Did Gondor ever have to declare a financial hardship as their power?
Gondor never at any time was Socialist. It hadn't been invented. Gondor spent a lot of its treasure fighting wars, but it was still a highly fertile and well-populated land. They evidently cut back on some of their infrastructure spending, as Gimli noticed decay and poor design in Minas Tirith, and the Rammas, the outer bank, was badly maintained. I suspect they spent the money on weapons instead. The Stewards were no worse than the kings when it came to managing Gondor's finances, and probably better. They didn't need to prove themselves with ostentatious displays of wealth.