The Treasury Report

The report of the Socretary of the Trousury Las heen given to the public; Li this columu wo preseut a synopsis of ita uiürit importaat statements of iact and of opinijn, iucludiüg the three topics of Currenay, Public Dcbt, aud Revenue, and pursuing the order in which they aro treated by Mr. McCulloeh. I. The Currenoy. - Tbo key to the policy whiuh the Secretary advocates may be fouml in tbe declaration of Lis buliof that the authoriiy of Cougress to make the obligatious of the Government a legal tender resides out of the Gonstitutiou, and that the inflation which has followed upon the necessary exorcise of that authority during the war is prejudicial to botu public and private interesta. While, therefore, he doos not advocate the repeal of the legal tender acts, nor believe it poasible to reduce the volume of the currenoy by violent measures, ba is of opinión that those acta should be rogarded as only temporary, and that the work of retiring the notes whioh have been issuod uuder them should be conmiencod without delay and enrefully and persistantly continued untill all ure withdrawn. Tüü rapidity of the prooess will dopend upon t!iü ability to dispose of securitios. The specifio meanurea reooinmendud are as follows : First: That Congreso dp.clare that tho compound interest no'es shall ce;83 to be a legal teudur from the day of their maturity. These notes were intended to be a seeurity rather than a eireulating medium, aud suoh a declaration by Congrega vvou'.d be neither iüjui'ious to the public nor an act of bad faith to the holdera. Second: That the Secretary be authonzed in bis discretion to sell bonds of theUnited States, hearing iuterest at a rato uot exceeding sis per cjnt, and roduemable and payablo at suuh periods as may be condueive tf) the iuterests of the Governuient, for the purpo.-e of retiring not only co npnuad iotorest notes but the United States notes. The amount whioh the Secretary estiraates as nouessary tü be retired in order tö briüg the curreney within proper lirnits is from ono hundrod to two hundred tailhons, in additioo to the compound notea, tbc amount of which latter, Out. 31, was $173,012 141, all due la 1867 and 1868. The total paper eirculation of tho United States at that date was $734,218,038, to whioh should be added 880,000,000, the estiinated amount of compouud interest notes aotually in ciroulatioo. Tho total ia likely to be still fort hof inoreased by the issue of notes to thu Natioaal ba;iks now daily going on, and dustiued to uoutinue till the limit of $1300,000,000 aathorized by law shall huve beaa reached, m it will be at no distant dato. Aa but ■$185,000,000 of National Bank notea are iucluded in tho ostitnate of $734,218,038 20, there remain $115,000,000 to be added, ard the agsregate amount of circulatiou will theu be $849,218,03820. If the recommeiidations of the Secretary in regard to oootraotion be tully carried out by rotiriag 200,000,000 of Uuited Status noles and the $30,000,000 of oompound intorost notes autually íd circulaiiou, thoro willstill reinain a total circulatiou of $619,218,038 20, even supposiag that no extensión of the amouut of National Bank notea nov authorized be granted by Coa gress. It s, perhaps, in view of thesu or similar oalculatious that the Sueretary adds to his stiggestions the reruurk that " neither the amount of reductioa nor the tinio that will be reiuired to bring up the ourreney to tho spöoie staudard eau now bc est'unated with any dogree of aeciuaoy. The fint thinj to ie done it to estallish the policy of contraction." II. The Puilt DM.- The Seoretary regáned it as ts a pablio burden, the work of removing whioh should nat be loni postponed. H? sees no way of doing that exoept by ao aerease of the. natioual iucouie beyoad the national expenditures. The first step is to fund the obligatioüs that are soon to mature. The nest, to provide for raising revenuea necessery to pay tho iutoroiit on the debt, i and a oertain dofiaito amouut annually , for the reduotiou ot the principal. Oq [ tho 31st Oet., since which time uo material chango has taken place, the public debt amountod to $2,808,549,-37 55 ; for the items of vihioh totul, readers may refer to the report itself. HeiúpU for the tiscal