Mr. PRICE. Mr. Speaker, when we come to a vote upon the bill, now under consideration and I shall be required, with other members of the House, to say ay or no to its passage, my convictions of duty will require me to vote against it. I shall do this reluctantly, because in so doing I shall differ from the chairman of the ComWays&Means, in whosejudment I have much confidence, and whose fideity to the best interests of the country no man doubts, and I supposeI shall also differ from the SecyTreasury, towhose judgment in financial matters I have been accustomed to defer. But, sir, this bill presents to my mind such plain and palpable objections that I feel certain it cannot be for the interest of the country to pass it. The same general rules which apply to the management of the financial affairs of an individual will hold good when applied to that of the nation there is no difference in kind, they differ only in degree. When a prudent business man finds himselffrom necessity, or any other cause financially embarrassed, he goes to work with energy and system to ascertain, not only the nature, extent, and amount of his indebtedness, but also his present and prospective ability to meet the same. If in that investigation he finds that there is no probability of any increase of the amount of claims against him, and that his receipts are in excess of his properand legitimate expenses, there is but one other matter ofimportance for him to attend to, and that is to secure such an extension of time as will enable him to use this excess of recepts in liquidation of the claims against him and I risk nothing in assertin that an man thus financially circumstance would be considered as perfectly safe, and would need no enactments of any legislative body to relieve him from embarrassment. his is a very plain proposition, so plain, indeed, thatthe mostmoderate intellectcan comprehend it perfectly and if I may be allowed, Mr. Speaker, I will say in this connection that the mystery which is supposed by many to surround, and to a certain extent to enshroud, what is commonly called guestfinancial ability, skill, &c., is simply in my opinion, great nonsense, a very great humbug. I am not refer ring now, sir, tosuch financiering as was rac ticed by Ketchnm and men of that class. hat kind, I am willing to admit, requires, in order to insure success, very extraordinary and very peculiar ability. But the kind of financier ing of which I speak, and which the nation requires at this time, is sim y an exercise of common care and common onesty, led and governed by common sense. The bill before us is of course intended to relieve the nation of some real or supposed financial embarrassment, and for that purpose clothes the Secretary with extraordinary pow ers. The 1st question which presents itself for our decision is this: is there an necessity for it? We know the nation is in cbt; we have borrowed money to preserve our national existence. But are our creditors pressing us? Can we or can we not have such an extension of time as will enable us, by ajudicious use of the means at our command, to meet all the claims against us? If our creditors are clam orous, and we cannot have an extension of time, then we must resort to all the means within our reach, ordinary and extraordinary, and make any and all sacrifices necessary to reserve our national faith and national honor, Just as an individual under similar circumstances should do. How do the figures stand upon our balance sheet? and how do our assets and liabilities compare? I know of no other way to get at the truth on this subject; and though there may not be much oratory in a column of fig ures, there is considerable eloquence, particularly when we find a handsome balance on the credit side of Our ledger account. At the commencement of this session I made up from the reports of the different heads of Depts a statement of the financial condition of the count, and on referring to it now I find the followmg state of facts existed then, and are substantially the same now. Our indebtedness is as follows, to wit: $1, 164, 011.6b5o2nds at 6%, making in, inteaa $830,000, oboo0ndsat73 1opereent. making in interest. 307.000bond 5 in interest 81in55i0n1te2r7e4s5t.1. 1. 8. 3.525.70000 Total ofinterost for the year. 139, 221, 70409 Then we have in addition to this, estimated expensesfor the year, as follows: For the Army. $33,814,46813 For the Navy. 5100000000 For civil expenses. 421000100000 For pensions. 10,000, 00(0X) 138, 814, 48631 Which, added to the amount ofinterest falling duo annually upon all kinds of our national debt.gives us asum total of $986“$0 83 If we have this amount of money we shall be able to pay cash for all purchases necessar to be made, and meet every obligation as it alls duo I may state, in this connection, that we have about $450,000,000 of indebtedness in the shape of legal tender notes; but these bear no interest, and are payable at no fixed time. Having thus ascertained our liabilities, we have one side of the account; and now the next question which presses for an answer is, what are our resources? How can we pay? I find, on referring again to my compilation offigures, the estimated receipts for the year from internalrevenue, tariff, and all other sources, to be $472,000,000, leaviu a clear balance in the Treasury at the end of the fiscal year of $185,963,789 17. But it may be said that these recei ts are only estimated, and therefore may not e correct. I grant this, but I find that in the 3 months which have transpired since these fig ures were made the actual receipts have exceeded the estimates to such an extent as to justify the honorable Gentfrom Massachusetts, [Mr. Hooves, who is on the ComWays and cans, in placing the receipts at $500,000,000 instead of $472,000,000, which would leave us a balance in the Treasury at the end of the year of over $200,000,000. Now, Mr. Speaker, when we take these facts and figures, in connection with the other important fact that we may safely and certainly calculate on a decrease of these expenses and an increase of our income from increased population and a continuance of the deVelopment of the resources of the country, I ask what there is to frighten us from the ground of safety which we now occupy. If it is asked how we are to reduce our expenses, I reply by referring to one item in the figures from which this calculation is made. It will be observed that the estimate for the Navy is placed at $51,000,000 while the actual amount namedin the bill passed for that purpose a few days since fell below half that amount. I. Notwithstanding then, the immense strain to which the nation has been subjected in the last 4 years in her finances, we find that upon posting the books and taking an account of stock we are in a sound and healthy condition. Our surplus will enable us safely to reeal some of the etty and annoying features of the income tax aw, so as not to compel farmers and mechanics to give an account of every pound of butter and dozen of eggs sold, and of every dollars worth of every article manufactured. A very small, almost insignificant part of our debt is payable on demand, and the balance runs from 15 to 40 cars, at the expiration of which time we shal, if republican ideas and principles prevail, be the richest and most powerful nation on the globe. The feature of this bill, which provides that the $450,000,000 of legal tender notes, which bear no interest, and which are redeemable at no definite time, may be funded in 6%. gold bearing bonds, is to me so strange and unaccountable that I am astonished to find it presented to the House for consideration. This feature of the bill, if adopted, would involve an addition annual expenditure of $27,000,000 in gold, f which the people of the country must necessa rily pay an aditional tax. Would any prudent and sensible business man, who had ven his note payable at his own option, an without interest, be likely to take up that note and give another for the same amount payable at a certain time, with interest at 6%., pay able semi annually in gold? Why, sir, the baremention of such a transaction provokes a smile of ineredulity, and yet this is precisely one of the features of this bill. The Government owes $450,000,000 on which we pay no interest, and which is redeemable whenever it suits the convenience of the government; and yet ifthis bill becomes a law this $450,000,000 may be funded in bonds bearing 6%. in gold. It may be said, sir, that these legal tender notes are depreciated, and therefore ought to be retired. A sufficient answer to this is found in the fact that legal tender notes are today about as good as 6%. bonds, and would, in m o inion, e much better if the bonded inde teness of the Government was increased by the addition of this $450,000,000.