REVENUES. Revenues and Expenditures of the United States Government. Statement showing the total revenues of the Government, exclusive of postal and proceeds of sales of bonds, and total expenditures, exclusive of postal, principal of debt, and premium, for each fiscal year from 1875 to 1898, both inclusive. 1898.... Statement showing the total revenues of the Government, exclusive of postal and proceeds of sales of bonds, and total expenditures, exclusive of postal, principal of debt, and premium, for each annual period from March 1, 1885 to March 1, 1898. Period. From Mar. 1, 1885, to Mar. 1, 1886. As compared with the fiscal year 1897, the receipts for 1898 increased $57,599,630.04,* as follows: As Defined by the Treasury Department. This term, as used in the United States, means the profit arising from the coinage of bullion. The Government does not purchase gold bullion, but coins it on private account. There is no profit from the coinage of gold bullion, the face value of gold coins being the same as their bullion value; but, at the present ratio of 16 to 1, the face value of the silver dollar is greater than its bullion value; therefore, when silver bullion is purchased and coined into dollars there is a profit arising from such coinage, the amount of which depends upon the price paid for the bullion. Postal revenues not yet reported by Post-Office Department. For example, there are 3714 grains of pure silver in a dollar, and there are 480 grains of pure silver in a fine ounce. The coinage value of a fine ounce is therefore $1.2929-. If the fine ounce can be purchased for 70 cents, the profit of its coinage (the seigniorage) is $0.5929-, and the profit on the 3714 grains of pure silver in the single dollar is $0.4586-; which is the difference between the actual cost of the bullion in the dollar and the nominal value of the coin. The silver purchased by the Government is carried on the books of the Treasury at its actual cost, and the seigniorage is declared on the coinage of each month and paid into the Treasury. STANDARD BULLION. Standard bullion contains 900 parts of pure gold or pure silver and 100 parts of copper alloy. The coining value of an ounce of pure gold is $20.67183, and the coining value of an ounce of standard gold is $18.60465. The coining value in standard silver dollars of an ounce of pure silver is $1.2929, and the coining value of an ounce of standard silver is $1.1636. SENATORS OF THE UNITED STATES. List of United States Senators Whose Terms Expire in 1899. * Elected to fill a vacancy. S. R. Ogden, Utah.... Providence, R. I....... Madison, Nebr.. Oct. 5, 1881 Nashville, Tenn... Mar. 4, 1887 Kalamazoo, Mich... Jan. 23, 1895 Mar. 3, 1899 Jan. 22, 1896 Mar. 3, 1899 Feb. 6, 1895 Mar. 3, 1899 Mar. 4, 1875 Mar. 3, 1899 Mar. 3, 1899 Ellsworth, Me.... Mar. 4, 1881 Cleveland, Ohio...... Mar. 4, 1897 Hartford, Conn..... Mar. 4, 1881 Mar. 3, 1899 Nahant, Mass....... S R. Butte, Mont... Milwaukee, Wis.. Mar. 4, 1893 Carrollton, Miss.. Oct. 8, 1897 Troy, N. Y Mar. 4, 1893 Monticello, Fla. Mar. 4, 1887 Mar. 3, 1899 Proctor, Vt.. Nov. 1, 1891 Mar. 3, 1899 Beaver, Pa.. Larrimore, N. Dak. Newark, N.J.. Virginia City, Nev.... Mar. 4, 1887 Mar. 3, 1899 Indianapolis, Ind...... Los Angeles, Cal.. + Re-elected for a term of six years. Hon. L. E. McComas, Republican, elected to succeed Senator Gorman. SILVER. Silver and Wheat.-Are They Linked Together by Bonds of Sympathy?-Bryan's Arguments in the Light of Experience. Mr. William J. Bryan and other agitators of free coinage at the ratio of 16 to 1 have based their strongest plea upon the assertion that "wheat and silver" are "linked together" by some mysterious sympathy that causes the price of wheat to decline in accordance with the depression of the price of silver. Mr. Bryan preached this theory to the farmers throughout the national campaign of 1896, when wheat was unusually low, owing to the lessened demand for wheat abroad and the lessened demand at home because of hard times, the result of four years of Democratic misrule. He preached this theory in season and out of season, on the stump and in Congress. In the course of his remarks in the House, Wednesday, August 16, 1893, on the bill to repeal the purchasing clause of the Sherman act, he said: "But, as I said, the producers of wheat and cotton have a special grievance, for the prices of those articles are governed largely by the prices in Liverpool, and as silver goes down our prices fall. * * * If it is possible to do so, it is no more than fair that we restore silver to its former place, and thus give back to the farmer some of his lost prosperity." The Democratic campaign book of 1896, prepared by Hon. Benton McMillin, of Tennessee, and circulated by the Democratic national committee, elaborated and illustrated this theory by extensive quotations and statistics. Thus on page 84, "Decline in farm prices:" * * * "There is no better illustration of the ruinous consequences flowing from the adoption by the United States of the single gold standard than a comparison of the prices of agricultural products at the date of the demonetization of silver with the price now (1896). It will be observed that since the demonetization in 1873 there has been a decline in every line of farm products. * * * The demonetization of silver was a bold stroke in the interest of capital that has reduced the value of every product in the world. This is conclusively proven by the fact that just as silver has depreciated, in like proportion have all other values fallen in the scale." (See under "Wages.") This beguiling argument, which made the judgment of so many farmers tremble in the scale, has time and again been proved to be the purest fallacy and the most supreme species of hypocrisy on the part of Messrs. Bryan, Towne, Jones, and other free-coinage leaders; but the vicious error was brought home to every producer of wheat in the United States when, soon after Major McKinley's election, wheat and silver suddenly parted company, and while the former went skyward the great white metal took a tumble in the markets that knocked all the dignity out of it as an inflexible standard of value. On September 1, 1896, one bushel of wheat and one ounce of silver were of equal value. On September 1, 1897, one bushel of wheat equaled two ounces of silver in value. The table at the top of page 317 shows the fallacy of the free-silver argument at a glance. |