New-York tribune., 1868-02-22

slOu&i w W |N"A ~ ~ IL. -s''--.E -
interest. The difference Between SIX 9er CENT
and sour per cent interest. ii employed as a
sinking fnud, would pay off the principal
within the next thirty ycars--certainly, INSIDE
of forty. Great Britain could readily fund her
entire Debt tomorrow at four per cent, and
hers is larger than ours, We ought to be Die
to fund ours at four per cent. if it were per-
fectly certain that it would be paid. Hence,
we earnestly protest against all taxing and re-
pudiating devices, because they tend inevitably
to prevent our funding the Debt at the lowest
possible rate.
VII The Debt is now mainly funded In
"Fiye-Twenties" is bonds which pay six
Der cent interest in coin, and which the Gov
eminent may pay offwhen they have run five
years respectively, but need not pay off till
they shall have run twenty years. The five
years is now beginning to expire; so that the
Government may pay off these bonds so fast
as it can borrow the money at lower rates
Whenever it can borrow at 3, at AZ, or at
per cent, it can Say, in perfect good faith, to
every holder of q Fiye-Twenty" which has
run more than five years. Surrender your
"bonds, and take instead new ones at the lower
"rate of interest we offer, or we Will borrow OF
"others and pay you Off" And, 80 long as the
new bonds are above par, every holder OF Five
Twenties will necessarily take these new bonds
rather than be paid of, because, if he does
not choose to hold them, he can sell them and
pocket the premium. And the process OF fund'
ing may thus go on, so fast as the five years
expire, until, within three or four years at
furthest, our entire National Debt willFbe draw
ing Twenty, Thirty, or Forty Millions less inter
est than now, according as it shall be funded
at a, Al, or per cent.
VIII. The dodge of paying off the Debt in
Greenbacks WILL of course, crush out all hope
of this. Nobody will lend US money ii they
see that VIC are bent on cheating our present
creditors. Some Five to Eight Hundred Mil
lions of our Debt are now held in Europe, by
capitalists who never saw greenback, cannot
use q greenback, aud took our promise to pay
so many dollars in the sense which the words
bear throughout the civilized world. True
some of them bought our bonds ut
heavy discount; but they did so when
we were struggling obviously, desper-
ately for National existence, and when
our prospects were gloomy indeed. They took
the risk of our success when nine-tenths of
that we should go down, and that our Debt
would never be paid. Let us treat them now
with good faith, and we can borrow at favor
able rates should we ever again be in need.
Nothing contributed so much to blast the credit
of the Confederacy as the fact that its Prcsi-
dent had helped repudiate the Public Debt OF
Mississippi.
TX. Thousands are now winkng at the green
back dodge, who would not like to be caught
with stolen sheep on their backs. They think
they mean to be honest after fashion; but
they know it is sorry fashion. They have a
notion that they can stop when halfway down
Niagara and float up again if they will. But,
in fact, if we enter upon n career of Repudia-
ton, we shall not stop halfway. The National
Debt will either be wholly repudiated or hon
estly paid We insist that it will have to be
paid. even though we should cover ourselves
with disgrace by attempting to reDudate it,
X Finally, whenever the, American People
decide to repudiate, they VIII intrust the job
TO the Democratic party, as they should. Any
Republican who coquets with this form of VII
lainy will find when too late that he is helping
the Sham Democracy into power.