The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1868-05-08
H0IIOhAITA TAaaB
The Debt of England and America
The national debt Of England is

The Debt of England and America
/ The national debt Of England is
let US write the figures fully. so thai
there may be no mistake. eight hun
] dred millions of pounds, or four thou
san millions of dollars. A statement
is made in that country yearly by the
Chancellor of the e&chequer, called
the Budget. A synopsis OF that state
meEt we present.
"The revenue for the past year,
which had been estimated at so, ,000
900, yielded a total of $1,000, 900,
falling about one third of million
below the estimate The realexpan-
sion of the revenue amounted to
100000. The expenditures of the
past year is estimated at about S11
$50, 900, but fell $50, 900 short Of that
amount. The surplus over expendi.
lures during the coming fiscal year is
estimated by the Minister, at $780,
900. The cost of the Abyssinian war
is estimated at S5,000,000 And
there is a balance of 50, 900, 900 to be
met during the ensuing year, as fol
lows: 1st. by the addition of I'd to
the rate of the income tax, which will
realize nearly S2,000,000; I'd, by is
sue of exchequer bills to the amount
Of 81, 100000; and 3dly, by the ap-
plicalion of the estimated surplus of
S920,000 Thus the minister esti
mates that he will have or $500, 900
sterling more than he needs to meet
expenses of the war.
1t therefore takes seventy millions
of pounds, or with money at par,
three hundred and fifty millions of
dollars to work that huge government
every year. The population of Unit
ed Kingdom is 30,C00,000 in space
not much larger than the States of
New York and Pennsylvania. We
might show how land in that country
nearly escapes taxation-hOw the
revenue is raised by indirect taxation:
how officers do their duty and cheat
ing is almost impossible in connec-
tion with the revenue. In the pres
ent article it is not our intention to
follow out the legitimate conclusion
of the figure, but to institute COM
parison.
The national debt of America may
be roughly stated at $4,000, 900, 900,
with population of 100000 more
to help pay it than they have in En-
gland--with millions upon millions
OF acres of land yet unalienated from
the, he,government, which land is thepat-
Timony for future generations, should
the debt remain unpaid, to take the
responsibility. Why should there
be despair: why the talk of repudia-
tion ? The people oSn more land,
that is, unsettled land, than will, in
the course of century, pay the debt
three or four times over. In no cOun-
try in the world, where a debt is Ow-
ing, is there such splendid security
for payment. Men may fail, banks
play ducks and brakes with borrow
ed capital, but the land endureth fer
ever, and therein is the security that
the nation will not dishonor its obi
cations. i'i''' = -ai
The present difficulty appears to
be how to ease the, burden Mr.
Gladstone, the leader Of the English
liberty party, felt much of the onus
cast upon this nation when he pro-
pounded his famous financial scheme
which sent the savings of the people
into the hands Of the government.
People generally prefer national Sc
curities TO others, and the securities
of the English nations were given to
the smallest investors in the Post
office Savings Banks, which are fenc- |
ed round with such security and pay
interest so promptly, that the eldo- |
radian secret with the masses in mon |
ey matters was said obe discovered.
We recommend no particular moneta- |
ry policy; for at present, that is
question that time setright; |
but it seems to us that with the splen-
did resources of the nation, and the
pattern of able financiers for exam
pie, how to make the great saving of
the people advantageous for aid, that
some of the solons of government
might shed little more light on the
financial affairs of this mighty ma
ton. "a