manufactured material. while our exports of farm products do not show the same increase because of domestic consumption. It is a year of bumper crops, the total money value of farm products will exceed s9,500 0,0O0 It is a year when the bushe or unit price oi agricultural products has gradually fallen
 and yet the total value of the entire cror
 is greater by over s1,o00,0o0,0oo than VIC
 have known in our history.
 Condition of Treasury
 The condition of the treasury is very satisfactory. The total interest bearing
 debt is S963, 777.770 of which $l34,631, ,9St constitute the Panama canal loan. The non-nterest bearing debt is S37s .9ol, 90 including S346, Ol6 of greenbacks. We | have in the treasury S150,o900O0 in gold l coin as reserve against the outstanding greenbaeks; and in addition we have d cash balance in the treanury as a general fund of sf67, 152. 47s99 or an increase oi l S26,975,552 over the general fund last year
 Receipts and Expenditures
 For three years the expenditures of the 1 government have decreased under the n- 1 fluenee of an effort to economize. This l year presents an apparent exception. The estimate by the Secretary of the Treasury of the ordinary receipts, exclusive oi postal revenues, for the year ending June 90, 1914, indicates that they will amount to S710,0 900. The sum of the estimates of the expenditures for that same year exclusive of Panama canal disbursements l and postal disbursements payable from postal revenues. is s7s2 100000. indicating a deficit of S22,000.0O0. For the year ending June 90, 1913. similarly estimated receipts | were S667 100000 while the total cor | responding estimate of expenditures fol l that year, submitted through the Secre- l tary of the Treasury to Congress amounted to S656, GOO. This shows ar ! increase of s76, 0o,0o0 in the estimates fol | 1914 over the total estimates of 1912. This is due to an increase of $25.090000 in the estimate for rivers and harbors for the next year on projects and surveys author ized by Congress- to an increase undel the new pension bill of S32, ,500,000; and tc penses of the navy department of $24,- OOOO0O. The estimate for the navy de partment for the year 1913 included tive hattleshps. Congress made provision foi only one battleship, and therefore the navy department has deemed it neces- sary and proper to make an estimate which includes the first years expendi- ture for three battieships in addition to the amount required for work on the uncompleted ships now under construc- ton. In addition to the natural increase in the expenditures for the uncompleted ships, and the additional battleship esti- mated for, the other increases are due tC the pay required for 1000 or more addi | tional enlisted men in the navy; and tt | this must be added the additional cos
 of construction imposed by the change il l the eight-hour law which makes it ap plicable to ships built in private ship yards
 With the exceptions of these three
 items, the estimates show a reduction