No. 335.
Mr. Daggett to Mr. Frelinghuysen.
Honolulu, May 7, 1883. (Received May 25.)
Sir: I have the honor to inclose herewith an official statement of the appropriations and expenditures of the Hawaiian Government for the year ending March 31, 1883, embracing a comparative exhibit of the receipts of the year preceding, together with the amounts appropriated by the Legislative Assembly for the several departments for the two years ending March 31, 1883, and the proportion expended during the first year of that biennial period.
Following is a recapitulation of the amounts appropriated for the support of the several departments for the two years ending March 31, [Page 558] 1884, and the amounts expended during the first half of that period, ending March 31, 1883:
| Departments. | Appropriated. | Expended. |
| Civil list | $148,500 00 | $86,581 00 |
| Permanent settlements | 21,800 00 | 9,319 00 |
| Judiciary department | 122,125 00 | 51,359 00 |
| Legislative department | 25,300 00 | 24,791 77 |
| Foreign affairs | 257,766 00 | 149,312 22 |
| Education | 120,520 00 | 34,913 56 |
| Interior department | 1,938,194 03 | 761,708 99 |
| Attorney general | 319,500 00 | 114,505 26 |
| Sundries | 10,000 00 | 13,578 94 |
| Finance deparment | 350,380 00 | 135,462 23 |
| Total | 3,316,015 03 | 1,385,531 97 |
These large appropriations, especially for the interior department, were made in anticipation of the sale of $2,000,000 in bonds authorized by the last Legislative Assembly, the major part to be devoted to internal improvements, but as none of these bonds have yet been sold, the expenditures of the interior department, based to some extent upon this expected source of supply, have considerably exceeded the current legitimate revenue. Nor is any assurance offered that these bonds can be sold. Although the act authorizing their issue was approved more than nine months ago, and strenuous efforts have been made to dispose of a portion of them, not a dollar of the loan has yet been taken. These bonds bear interest at the rate of 6 per cent, per annum, and must be sold at par. Under the circumstances, to meet the extraordinary expenses of the year, 9 per cent, bonds to the amount of $201,900 were sold under an act of 1876, which should have been repealed when the new loan was authorized.
Heavy outlays in the interior department, together with an expenditure of $50,000 or more in the foreign department in the payment of coronation expenses, have carried the expenditures of the year $238,731.76 above the ordinary receipts. The actual receipts of the year, independent of the sales of bonds (amounting to $201,900), were $1, 146,800.21, while the expenditures were $1,385,531.97.
This showing cannot be regarded as satisfactory, and a very marked curtailment of expenses will be required to bring the expenditures within the receipts for the second half of the biennial period. In a friendly spirit, I have conferred with members of the ministry on this subject, and have reason to believe that a retrenchment in expenses will be attempted.
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I am, &c.,