: CHAPTER XVIII. WORK OF THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT. BY HON. LYMAN J. GAGE, Secretary of the Treasury. I T is well said that final judgment cannot be passed upon events still recent. This applies to the financial history of a war as well as to the operations of fleets and armies. Not until years after the civil war closed was there fully comprehended the depth of that struggle as measured by the problems met and solved in raising money. Now that time has set its seal on the efforts of those who achieved or failed in that fearful conflict, the financial trials of a generation ago are better understood. We know well to-day the effects of measures then adopted and their influence on subsequent affairs, while we see in a clearer light what was actually accomplished at the time by the Government for the Union in the resort to many expedients for procuring funds; and we realize more fully how the Confederacy suffered, in depreciated paper currency, a repetition of the direful and well-nigh hopeless days which marked the financial story of the Revolution. As the events of the Spanish-American War are yet of yesterday, no more will be attempted now than to tell as simple a story as possible of the war operations of the Treasury De partment. All ages have recognized that money is the essential in conducting war. Centuries ago Cicero declared: "Money is the sinews of war"-a trite phrase, which has not lost force by repetition in all the years since it was uttered. In fact, as time has gone on, it has gained in strength until it is regarded now as an axiom. Money is indispensable, and the power of the war chest has perhaps never been better demonstrated than during the late conflict from which we have emerged There is a vast difference in time and in methods since Alexander led his legions over the hills of Greece to conquer the world. To-day this modern republic of ours stands foremost for a different world conquest, a struggle in which is involved the advancement of humanity and civilization. In the olden days, when warriors fought with spear and shield and battle axe, their methods of subsistence were as primitive as were their weapons of warfare. They lived in large part upon the country, as we term it, by foraging and plunder. To-day no army is well organized without a commissary department, equipped to the point of perfection, for it has come to be realized that soldiers fight best when they are well fed. I may be pardoned in this connection for relating a story told by Rear-Admiral Schley. Recently, when he served as a member of the Porto Rican Evacuation Commission, a Spanish member of that body said to him: "How do you account for the easy manner in which your countrymen have so overwhelmingly defeated mine?" To which the Admiral replied : General, you must get down to a fundamental principle; you cannot expect men to fight who are not fed, nor soldiers to win victories who are not paid." Vast changes have taken place even in recent times in the methods of conducting maritime warfare. The tendency in this respect has long been toward an increase of expenditures. The cost of a single battleship runs into the millions, while to refill once all the vessels of our navy with ammunition costs more than six millions of dollars. The necessity for such an outlay of treasure during the war for independence would have broken the spirit of even the indomitable Washington, and no nation of this time not rich in material resources could expect to prosecute war successfully. Naturally enough, the chief function of our Treasury Department during the recent conflict was to keep the war chest supplied. The main purpose of this chapter will be to tell a simple story of how this was done. Incidentally, however, the writer may be permitted to recount with pride some of the achievements of other branches of the Treasury service in the war with Spain. Not many realize how vast an organization is the Treasury Department. In the last annual report of the Secretary there were no less than twenty-seven chapters, devoted to as many different branches. These by no means means include all the Treasury services, for there are yet several important subdivisions which are not made the subject of an annual report. Ever since the very beginning of Cuban troubles the United States Treasury Department has had more or less of a share in them as represented by the efforts of this Government to enforce the neutrality laws as they relate to vessels. The first expedition in January of 1895, intended to carry arms and ammunition to the little band of insurgents who were even at that time making ready for the revolution which was proclaimed shortly afterwards on Washington's birthday, was apprehended at Fernandina, Florida, by officers of the Treas ury Department. The arms and boxes of ammunition on board the Lagonda, their first vessel, were cast overboard into the bay to escape capture by the Treasury's collector of customs. From that time until the actual breaking out of hostilities between the United States and Spain, the Treasury Department was vigilant and active in maintaining neutrality. Expedition after expedition was circumvented or captured, and much annoyance and expense resulted from these efforts. A long coast line furnished ample opportunity for the successful embarkation of men, guns and ammunition for Cuba. The Florida Peninsula was also a base which was frequently used for illicit expeditions, and therefore the coasts of the Peninsula and Gulf were patrolled by revenue cutters of the Treasury Department, and collectors of customs were under strict orders to take the most effective steps at their command to prevent violation of the law. The revenue cutters engaged were the Boutwell, Colfax, Forward, Hamilton, McLane, Morrill, Windom and Winona. As the revolution in Cuba progressed, the burden of maintaining neutrality as between nation and nation increased. The continued complaints of the Spanish Government against the landing of expeditions in Cuba were met by every effort the Department could bring to its command; yet, notwithstanding a wellordered patrol, both by the cutters and vessels of the navy, and despite the vigilance of customs officers, arms and ammu |