﻿THE PRESENT	27

In purpose the thirty-one series may be arranged
in seven groups as follows:

Series

In anticipation of: Nominal amount

(A)	[1] ............. 1917 Income Tax

(B)	[2] [3] [4] [5] ... First Liberty Loan

(C)	[6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

[ 11 ] ......... Second Liberty Loan

(D)	[12] [13] [16] [18]

[21] [23] ......1918 Income and Excess

Profits Taxes

(E)	[44] [151] [17] [I©]

[20] [22] ......Third Liberty Loan

(F)	[24] [25] [26] [27]

[29] [30] [31] .. Fourth Liberty Loan

(G)	[28] .............. 1919 Income and Excess

Profits Taxes

$	50,000,000

868,205,000

2,320,493,000

1,624,403,500

3,012,085,500

4,659,820,000

iS7,S52,50o

The circumstances attending these successive
issues may be briefly reviewed:

(A)	The early entry of the United States into
the war was foreshadowed in the recommendation
of the Ways and Means Committee of the House of
Representatives in the report accompanying the
revenue bill of March 3, 1917, that inasmuch as
“ under the present system of taxation a consider-
able portion of the receipts are not due and pay-
able until the last month of each fiscal year ”— the
existing authority of the Secretary of the Treasury
to issue certificates of indebtedness with a view to
anticipating public revenues should be enlarged.
A little noticed section of the Payne-Aldrich tariff
act of August 5, 1909, had reenacted the certificate
of indebtedness provision of the Spanish War rev-
enue act, with the maximum amount of such certifi-
cates which might at any time be outstanding in-
creased from $100,000,000 to $200,000,000. As