The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1866-11-11
Tho Resources and Credit Of tho Govern,
ment.

Whiskoy dull and nominal.
| The Resources and Credit Of tho Gsvorn.
ment.
We cannot look at the extraordinary
resources of the country and government and
| then at the low state OF our credit abroad
without surprise, and without feeling that there
| must be either something radically wrong in
the administration. Of our financial affairs or
profound igoorahSs as to our condition and
means. Lot W look ct the facts. United
States six pers cent stocks, bearing interest in
gold, aref selling In London twenty below
British three sper cents-that ID, ours are sold
ne sixty1nAs,, while the others are sold at
eighty7pipee II the credit Of the United States
be a4gbo6 a. that Of England, II the interest
and 'prlhcipal Of our debt will as certainly be
paid as that Of the British, II our resources
and orr means Of paying be as great as those
Of Great Britain, our Hve-twenties should be
worth just double English consols Instead Of
being twenty below they should be eighty-nine
| above; instead of being quoted at sixty-nine
they ought to be at one hundred and seventy
eight. That is the real measure OF relative
value, apart from local preference for one or
thb other and Independent of such modidca-
ten as the trade exchanges between the two
countries would make, If tho credit and re-
sources Of one country be as good as those Of
the other. This is so plain that child may
understand it. Financiers cannot even mystify
it BY their affected profundities and Stock Elk
change jargon.
The question, then, is simply es to the COM
rarative credit, resources and means OF pay
ing the debts of the two countries, as well as
the chance of their debts being paid. Hardly
ang one believes that the national debt OF
England will ever be paid. England has pro-
baby reached the limit, or nearly 30, of her
productive power. AS compared with this
country she is positively on the decline.
Mr.. Gladstone, with the far-seeing mind
of statesman, understands this, for
In speech made short time since he
boldly expressed the prospective and COM
parative condition of his country. He could
see the time coming, and he said so, when the
mines of England would give out, when the
enterprise Of that country would be over
Swallowed by the superior resources and enter
prise of this, and he called for measures to put
the British debt in way of liquidation before
these things should come upon them. The
debt Of England has already reduced the
mass OF the people to the lowest condition.
Taxation is carried to the extreme point of
endurance. Though the interest Of the debt
may continue to be paid, there b little pros
pect, Notwithstanding Mr.. Gladstore's warning,
of the principal being liquidatei. But the
time may come when the government may not
be able to pay even the interest
Now let US compare our own condi-
ton and future with the situation and future
Of England. At present we have superabun-
dant revenues revenue Of over six hundred
millions year-witnout any ono feeling seri-
ously the burdens of taxation. The country il
prosperous beyond all precedents, and that
not artidcially, but substantially. The United
States, with population Of nearly forty million,
IL hive Of industry. We have had . surplus
revenue in the last year sufficient to pay OF
nearly two hundred million of the debt II
we should deem It prudent to keep the present
fiscal laws in operation we could pay of the
| entire debt In ten years, and nobody, Is We
have said, would suffer seriously. That is our
actual condition. But looking to the future
what do we sect We have the unbounded
wealth Of . continent Thousands Of years
could not exhaust it. In minerals, In coal,
iron and all the more useful metals, we have
an illimitable resource, while we have
greater amount Of the precious metals
than any quarter Of the globe. Besides
these sources Of wealth we have those OF agri-
culture, with every variety Of productions that
all the climates and soils Of the earth can
| yield, and many that cannot be produced else
where. In all probability our wealth will be
more than doubled. In ten years, and our popu-
lation in twenty. What are we not capable
off What Is our national debt to uss AS to
political difficulties affecting us or our growth
in the future, which Europeans seem to dwell
on, that is all bugbear. Our present troubles
are only on the surface; they will ell pass
away, and whatever notifications may take
place In our institutions or In the practical ope-
ration Of the government the nation will exist
and increase in vitality and power. We have
no motive for repudiating our debt, and we
are Too honorable and proud to do so. We
have an abundance Of means both to pay the
interest and to liquidate the debt, and we shall
certainly do both. Why, then, we ask again,
Is our credit 80 low in the markets OF the world,
compared with that Of England and the other
Powers Of Europe which hardly know how to
make both ends meet? We call upon the
Secretary Of the Treasury to answer. We
want to know how long the money traders
here and in Europe are to be permitted to
ignore these irresistible facts and to hold us in
such humiliating position.