Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1866-01-05

erihg ue iun s.au"ical report Of Mr.. Colby as
Register Oh the treasury. The leading facts as TO
national expenditures, revenue and the national
debt, are known to our readers but there are three
points in the elaborate and able report Of the Sec
Rotary which we will notice briefly.
The legal tender acts, he SAYS, found warrap,
only in the unwrit,cn law Of necessity to maintain
the government; they were justiGable only rs war
measures an opinion ha, was held by majority
oftbe Congress that reluctantly passed them. If
we are to adopt the logic Of some politicians in re-
spect to other acts justified on the same ground.
to wit that the return OF peace these acts must
cease to have effect, then the legal tenders notes
would be shorn Of at least third Of their value.
and to that extent the holders Of them would suffer-
entailing loss to the country gilmore than hun
dred million Of dollars The Secretary does not
think that the restoration Of peace annuls the le
gal tender clause, nor even that Congress should
repeal it until the country is prepared for specie
payments with the exception of a single class Of
interest bearing notes which were not intended for
use as a circulating medium AS to these, he rec
ommends Congress to declare that aiter their ma
turity they shall not be a legal tender; the effect
OIWuNu Wuulu " W bAihk III NhO hotto lbi iphNmF
ton, and harm nobody. The other legal tender
notes be proposes to retire without unnecessary
delay, carefully and persstenty until all are re-
tired. OF course when that shall be done, specie
payment will be resumed
The Public Debt.-The amount in round num-
beers, is put at two thousand seven hundred and
forty-one millions, and careful estimates show that
Al g
will extingush the debt in thirty years. This can
be done without increasing the present rate Of tax
alton, and in fact with a steady diminution of the
rate as the amount of taxable property shall in
crease. The debt can be paid and it must be,
since nation that is without credit is without the
power even Of selfpreservation. The only way
to pay it, says the Secretary is to raise the
by taxation and stick to it unllinchingy until the
work is done. This nation has had greater war
than any other and if it honorably pays the cost,
it will be sublmely glorious above all others.
Tazation of National Securities. by
states, or in any form, either of securities already
issued or to be issued, the Secretary says "would
result in serious, if not fatal, embarrassment to
the Government, and instead of relieving, would
/ tNtnluhil inJuttf Aht Eitat mass VI AhN fN'pAV
who to bear their full proportion Of the burder
of public debt" The popular and very natura
idea is that if towns and states can tax these Sc
curites, the general burden Of taxation will b.
lessened because more equally distributed. s.
indeed it would be, if the value of the securitie
were not reduced by it; and here is the point o
the Sccretarys argument; their value would b.
! ...l 10, IA, .bodv 20 tab th,, 4,
home or abroad, the government would have u
pay an increased rate Of interest to make up 70
this reduced vaue--oI, what is the same thing il
effect, sell the bonds at large discount. This i
illustrated in the railroads, Gt is our illustration,
and very clearly so in own. The stakeholder
and the roads have been literally swamped, through
the issue Of stock and bonds below par So thu
Government would be swamped but for one fact
and that is, it can and it must to preserve itself
cast The burden upon the people, who would have
to bear it in greatly increased taxation to keep ~
the credit of the Government. The Secretary il
confident that taxation of the bonds would driv,
them out of the country at reduced value or higl
interest, thus making constant drain upon il
capital or industry to pay the interest abroad, anc
/ INC anu III Nlt cnu int ptOpl'
/ would have to redeem it all, without compensa
ton or alienation" They would lose in nationa
taxation vastly more than they would gain b.
state taxation, besides losing the advantage Q
holding the bonds at home, principal and interest
as part of their own capital, and aiding til
! productive power of the country. This advantag
is one of the compensations" or " alleviations
of the national debt, and it is not to be cheapl
estimated. II we pay England two hundred mi
lions year our debt, any body can see that S
much will be taken from our capital; whereas
that is paid to our own citizens, it will sti
remain part of the capital of the country, an
in fact go to swell the amount on which taxation
to be made, thus ever tending to reduce the rat
and burden of taxation All the country want
now is patriotism and grit in the people to bea
the national tax at the start. Then year by yea
the burden will grow lighter and lighter till
will cease even to be felt.