Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1865-06-21

good to us. Those nations having the
largest public debthangiug over them are
declared to be the most prosperous, civil
lied and progressive of all tie nations.-
The Indebtedness of the Five great powers
of the World, is as follows:
Debt
France Coz COO .1s9 sSPitn sSP "a
Hp.tI1 HpsEa ,ssS 1S4 2SSssOO GO 15!e0L00 50 90
Q. sTItain, '60.- 40OO,sl8 944 1856 6Ss 13S Ss
ULited stats',.. s.OOO,OtO.OOO 6.0O00t0 eS T3
ltis important in estimating the burden
or the magnitude of what we call the pub
lie debt that We do not copfound two dis
'inct things, viz: the principal of the debt,
and the annual interest accruipg on the
debt. Few nations ever expect to pay off
the principal of their debt. In Great Bri.
tain the debt never natures. The cousols
run in PerPetuity, and provide only for so
much annual interest. Our debt natures
IN term Of years, and therein differs from
that OF Great Britain. Some of it matures
almost every year in the future, for the
next twenty years. A movement has been
made to pay off, in whole or part, the debt
even before it natures. But this will not
be done. The people would not give up
their bonds before maturity. wby2 Be.
cause they would not know what else, so
safe and remunerative, to invest their
money it. The bonds will scarcely be paid
at maturity. Why 2 Because the people
will rather prefer to pay annual interest.
For what reaspns7 Because, in the frat
place, it is easier to pay little every year
than to attempt something larger. In the
second place the government will not care
to pay off its maturing bonds. Wby2 Be
cause it will have little difficulty in replac
ing them at o lower rate of interest. What
iB meant by lower rate of iuterest2 An
option given by the government to the
holders of it's matured bonds, either to re-
ceive in full the amount of the bond or else
to have it renewed at lower rate of inter-
est. hmoney, for instance, is abundant in
the year 1867. When the Five. Twenties
mature, the government may choose to
make new loan and borrow enough funds
to pay off that portion of its debt. If
money is scarce and high it may choose to
let the Five Twenty bonds run ON to the
expiration of their twenty years-which ia
the maximum of the governments option.
There are other reasons, however, why
both the people and the Government
convertible terms in this country-will
hardly care to diminish, or very greatly
anyhow, the national debt. In the 6rst
place, it will be our basis of banking. We
are to have National Banks, and nothing
else, in the United States. As yet we
have only begun to put them in operation.
The South has got to be thickly dotted
with them. Every town will have its
National Bank, Money will be within
easy reach of the people. Enterprise and
industry will be stimulated as they never
were before. We will have no uncurrent
money TO annoy us. The basis of the Ma.
tiOnal Banks-in other words the national
debt, will thus be made popular. Tbous.
snds of people will have stock in the Ma
tioual Banks; thousands more will own
government bonds-and thus taxes will
be simply repayment of government pro-
6ts, and as the public wealth increases the
taxes to each man will diminish. The
writer argues the great debt of Great Bri-
tain has been the source of her maguia
cent prosperity. On this head we quote
from what he says:
t 1t was not the industry, persistency and
tEugaHty of the British people-it was moi
their insular position-it was not their
Goals nor their iron stone-that gave them
supremacy on the ocean and in the money
markets and trading exchanges Of both
bemisPheFes. Their insular position va.
against them. Their limited inland ter
FitoFy was unfavorable to empire. Theil
want OF space aud their climate made
them dependent upon other countries fol
their bread. They became supreme as
merchants, manufacturers and money
lenders. simply because their Nations
I debt added four thousand millious o
' capital to their previously acquired
wealth, and simply because this vast infu
sion OF wealth. which had every business