Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, transmitting his annual report on the state of the finances; in obedience to the act to establish the Treasury Department. Sir, Treasury Department, December 4th, 1812. I have the honour to enclose a report prepared in obedience to the act, entitled "An act to establish the Treasury Department." I have the honour to be, very respectfully, sir, your obedient servant, The Honourable the Speaker ALBERT GALLATIN. of the House of Representatives. In obedience to the directions of the "Act supplementary to the act, entitled An act to establish the Treasury Department," the Secretary of the Treasury respectfully submits the following REPORT AND ESTIMATES. 1. To the end of the year 1812. The actual receipts into the Treasury, during the year ending on the 30th of September, 1812, have consisted of the fol lowing sums, viz.: Customs, sales of lands, arrears, repayments, and all other branches of revenue, amounting together, as will appear more in detail by the statement (E) to On account of the loan of eleven millions of dollars authorised by the act of March 14, 1812, Total amount of receipts Making, together with the balance in the Treasury, on the 1st of October, 1811, and amounting to An aggregate of The disbursements during the same year have been as followeth, Interest on the public debt, 2,498,013 19 On account of the principal of do. 2,938,465 99 The statement (Ee) exhibits in detail the payments made by the treasury department for the several branches of the military and naval expenditure, during the same year (from 1st October, 1811, to 30th September, 1812); and also during the two last two months (October and November, 1812). The receipts for the last quarter of the year 1812, on account of both revenue and loans, are estimated at 9,000,000 dollars; and the expenditures (including about 1,500,000 dollars on account of the principal of the public debt, and 1,000,000 for the militia) at nearly the This sum was obtained on the following terms, viz. : For six per cent. stock irredeem able till 1st January, 1825, and afterwards redeemable at the pleasure of the United States, $7,415,200 [a] The amount was stated in the president's message at the commencement of the session at eleven millions of dollars. The other two millions have been contracted for subsequent to its date. From the present demand, it appears probable that the residue of the treasury notes, authorized by the act of the 30th June last, and amounting to $ 1,465,000, will be disposed of prior to the 1st of March next. It may be proper also to state, that notwithstanding the addition thus made to the public debt, and although a considerable portion has been remitted from England and brought to market in America, the public stocks, which had at first experienced a slight depression, have been for the last three months and continue to be at par. II. Year 1813. The net revenue arising from duties on merchandize and tonnage, which accrued during the year 1810, amounted to $ 12,513 490 The net revenue arising from the same sources, which accrued during the year, 1811, amounted, as will appear by the estimates (A) and (B), to $ 7,902,560 The same revenue for the year 1812 is estimated at $12,500,000 Of which sum, about 5,500,000 arise from duties on the late importations from Great Britain. The custom-house bonds outstanding on the 1st day of January, 1813, and falling due in that year, are estimated, after deducting bad debts, at 11,250,000 dollars: and it is believed that the probable amount of receipts from that source into the treasury, during the year 1813, may be safely estimated at 11,500,000 dollars. The sales of public lands north of the river Ohio, during the year ending on the 30th September, 1811, and after deducting the lands which have reverted to the U. States, have amounted, as appears by the statement (C), to 390,000 acres; and the payments by purchasers to 790,000 dollars. The Indian war may affect the sales, and perhaps, to a certain extent, the amount of payments. It is, however, believed that that branch of revenue may, together with some other small items, be estimated for the ensuing year at 500,000 dollars: making the whole amount of probable receipts into the treasury for the year 1813 (exclusively of loans). $12,000,000 The expenditures for that year are estimated as followeth, viz. 1. Expenses of a civil nature, both foreign and domestic, 2. Public debt, viz.: 3. Military establishment: 5,200,000 The estimates of the secretary of war are, with respect to the army, predicated on the employment of the whole force authorised by law, and amounting to 36,700 men of every description. Adding to this the expense incident to the service of volunteers and militia, and also the increase of pay of the army, the appropriation for arming the militia, and 400,000 dollars of the unexpended balance for fortifications, the whole contemplated expense may be estimated as follows: Army-Pay, subsistence, bounties, clothing, and hos pitals, $9,350,000 Ordnance and armories, 1,850,000 Quarter Master's de partment and contin $ 1,500,000 8,500,000 4. Naval establishment: The estimates of the secretary of the navy are predicated on the employment of the following force, viz.: Commissioned and warrant of Pay, provisions, and medicine, $3,290,000 Repairs, contingencies, and Amounting altogether to, 100,000 >1,125,000 The receipts on account of the revenue having been estima ted at 410,000 4,925,000 $31,925,000 12,000,000 $ 19,925,000 Leaves a balance to be provided for by loans of Of this sum more than one million is already contracted for, and there remains on hand a balance of about a million and a half in treasury notes, not yet disposed of. An authority to issue new notes for about two millions and a half more, being the amount reimburseable in 1813, will still keep the whole amount issued at five millions, and reduce the amount of the loan to about fifteen millions of dollars. In order to facilitate the loan, and perhaps to improve its terms, it may however be eligible to leave some discretion in the executive as to the respective amounts of stock and notes to be issued; which may be advantageously varied according to circumstances, without increasing the aggregate of both. |