New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1865-05-06
HOW
NATIONAL DEBT
CAN BE PAID.

4 III the WA TOT the reSftaDnsnment OF the UNION
not absolutely ended the ISSUE Of the great strug'
gls row, IL neither doubtful nor distant. We are
quite near enough to the end Of the conflict to take
An account Of stock look over our resources estimate
the amount Of our liabilities and arrange the means
and terms Of liquidation.
Amount Of Debt md Rate Of Growth.
We have contracted a debt Of enormous amount
az expressed in arithmctical figures. We cannot
state tie precise aggregate, for il is not definitely
Rascertaned, but is known to be something more
than half IS largo as the British debt, and may,
when all footed up, reach TO hree-quarters of that
Of March, 1865, orr debt was officially reported by
the Secretary Of the Treasury at the sum of e. 3S7
0o0 Tho end is rot yet, indeed but it is fairly
in Wow, and We have the data for on approximate
estimate.
TIE public debt on the 25th OF April, 1862. was
officially stated at $J23 80, 9i5; and on the 10th Of
April, 1863, at $685., 497 1850 An increase in $50
days of 81, lSs l35 per diem. On the Goth of April
1864, it was 65S sl5 05-an increase in 3Sl days
Of 81 ,SS2,723 per diem. On the 3lst of March,
1864 it stood at $2a6s 5,C77, increasing in 339
days at the average rate of q, o9i sOs per diem.
Estimated Aggregate at the Close Of the
War.
five take tho highest, as we'll % the latest Of
these average rates. 80 the probable daily accumu'
aton for the remaining term ofactual war e1pcndi-
turc, and fix the limit Of such maintained expcndi-
ure the LIST of July next, Rine. y-one days after
the last report, we have the additional Of $780,
627 ,52s, which wiI,brng the debt up to total Of
e., 557, $50 COS at the date assumed And lot it be
noticed that the statements from which these figures
arc taken, embrace every item Of debt known 10
the Treasury DEPARTMENTAL bonds, notes. tenn
poraIy loans, certificates OF indebtedness, fractional
currency outstanding, and ali acquisitions of the
War. Navy, State, and Interior Departments lying
UNPAID upon tho secretay's table. In . worl-all
the liabilities of the Government Of every kind,
except claims not presented, arising upon running
contracts and services, unsettled or rot Eatured-
claims to become debts when ascertsinsd and ready
for payment Those who have the least acqusiat-
snce with these unknown prospective claims, will
put them at the highest figure that fancy repre-
sent as possible; those who have tho best OF
forming judgment hesitate most to name sum;
but We think that the widest will DO satisfied with
tho addition OF the conecturHl Si42 Az 1876, which
arc required 10 bring the total probable debt to
round sum Of g. COO 100000, when all is settled,
known, and provided for.
Here, then, We have firm foothod and. We think,
% --.- ILL., ---.s,. allowed Ior contingencies,
ia IMAGES, pensions and bencvolenccs, and vo can
from this basis Of reckoning help Ourselves, with
OF All IN n cle in iwht
into the ways and means OF meeting the round
total Of our engsgepents in such way as shall at
once comport with the welfare Of the people tho
owe this debt and tie just rights Of the parties
who hold il.
4 lnerienn and british Experience Of
National Debts.
Nothing in our own past experience helps much
to an adequate comprehension Of present situa.
alton, except by the measurement Of proportions
rendered difficult by vast difference Of conditions
In I8l6,wc had debt of $l.7 600 00c which was an
average of charge sii g per head upon the entire
population Of the Union and per cent upon tho es
timated value Of all the property Of the people; but
our assumed debt of $1,000 900 coo would be IS per
cent OF the present wealth Of the loyal States, and
SIS % per head of their population. The debt OF
the Revolution, and tho war Of 1872, WAS wholly
discharged in nineteen years from The ordinary
sources Of revenue; aud though within fraction Of
half as great burden upon the capital wealth Of the
people, was never felt by anybody; and OF the end
OF the term Of payment tho first trouble and alarm
was from surplus Of revenue of 900 900, or one
third Of the whole sum which had so long in
numbered the Treasury.
Difference OF Conditions.
In the first ten years Of that debt-peying period,
the wealth OF the county grew al the slow rate of
25 per cent; and in the next decade, which closed
the term, at no more than Al per cent while the
wealth Of the loyal States increased between the
years 1850 and 1860 just log per centin amount no
less sum than g. 900 Oo0,0O0 or quite double the
dc BIT We are now concerned TO provide for. The in
crease Of tho wealth of the entire Union between
1890 and 1890 did not reach above $500 0O, 0OO sol
that here there is 10 paralelism Of conditions, and
no measure Of resources and burdens TO be had ex-
cept by contrast.
In 1916, at the cose OF her twenty-five years
war with tho French Republic and Empire, the
British debt was ,2O5 O0O 600. The entire wealth
of the United Kingdom WIS then, according to the
received estimates, 500, 100000 less than that of
the loyal States in 1861 the charge per head upon
her total population was s'ls2o, and the incun-
brance upon the total wealth of the nation 40 40
per cont. IL the fifty years since the Battle oil
Waterloo, her wealth has grown at u slow but
steadily increasing rato from 20 per cent in the irst
10 Al por cent in the last ten years that 49, ncreas
inc in tho frat decade about g. 100 900 co., and I'M
the last quite 5000, 100000.