Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-12-10
EM IN

red The more difficult must become its ac-
complishment. We should follow the wise |
precedent established in 1889 and 1916, and |
without further delay make provision for |
the payment of our obligations at as early |
period as may be practicable. The fruits
of their labors should be enjoyed by our
citizens, rather than used to build up and
8 motion moneyed monopolies in our own
and other lands.
Our foreign debt is already computed
by the Secretary of the Treasury at eight
hundred and fifty millions. Citizens OF
foreign countries receive interest upon a
large portion of our securities, and Amer
lean taxpayers are made TO contribute large
sums for their support. The idea that such
debt is to become permanent should be
at all times discarded as involving taxation
too heavy to be borne, and payment once
in every sixteen years, at the present rate
of interest, of an amount equal to the
original sum. This vast debt, if permitted
TO become permanent and increasing, must
eventually be gathered into the hands of a
| and controlling power in the affairs of the
lGovernment. The borrowers would be-
| come servants to the lenders the lenders
the masters of the people. ~
We now pride ourselves upon having
given freedom to four millions of the col
ored race. 1t will then be our shame that
forty millions OF people, by their own toll
Grafton of usurpation and profligacy, have
suffered themselves to become enslaved.
and merely exchanged slave owners for
new taskmasters in the shape of bond
holders and tax gatherers. Besides, per-
manent debts pertain to Monarchial Gov
| ernments, and tending to monopolies. per-
petuities and class legislation, are totally
irreconcilable with free institutions. In
| troduced into our Republican system, they
would gradually but surely sap its founda-
tions, eventually subvert our Govern
mental fabric, and erect upon its ruins
moneyed aristocracy. II is our sacred duty
to transmit unimpaired to our posterity the
blessings of liberty which were bequeathed
to us by the founders of the republic, and
| by our example teach those who are to
follow us carefully to avoid the dangers
which threaten free and independent peo-
pie. .....- ...at.3 10 sa5 zg-qs -..-.r.
/ Various plans. have been proposed for
| the payment of the public debt However
they may have varied as to the time and
mode in which it should be redeemed, there
seems to be general concurrence as to the
| propriety and business of reduction in the
present rate OF interest. The Secretary of
the Treasury, in his report, recommends
five per cent. Congress, in bill passed
prior to adjournment on the 9th of July
last, agreed upon four and four and half
per cent, while by many three per cent.
has been held to be an amply sufficient re-
| turn for the investment. The general i'm
preston as to the exorbitancy of the ex-
isting rate of interest has led to an in
quiry in the public mind respecting the
consideration which the Government has
actually received for its bonds, and the
conclusion is becoming prevalent that the
amount which it obained was, in real
money, three or four hundred per cent.
less than the obligations which it issued in
return. :-: i 4;f - III ~,
1t cannot be denied that we are paying
| -.
money borrowed, which was paper curren-
cy, greatly depreciated below the value of
coin, (this fact is made apparent when we
consider that Oondbolders receive from the
Treasury, upon each dollar they own in
Government securities, six per cent. in
gold, which is nearly or quite quail to nine
per cent. in currency; that the bonds are
then converted into capital for the Nation
| al Banks, upon which those institutions
issue their circulation, bearing six per
cent. Interest, and that they are exempt
from taxation by the Government and the
States, and thereby enhanced two per cent.
in the hands of the holders. : e-
We thus have an aggregate of II per
cent, which may be received upon each
dollar by the owners of Government secu-
rites. system that produces such re-
suits is justly regarded as tavoriDg few
at the expense of the many, and has led to
the further inquiry whether our bondhold-
ers, in view of the large profits which they
have enjoyed, would themselves be adverse
to settlement of our indebtedness upon a
plan which would yield them fair remu-
neration, and at the same time be just to
the taxpayers of the nation. Our national
credit should be sacredly observed, but in
making provision for our creditors we
should not forget what is due to the masses
OF the people. - {'l7'" i'ii -@i
1t may be assumed that the holders of
our securities have already received upon
their bonds a larger amount than their
original investment, measured by gold
standard. Upon this statement of facts it
would seem just and equitable that per
cent. interest, now paid by the Government,
should be applied to the reduction of the
principal in semi-annual installments,
which, in sixteen years and eight months,
would liquidate the entire national debt.
Six per cent. in gold would, ct the present
rates, be equal to nine per cent. in cur
rency, and equivalent to the payment of the
debt one and a half times, in fraction less
than seventeen years. This, in connection
with all the other advantages derived from
their Investment, would afford to the public
creditors fair and liberal compensation
for the use of their capital, and with this
they should be satisfied. zsal-
Tine lessons of the past admonish the
lender thati is not We'll to be over anx |
jous in exacting from the borrower rigid |
compliance with the letter of the bond. Ifl
provision be made for the payment
of the indebtedness of the Govern
ment in the manner suggested, our ma
ton will rapidly recover its national
prosperity. Its interests require that
some measures should be taken to release
the large amountOf capital invested in the |
securities of the Government. 1t is not |
now merely unproductive, but in taxation
annually consumes one hundred and fifty
millions of dollars, which would otherwise
be used by our enterprising people in add
ing to the wealth OF the nation. ls al
Our commerce, which at one time success
fully rivalled that of, the great maratime
powers, has rapidly diminished, and our
industrial interests are in a depressed and
conditions The development
OF our inexhaustible resources is checked,
and the fertile fields of the, South are be-
coming waste for want of means to till
them. With the release of capital new lire
would be infused into the paralyZed ener-
gies of our people, and activity and vigor
impaired to every branch of industry.
Our people need encouragement in
their efforts to recover from the effects of
the rebellion, and OF injurious legislation,
and it should be the aim of the Govern
ment to stimulate them by the prospect OF
an early release from the burdens which
imperil their prosperity. If we cannot take
the burdens from their rshoulders, we should
at least manifesto willingness to help to
bear them. g- ao,,f.,-,l.,s.,I .,. -..fia Il
In referring to the condition of the circu-
lating medium, shall merely reiterlte SUBJ
that portion of my last annual
message which relates to that subject. The
which the currency OF any
country should bear to the whole value of
the annual produce, is a question upon
which political economists have not agreed,
nor can it be controlled by legislation, but
must be left to the irrevocable laws which
every where regulate commerce and trade.
The circulating medium will ever irresist-
ably flow to those points where it is in
greatest demand. The law of demand and
supply is as unerring as that which regu-