A tax levied so that it raises the price of goods, and is, therefore, finally paid by the buyer of the goods, as a tariff or internal-revenue tax.

What is the revenue of the national government?

In 1884-5, it was $323,690,706, of which $181,471,939 was from tariff duties, $112,498,726 internal revenue (chiefly on spirits and tobacco), $5,705,986 from public lands, and $24,014,055 miscellaneous receipts.

What were the expenditures the same year?

The "net ordinary expenses" were $260,226,935, of which $51,386,256 was for interest on the debt, $56,102,267 for pensions, $6,552,495 for the Indians, $42,670,578 in the war department, $16,021,080 for the navy, and $87,494,258 for "civil and miscellaneous expenses." Besides this we reduced the net debt $63,190,551.

What is a tariff?

THE TARIFF.

It is a series of taxes, called duties, laid on goods imported from foreign countries. When these duties are so high that the price of goods is purposely raised above what they can be made and bought for here, it is called a protective tariff. When the duties are low enough to permit goods to come in and pay taxes for the support of government, it is called a tariff for revenue.

What is our present tariff?

Our present tariff dates from the beginning of the war (1861). It specifies over 1,500 dutiable articles, on which there are 590 rates, averaging in 1885 over 46 per cent. Has the tariff always been like this?

Since

No, the first tariff (1789) averaged 81 per cent. then, there have been over 80 different acts of Congress changing the tariff. The first period, 1789-1811, under the Hamilton tariff, and its amendments, was one of low

duties, averaging less than 20 per cent. The second period, 1812-32, was one of high duties, including the (war) tariff of 1812, the Calhoun protective tariff of 1816, the Clay tariff of 1824, and the Tariff of Abomination. (because its enemies tried to make it as objectionable as possible) of 1828; these carried the average of duties up to 47 per cent. The third period, 1832-1860, was of lower duties, including the famous compromise tariff of 1833, and the notably low-duty Walker tariff of 1846; the average was about 20 per cent. The fourth period began with the Morrill war tariff of 1861, and has continued to this time. The Commission tariff of 1883 was supposed to reduce duties somewhat, but, owing to decrease of prices, the average was higher in 1885 than in almost any year before.

What is "protection "?

A tariff system which, by high duties and increased. prices, seeks to promote an increase of manufactures at home.

What is the "free trade" idea?

It opposes "protection " with the belief that no tariff, or a tariff for revenue only, would make the country more prosperous, by leaving goods cheap and by permitting industry to flow into the most natural and most profitable channels.

What is money?

MONEY.

Money is that form of wealth, usually gold and silver, in common use as a medium of exchange and as a measure of value.

What is the standard of the United States?

Dollars and cents. Gold is coined into $1, $23, $3, $5, $10 (eagles), and $20 pieces; silver into a dollar, 50, 25, 10 (dimes), and 5-cent pieces; there are also 5, 3, 2,

and 1-cent pieces of nickel or copper. These last are called token-money, because they do not contain their face value in metal.

Do the gold and silver coins contain their full value in metal ?

The gold do, having 25.8 grains to the dollar, but the silver do not, the silver dollar having only 412 grains, or less than 85 per centum as much silver as a gold dollar would buy.

Why then is one as good as the other in buying?

Because an act of Congress says that both shall be "legal tender," i. e. if you tender a silver dollar to a man you owe, that is a legal discharge of the debt. But the silver dollar does not serve to buy things abroad. Economists fear that, since the act of 1878 requires at least 2,000,000 silver dollars to be coined each month, the time will soon come when the gold dollars will be hoarded or used abroad, and when the silver dollar will become the standard, so that a dollar in wages will buy less than 85 cents' worth of goods.

What is "the silver question"?

The division between those who desire to see the present coinage of silver kept up, and those who desire to see it stopped, or the silver dollar made worth its weight in gold. What is paper money

?

Paper money is a promise to pay real money. The "greenbacks" of the war, and the present "nationalbank notes" are paper money issued or guaranteed by the government.

What are banks?

Banks are money-stores, where depositors bring their small sums of money, so that it can be loaned out in large sums to those willing to pay interest or discount (which is interest paid in advance) for it.

What are the national banks?

Banks organized under the acts of Congress of 1863 and 1864. They are empowered to issue bank-notes, to the extent of nine tenths of the bonds deposited with the government as security, and these "national-bank notes are accepted by the government except for customs duties.

How many banks are there in this country?

At the last complete report (1882) there were in all 7,448, with $717,300,000 capital and $2,902,500,000 deposits, or more than all the national, State, and local debts. Of these, 2,308 are national banks, with $484,900,ooo capital, and $1,119,800,000 deposits; 4,473 State and private banks, with $228,400,000 capital and $779,000,ooo deposits, and 668 savings banks, with about $1,000 000,000 deposits from over 3,000,000 depositors.

THE PUBLIC LANDS.

What are the public lands ?

Land which is the general property of the nation, as that acquired by the Louisiana purchase, not taken up by private owners.

What is the total area of the United States?

2,970,000 square miles, with a population of 171 persons to the square mile. Of this 1,500,000 is considered arable lands, and 837,500 is already occupied as farms. Alaska contains 531,409 square miles more, bringing the total to 3,500,000 square miles.

How much of this is public lands?

The United States has held, unallotted, about 2,840,ooo square miles, or 1,817,000,000 acres, costing $322,000,000. Of this 969,000,000 acres have been surveyed. The land remaining undisposed of, including unsurveyed land (partly Indian reservations, etc.), is estimated to be worth $1,150,000,000, but only a small proportion of this is available for settlement.

How has the rest been disposed of?

Over 169,000,000 acres have been sold, bringing over $200,000,000; 55,000,000 taken up as homesteads; 78,000,000 granted as educational bounties; 61,000,000 for war service; 45,000,000 patented under grants to railways. How can public lands be taken up by private citizens? The surveyed lands are priced at $1.25 and $2.50 per acre. Any citizen or applicant for citizenship over twenty-one may, under the homestead act, take up 160 acres of the first or 80 of the second, by actually building a house and settling and cultivating for five years. The timber-culture act extends the homestead act to as many other (not contiguous) quarter sections, of 160 acres each, as the settler will cultivate in timber, to the extent of 40 acres each, for ten years. The preëmption acts give prior claims of purchase to heads of families or citizens over twenty-one settling on public lands not yet surveyed.

RAILROADS.

What has been the chief means of development of the far West?

The railroads. These were preceded, however, by the great government road or "national pike" from Baltimore to Ohio, built under act of Congress.

What is the extent of our railroad system?

Our first railroad, 23 miles long, was built in 1830. At the beginning of the war, 1860, we had 30,635 miles in operation. In one year, 1882, we built 11,568 miles of new road, but in 1885 only 3,028. There are now over 128,407 miles of railway in operation, with a capital of over $7,500,000,000, earning about $750,000,000 gross per year (of which $500,000,000 is from freight and $200,000,000 from passengers), or $250,000,000 net, out of which about $90,000,000 is paid out as dividends.