Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-12-13

! debt Is it not THAT il shall be paid ac-
c%H!IhG to the n'.sl. r>tunding between the
iFnEernmcnt and the subscribers to it's
! loans at the time subscriptions were solicit
ed and obtained ? And can there be any
question III regard to the nature of this
understanding Was it not that while
interest bearing notes should be converted
into bonds or paid in lawful money, the
bonds should be paid, principal as we'll as
interest, in coin :? Was not this the under
standing Of the Congress which passed the
loan bills, and of the people who fur
nished money? Did any member of the
House or Senate, prior to 1864, in the
exhaustive discussions of these bills, ever
Intimate that the bonds to be issued in ac-
cordance with their provisions might be
paid when redeemable in a deprecated
currency? Was there single subscriber
to the five-twenty bonds, or to the seven
and three tenths notes, which, by their
terms, were cOvertible into bonds, who did
not believe, and who was not given to un-
derstand by agents Of the Government, that
both the principal and interest of these
bonds were payabl0 in coin Does any
che suppose that the people of the United
States, self sacrificing as they were in sup
port of the Government would have sold
their stocks their lands, the products of
their farms, of their factories, and their
shops, and invested their proceeds in five
twenty bonds, and seven and three-tenths
notes, convertible into such bonds, if they
had understood that these bonds were to
be redeemed, after five years from their
respective dates, in a currency the value of
which they could form no reliable estimate
Would the Secretary of the Treasury, or
would Congress, when the fate of the na-
ton was trembling III the balance, and when
failure to raise money for the support of
the Federal army would have been a sue
cess to the rebellion and ruin to the Union
cause, have dared to attempt the expert
ment Of raising money on bonds redeena-
bic at the pleasure of the Government after
five years IN Il currency convertible. but
the value Of which might not depend upon
the solvency Of Government, but upon the
amount in circulation
No such understanding existed, and for
tunately no such experiment was tried.
The bonds were negotiated with the def
mite understanding that they were payable
III com, and the seven and three -tenths
notes with an equally definite understand
ing that they were convertible, at the OPP
ton Of the holder, into bonds of simlar
character, or payable in lawful money.
Contracts were made IN good faith on both
sides-a part of them when the Govern
ment was III imminent peril and needed
money to preserve its eXistence--the bal
ance when its necessities were scarcely less
urgent for payment of it's just obligations
to contractors and to the gallant men by
whom the nation had been saved Good
faith and public honor, which to a nation
are OF priceless worth, require that these
contracts should be complied with in the
spirit in which they were made.
Holders of our bonds at home and abroad,
who understand the character of the people
OF the United States and the greatness of
the national resources, ought not to need
an assurance that they will be SO complied
with
The Importance of the restoration of the
Southern States to their proper relations
with the Federal Government cannot be
overestimated. a curtailment of the cur
rency and the maintenance of the public
faith are not all that is required to restore
the country to perfect financial health. We
need, in addition to these, a united coun-
try-united in fact as well as in name. It
may not be porper for the Secretary in this
report to discuss the measures regarded by
him as best calculated to bring about this
most desirable result. This, however, he
feels it his duty to say, as he substantially
said IN his last years report, that the ques-
ton OF reconstruction, as a purely financial
question, is, III his Judgment, second in i'm
pOrtance to mono that Congress will ever
be called upon to consider.
ALTON.
There is q general sentiment among tax
payers that the exemption of Government
bonds from local taxation is not exactly
right, and that it ought to be in some way
has no hesitation in admitting that he is
in sympathy with the sentiment. The diff
Guilty in the way, however, as has been sug
gested arises from the fact that if the
bonds hereafter to be issued were to be
subject to local taxation, very few would be
held where taxes are high, and there
would be a constant tendency to Il cOnCen-
tration of the States, and counties, and cl-
ties, where taxes ire low, or IN fore gu
countries, where they would escape taxa
ton altogether. 1t is "a matter of great
Importance that Government bonds should
be q desirable Investment il al parts of the
country, and it is obvious that the State
should be III some manner compensated
for the right, now denied, Of taxing them
as other kinds of property arc taxed. After
giving the subject careful consideration,
the Secretary can suggest no better Way OF
QOlug III butu Dy I'LL ISSuC Ol DouttS, " pS
known as the Consolidated Debt of the
United States, bearing six per cent. inter-
est, and having twenty years to run, into
which all other obligations of the Govern
ment shall as rapidly as possible be con-
verted, one-sixth part of the interest at
each semi annual payment to be reserved
by the Government and paid over to the
States, according to their proportion. By
this means all bonds, wherever held, would
be taxed alike, and a general distribution
of them be secured. State taxes, including
levies for county and municipal purposes
now, as general thing, exceed one per
cent, but when debts incurred for pay
ment Of bounties are paid, and in most of
the States they are already in process OF
rapid extinction, and economy is again
practiced in the administration OF State
affairs, this indirect assessment will be
quite likely to equal the tax assessed upon
other poperty 1t the debt to be funded
shall amount to So, 900, ,00O, 600, the amount
to be reserved and paid to the States an
nually would be $40, 900, 900.
EXPENDITURES AND ESTIMATES.
| These will be found in the Presidents
message.
Eronob oorrospondapt assarts that