Testimony of foreign observers to the commercial efficiency of the consular corps seems to be conclusive, and our own manufacturers and exporters highly appreciate the value of the services rendered not only in the printed reports but also in the individual efforts of consular officers to promote American trade.  An increasing part of the work of the Bureau of Foreign Commerce, whose primary duty it is to compile and print the reports, is to answer inquiries from trade organizations, business houses, etc., as to conditions in various parts of the world, and, notwithstanding the smallness of the force employed, the work has been so systematized that responses are made with such promptitude and accuracy as to elicit flattering encomiums.  The experiment of printing the Consular Reports daily for immediate use by trade bodies, exporters, and the press, which was begun in January, 1898, continues to give general satisfaction.

It is gratifying to be able to state that the surplus revenues for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1900, were $79,527,060.18.  For the six preceding years we had only deficits, the aggregate of which from 1894 to 1899, inclusive, amounted to $283,022,991.14.  The receipts for the year from all sources, exclusive of postal revenues, aggregated $567,240,851.89, and expenditures for all purposes, except for the administration of the postal department, aggregated $487,713,791.71.  The receipts from customs were $233,164,871.16, an increase over the preceding year of $27,036,389.41.  The receipts from internal revenue were $295,327,926.76, an increase of $21,890,765.25 over 1899.  The receipts from miscellaneous sources were $38,748,053.97, as against $36,394,976.92 for the previous year.

It is gratifying also to note that during the year a considerable reduction is shown in the expenditures of the Government.  The War Department expenditures for the fiscal year 1900 were $134,774,767.78, a reduction of $95,066,486.69 over those of 1899.  In the Navy Department the expenditures were $55,953,077.72 for the year 1900, as against $63,942,104.25 for the preceding year, a decrease of $7,989,026.53.  In the expenditures on account of Indians there was a decrease in 1900 over 1899 of $2,630,604.38; and in the civil and miscellaneous expenses for 1900 there was a reduction of $13,418,065.74.

Because of the excess of revenues over expenditures the Secretary of the Treasury was enabled to apply bonds and other securities to the sinking fund to the amount of $56,544,556.06.  The details of the sinking fund are set forth in the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, to which I invite attention.  The Secretary of the Treasury estimates that the receipts for the current fiscal year will aggregate $580,000,000 and the expenditures $500,000,000, leaving an excess of revenues over expenditures of $80,000,000.  The present condition of the Treasury is one of undoubted strength.  The available cash balance November 30 was $139,303,794.50.  Under the form of statement prior to the financial law of March 14 last there would have been included in the statement of available cash gold coin and bullion held for the redemption of United States notes.