29,916,723 58 20,780,936 84 And, with the balance on the 1st of January, 1830, forming an aggregate of The expenditures for the first three quar ters of the present year are estimated at (I) 25,096,941 82 Making the total estimated expenditures of the year And leaving in the Treasury on the 1st of January, 1831, an estimated balance of 4,819,781 76 which, however, includes the funds, estimated at $1,400,000, heretofore reported by this department as not effective. The appropriations remaining unsatisfied at the close of the year, are estimated at $5,256,566 32; but, of this amount, it is estimated by the proper departments, 1. That the sum of $3,740,552 96, only, will be required for the objects for which they were appropriated; 2. That the sum of $1,375,154 77 will not be required, and may, there fore, be considered as an excess of appropriation, and is intended to be applied, without being re-appropriated, in aid of the service of the year 1831, as will more fully appear when the estimates of the appropriations for that year are presented; 3. That the sum of $140,858 59 will be carried to the surplus fund at the close of the year, either because the objects for which it was appropriated are completed, or because these moneys will not be required for, or will be no longer applicable to them. II. OF THE PUBLIC DEBT. The total amount of the public debt of the United States on the 1st of January, 1830, was Viz. 1. Funded debt Consisting of Six per cent. stock Five per cent. stocks, including the $7,000,000 subscribed to the Bank of the United States Four and a half per cent. stock Three per cent. stocks 2. Unfunded debt 48,522,869 93 6,440,556 17 - 12,792,000 20 15,994,064 11 13,296,249 45 42,536 57 $48,565,406 50 And leaving the total debt on the 1st of January, 1831 Viz. Funded debt (K) Unfunded debt (L) $39,082,461 88 Of the sum applied to the public debt in the year 1830, $10,000,000 were the amount of the appropriation for the year, under the 2d section of the Sinking Fund act of 1817; and the remaining $1,354,630 09, taken from surplus moneys in the Treasury, were, with the approbation of the President, placed at the disposal of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, and applied under the 1st section of the act of 24th May last. The five per cent. stock subscribed to the bank being at all times subject to redemption, and the high market price of other stocks not offering any inducement to purchase, the discretionary authority given to the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, by the 2d section of the act last referred to, has not been exercised; and, from the large amount of debt that is redeemable in the year 1831, and within the first two days of 1832, it is not probable that it will be necessary to resort to in the year 1831. The debt which will remain unpaid on the 1st of January, 1831, will be redeemable as follows: At the pleasure of the Government $13,296,397 57 of three per cents. As the means for the redemption of those portions of the public debt which are redeemable at the commencement of any year are to be provided at the close of the previous year, and are actually drawn from the Treasury at that time, such stocks may be considered, for the purpose of this report, as redeemable in the previous year. III. OF THE ESTIMATES OF THE PUBLIC REVENUE AND EXPENDITURES FOR THE YEAR 1831. The amount of imports into the United States for the year ending on the 30th of September, 1830, is estimated at $68,500,000, and the amount of exports at $73,800,000; of which $59,400,000 were domestic and $14,400,000 foreign products. The amount of custom house bonds in suit on the 30th September last was $6,865,420; which sum includes all that remain in suit since the estab lishment of the Government, and exceeds, by $273,706, the amount in suit on the corresponding day of the last year. The amount of duties on imports and tonnage which accrued in the first three quarters of the year 1830, is estimated at $20,570,000, and in the fourth quarter at $5,610,000. The amount of debentures issued during the first three quarters of the year 1830, is estimated at $3,331,895; and the amount outstanding on the 30th September last, and chargeable upon the year 1831, at $1,411,801. It is estimated that the accruing duty on coffee and cocoa imported in 1830, and remaining in store on the 1st of January, 1831, will be reduced about $500,000 by the operation of the acts of the last session reducing the duties on those articles; and that the duties on coffee, cocoa, salt, and molasses, accruing in 1831, and payable within that year, will, upon a like consumption to that of 1829, be further diminished by those acts about $600,000. The repeal of the duties on tonnage, which will take effect on the 1st April next, will further reduce the revenue of the next year about $75,000. The subsequent reduction of the duties on tea, coffee, and salt, on the 1st of January, 1832, will probably lessen the usual importation of those articles for the demand of 1831. But the influence of these circumstances upon the revenue will be, in some degree, counteracted by