The daily press. (Cincinnati [Ohio) 1859-1859, 1859-02-25


The doctrine that will eventually be !
reached in respect to the creation of pub
lie debts, is that no one generation of men,
or period Of time, has the power to bind
another; and that therefore all claims
against one, however and for whatever
purpose created, are void as against all
other periods or generations That this
will be the result practically reached, in
respect to the greater share of the corpo-
rate debts now in existence in the United
States, we entertain but little doubt
1t is probable that nothing but the arri-
val of state of total incapacity to pay
the corporate debts of the country, will
put an end to the process of creation. In
most Of the States and cities of the Union,
the idea Of meeting debt is, in the pub
lie mind, inseparably associated with that
of contracting another while the first
mention Of q desirable enterprise is al
ways accompanied with the inquiry, where
can the means be borrowed to carry it
into effect? Under such state of things
it is useless to attempt to predict the arri-
val of the time when payment is to begin:
or, rather, it is not difficult to see that such
time can never arrive Debts and ina
bility to pay will 60 hand in hand; and
repudiation-voluntarily or involuntarily,
it makes but little difference which-will
close the account AS in a great many
other cases, the principle, whose abstract
truth few are ready to admit will be
wrought out into practical result, to
which all will be forced to conform
When we cannot pay debts improvidently
contracted, it is Of but little moment
whether or not we insist that we would if
we could. This will not save the moral
aspects of the transaction-that is to say,
provided that in such cases there really
exists a moral obligation.
1t may be doubted whether, viewing
the matter in its true light, there is such
a thing as absolute Indebtedness. All
debts take their character from the nature
of the transaction in which they arise
and the condition of the parties by whom
they are created A fair bargain between
two thrifty individuals, in which there has
been no overreaching upon either side,
and full value has been received, and @
compact entered into between grasping
money-lender and profigate heir upon 9
post obit, are very different affairs. Oul
,, sense of justice is not outraged particle
when the Shylock fails to realize upon hi
,, bond. He who borrows money, cent pei
cent, borrows it palpably for speculation
or to squander; and therefore his promise
however absolute in its terms, means tha
he will pay if he cannot more conve
niently, avoid it Allof our public debt
have taint of improvidence or fraud i.
!. their origin; and this taint not onl,
. should, but will, inevitably, abideby then
to the end.
The idea that we are laying future age
! under obligation to pay the debts whicl
:, we contract, by the transmission to then
! of our assets, is idle. Even if it wer
true, our representatives would only b
bound to the extent of the value they II
/; ceive; which, in general is very insight
8 cant as compared with the size of the de-
ID mand. The talk Of preparing institution
N for posterity, in this connection, is simpl
" the most transparent of all false prctense'
E We care as little, in reality, for gener,
ID tons yet unborn, as generations yet III
u born do for us. This argument near
Is that we want to borrow money, becaus
we want to spend it-leaving our succe
: sors to settle the question, to pay or not
~ pay, to suit themselves. In our condu,
70 we admit the looseness of the obligation
&C. The lender also cakes his premium-as
&C. insurance upon q doubtful transaction
&C. in advance, evidently looking upon it in
@ similar light; and thus both parties,
ut their consciousness, give the act its tr,
b, character. 1t is--only half disguised
ns the old negotiation of Shylock and Il
,ss: spendthrift
tSi We are presenting the case in its pra
IC tical aspect-the only one that has al
il substantial value Sentiments of publ
sSn 'cH honor and high views of dutyare all We
so tof well; but of little effect to force the mea
o. to pay old debts out Of reluctant al