The condition of the government was very dif ferent. It could not increase its charges for duties and taxes in each port and in each place, in pro portion to the depreciation of the currency. The amount of each duty and each tax was determined by general laws, and was nominally the same throughout the country, whatever might be the difference in the currencies. The greater part of its receipts were in places where the currency was below par: and it was compelled to make many of its payments, in places where nothing was current but specie, or paper exchangeable for specie on de mand. It profited in one way, as we shall show hereafter, by the abundance of circulating medium: but this profit would have been reduced to little or nothing, if it bad paid the common premium of exchange. To use the language of a writer of that day, "The public treasury exhibited a phenomenon in finance. Many millions of surplus revenue, with as many different values as there were offices of collection, constantly accumulating at those ports of entry where it was least valuable, and applicable only where it was collected, while the great mass of the public debt and expenditures was at those places where least available; even the quarterly in terest on the public debt, clue where the currency was the most valuable, could not be discharged, but by the evidence of a new debt, in the form of seven per cent treasury notes—thus creating an invidious distinction as well between the debtors as the creditors of the public, in many cases exceeding 20 per cent on the amount of their debts and claims respectively." This writer, in speaking of "millions of surplus revenue," has special reference to the year 1816. It was in that year or the second year after the war, that the increased issues of paper were most effi cient in bringing both the government and the people into a state of apparently very great pros perity. The prices of nearly every kind of property being raised many per cent, most men supposed their riches to be increased in proportion. The importation and consumption of foreign commo dities, were in a ratio to the supposed increase of the ability of people to pay for them: and the reve nue from the customs alone, amounted in this year, to the enormous sum of thirty-six millions, being nearly five times as much as had been derived from the same source in 1815. The internal taxes, in the same year, produced upwards of fivo millions, the direct tax more than four millions, and the public lands more than 1,700,000, making the whole revenue for the year 1816, upwards of forty seven millions. The revenue of this one year, ex ceeded the total amount of the national debt on the first of January 1812.
At the end of the year, the balance in the trea sury was upwards of twenty-two millions: but such was the nature of the money of which it was com posed, that the Secretary of the treasury found it necessary to borrow 500,000 dollars from the bank of the United States, in anticipation of the com mencement of regular operations by that institu tion, to pay the quarterly interest on the public debt, due at Boston on the first of January 1817.
The public debt was, on that day, according to the Treasury statement, greater than on the first of January 1816: but this was owing to seven millions of five per cent stock having been issued as sub scription to the bank of the United States:. and owing to upwards of five millions of stock, issued to satisfy certain claimants to land in Mississippi, being then first introduced into the schedule. This stock, which was issued under authority of an act of 1814, bore no interest, and the principal was made reimbursable out of the proceeds of the sales of public lands in Mississippi. The old debt had,
during the year, been reduced upwards of eleven millions, but, through the subscription to the bank of the United States, and the including of the Mississippi stock in the general statement, the total appeared to be increased.
Total, - - S123,491,965.16 Against this was the balance of twenty-two mil lions in the treasury, consisting principally in the notes of non-specie paying banks, which notes the officers of finance were to use their best skill to have exchanged for certain portions of the public stocks.
The withdrawal of a portion of the bank paper from circulation, in the latter part of 1816 and the beginning of 1817, as a means preparatory to the resumption of specie payments, had a tendency to lower prices, and thus make the importations less than they were in the previous year. But the withdrawal was not made to any extent except by the banks on the seaboard, and the total reduction in the amount of circulating medium, was not sufficient to change either the character or the course of trade, or to convince the majority of men of the fallacy of the principles on which they esti mated their riches. The importations, though less extensive than they had been in the previous year, were very great, and the customs yielded a revenue of millions in greater amount than they have yielded in any year, either before or since, always excepting the ever memorable year of 1816. In the same period, the internal taxes produced upwards of S2,600,000, the direct tax upwards of 1,800,000, and the public lands nearly two millions. The whole revenue ex ceeded 33 millions, which, added to the balance in the treasury on the last day of 1816, placed nearly fifty-six millions at the disposal of the officers of finance, for the service of the year i817.
This amount could be more efficiently applied than the sums received in 1815 and 1816. By a resolution of congress, it had been provided that only specie and the notes of specie paying banks, should be received in payment of duties, after the 20th of February 1817. From that day, the serious embarrassments of the government were at an end. All the evils in subsequent years, which were the necessary, though remote effects, or the attempt made to carry on the war of by means of' bank credits, and bank notes, fell either on the banks or on the people.
The expenditures for naval and military purposes, which exceeded 23 millions in 1815, and amounted to 20 millions in 1816, were, in 1817, reduced to eleven millions. Through the reduction in this part of the public expenditures, and through the opera tion of the other causes we have alluded to, it be came practicable to redeem twenty millions of the public debt, and the total amount was thus, at the end of the year, reduced to 103 millions.
The last of the internal duties which had been imposed for war purposes, ceased with the termi nation of this year. The act imposing duties on sundry American manufactures, had been repealed on the 26th of February 1816. The act laying a duty on household furniture, and gold and silver watches had been repealed on the 9th of April 1816. The taxes on stills, domestic spirits, carriages, refined sugar, sales by auction, and the stamp duties were continued to the end of 1817. The duty on retailers, which had been increased fifty per cent by an act of December 23d, 1814, was by an act of December 31st, 1816, reduced to its old amount. It ceased altogether, with the remaining war taxes, on the 31st of December 1817.