Causes are in operation which
will, it is believed, justify a still further reduction, without injury
to any important national interest. The expenses of sustaining the
troops employed in Florida have been gradually and greatly reduced
through the persevering efforts of the War Department, and a reasonable
hope may be entertained that the necessity for military operations in
that quarter will soon cease. The removal of the Indians from within
our settled borders is nearly completed. The pension list, one of the
heaviest charges upon the Treasury, is rapidly diminishing by death.
The most costly of our public buildings are either finished or nearly
so, and we may, I think, safely promise ourselves a continued exemption
from border difficulties.
The available balance in the Treasury on the 1st of January next is
estimated at $1,500,000. This sum, with the expected receipts from all
sources during the next year, will, it is believed, be sufficient to
enable the Government to meet every engagement and have a suitable
balance in the Treasury at the end of the year, if the remedial measures
connected with the customs and the public lands heretofore recommended
are adopted and the new appropriations by Congress shall not carry the
expenditures beyond the official estimates.
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