the increased capacity of the country for consumption, as evinced by the enlarged amount of domestic exports, the general prosperity of mercantile business, and the favorable state of exchange with foreign countries, to which may be added the opening of the trade with the British colonies in the West Indies, and on the North American continent. The revenue arising from the sales of public lands will be improved by the same general causes which tend to improve that from the customs. From a view of all those facts and considerations, the re ceipts for the year 1831 are estimated at Viz. $23,340,000 00 Customs Lands Bank dividends Incidental receipts, including arrears of internal duties, direct tax, and canal tolls The expenditures for 1831 are estimated at Viz. Civil list, foreign intercourse, and miscellaneous ment Naval service, including the gradual improvement of the navy Public debt 21,000,000 00 1,700,000 00 490,000 00 150,000 00 23,228,065 86 2,585,152 68 6,789,317 89 3,853,595 29 10,000,000 00 In the estimate of expenditures for 1831 are included $1,375,154 77 of the appropriations for 1830, which were not required for the service of that year, and are applicable for the service of 1831 without being re-appropriated, viz.-civil, foreign intercourse, and miscellaneous, $40,833 18; military, $815,921 10; and naval, $518,400 49. In respect to the duties on imports and tonnage, the estimate above pre sented will not apply for the succeeding year; for, when the reduction made at the last session shall have gone into full effect, the revenue will, according to the average of the last four years, viz.-from 1826 to 1829 inclusive, be diminished $3,664,435. The proceeds of the sales of public lands will probably be somewhat increased; but the amount of these sales will be limited by the ability of those who purchase lands for their own cultivation, adventurous speculation having ceased with the credit system. This source of revenue, therefore, except so far as it may be affected by future legislation, may be relied upon hereafter to sustain the estimate made for 1831. The reduction in the receipts from the customs will be partially made up by an increased importation of the articles on which the duties have been reduced, at least so far as the consumption of them may have been hitherto restrained by the amount of the duty: but the reduction in the rates of duty is so great, that no increase in the consumption can be looked for, so extensive as to make up any considerable portion of the deficiency; and, although the income and expenditure of the community may continue to bear the same relation to each other as heretofore, the amount of the duty saved to the consumer, instead of being applied wholly to the purchase of an increased quantity of those articles, will be distributed upon all the articles of consumption, domestic and foreign, dutiable and free. In looking forward to the probable changes in the fiscal operations of the Government when the public debt shall be completely extinguished, it is worthy of observation, that, with the exception of a single year, (1828,) there has been a gradual reduction of imports since the year 1825, and a continued reduction in the exports of foreign merchandise during the same period. These facts suggest various considerations to be taken into view in estimating the future revenues of the Government: they also show, among other matters worthy of notice, that the navigating interest employed in foreign commerce, and particularly in the carrying trade, must have suffered a material depression. That portion of the carrying trade which is unfettered by navigation laws will necessarily fall into the hands of those who can navigate cheapest; and this falling off gives reason to apprehend that the superiority heretofore claimed for American skill and economy in this pursuit, is yielding to more fortunate rivalry, and suggests the expediency of considering how far that interest may, without injury to others, be relieved from its depression. The annexed paper, marked M, exhibits a detailed statement of the quantity and value of imports and exports liable to specific duties, and the value of those paying ad valorem duties, and of those free of duty, from the year 1821 to 1829 inclusive; and will furnish the means of ascertaining the increase or decrease of each branch of import and export trade, and the probable effect of any proposed change, as well upon the revenue as upon the various interests with which they are connected. Should it be contemplated by Congress to make any further reduction of the revenues preparatory to the period of the final extinguishment of the public debt, it is respectfully suggested, that, in order to avoid impairing the necessary means for the ordinary expenditures of the Government, or encroaching upon the sinking fund, it will be proper that such reduction should take effect at a period sufficiently remote for the payment of the entire debt, as the reduction made at the last session will barely leave sufficient revenue for those objects during the ensuing four years. But there are some articles |