Mr. Bell to Mr. Bayard .
The Hague , October 13, 1885. (Received October 24.)
Sir: Referring to my No. 48 of the 26th ultimo, I now have the honor to inform you that an examination of the documents accompanying the budget for the year 1886 recently presented to the second Chamber shows that economies are proposed in all the departments except that of war, through which it is proposed to dispense 500,000 florins more than in 1885.
The expenses of the interior department are to be diminished more than 1,000,000 florins. This arises principally from the suppression of normal schools and a reduction in the operations connected with public instruction.
[Page 579]It is a noticeable fact that the expenses of the war department are increased to the detriment of the fund for educational purposes and the reason attributed for the reduction is the fact that in many localities the schools are so poorly attended.
It is proposed to distribute the 132,028,450 florins asked for as follows:
| Florins. | ||
| 1. | Household of the King | 650,000 |
| 2. | The high administration of the state and the cabinet of the King | 610,634 |
| 3. | Department of foreign affairs | 683,690 |
| 4. | Department of justice | 4,519,641 |
| 5. | Department of interior | 10,980,361 |
| 6. | Department of marine | 13,261,248 |
| 7 a. | National debt | 34,989,299 |
| 7 b. | Department of finance | 23,432,386 |
| 8. | Department of war | 20,774,853 |
| 9. | Department of waterstaat, commerce, and industry | 20,896,217 |
| 10. | Department of colonies | 1,180,120 |
| 11. | Various ways | 50,000 |
The minister of finance after having explained the financial situation, from which it appeared that there would be a large deficit at the end of the year 1886, insisted particularly upon issuing a loan of 65,000,000 florins, payable in fifty-five years, to cover the deficit and to provide means for carrying on the public works already voted by the Chambers.
It is proposed to divide the proceeds of this loan about as follows:
| Florins. | ||
| 1. | Finishing railway lines of the State already under construction. | 7,000,000 |
| 2. | Redemption of the line from Antwerp to Rotterdam | 4,000,000 |
| 3. | Approximate estimate of the cost of the canal from Amsterdam to the Merwede | 7,000,000 |
| 4. | Improvement of the Rotterdam Canal, deduction being made of that portion of expenses which fall on the Rotterdam community. | 6,000,000 |
| 5. | Improvement of the mouth of the Meuse. | 11,000,000 |
| 6. | Finishing works on fortifications | 10,000,000 |
| 7. | Demonetization of silver conformable to the law of April 27, 1884 (as this demonetization may take place during the year 1886) | 5,000,000 |
| 8. | The deficit as between receipts and expenditures estimated for December 31, 1886 | 16,000,000 |
The minister of finance closed his explanation by declaring that it was necessary to resort to new taxes to restore the financial equilibrium.
I have, &c.,