VII. UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT DEBT SINCE 1857.
In 1857 the Government owed only $10,000,000 over and above the cash held in the treasury. At the breaking out of the Civil War the debt had increased to about $80,000,000. By August 31, 1865, it had increased to $2,756,000,000, with an interest charge of $150,000,000. In twenty-eight years, down to June 30, 1893, the Government extinguished $1,917,500,000 of its debt, paid $2,364,000,000 for interest on its debt, and $118,000,000 for premium on bonds redeemed, making a grand total of $4,400,000,000, or an annual average payment of $157,000,000 for the entire period.
The rise and fall of the public debt from July 1, 1857, to July 1, 1898, appear more fully in the following table.
| Years. | Total debt. | Debt less cash in the Treasury. |
|---|---|---|
| 1857, July 1 | $28,699,831 | $9,998,621 |
| 1860, ” 1 | 64,842,287 | 59,964,402 |
| 1861, ” 1 | 90,580,873 | 87,718,660 |
| 1862, ” 1 | 524,176,412 | 505,312,752 |
| 1863, ” 1 | 1,119,772,138 | 1,111,350,737 |
| 1864, ” 1 | 1,815,784,370 | 1,709,452,277 |
| 1865, August 31 | 2,844,649,626 | 2,756,431,571 |
| 1873, July 1 | 2,234,482,993 | 2,105,462,060 |
| 1879, ” 1 | 2,245,495,072 | 1,996,414,905 |
| 1889, ” 1 | 1,619,052,922 | 975,939,750 |
| 1893, ” 1 | 1,545,985,686 | 838,969,475 |
| 1895, December 1 | 1,708,871,670 | 948,477,612 |
| 1896, July 1 | 1,769,840,323 | 955,297,253 |
| 1897, ” 1 | 1,817,672,665 | 986,656,086 |
| 1898, ” 1 | 1,796,531,995 | 1,027,085,492 |
In 1865 the annual interest charge on the public debt was $150,977,697. In 1898 it was only $34,387,408.
From 1791 to 1898 the gross receipts of the Government were $30,547,063,336.06 and the gross expenditures $29,768,597,237.24. The net ordinary receipts, which do not include loans or proceeds from the issue of Treasury notes, were $405,321,335.20 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1898, and the net ordinary expenditures, which do not include payments on account of premiums or interest on the public debt, were $405,783,526.57.