The total ordinary receipts and disbursements for the past 12 years may be studied in the annexed table: During the fiscal year 1917 the receipts from the Panama Canal were $6,150,668.59, while the expenses incurred amounted to $19,262,798.32. The net excess of disbursements was $13,112,129.73, which was paid out of the general fund of the Treasury. The amount expended on account of the canal and the proceeds from sales of bonds to the close of the fiscal year 1917 may be observed in the statement following: Receipts and disbursements on account of the Panama Canal. During the fiscal year 1917 extraordinary disbursements of public moneys were made under provisions of law as follows: Purchase of Danish West Indian Islands (act of Mar. 3, 1917).... Total..... $25, 000, 000 8, 880, 315 885, 000, 000 918, 880, 315 RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS ON ACCOUNT OF THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT. The Postmaster General has exclusive control of the receipts and disbursements of the Post Office Department. During the fiscal year 1917 the postal receipts deposited in the Treasury and credited to the Post Office Department were $161,707,923.13; other receipts to the amount of $234,174,638.39 were received and disbursed directly by postmasters without being deposited in the Treasury. Such disbursements are authorized by existing law and are accounted for under the provisions of section 406 of the Revised Statutes of the United States. All Post Office Department warrants are issued by the Postmaster General on the Treasurer of the United States, and under department regulations they are also payable by any assistant treasurer, federal reserve bank, or regular national-bank depositary of the United States. A statement of the transactions relating to the account for the service of the Post Office Department with the Treasury during the fiscal year 1917 may be studied on page 389. TRANSACTIONS IN THE PUBLIC DEBT. The transactions in the public debt during the fiscal year 1917 were as follows: Receipts for postal savings bonds (act of June 25, 1910), $1,794,660; for retirement of national-bank notes (act of July 14, 1890), $37,293,045; for 1-year Treasury notes (act of Dec. 23, 1913), $4,390,000; for certificates of indebtedness (acts of Mar. 3 and Apr. 24, 1917), $918,205,000; and for Liberty bonds (act of Apr. 24, 1917), $1,466,335,094.61, making a total of $2,428,017,799.61 received, while the disbursements on account of principal of matured loans and fractional currency were $18,398.75; for national-bank notes canceled and retired, $40,564,115.50; for 1-year Treasury notes, $4,390,000; and for certificates of indebtedness $632,572,268, making a total disbursement for the debt of $677,544,782.25. The net result was an excess of receipts of $1,750,473,017.36. A comparison by items for the past two fiscal years is made in the statement following: Receipts and disbursements on account of the public debt for 1916 and 1917. In addition to the foregoing other transactions in the public debt were made under the provisions of section 18 of the act of December 23, 1913, which authorizes exchanges for United States 2 per cent gold bonds bearing the circulation privilege, but against which no circulation is outstanding, 1-year gold notes of the United States, bearing interest at the rate of 3 per cent per annum, and 30-year 3 per cent United States gold bonds. There were received for exchange bonds as follows: Consols of 1930... Panama Canal bonds (1916-1936). Panama Canal bonds (1918-1938). $36, 535, 500 5,502, 800 3,927, 600 45, 965, 900 For which there were issued in exchange at par bonds as follows: Conversion bonds.... 1-year Treasury notes. $22,993, 900 22, 972, 000 45, 965, 900 UNITED STATES PAPER CURRENCY ISSUED AND REDEEMED. The paper currency issued under the direct authority of the Government during the fiscal year 1917 attained a maximum at $2,069,826,000, an increase of $559,382,000 over that of the preceding year, while the redemptions amounted to $1,711,773,000, an increase of $718,552,900 for like period. The net excess of issues over redemptions was $358,053,000. The amount of each kind issued and redeemed during the fiscal year 1917 is stated in the table following: In a study of the foregoing table it will be observed that the United States notes issued and credited in the general account as a receipt are offset by an equal amount of worn or unfit notes in kind withdrawn therefrom, canceled, and retired, which is in accordance with the provisions of the act of May 31, 1878. In explanation of the manner of issuing and redeeming gold certificates, silver certificates, and Treasury notes of 1890, it may be said that for certificates issued and credited in the general account an equal amount of the respective kinds of money held in the general account is transferred therefrom to, and retained in the trust funds for their redemption; for gold certificates, silver certificates, and Treasury notes withdrawn from the general fund, canceled, and retired, a like amount of the respective coins is released from the trust funds and brought into the general fund in their stead. THE PUBLIC DEBT, 1916 AND 1917. The principal of the interest-bearing debt at the close of the fiscal year 1917 was $2,712,549,476.61, an increase of $1,740,986,886.61. The debt bearing no interest amounted to $416,048,133.91, an increase of $9,486,130.75. The public debt, by items, for the fiscal years 1916 and 1917 is compared in the statement following: PAYMENT OF INTEREST ON THE REGISTERED BONDS OF THE UNITED STATES. The interest on registered bonds of the United States is paid by checks prepared and mailed from the office of the Secretary of the Treasury. Such checks bear a certificate as to the principal of bonds registered in the name of the payee, over the facsimile signature of the Chief of the Division of Loans and Currency; they also bear the facsimile signature of the Secretary of the Treasury, and are countersigned by a clerk in his office. These checks are drawn on the Treasurer of the United States, but are payable by any assistant treasurer, Federal reserve bank, or regular national bank depositary of the United States, and the amount so disbursed is included in the requisition for reimbursement made by the Treasurer at the end of each month. The paid checks are sent to the Register of the Treasury for an administrative examination, who in turn forwards them to the Auditor for the Treasury Department. There were 134,044 checks drawn during the fiscal year 1917, amounting to $21,047,373.07 THE RESERVE FUND. The transactions in the reserve fund represent more truly exchanges to secure an accommodation of denominations than presentations to obtain gold. The redemptions from the reserve fund during the fiscal year 1917 were, in United States notes, $38,555,910. The redeemed notes were, under the provisions of the act of March 14, 1900, immediately exchanged for gold, and thereby the reserve was maintained in volume and character. STATEMENT OF THE TREASURY OF THE UNITED STATES. At the close of the fiscal year 1917 the Treasury holdings of moneys amounted to $4,528,460,906.27, and from the revised figures of the several funds it was set apart as follows: Gold coin and bullion.... RESERVE FUND. $152, 979, 025. 63 TRUST FUNDS. [Held for redemption of the notes and certificates for which they are respectively pledged.] Gold coin and bullion... $1, 584, 235, 909 Gold certificates out $2,094, 336, 669 1,970, 078 Less amount in the Treas Total..... Gold coin..... 2,063, 390, 829 Net.. GOLD SETTLEMENT FUND, FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD. 5,922 1,970, 078 2,063, 390, 829 $526, 295, 000 The items composing the general fund are subdivided; the first part shows the amount of each kind of available cash actually held in the vaults of Treasury offices, after setting out from the assets the appropriate kinds of money to meet the requirements of the reserve fund, trust funds, and gold settlement fund, followed by the amounts of public moneys in Federal reserve banks, national banks, and other depositaries to the credit of the Treasurer of the United States and of disbursing officers; the second part shows the current demands against the same, and finally the net balance in the general fund. The assets in the general fund in the Treasury on June 30, 1917, and the demand liabilities outstanding on that date were as follows: |