The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1870-07-30

since General Grant came into office.
Here is an answer to all little carp
ings and little grumblings and fault
findings with this Administration.
What are Democratic politicians to
do with this thing? Why, they are
to do as l understand Mr.. Voorhees,
does-deny it. / see it stated in the
papers hal he said the the other day
in a speech, that we had not paid a
dollar of the debt. Now we cannot
argue with Mr.. Voorhees, on that
point; if a man says there is no such
building in Indianapolis as the Acad-
emv of Music, you cannot argue with
him about it, especially if you happen
to be in it. IF a man denies the
records Of your County Court, or the
records of your Government at Wash
ington, you cannot argue with him
about those things.
But here is a great fact. General
Grant, In about sixteen months, has
paid off one hundred and forty mil
lions of your debt. At the same rate
of payment, if it went on, this debt
would be entirely paid off in less than
fourteen years. l do not know that
we want to pay it that fast; | think
not: but if we did, it would be paid
in fourteen years at that rate.
Where did we get the money to pay
off this debt? We made one hundred
and ifty.two millions by honest col
lections; then we reduced the expen-
ditures of the Government over fifty
millions. The expenditures of the
/ Government for the last sixteen
months, as compared with the former
| sixteen months, will show a saving OF
over fifty millions of dollars. Here,
then, you have over a hundred million
of dollars that have been saved to the
Government.
Then the development of the coun-
try, there being a surplus honestly
applied, has enabled the Government
to pay off this one hundred and fifty
millions Of dollars within sixteen
months.
When your debt is being so rapidly
paid, when your revenues are being
so honestly and faithfully collected
and applied, and when your general
condition is so good as it is now-the
country so prosperous and so happy,
l again call upon you to answer me
this question-why should there be
any change of parties? There should
not be, unless there is something in
the history of the Democratic party
that encourages you to believe that
that party will do still better than we
are doing.
Let us now turn aside from the ma
ton and consider very briefly the con-
| dition Of the State of Indiana.
| n------m D-I~o- L.. r-.-slzI -
with a statement of the condition of
the public debt of this State, to which
/ will very briefly refer tonight, for
it will appear that Indiana is, to all
intents and purposes, out of debt.
and does not owe a dollar to anybody
else.
Here is the sum of all our foreign
debt:
Five per cent. State stocks, out
standing July 5, 81, 145, 1877 80,
Two and one-half per cent. stocks,
$3.119 13.
War loan bonds ISSUED during the
war to raise money to carry on the
war, to pay and equip Indiana SOL
diers for the field, and not due until
1881 $204.000, making an aggregate
of 81, 352,S16 40.
Now there is cash on hand in the
Treasury to pay to these bondholders,
$999,O79 "; so that when the cash is
applied the balance to be paid will
be $353.236 SO. That will constitute
the entire foreign debt of the State of
Indiana, after applying the money
that is in the Treasury.
To meet this balance of three hun
dred and ffty-three thousand dollars
there are trust funds on hands to the
amount of FIVE hundred thousand dol.
lars applicable to this purpose, If nee.
essary. There is also a State debt
sinking fund tax of ten cents on the
hundred dollars levied for 1870, and
now on the duplicate which, judging
from the amout raised from the same
tax last year, viii yield six hundred
and forty thousand dollars, so thai
when the tax is paid in that is on the
duplicate this debt will be paid of
and leave a balance of over three hun,
dred thousand dollars, not touching
this five hundred thousand dollars OF
trust funds now on hands, and which
can be used for that purpose if the
Governor sees proper SO to employ
them.
Now. there is one great difference
between the creditors of Indiana in
1870 and the creditors of Indiana In
1860. Then they were anxious 10
give up their bonds and get the money
but they could not do it; now they
are anxious to refuse the money and
to keep the bonds. The credit of the
State has charged very materially
in that time. Now, my friends, ]
want to contrast the condition of the
State of Indiana now with what il
was before the Republican party came
into power on the first day of Janua.
~, 1861. On the first of November,
1849, eleven years before, the State debt
wrs $S,279,737. On the first of No.
vember, 1856, seven years after that
that time, it was 81, 1926 81. having
been reduced in seven years onlv
$453,O COG, in a time of profound peace,
when there were taxes CONSTANTLY
levied to pay the debt. The State
debt on the first of January. 1861,
when the Republican party came H.
to power, was SO, 1867, having
been increased in the last four years
OF Democratic administration $2,353.-
700, In a time of peace, and in a time
OF prosperity, when that debt ought
to have been nearly paid off. 1t was
increased IN four years nearly two
and a half millions of dollars.
Now, Mr.. Hendricks said, the other
day, In q speech at Vincennes, "Ifthe
Republican party has paid off the
debt. didn't they tax the people for
it2' Why, certainly we did. We
were not sleight- of-hand men. We
could not pay off this debt out of our
own pockets, nor could we pay it of
by simply issuing the promises of the
State to pay, and that never were to
be paid. We levied a reasonable tax,
but the great beauty of it was, that
after this tax was collected it was
honestly applied to the payment OF