New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-08-27

THE DEBT AND THOSE VINO ARE GR1P-
ELGD BY ITS REDUC1ION
There was a large class of politicians ana
;,,,,alisfs among us who, throughout the war
for the Union, persisted in dou0t'nS or Dei'V-
ding every Union victory that they could not
absolutely deny. The same class, by curious
coincidence, are now fighting the reduction OF
our National Debt as though it badly hurt
them Some of them stoutly insist, in the face
of weekly purchases of Government bonds by
the still OVERLOOKING Treasury, that the Debt Is
NOT in process of reduction. One OF them says !:
cine following is correct statement Of the amount Of
the Public Debt at different periods from 'ho iS' Vi
AprIl 1865 until the lot of July last: ,..oo,o,-
Aprii L. 1896 o95G77
September l. 1865 27SI6S9Gn
November l. 1868 g'5I 1900 1900
From TINS it viii be seen that instead the Debt hay
ing been diminished IL has been augmented durIhg the
St fonr Years II is now nearly three hundred millions
a. o,s nan n pos on me LIST Of April 1865, This increase
has taken place durnga period OF profound peace 1ce
November last, one hipdrcd and UW mWtOHS nave oeo
added To the huge and intolerablc load
Comments by the Tribune.
WHY should this enemy Iof the National
integrity and solvency go back to April LIST,
1865. for basis of comparisons Richmond
was then Rebel capital; Lee still commanded
a formidable, defiant Rebel army; 10. Johns
ton another; Dick Taylor third; and such
natriots rs the writer of the above extract
were still predicting and protesting that the
Rebellion would nerer he put down. The
Union had at that moment nearly One
Million soldiers and sailors on the war
patb. TO whom it owed at least Two
Hundred Millions of Dollars, beside vast
sums to contractors, &C., none OF which
figured in the official statement of the Debt
issued on that day None of those soldiers
and sailors could be spared from service foI
weeks thereafter many of them not for sew
eral months; and of course they had to he
paid 40 long as they served, with a mastering
ont bounty in addition. that swcllcd the Debt
by at least Fifty Millions more. And yet this
man talks of the Debt as only Twenty-fouI
Hundred Millions at the close of the War!
The Twenty-sevcn Hundred and Fifty-sevcr
Millions reported on the LIST OF September fol
lowing was the amount Of the liquidatcd Debt
after deauctiHq me cash in The Treasury. Every
official statement since made has been COM
putcd in the same way And why notf In
/ what sense are Greenbacls in the Treasury a
| debt? To whom are they owed And why
not regard the Coin in the National strong
hos as balancing a like amount OF outstanding
| GrccubacksP
We do trust haste will be made in uSins
that coin 10 pay ~ Public Debt When the
bonds have been called in. redeemed. and
Cancelled or deposited IN the Sinking Fund
it will he hard TO make even COppcrheaC
believe that we still owe them. SO hurry M
the use Of the Public Money in payment of the
Public Debt!
Another carpcr says:
"Mr Boutwell, Informs that the sum OF the Publ,
Debt Aug l. 1852 f2i,l jG6.7j6 as per column
This shows steady decrease against the sum similarly
arrived at for the four preceding months; ~ Other
words that the Debt has steadily fallen since he came
office To arrive AT this result lac not only deduct
Of debt the cash and bonds IN the Treasury
aud the premium aud accrued Interest on the latter. Du
the Pacific Railroad bonds. amounting Ia sixty millions
on the Of the whole Debt which Of conr'
varies from day 10 day but was ON the LIST August 1869
thlrty-thrce and thrcc-quhrtcr millions"
We'll: why not add on the accrued in
"terestY Do we not owe it! Must we not
pay it2 What is Public Debt if the accrued
interest on our bonds, specifically payable in
coin at an early day, is not
So Of the bonds advanced to the Pacific
Railroads. Those Roads are pledged to pay
them. principal and interest," We presume they
,riH pay most of them. If any should default
the Treasury must make good tho deficiency
But it will be time to assume that load when
it shall be piled upon u.s. For the present, let
lis state our own Debt by itself, and assume
that of the Railroads when we must.
A. ~ Ill. l..