Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-08-02
THE NATIONAL DEBT.
The Extent OF its Bu-den, and HOW
tt Can Resi- Be Paid.


it Can Resi- be Paid
To the Editors Of the onion and Dispatch.
The debt Of the United States is now in
round numbers three thousand millions dol
lars. The interest on which isaboattwo hun
dred millions Of dollars per annum, or
about a hay million Of dollars every day he
gear round every dollar Of this enormous
sum is paid by taxation, and he bonds not
tared. How long can any nation stand
this awful load on its industry
Is there no remedy for so great an evil
l think there is, and l believe that even
this large debt can be made national
blessing, and can be made TO reconstruct
the country restore it to prosperity and
happiness. How can so desirable a re-
sult be brought about? The government
has reserved the right to pay its bonds af
ter five years from the time they were
issued, and they were bought with, not
only a knowledge of this fact, but also of
the fact that the notes issued by the gov
ernment commonly called greenbacks,)
were legal tender, il cannot therefore be
considered as a violation of contract or
a want Of good faith for the government to
pay off these bonds with greenbacks. Let
the government do this: say by issuing one
thousand million dollars in greenbacks
during the year 1868, aud pay that amount
Of bonds, and in 1869 pay another thousand
million dollars, and then during the
year 1870 pay the remainder in the
same way. In the meantime let the
taxation OF the country be fixed so az to
yield one hundred million dollars per
annum, and this money set aside sacredly
to the exclusive purpose of cancelling and
burning one hundred million Of dollars an.
nually Of greenbaczs. Thus in thirty years
the whole debt will be wiped out BY tax
of just half Of what is now paid for the in
terest; and at the end Of thirty years the
country 'cN be free Of debt, whereas, under
the present system, at the end Of thirty
years the debt will still be unpaid, and we
wiR haze paid, in that time, tcice the amount
Of the debt ia interest alone.
What will be the effect Of throwing this
amount of paper money on the country
Most bsneEciai. The immense amount Of
capital now locked up, doing no good, ex-
cept making the rich bond holder richer
and the poor Taxpayer poorer, would be
invested in manufactures, in railroads, in
agriculture, in stock raising, and in hun
dreds Of ways, giving life and employment
TO thousands of people who are now dis
heartened, distressed and needy. The va
cant lands now growing up in weeds would
bloom with bountiful crops The hundred
millions Of dollars needed for the sinking
of that amount Of greenbacks would be
paid without being felt, and the national
debt thereby turned 20 a national blessing
indeed.
New energy-new life and hope
would be infused into the country.
The incubus Of privileged and
mOnied aristocracy would be ban
ished fros1 our country, We would be
rid Of the odiOus aud oppressive system Of
banking, now @stenad 0n the country and
eating lis vitals up daily Who can cal
culale the development and improvement
Of the country under the proposed change
The owners Of national banks, and perhaps
others, may raise hue and cry against the
policy of issuing SO much, money and raise
the senseless clamOr of "an inflated paper
currency" These are all sounds without
any meaning. Suppose the currency is in
lated, and a dozen factories, and half
dozen railroads. and hundred farms, and
a dozen coal mines are thereby built and
set going, and thousands of people en-
ployed at good wages and home market
created for every community, is any one
injured2 Suppose, under the INFLATED
currency" reign, the tax collectors come
round for the hundred millions annually,
and every man has his pocket full Of
money, is any body injured By that Every
man who pays dollar of this tax then
feels that he is regeneratiRq his country,
he sees that each year makes the debt less,
and while he is working to pay the debt Of
his government it is helping him to do so,
and the burthen getting lighter and lighter
every year. We then have hope, worth
more than ali else 10 man.
Under the present system We work and
labor, and save and pay taxes that bring no
reiief; at the end of the year our heavy load
remaining on our shoulders, and we begin
the new year with the same cherries, hope
less load weighing us down to the earth,
with no capital invested in any enterprise
that stimulates the industry of the country.
If had control of a newspaper, would
devote a column daily to the advocacy of
this scheme until doomsday.