The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1868-03-17
zt'heeling gegister.
Tuesday uOr"i"s' '..'.-. March H.
The ISoud Question.

The Homd Question.
r,. chief i,cm in the national in
,t,.lrc,, is the Five-Twenty bonds,
t,nt sl.loO,OOJ in amount. These
,.n3s hear an interest of i per cent in
-, and the holders of them draw this
.,.,.r,.st in gold semi-annually. AS gold
,,cr,b 50 per cent premium, over the
r...rcv which all othor debts are paid
=. ,b. actual rats nf interest which the
r,y,rpmcntpa pays on th0GOnds, is, i'll legal
,.rlers. about :! per cents 40. But
-, r,nds possesS an important aristO-
,-,,ic prerogative which adds largely
,, ,b,ir value. They are exempt from
81, taxation which presses so grievous-
!. m all other property-the rich mans
n,r,ce and the humble mans eottnge.
r,;, t,y,tion will average not less than
= ncr cent. the country over. This 2
,,,r cont. then may be added to the an
ngal interest which the Five-Twenties
jr,w-makiug a total of about lOi per
cant interest the people are paying on
them.
Are the people able to pay this rate of
i,rerrstf They are not; and the con-
,;rued exactiOn of it for ten years
I,,Cer would assuredly lead them into
bankruptcy that wSuld present but one
,emedy-absolute repudiation. We say
tb, pronle are not able to pay lO3 per
cant interest on the public debt. The
.imple reason is that the annual in
crease of their own property is not
s1ral to that rate. The average an-
nuaI screase of agricultural products
hr the decade from 1850 to 1860 was 81
per cent. The rate of increase IN the
total wealth of the country, in
Gliding the products of manufacture
Is well as of agriculture would.
probaJly, be little ever this, but
not much: and we may therefore fairly
take q per cont. as the full rate of in
crease. How then, can people whose
labor Yields an annual increase of only
3, per cent. pay an annual interest of
hr,r times that rate, on Pn enormous
debt. They cannot do it without draw
ing on their capital wealth itself year
after wear; and if this process is con-
tlnusi long enough it is evident that it
will ultimately reach point at which,
not only the annual product of the labor
Of the country will be devoured, but
tie accumulated wealth itself, of the
people, will be mortgaged to the bond.
holders.
The people feel the enfee bling effect
OF this depicting process now, and they
will feel it more aud more acutely ev-
cry year. 1t is the cause of tue distress
that now afflicts the land, producing
idleness, want, suffering and discOn-
isn't. The people are rapidly being
divided into the class of creditor and
dchtor-the former drawing ten to
twelve per cent from the latter, and the
victims sullenly contemplating the
approach of the hour when all they own
viii be grasped by the money lenders.
And vet not IL word must bc brcathcd
against the ruinous eXtOrtiOn. Not II
sigh Of complaint must escape troIa the
victims of this merciCsS oppression.
That would be "dislOyalty," and the
offender would be held up to public
scorn -, . "repudiator." The bond
holder must never be mentioned eX-
crpt with the utmost Difference. No
one must dare to propose tax on
li, bonds-fOr Senator WADE,
of Ohio. "would not trust such II
mau in his sheep pasture at
night" No one must propose that
the rate of interest on the Five-Twen-
tie, bc rcduced-for that would make
him aR advocate of the national dishOn-
or. No one must hint at getting rid of
portion of this crushing debt by pay
IN the Five-Twcuties in legal tender
uorcs-for that would be, in the estima-
tIon Of New England bondholders, out
night rcpudIatien. And lastly, no enc
mus; appeal TO Congress for relief from
The bondage that is cnslaving the peO-
p.r for Congress is absorbed i'll the great
tasks Of Reconstruction and Impeach-
mcut.