The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-06-07
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i
Comments upon Mr.. McCullOch's late
Letter to the SOLID Men OF BOstOn-.-
The evils OF Oppressive THxRtiOn---
Necessity for Stimulating PrOduc.
tIOn.
We remarked yesterday under our
regular Commercial and Financial
head, that Mr.. McCulloch's,. late letter
had called out some severe comments
from the money writer's of the news
paper press. We quoted specimens
from the New York Herald and Chicago
Tribune, two papers that are strongly
edited in a financial way. AS further
specimens, we reproduce the following
articles from the, Philadelphia Evei,ing
Telegraph and the New York Times.
We do not agree with the closing re-
mark of the editor of the former paper,
viz: that Mr.. McCulloch "has prosti-
| tuted the revenue services to partisan
ends" We have never believed him
actuated by other than good motives
in the line of his official conduct, how
ever mistaken his views may have
been. True, his secret sales of the Gov
ernment gold through the hands of his
brother-in-law, broker In New York,
last year, at very low price, and the
rapid rise thereafter in the premium Of
coin. do give color to the reflections
and suspicious that have been hinted
at; but Notwithstanding all that has
been said the general belief is, and we
think correctly enough, that Mr.. Nc
Culloch simply committed an error on
judgment. 1t is well that the public
should retain confidence in the integri.
ty of the financial head OF the nation,
for his character is an essen
tial element of the monetary situ-
alton. His high Office should be
like Ceesar's wife, above suspicion.
And of all positions under the
Government it should be the least par
tisan. The curse OF the country at this
time is the multitude of incompetent
and dishonest subordinates that fatten
the protection of our complex, Oppres-
sive, and unequal revenue system. 1t
becomes us to believe that there is in
tegrity enough somewhere in its opera
tions to at least stay, if not always to
prevent, The spoliations of the "baser
sort" We think Mr.. McCulloch would
be glad to perfect the system and pro-
tect the country if he knew how to do
it. But he is among the reefs and
his skill as pilot may
Ha 10
not to be wondered at that a man who,
as President of the State Bank ofIndi-
ana at the outbreak of the war, and for
considerable time afterward, Imagined
that specie basis could be preserved,
and endeavored to keep bis own and
other machines working ON that princi-
pie long after more sagacious men saw
the folly and certain destruction of so
doing, should again be afflicted with the
same sort of monomaniacy, and shonld
be willing to imperil, as he has, the ul-
innate payment Ofthe national debt and
the peoples most vital interests, in order
to experiment upon his favorite idea.
That he has been brought up with a
ground turn" is not surprising. Hun
dreds, yea thousands, of men in pri-
vate life, who pretend to nothing more
that common sense views of money
| and business, foresaw and foretold that
his scheme would not work, that its
speciousness was all a delusion and
that in the end he would have just such
state of things, or worse, as we see
affecting the business of the country
and the revenues of the Treasury.
But we did not intend, in reproducing
the following article, to preface them
with an article of our own. The edito
rial from the Philadelphia Telegraph is
as follows: .....
"Secretary. McCulloch, in his late let
| ter, urges upon public attention the
truth that the country needs more pro-
duction. This all will agree to; but the
true question is, how to secure an in
crease of production2 And, unfortu-
nately, when we come to discuss this
4 question, we find the financial plans
| and theories of the Secretary standing
sOlidly athwart the path of national
progress and prosperity. The Secreta-
ry is in favor of paying off the national
| debt by the generation that contracted
! it. This can only be done by rate of
taxation which is excessive, and which
| The industry of the country cannot bear
! The prostration of business pursuits
and the stagnation of productive indus
try which we witness, are due to the
| fact that the burden of municipal, State,
and national taxation is too great. The
great stimulus to production is the hope
of reward, the profit which man rea-
sonably expects to reap from his indus
try or his capital, or from both. We
see this illustrated every day in the or
binary workings of the social machine.
The moment any pursuit is supposed to
yield excessive rewards, thousands are
attracted to it, and production is stimu-
lated until the rate of profit is reduced
TO the normal standard. On the other
hand, when it is found that any branch
OF business Persistently fails to return a
/ 1alr proht to those engaged in it, it
gradually declines and production
ceases.
| Nowsthe difficulty with production is
| that, under Mr.. McCulloch's plan of
paying off the public debt in a few
| years, the taxes are so heavy that thev
eat up almost the entire margin of
profits. AS consequence, industry
! languishes, production falls off, men
withdraw their capital from manufac-
turing pursuits and crowd into trade
ana speculation, and the whole coun-
try feels the depression. 1t is idle, un-
der such circumstances, to osuppose that
the wheels of production can be set in
motion by hortatory appeals, however
excellent or we'll intended. It is vain
to tell the manufacturer that he must
produce more, when he finds that he
reaps no profit from what he does pro-
duce. Profit, not good advice, is what
stimulates production. t.=..a
Another effect of our excessive taxa
tion is high prices. Every producer
.seeks to make up for his taxes by ad-
ding them to the price of his wares.
The tax becomes part of the cost of
production as truly as the labor. Mr..
assunaed redundancy of the currency