year end ing June 30, 1865 wero $1,898,532,533 24, of which $804,863,499 17 wero from loans applicable to expeddilures, and 607,361,241 68 irom lo.ins apphed to payment of public debt, and 209,464,215 25 from interna! reverme. Expendifureá were $1,897,674,224 09, of which tho War Department is charged vvith $1,031,323,360 79; redemptioii of debt as abova Btarted ; interest ou public debt, $77,397,712. Balance, July 1, 1865, $858,309 15. Total increase of public debt dunug the year, $941,002,587 04. Tho receipts for the nding Sept. 30, 1865, wero $440,226,770 27 ; expenses, 8373,068,254 83 ; teaviin; baluice Out. 1, $67,158,515 44. Estimatd receipta for the cemaining three quarters of the year, endiug June 30, 1866, are : BUansa $67,15815 44 Cultoras S100,000,003 00 j,;,mis 600.000 00 iMtornulRevenue.... 175,000 00) i,u jS(,el.;;i.L.ius 30,000,000 00- S05,R0O,nr 0 00 $3ï2,06,515 44 Estiraated oxpenditures for the samo 1 period are 484,853,462 64, oí whicii the War Depurtmeat (for payment of ' troops and closin? up existing balances) 1 wants $307,788,750 57, and Iutereat oa the public Debt, $90,813,868 75. ficiency for the year, 112,194,947 20. For tlie yesir c-udiiig June 30, 1867L e'iniBtt'R nrc : Customs 100,000,0(r0 00 Intrrnal Kevcmu -Cl;") ,000,000 00 Lin.ls 1,000,01)0 00 llteoelluneous 2O,Oo0,(JO_0 00- 390,000,000 00 EXPENHITUKICH. Civil Sfiricc $42,f(i5.SK) 67 P(!n!iiii and Inditas l7,HOS),tt40 23 War Doprtméut.... 39B17,4M 1S Navv lloiiartnieut 48,982,4(1 50 Intor'tonl'ublicltebt Ml,542,0fiS SU- 2M,317,ltU 12 Èstlmatei mirplua of veceir.ls....$lU,(;32,ías 1S The pnst duo dobt on tho 31st of Octobcr, BesWes tho compound interest, the United Statos, and tho fntctioual notos, amounted to $1,878,920 09; dobt due in 1865 and 1866 to L187,549,64646; dobt duo in 1867 and 1868 to 8858,823,591 80. Of the latter itom $830,000,000 consist of 7 3-10 notee. As thev are convertible nto bonds only at tho'ploatSure of holders, tho Secretary desires to be authorizcd to lund theiu, whenever it can be advaDtageously done, in advance of maturity. To meet defieiency for tho preeent finoal year he deeires anthority to sell, in his discretion, bouds of s nimünr eharacter, to reduce the temporary loan, to pay maturiog certificates of indebtedüess, and aho to take up any portion of the debt maturing prior to 1869 that oun be advantageously rotirod. " It is not probable," remaiks the Secrotary, ""that it will be advisxble, even.if it could bo dooe without presning thom upoü tho ■ market, to sell a muoh latgor amount of; bonds within the preaont or the noxt fiscal year than will bo neecssary to any deliciency of the Treasury, to pay the past due and maturing obügatioas ; oí the Uovornmont, and a part of tho temporary loan, and to retire an aniount of the compound interest notes and j United States Dotes Biiffioient to'bring ' back the business of the oountry to a : healthior condition I3ut uo harm can result from investing tlie Secretary with authority to dispose" of bonds if the condition of the market will justify it, in j order to anticípate the payment of those i obligaiions that muet soon be providod for." The total debt on the lst of Julv, 1866, is estimatod at 3,000,000,000. The Sectftary belicves the whoio amount may eventually be fnnded at a rate of interest from 5 to 5J por cent, and he suggests tho applk'ation of $200,000,000 per annum to tho payrneut of principal and interest together, by which the wholo would be extinguished in from 28 to 32L yearB. III. Internal lievenue. - The Seeretary reeommends frequent and careful revisión of the systeiu oí taxation, with a view to its becoming always more simple and prodnetive. For speciio reoommendations he awüits the report of the ppecial comtniseion, expaoted early iu ;ho present aession. In reference to the öouthern Statos. the Secretary recoinnionds that the collection of tases accruing bofore the establishinont therein of revenue otlioos be indeh'nitely postponod till the States have an opportunity of aasuining those taxee, aa the loyal Statos did; and that all traneactions invalid for want of stampa be legalized so far as lies iu the power of Oongrcss. For a great variety of statements and suggostione on other points the ïxport itseli tnay be