Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-05-22
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prove that the poor man will make money
I oy torgiviDg the debt. Suppose every man
held from $50 to $500; by giving it up en-
thing he consumes to its real gold value be
4 will make treble the interest of the bonds,
In the reduction of his expenses the first
year. As an illustratiOn:s have bonds
bearing interest $500 a year. = afsHv 'ari
The difference in my expenses last year,
from what they would have been had these
bonds never been called into existence by
the accident of war, have calculated to
be $1,000. Now, as / am not fond of Ipur-
chasing an income of $500 per annum by
an expenditure of ten times the amount,
| you may believe that i am perfectly will
ing to sacrifice my bonds, if that sacrifice
will bring me back to the old cheap rate of
living; for, like every American, am
fond OF money, and DO not wish to fritter 1t
away uselessly. There are hundreds and
thousands in the same position as myself.
who must view it in the same light.1al 2dSi
But how about the rich man, who may
own hundreds of thousands of dollars In
these bonds, and who has, therefore, a sure
and steady income from the interest they
bear i have this to say with regard to
the man of wealth: As q general thing,
aside from what he owns, or did own,s In
real estate, before the war, he, has made
from the masses of the people-the, poor
men, the consumers. As the clouds lick up
their, burden OF waters from the ocean, SO
let it return to the ocean, where it belongs.
They may say what they please about the
poor people-the needy bondholders, suffer-
ing from sweeping measure of remission !;
but study of the matter will show that
they will be gamers by the transaction
immediate gainers.r If the price of beef
steak can be reduced from 80 cents to Is
cents per pound, and other provisions in
equal proportion, thespoor bondholder of a
few hundreds can well afford to destroy
his bonds; the paltry interest thereon be-
ing inconsiderable compared to the amount
saved by an abolition OF taxation. -5..f
But why not do it at once? 1t must ulti-
Suppose the Interest on our debt to be COM
pounded; every twelve years we continue
to pay the interest we pay as much as the
whole debt, and are still no better off. And
who ever heard of nation paying the
principal of debt of three thousand mil
lions Even supposing it possible, to whom
are we to pay it? Aside from what we
owe outside Of the country, it is all among
ourselves. The Government is ourselves,
so we have nothing to provide for here but
the people. So, why tax ourselves con-
tinually and so enormously, to take from
the. masses to build up the few? By a law
as fixed as that of gravitation, bonded pub
lie debts always gradually pass into a few
hands. 1t is reported that President john
son said. '.that the holders of the National
debt constituted moneyed aristocracy in
the Northern States, which would eVent-
ually become more odious to the great mass
of the people than the slaveholdiug class in
the South had ever BEEN" I am not an adj
mirer of President johnson; but, if he
said this, 1 regard it as one of the most
valuable sayings of his life. 1rn.dr-7 -a9i
q AS for Uncle Sans debtors in England:
In the first place, general remission of
debt will bring all of the bonds home to
this country by a natural ta,o. But, evenif
it should not, why should we mourn for
EDgland? We all know that she was the
cause of this debt, or, at least, the major
part, of it. Beside, she would not fail to
make good her claim in less thantwo years
by the general increase of trade between
the two nations, upon the removal of the,
existing exorbitant duties and the income,
tax g-.-.,., -.1...-,- f.--..,,f -. -. !.
These are my two plans, and prefer the
last one, the one of a general remission of
bonds, as the most expeditions and wise. IF
the question, that of the general giving-up
of the war debt, were placed before the
people to- morrow, Is there a doubt of its
triumph at the polls? The masses may be-
obtuse and hard TO learn I'M some things,
but touch their pockets-the representa-
tiyeof their worldly status iu the world
and they begin to inquire the, reason as
naturally as eating their dinner; and only
convince them that a general surrender of
the public debt unpaid will release them
from taxation-will render the price, of
living One-half as much as at present, and
they will vote in. its favor. OF course, af-r
ter the thing has been carried through,
there viii be thoseEheayy owners of bonds
who Will say: 1--WE will not Join this
Benevolent Society; we want our money,
and we shall keep our bonds in our pock-a
ets" rGUFs -f-Tssf y srs1z 155
Well, let them keep them there. When
they become convinced that they are waste
paper, they will consign them to the use of
waste paper. This plan is not reputation.
rThe old Continental scrip was never repu-
dated by its creators. If there is any to be
found to-day, it is just as good as our z $40
notes. 1t has never been repudiated, and
was created in just as good cause as our
present bonds, as all will agree. They were
both the product of ecessity-intended
only to be employed to the saving of this
country while the continuance of the for
mer would have defeated our growth and
prosperity, so the continuance of the latter
will destroy us altogether. -i7s
Now, the means to induce the people to
give up or remit this debt, is the next and
main consideration. How is it TO be done
Who will pioneer the enterprises? In the
ightforwardness Of General Grant, 1
. propose" that the next Legislators in any
State, as well as the next Congress of all the
States, and the next President of the United
States, shall all be put on platform involv-
ing this element of the remission of the
National debt. Let each belong to this be-
neyolent society, and let each be sworn to
the support of its principles, and then let
the issue go before the. people; AS said
before, this is no repudiation. To repudi-
ate is where the debtor refuses to pay the
creditor. Now, we, the people, are credit
ors, and Uncle Sam, is the man, if anybody,
that owes, US. i propose to gtue him the
entire debt and take a pledge from him re-
leasing us from all Cor nearly ally Of the dd-
ties on imports, income taxes, and every
thing of the Kind that has burdened us for;
the last five years, and giving US specie in
place of paper currency. fsAis 81 F71 os.'
| With our next Congressional Representa-
tives, aud our next President pledged to a
policy involving this disposal of the Ma
tional debt, we might return to hard cur
rency basis almost immediately-witha a
general reduction and cheapness in the ex-
pense of living, which would spread hap
piness throughout the broad land. ri ze -
A. J. OWEN.
Jersey City, May z, 1867 81 5Vcsf ,-s
The Champion CueB of OhiO-Its
HistOry-AAarry ChOate -ChaI-
lenges EraWIey for the Cham
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At the Billiard Tournament, held in this