The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1867-04-02
The Dcbt-NCcdlcS Alarm
for Its Premature Payment.

FROM llc NtN AhIh AlhltHt lNANlNll.H
MIR. Kelley, of Pennsylvania. is alarmed
lest our National Debt should be paid too
soon. He has Iallcn into the habit of in
Producing resolutions into Congress pro-
testing against its payment by this geucr-
atiOu.' Congress hcsltatc- about passing
them, and the Tribune halls this hesitation
rs the dawn OF a financial millennium. II
declares Mr.. kelley's proposition to be
mot much better than qualified repudia-
ton. and insists that the Debt must be
paid at once,-'by those who contracted il,
not by the poSterity''
Mr.. Kelley's alarm is rs absurd rs the
.TribunC's political economy. Ifhe will be
patient, he will soon recover from IL. This
generation is much more likely to double
the debt than IL Is to pay IL. The country
has been amused with the idea that we are
plying it off at the rate ola hundred or Il
hundred and fifty millions u year; but 1t
forgets that we are increasing it quite rs
fast In other directions. The Bounty Bill
of 1856 added about eighty millions. An
other il under way which will add from
two to four hundred millions more. Mr..
ISchenck says that this bill will do ITO be-
Igiu WITH aud Gen. Banks pledges himself
to vote for whatever sum the soldiers want
he does not care whether it is four or
eight hundred millions of dollars. Mr..
Williams, of Pennsylvania. has presented
lIllOllltT. any WI llllllls VI Alilllfs SUN
anOthpr bill Of the same sort. The soldier
CONSTITUTE u powerful part of the great body
of voters. They nave one common interest,
and nothing Is more certain than that lust
So long rs aspiring partisanS want their
votes, lust 81 long will millions be voted
out of the public Treasury for the purpose
of securing them. Neither party in Con-
gress even To- dare vote against any such
propositions. No prominent public man
I'm, tuLyp trt,,tnl AY,nnlF anil I,1llr n,sntprt
the policy thus f~Oreshadowcd, ruinouS and
fatal rs they know it to be. Whoever does
50 Is forthwith denounced rs an enemy OF
the sOldirr-a rebel-sympathiZeT-a traitor
or n Coppcrhcad more or less disguised.
And an epithct or two Of this sort is quite
enough to silence any member who. in u
rash moment, might have dreamed of con
sulting the public good.
Then, too, Mr.. Blain's proposition to
transfer to the National Treasury all the
debts incurred by States and counties 1t
raising soldiers and prosecuting the war, il
l pretty certain sooner or later to become 3
law-aud this will add not less than ilv,
y hundred millions to the aggregate of tn,
National debt. And lurking behind al
these stands another class of claims. O
e which no man can estimate the amount
a we mean the claims of loyal men, Nortl
r and south, for property taken or property
destroyed during the progress of the war
These claims began to come in mt the be
c ginning ofthe first session OF the last Con
5 gress. aud were referred to the Committc
Il of Claims, Mt the head of which was Hon
Columbus Delano, ofOhio, II of the ables
: and most considerate men in public life
So startled was the Committee by tn
amount of these claims that they reported
resolution, which was forthwith adopted
that until otherwise ordered no claims 9
this character from the citizens OF th
Southern States should be entertained Blu
this was simply n temporary evasion Of n
Il inevitable duty. Ii was like shutting one
G eyes to a danger too fearful to be faced
THE Committee did not dare to let tn
t. country understand the eXtcntof the claim
n which are perfectly just and can II
more be ignored than can the Seven
d Twentics or amy other part of the publ
Il debt.
II What the amount OF these debts wi
e prove In the end to be, the country has u
means O knowing, Mr.. Delauo has int
mated two or three times, while urgin
vigorous measures of taxation in Congress
II that they would be large enough to tax I
the utmost the resources aud the courag
W of the whole country. And we have yer
N good reason TO believe that the amount
e such of these claims rs will be found to |
NJ perfectly lust, and such rs must he paij
will approach very nearly, il It does II,
equal, what is understood to be the preset
aggregate Of the national debt. Tins ma
seem cNtrayagaut, as it certainly is alaru
Of ing; hut we believe time will show that
ld Is not an ovcr-stat0mcnt Of the actual fac
mt Congress, meantime, seems inclined
cut off, one after another, the sources
A. revenue whereby The interest on this Z
gantic debt, and the decrease of its prime
pal. can alone be met, Twenty or twent,
1--WE millions Of the income tax were r.
= leased at the last session. The tax on go
~ ton, which yields twenty millions nor
Az came within a very few votes Of beir
~ abandoned. Every branch of manufa
x lures clamors for release, and those Whit
:, are tho most powerful, and which al
u therefore, the most Important are pref
sure to get it. The same Interests demal
'! protection from foreign competition to
y extent which will cripple N
seriously diminish its vast contribution
v the public treasury, and experience shO,
:" that their demands are quite likely to
conceded.
Both Mr.. Kelley and the Tribune may pc
i sess their souls in patience. They can i
te. aside all ap~prehensions of u rash and pr
ne mature payment Sf the national debt, 30
od those gentlemen are much more certain
: see il doubled than TO see il paid. 1t "
" never, probably. be repudiated-that
not by any formal vote or direct notion
1.-The Government. But voting additions