The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1868-09-06
THE NA9fUHAL DEL BIT.


In . former article We saw how the pros
perity Of England, which has the largest
debt among the nations, has grown despite
the growth Of the national debt. By a
strange parallelsm the increase Of Eng
lands prosperity seems to have been exactly
in the ratio Of the increase Of the public
debt. We saw that England, France, the
United States and Russia, which have the
largest debts, are the IN ost prosperous of all
governments. We did not draw from this the
conclusion that some do, that q national
debt is a national blessing. We only de.
duoed the evident conclusion that debt
even an immense debt, is not incompatible
With the national prosperity.
1t is fact patent to every one, that the
immense debt the United States has made
within the past eight years has no. interfered
With the continuing and constantly increas
ing prosperity Of the country. Let Us see
il we can find an explanation Of the phenom.
ena. Let ~ see if it cannot be proved tina,
. the debt has not ruined us, is not running
~, so it will not ruin 10 in the future. Eng
land has borne prosperously for two centu-
RES debt that the croske re- and politicians
said would ruin it outright.
Some political economists as We have
seen, maintain that a national debt ls no
more than debt from the right hand to the
left, which nowise enfeebles the body 20.
lite. We will quote from Jean Baptiste
Say tho views which the majority OF political
economists, and We believe all the more re-
cent ones, entertain on this subject. Say
says that BY debt 1.-The State is enfeebled
inasmuch as the capital lent to its govern
ment having been destroyed in the consump-
tion Of it by the governr emit, can no longer
yield anybody the profit, or in other words,
the interest, it might earn in the character
Of productive meaDs.n
Now, it is clear, that if Say is fully correct
in his position, if there is no defect in bis
reasoning, if there il not som ething else 10 be
taken into account in considering the effect
OF public debt upon the debtor govern
ments then, such spectacle as England has
shown, as the United States is showing. the
spectacle Of nation prosperous despite
great debt could not be explained. Indeed.
II Say il wholly correct, the present pros.
rerity Of England and this country is i'm.
possible. The fact that that prosperity !.
po'alble proves ct once that Say is in
some sort Of error. His error is easily dis.
coverable it is his assumption that the cap
'tsl lent to the government has been de-
stroyed by the governments use of il. This
II not the case as will be shown by IN evau.
ination Of our national .debt created in the
late war.
Bear in mind that not the existence ,fvo,.
ues alone, but their rapit circulation, il tho
MEASURE OF prosperity. China possesses i'm
mense wealth in values, but owing to the fact
that there i little circulation Of those values,
China Is not prosperous. Iraia is
hhulously rich in the possession of
gold and other vAlue., but there i No c;r.n.
latioa Of those values and the people are des-
ttute, there il no prosperity. The Ital;.n..
i'vlnA IN grand cities, amidst splendid wealth.
are nation Of paspers. So too are the
Spsniards. There is no circulation Of the
values existing in the two countries. IN.
United Statss did not destroy the v.lues 4
used in the late war, it only Raye than ,.r;d
circulation, and 20 the country grew NOR.
and moro prosperous, and the Government
y 10 expenditures, and By the formation Of
the debt itself added 70 the country's pro.- |
rsFi1. The Government used about four
billions Of DOLLAR in thav. w.L