Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1865-02-09
Financial Prospects.

Correspondence of the Cincinnati Gazctte.]
Washington, Jan. 29.-The most despon-
dent at least admit our military prospects to
be good 1t is the financial outlook which is
now regarded with apprchensive eyes. The
coast is shut in, the harbors are ours, the great
cities are ours, all rebel armies but two and
all rebel cities but two, are at our mercy; on
those our conquering legions march, aud the
issue is felt to be sute But, while we thus
destroy the rebellion are we not ourselves in
danger of destruction-not by arms, but by
/ Debt Are we not on the very verge Of a
point beyond which there yawns national
bankruptcy?
Great Britain is the standing example to
which the timd perpetually point us. Is not
our debt greater than hers, while our popula-
ton and our wealth are less ? She narrowly
escaped ruin; can we, in stormier sea, with
a worse shattered craft, hope to weather the
point on which she nearly struck?
Let us see
am indebted to Dr. John Elder, the ae-
complshcd statistician of the Treasury De-
partment, for access to the elaborate official
Investigations and comparisons of the debt
and resources of this country and of Great
Britain. How interesting they are one need
not explain to bankers, whose securities are
I. S stocks; to merchants, whose lito-blood
is the U. S. Currency TO the loyal masses
everywhere, whose earnings are received in
greenbacks, and whose savings are accumu-
lated in Fivu-twenty or Ten-torty bonds.
Before making comparison between some
points of our financial condition and that Of
Great Britain, it is well to dissipate the, de-
lusion about the enormous rates of interest
we are supposed to be paying. On the 3lst
of October last the average interest on the
Understanding debt Of the United States
was but five and Il half per cent, or, making
allowance for the large sum of legal tenders
and other species of debt on which no inter
est ID paid, the average interest on our total
debt is but four and fifth per cent, of which
tity-six and half millions in all are paya-
bic in coin.
Two points require consideration iii any
comparison of our financial struggles with
those of Great Britain First, how does our
debt press upon our population as compared
with hers; and second, how does it draw upon
our resources, as compared with hers, With
reference to both these points the calculations
at the Treasury Department have been care
tul and elaborate Here are the results:
lst On the 3lst Of October the total debt
Of the United States was s., 2,O17099,5l5. Ap-
portlonng this among the population of the
SS4 OF per head, for which amount Of the
Public Debt. every man, woman and child in
the loyal States was OH the 3lst of last Octo
Der, responsible Now mark the contrast
with Great Britain " i '..a .n
AS long ago as 1893, before any of the
great wars that piled up the mountain of
English Indebtedness, an apportionment of
the Public Debt of GREAT Britain gave an
average of $S3 46 per head Of her entire pop.
ulation Thus at that early day long before
financicrs began to think of British debt as
at all dangerous, it came within dollar per
head of as much as ours is now, after the
conduct of this gigantic war to the verge of
its successful close "..""'a. ..
But pursue the comparison a little fur
ther -
In 1916, after all the long wars with Napo
leon and others, Win. Pitt had sweled the
debt of Great Britain to an average of S2lS
20 per head In other words, at the end of
her trials, the debt of Great Britain pressed
three times as heartily upon her population as
now, in the conclusion OF our trials, our debt
presses on us. And as late as 1868, after
nearly half centurt's recuperation, with all
her increase of population, her debt still av-
eraged Sl30 Al per head, nearly 80 per cent
still more than ours. e ~ r.
ID In resources the comparison is just as
favorable. ". a..
Estimating by the annual rate Of increase
derived from the census, the wealth of the 10y
al States in 1864 was I4,S4l 100000 The
wealth of Great Britain for. the same year
was $35 1881 10000 say two and a half times
as much as our own. ir" ara @tl
But the annual rate of increase in Great
Britain during the last decade was but three
and quarter per cent, while that of our 10y
al States was eight and a half per cent
At these rates, the wealth of Great Britain
would double itself in twenty-one years and
eight months that of our loyal States in eight
and half years. - 81 u' @sai l'id -ii |
Similar calculations show the value of the
annual products of the loyal States for 1864;
to average, in gold, $3.50 II per hHaseiaa, a, Tor
the same year the average in Great ttt:tfain
was $120 10 per head ',i 80 ~ !.
That this is not an exceptional advantage
in our favor may be seen by running the com
parison back, keeping the values in all cases
Annual product United States
1850, averaged. .................. 1856 II per head
Annual product United States a'" ~ -t 4'
g 1850, raged.................s 128 50
Annual product log al Statcsise4,o Y 7IlGsePI,
averagcd".".....an".'.l".c..,leo leo II ,i" II
Annual product Great Britain -a -a
1850, averaged. ed...""....,,.y.. 80 "a "
Annual product Great Britain
lTIo6a arara co5 Ilf5- TltIl.l7 an an, az -lHI