TURKISH EMPIRE-OTTOMAN PORTE.                         
 1161

amortization and of those paid as interest on the debt. Amortization is a
re-imburse-
ment of capital, and by confoundingg it with ihe-interest, the claim upon
the revenue
may appear heavier than it really is.
  The sum provided for the payment of the coupon of the loan of 1873 must,
according
to the remarks which we make on the floating debt, be withdrawn from the
budget.
Indeed, this sum is detached from the total estimate of expenditure in the
rough draught
before us. The sum inscribed in the budget for the service of the floating
debt would
appear to us to be more appropriately designated as being allotted for the
"service of
the treasury."
  In the administration of mines and forests the expenditure appears to us
to be con-
siderable as compared with the receipts of those departments; we readily
understand,
nevertheless, that this expenditure is destined to meet the exigencies of
a utilization
(of mines and forests) on a much larger scale than that which now exists
and which is in
process of being developed; we trust that this prevision will be realized.
We trust
that the sum set apart for the payment of railway guarantees, and which appears
to
be accurate, for the year 1290, will progressively decrease in the following
years. In-
telligently and conscientiously handled, the railways must soon give profits
large
enough to cover the payment of the sums guaranteed.
  Deducting the interest on the loan of 1873, which, for reasons stated further
on,
should not figure in the present budget, the total of the budget expenditure
amounts
to 25,600,000 p5ounds Turkish. The receipts, according to our evaluation,
amounting
to 24,800,000 pounds Turkish, show a deficit on the ordinary budget of the
year of
800,000 pounds Turkish, but as this evaluation of receipts is partly approximative,
we
believe that it is indispensable f~or the credit of the country to establish
a surplus, and
that for this, it will be necessary to make on the budget of expenditure
reductions of
1,000,000 pounds Turkish at the least. It is beyond our province to indicate
the heads
unuler which these reductions must be made; we leave it to the government
to make
under each separate head of the budget of expenditure the necessary retrenchments,
and to establish the equilibrium that we believe to be indispensable for
the credit of
the empire.
                                 FLOATING DEBT.
  We have discussed the various heads of the budget and examined the estimated
re-
  ceipts and the expenditure that has been recognized to be sufficient for
the govern-
  meat; and we believe that, with certain unimportant modifications, means
can be
found of re-establishing the state finances on the only solid foundation-that
of an
equilibrium between receipts and expenditures.
   All the state departments appear to be sufficiently provided for in this
estimate, and
 although a severe control might effect further economies, we have adhered
simply to
 the figures shown in the budget. But the tables of the floating debt present
difficulties
 of quite a different character. In order to re-establish the credit of the
government,
 this debt must be provided for and its renewal be prevented.
   The difficulties encountered by the treasury have their principal source
in the exist-
 ence of this debt.
   The payment of the various temporary: loans, of which the floating debt
is made up,
 falling due at various periods unknown to the public, demands either the
frequent
 renewal of the term of payments or the contracting of new loans to effect
those pay-
 ments. Such loans being often contracted at times when credit is difficult,
are only
 obtained at high rates of interest, rates which are justified by the uncertainty
attach-
 ing to the- re-imbursement at the stated time of the borrowed sums.
   This high rate of interest lowers the credit of the country, and, being
added to the
 capital of the debt, swells out that capital in a proportion which cannot
but lead to
 insurmountable difficulties.
   The loans of the floating debt are often guaranteed by special sources
of revenue
 which should be devoted to the regular expenses of the state. The encashment
of
 these revenues for the benefit of the floating debt deranges the normal
service and
 unsettles the calculations of the budget. The government has been obliged
in con-
 sequence to appeal to credit for the requirements of the service, requirements
which
 might be regularly covered by the revenue receipts, if those receipts were
applied
 solely to the yearly expenditure. The result of this has been that actual
resources of
 the empire have become depreciated in the opinion of the public, and this
deprecia-
 tion would not be justified were the treasury to work under normal conditions.
   The floating debt consists, in so many words, of the accumulated deficits
of succes-
 sive years, augmented by the interest which has necessarily been added.
To inspire
 confidence and settle the national finances on a solid footing, these deficits
must cease
 to recur. A considerable portion of the total debt is composed. of the expenses
of dif-
 ferent ministries which had-exceeded the estimates and been added to the
floating
 debt. Various orders, especially for arms and for navy materials, that have
not yet
 been executed, but that are to be delivered in the course of 1290, have
also been added
 to the floating debt, and provision must likewise be made :for these in
order to estab-
 lish an equilibrium. Every government, of course, must either have a floating
debt
 or means in its treasury to enable it to meet its wants before its revenues
come in, but