Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-10-08

are expressly authorized by the law to add
their tax to The price charged consumers,
and they would do it, of course, anyway.
The law of Congress merely re-enacts the
the law of trade. If you go to Cincinnati
and ride in the street cars, you will see q
notice posted in each car, that the price OF
tickets by package formerly one dollar) is
one dollar and three cents. The three cents
is the tax. In all these, and similar caseS,
the railroad companies, the express COM
panies. the gas companies, the merchants.
wholesale or retail, are merely constituted
tax collectors by the Government. The
taxpayers are the consumers-the people.
This, then, is brief view of how we,
are taxed. Now in all these various ways
how much is annually drawn from US and
for what is it expended? From statements
in aIrecent speech of Edward Atkinson, OF
Boston, and published in the Cincinnati
Gazette, which will certainly be regarded
as good Republican authority, and on the
principle OF admissions, may be held good
against them, and which he says are fur
nished by David A. Wells, Commissioner
of the Revenue, l find that there were
collected by the United States Government
for the fiscal year ending June 30 1868,
as follows: aaat =. l. "A
From Duties on Imports (god). Sl63 500 900
From Internal Reyenus. s.:......;..-: l9s.oOoo ooe
property, &C., ...-................-..! 49.SOOO 600
Or. converting the whole into Curren- -.--,
-............................ $4S5 O0OO0
The total expenses of the Government in
1860, the last year of Democratic admin
istration, for all purposes, except payment
of principal of public debt, were thirty
three millions OF dollars, or in paper about
ninety-two millions of dollars-about one
fourth OF one-fifth of what they are now.
The expenses of the Government in 1865.
in time of profound peace, more than
four times as great as they were in 1850
What makes this vast increase? How is
the money spent? - E. ... -.... f.a
In the first place for interest on. the Ma
tional debt. We have a debt of about
1900 millions of dollars, the great bulk of
which is in bonds bearing interest. The
amount of this interest is about 80 millions
OF dollars per year in gold, or in currency
about $50 millions. A portion, of the
bonds, those known as the 10 40 bonds, are
payable both principal and interest in gold.
About this there is, l believe, no contro-
versy. 1t is admitted by both parties. :
These, however, constitute but small part
of the bonds, only about 175 millions. The
great bulk of them are what are known as
$40 bonds-and these are payable in green
backs. Neither the bonds themselves, nor
the law under which they were issued re-
quire any thing else. This, I believe, was
admitted by Attorney General West, in his
speech here a few days ago, and it is now
generally conceded. Tue amount of these
bonds is, in round numbers, about 1850
millions OF dollars. The rest OF the debt
is made up of the United States notes or
greenbacks and fractional currency, in cir
culation to the amount of over 400 millions
of dollars and of bonds and securities OF
other forms not necessary to explain III
detail. You will remember that the great
bulk of our interest bearing debt. more than
tWo-thirdS of it's in the form OF 20
bonds and payable in greenbacks. Now
what, in BRIEF is the plan proposed by each
of the two great parties tor dealing with
this debt. - ma ar.
The Democratic party propose to pay
these bonds as fast as they become due. and
as fast as it can be done without injury to
the financial interests of the country, in
greenbacks-the ordinary currency of the
country, and that for which they were or
iginally sold. What does the Radical party
propose to do? al - 5.-
Just before its last adjournment, Con-
gress passed bill known as the funding
bill. By the provisions OF this bill, new
bonds were to be issued to an amount suf-
ficient to redeem all the present $40 bonds
and bearing interest at and Az per
cent. These new bonds are to run for
thirty and forty years, to be payable, prin-
cipal and interest, in gold. and be exempt
from all taxation, either by the State or
United States Government, except such
other words, seeing the utter impossibility
of paving this enormous debt in gold, they
propose to simply postpone the payment OF
1t, or, as the Radical speakers have it, turn
it over to posterity. Now how will this
plan operate? Suppose the 1850 millions
OF $40 bonds converted into these new
bonds, the annual interest on them would
be from 60 millions to 20 millions OF dol
lars in gold, according as the interest was
at 4 or Az per cent, say &c millions.
Then in ten years we will have paid $50
millions in gold for interest; in twenty
years we will have paid 1920 millions, in
thirty years 1850 millions, and in forty
years, supposing half the bonds to continue
unpaid that long, 2 300 millions of dollars
in gold, or more than one and half times
the entire principal of the 5 20 bonds, paid
in gold for interest upon them (besides the
interest yearly paid on the rest OF the pub
lie debt), and still the principal of the
bonds unpaid, and confronting us as large
as ever, and payable in gold? What then?
Will it be any easier to pay it then, after
paying interest on it for forty years, than
it is now? Will posterity be any better
able to pay it than we are? How do we
know what posterity can do. Who can
look into the future for forty years and tell
what then will be the condition
have debts of its own to pay
A little over a hundred years ago England
finished long war and entered into a
treaty which promised, historians tell US,
peace of long duration. Yet forty years
from that time found England engaged in
the struggle with Napoleon-the most gi-
gantic contest of arms the modern world
had seen; her debt vastly increased and
constantly growing, so that now it has
become. a permanent incubus upon her-a
load of debt never to be paid, nor lifted
from the shoulders of the people. And
|, this is exactly what the Radical party by
this funding bill propose to make of our
debt. And they propose to do this with
| out the slightest necessity or obligation to
do it. Good faith does not require it
Justice does not require it. Neither the
bonds themselves nor the law under which
they were issued require it. 1t is simply
for the interest and benefit of the bond
holder, and with my consent it never shall
be done. don't propose to place this
burden upon posterity, have children of
my own at home and whatever else L may
be able to leave them, do not intend
that by any act of mine they shall receive a
legacy of debt and taxation.
Nor is there any necessity for it. 1t
would, on the other hand, be gross injus-
tice to the people to pay these bonds in gold.
| We have great outcry against paying the
public creditors in deprecated currency.
But was not the debt contracted in the
same deprecated currency. Did we receive
gold for these bonds Did the men who
bought hundred dollar bond in 1868 give
us one hundred dollars in gold for it, that
he should now ask to he paid hundred
dollars in gold? Did the -Hollander who
sent over and bought a hundred dollar bond,
send us over hundred dollars in gold for
itP By no means. This was the operation
These bonds were sold. the most of them
in 1853 and 1854, when gold was at a high
premium, ranging as high as 200
and even up TO 290. In other words,
you could get for gold dollar two dollars
or two dollars and half, or more, in pa
per money, and it was for paper money
that the bonds were sold. Now, suppose q