Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-07-18
JULY 1S,olS6S..ea' ,o.,l,.e 70 a,ola : s,i5 as

ties of the Government are not subject to
taxation. THE capital iinyested in the se-
cnrities reaches S2,500 600 O00.a AL n the
property. real and personal, of every kind,
as derived from the official reports OF $780,
amounted to Sl6,000O00, ,00O0. g Thus you
see that near one-sixth of all the capital in
the country is exempt from taxation. asy5
But why is 1t that the amount realized
from 1859 will be less than the amount re-
allied i'm 1862 The rate Of taxation is
substantially the same. 1t is true that this
Republican Congress has diminished, as a
whole, the, taxes, on the manufactures of
New England; it is true that they win d.
minish somewhat the taxes upon whisky.
but the amount collected from either of
those sources would not materially change
the aggregate. Why, then, I ask again,
viii the amount realized from taxes this
year be less than in 1866 p The burthen
upon those who do pay is just as great as it
was them The difficulty of making the
payment Is even greater than 1t was then.
TIE GENERAL DISTRESS AND IT'S CAUSE.
A cry of distress when the day for the
payment of taxes comes around, arises from
every part of the country; and it is be-
cause the business OF the country is stag
nant i; it is because your workshops are idle;
1t is because labor finds no occupation; it
is because the produce dof the farmer re-
manson his hands, instead of going to the
market lit is because your stores are over
loaded with abundant stocks :; it is because
energy and enterprise are paralyzed, and
capital remains inactive. sfg ais3 slFR q ,if0f
-lI .sfita CURRENCY CONTRACTION. zflw ,Ta3
And why is all this 2 Because Repub-
lican administrations insists. in curtailing
the currency, disturbing all values, check
ing all enterprise, throwing out of employ
ment all labor. The tradesman is caught
with large stock on declining prices. The
farmer fears the fall which may overtake
him before his wheat reaches the market.
The manufacturer fears that the price of
his raw material to-day will be greater
than the price of his manufactured goods
tomorrow, and the capitalist will not take
his money out of !, Government bonds
and invest it in houses, or lands and
stocks, lest the rents and dividends
will not yield him simple Interest. In the
meantime, labor is. without employment,
and poverty stalks through homes where
comfort has always been before. ZAP.
plause.1 In the meantime. this work of
contraction is steadily pushed. Look at
every monthly report of the Secretary of
the Treasury, you will find that every
month the debt that bears interest in gold
is increased, you will find that every dol
lar which bears no interest at all, or which
rapidly as possible into the bonds which
pay interest in gold. And why is this? Is
there too much currency in the country !?
Is there a plethora of moneys? Is specula-
tion rife? No one will dare affirm so much,
and yet this work of contraction still goes
on, and value is coined for the bondholder
out of the sweat and tears, the blood and
bones and muscles of the laboring man. Of
sFe eaf UNITED STATES BONDS. sezf as,
And when we ask the reason, we are
answered by, the declaration of the Repub-
lican Convention, at Chicago, that the
bonds must be paid in gold, according to
the spirit and letter of the contract; by a
declaration. of its President that the debt
of the bondholder is as sacred as the grave
OF the soldier. fth JD 5 sHa 'i'slta,
sd PAYMENT IN LEGAL-TENDERs. f9E
deny that it is according either to the
spirit or the letter of the contract under
which the five-twenty bonds were sold.--.
say that neither the spirit nor the letter
issued, nor good faith, nor good morals, nor
exact Justice to the bondholdeF, requires
that they should be paid in gold. They are
payable in legal-tender, and in this opin-
ion am sustained by the resolution of the
Democratic Convention in New York.
which declares that where the obligations
of the Government do not expressly state
upon their face-or the law under which
they were issued does not provide--that
they shall be paid in coin, they ought in
right and justice to be paid In the lawful
money of the United States. 7s=--. -rff =
When the legal tender act was passed,
the private Indebtedness of tie country
contracted to be paidin gold, but was in
fact discharged in paper. The public ne
cessity was alleged to be sufficient reason
for this wholesale confiscation. Is there no
public necessity now to demand the pay
ment of the bonds in the money which was
palu Ior Iheln -la a l7G-E5 si
POLICY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ON
.eEs THIS QUESTION. -1e Il -.....
The policy of the Republican party is to
pay all these bonds in gold;to convert all the
currency now outstanding, and all the in
debtedneas of the United States into these
bonds; to pay interest in gold for this
enormous amount, whatever it may be,
+ and to extend the time within which the
bonds shall be paid. In the meantime the
bonds are to be exempt from taxation, and
the interest is to be paid, semi-annually, in
gold. What the amount of Indebtedness
under that system can finally be shown to
be, cannot say; So, ,500000,00O we know ii
isnOw. Less than that it certBinly will
not be-. The interest upon that sum will be
$150000,000 in gold; and this amount is to
be drawn annually from the people of the
country, during all your lives, and the
lives of your youngest childsen, in order
to carry out the dogmas of the Republican
party. -s
THE DEMOCRATIC POSITION.
The Democratic party upon this question
has given forth no ur certain sound. 1t de-
clares that the debt shall not be extended
but must be paid as rapidly as possible all
the money. collected from the people shall
noe be squandered on freedmen's bureaus
and standing armies, but shall be applied
to the payment of this debt and of the re-
duction of the interest. 1t declares that
/ the $40 bonds shall be paid in legal-tender,
and until they be paid, they shall be sub
jected to the same rate of taxation as all
other property. 1t declares there shall be
one currency for the Government and the
people; for the laborer and the officeholder;
the pensloper and the soldier; the freed.
man and the bondholder.
THE DEMOCRATIC PLAN DEMONSTRATED
And how soon is it practicable to pay
this debt? Three hundred and thirty mil
lions of bonds are held in the Treasury
Department as security for the National
bank circulation. Redeem them, the very
instant you have the option to do so, with
legal-tender notes, and let them supply the
place of the bank paper. This measure
alone, with very little initiation of the cur
rency and without any addition to the tax
alton, will reduce the debt and save the
twenty millions of dollars, in gold, annu-
ally, which are now paid as bonus to the
National banks. -
Five hundred millions (50O, ,OO00OO) of the
first issue of five-twenties are already, or
will this year be payable at the option oi
the Government. Redeem these, also, IN
legal-tender notes. Where will these notes
come from? asks some friend. Stop this
contraction at the Treasury Department
reverse its whole policy !; give stability to
the money market; let it be understood
that fortunes are not held at the whim OF
any Secretary, and trade will revive aud
business will become active. Investments
will be made, the rate of taxation will yield