The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-01 00:00:00

The American Debt.

According to the from New 'York a
been opened by the
to This will gup the deb4t
--..-IcE)hunasts
FfredesherlaloanGnovferZninl2
rest that
nofrewthihacnh:tatsooth,ooe
roa,toeooofstinertelhig, thine
irannethnaucatilmb_aurdi_
notm :hob-
todenm
is
paid, will be in excess of that of the wit' 1180naei
debt of the United Kingdom. Even
ness of the war, the nature of this fact
gether lost sight of, and the New York Journal of Com-
merce, in its capacity as aleading organ on economical
questions, has placed it before the people in all
its
bearings. " A national debt," it is premised, " be-
ing a grievous burden, the people of America will
be restive under it." Long training is requisite
even in the best circumstances before communities
will submit quietly to a constant weight, and
America such patient endurance cannot be ex-
pected." It will be borne under the excitement of
the present conflict, but not longer, unless those
who are to sustain it can see their way to the end,
and find it materially lightening year by year.
Hence it is essential that a plan should be devised for
its speedy redemption. "It must be paid or it will
be repudiated in some form, for the American people
will never settle down under. it, to bear it evermore."
The problem is then fairly started, "Can it be paid?"
aanndd
itnhea
naJonuerhnas/hnof Commerce
rtertfineth beanhlievasbe theenat it
supposed.can,
Indeed, " with the recuperative powers of the Ame-
rican people, a debt of double the amount might be
extinguished within the lifetime of the generation
isnowyetcom" coming n
o stinn
ilato's ateonemstmit.
theA And, atlrtyhotnoghaniyt
plan for providing the means of such payment," the
Journal then proceeds to point out the most obviourA
methods that suggest themselves. The first is g. a
grand national subscription"--a project which is de-
clared not to be Utopian, lad " eminently American
in principle." If only two millions of perso that
is to say, about one in every ten of the men, women,
and children in the Federal States—would under-
take to give an average of £240 each, t, the State
might be cleared in a day." It would be the
cheapest method that could be invented, but the
Journal of Commerce has some fear that " enough
of the two millions might hold back to spoil it."
Failing the grand national subscription, the next
idea is to divide the debt into three equal parts,
and assess it as a direct tax upon the country, the
whole amount to be collected thus in three years.
" This would seem harsh to many, and yet it would
be healthy surgery compared with the slow torture
of long ymrs of debt." A third alternative " popular
with a large class" is to raise the amount in a few
years by a tax on exports, especially cotton and to-
bacco. The Constitution must be amended to effect
this object, as it prohibits Congress from laying a
tax on the exports from any State, but " a proposi-
tion is already before Congress initiating such an
amendment." Beyond the alternatives thus cited
the Journal of Commerce does not at the moment
perceive anything, but a conviction is expressed
that even if none of these should be found 'the true
one the exigencies of the future will develope
method wiser and better than any of them. With
so plain an exposition of the prospects which must
constitute their reliance, furnished by one of the
most conservative and best-informed commercial
papers of the United States, the bondholders, whether
at home, in Germany, or elsewhere, can have little
title, whatever may henceforth take place, to complain
of having been blinded. If they feel sanguine on
the point of a national subscription, or that the
people will, at the end of the war, submit to the
healthy surgery of taxing themselves to pay off 600
millions sterling in three years, or that an export
duty on cotton andtobacco sufficient for the pur-
pose will not effectually transfer the trade in those
products to other countries, or that some wiser or
better method than any of these will be devised,
they will doubtless look upon their investments with
perfect confidence. If, on the contrary, they enter-
tain misgivings on these points, they must bear in
mind the distinct warning they have had that "re-
pudiation in some form" will be resorted to.
LONDON GAZE tTE---Last Evening
•
_ _ WAR-OFFICE, Fes._ 10.

The Queen has been graciously pleased to give orders
for the appointment of General his Royal Highness Albert
Edward, Prince of Wales, K.G., K. 5.1., to be an Ordinary
Member of the Military Division of the First Class, or
Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the
Bath.

FOREIGN-OFFICE, FEB. 27.
The Queen has been pleased to approve of Mr. Charles
H. Page as Consul at Cardiff for his Majesty King of
Hanover.

INDIA OFFICE, FEB. 20.
Her Majesty has been pleased to appoint the Right Hon.
William Nathaniel Massey to be an Ordinary Member of
the Council of the Governor General of India.
DUCHY OF CORNWALL, FEB. 25.
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales has been
pleased to direct letters patent to be passed under the
Seal of the Duchy of Cornwall, appointing John Michael
Williams, of Caerhayes Castle, Esq., Sheriff of the county
of Cornwall.