Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1915-12-08

eXCenQ our commerce even where the doors are wide open and our goods desired Such a situation is not to be endured. It is of capital import ance not only that the United States should be it's own carrier on the seas and enjoy the economic independence which only an adequate merchant ma- rine would give it, but also that the American hemisphere as whole should enjoy a like independence and self-sufficiency, if it is not to be drawn into the tangle of European affairs. Without such independence the whole question of our political unity and self-determination is very seriously clouded and complicated indeed.
 Moreover, we can develop no true or effective American policy without ships of our own-not ships of war, but ships of peace, carrying goods and carrying much more; creating friend ships and rendering indispensable services to all interests on this side the water.
 Must Provide Ships.
 With a view to meeting these pressing necessities of our commerce and availing ourselves at the earliest possible moment of the present un- paralleled opportunity of linking the two Americas together ill bonds of mu- tual interest and service, an oppor- tunity which may never return again if we miss it now, proposals will be made to the present congress for the purchase or construction of ships to be owned and directed by the govern ment similar to those made to the last congress, but modified in some essen- tial particulars. recommend these proposals to you for your prompt ac- ceptance with the more confidence because every month that has elapsed since the former proposals were made has made thehecessityfo such action more and more manifeatly imperative. That need was then foreseen; it is now acutely felt and everywhere real ing but who can find no conveyance for their goods. am not so much in- terested in the particulars of the pro- gram as I am in taking immediate ad- vantage of the great opportunity which awaits us if we will but act in this emergency.
 The plans for the armed forces of the nation which have outlined, and for the general policy of adequate preparation for mobilization and de- fense, involve of course very large ad- ditional expenditures of money-ex- penditures which will considerably ex- ceed the estimated revenues of the government. It is made my duty by law, whenever the estimates of ex- penditure exceed the estimates of revenue, to call the attention of the congress to the fact and suggest any means of meeting the deficiency that it may be wise or possible for me to suggest. am ready to believe that it would be my duty to do so in any case; and feel particularly bound to speak of the matter when it appears that the deficiency will arise directly out of the adoption by the congress of meas ures which I myself urge it to adopt. Allow me, therefore, to speak briefly of the present state of the treasury and of the fiscal problems which the next year will probably disclose.
 State of the Finances.
 On the thirtieth of June last there was an available balance in the gen. eral fund of the treasury of $1O4,170,- 105.78 The total estimated receipts for the year 1916, on the assumption that the emergency revenue measure passed by the last congress will not be extended beyond it's present limit, the thirty-first of December, 1915, and that the present duty Of one cent per pound on sugar will be discontinued after the first of May, 1916, will be s67O,365,50O. fhe balance of June last and these estimated revenues come, therefore, to a grand total of $774,- 435,605.7S. The total estimated dis bursements for the present fiscal year. including $25,000,000 for the Panama canal, $12,000,000 for probable de- ficiency appropriations, and $50,- 900 for miscellaneous debt redemp- tions, will be $753,S91, ,000; and the balance in the general fund of the treasury will be reduced to $20,644,- 6O5.78. The emergency revenue act, if continued beyond its present time linn itation, would produce. during the half year then remaining, about $41,000 900. The duty of one cent per pound on sugar, if continued, would produce during the two months of the fiscal year remaining after the first of May, about $15.0O0,000. These two sums, amounting together to $56.o00.0o0. if added to- the revenues of the second half ofstheI fiscal year, would yield the | treasury ct the end of the year an ayailAhle hAlance of $7s,s44,se5.7 7s. 14a addJtiopAl revenues required to cayry oSjt tbe program Of military an6srSXo1 eepefe tiop of which have
 K Y & II pgee ent tiinate6.