Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-09-22
OUR DECEPTIVE PROSPERITY

A shade DER the darkening fountain shivers,
And summer, ghost-like, hath vanished and
gone.
OUR DECEPTIVE PROSPERITY.
The Philadelphia Record has been ex-
posing the manner in which the Secretary
of the Treasury manipulatos his figures to
show that cur foreign trade is in pros
porous condition. The annual exhibit
just issued by the bureau of statistics
shows conclusiYely that the adverse bal
ance against the United States in her for
eign trade for the fiscal year 1S69-7O was,
in round numbers, $17, 100000. In view
of this fact the Record proposes to ex-
anime the financial operations of the gov
eminent since the termination of the war,
in order that we may see how and by
whom the war expenses have been paid,
if paid at all The Record then pro-
ceeds as follows: -
The revenue reports from the 30th of
June, 1863, to the 3Oth of June, 1869,
show Gan adverse balance" of 1892 000,-
600, and adding to these the 81, 900, coo
for the year ending June 80, 1870, we
have q total of 5000, 900, 900. In other
words, after the ordinary and extraOrdi-
nary expenses Of the government had
been paid (eIclU8iUe Of interest," we
were in debt to foreign nations, one year
ago, 1892, 900, 600, and were consequent
" so much worse off than at the close of
the war. That is to say, after having
shipped all our surplus cotton, specie,
breadsuffs, tobacco, petroleum and other
products, the country had not met its
liabilities by the vast sum just mentioned.
If this were the entire amount of our
Indebtedness, incurred during the
period from 1868 TO 1870, it would be
of little moment; but this is not
the fact. Secretary Boutwell,, in his re-
port of December, 1869, estimates the
amount Of United States bonds held
abroad to be from 500, 900, 600 to $780,
600, 600. Commissioner Wells DIETER
authority, for he had made the matter
subject of personal eXaminatiOn) esti-
mates the amount from a statement fur
nished in detsl ''by the house of Jay
Cooke & Co., and Endorsed by the leading
foreign purchasers of United States
bonds" at $1,000, 600, 600, and the
amount of State and other securities at
$465, 600, 600 more. ..
To explain the difference between this
total amount of 81, 400, 600, 600 and the
1892, 600, 600 adverse balance reported by
the treasury, it must be remembered that
the revenue reports simply give the value
of the imports reported by the custom
hOuse) as that OF which the duties are
nesesscd. The annual report of the sec
rotary aims to represent only the true
financial condition of the treasury, and
not the financial condition of the country;
tn re is no allowance for smuggling or
freights or undervaluatiOns. To such an
extent does the last named item affect the
treasury that, with the others, the depart
ment estimates the loss TO amount to
twenty-five per cent on tie gross i'm
ports. Estimating this loss during the
last six years which we have under eX-
animation, we get an amount of $685.,
600, 900, TO which must be added the
1892, 600, 600 adverse balance. These
make together total of 1871, 900, 900.
Taking this, with the amount of inter
est paid to foreign nations on all desCrip-
ton of bonds, and with the expenses of
absentees residing abroad, and the expen-
ditures of travellers, we begin to approach
the amount Of the accumulated indebted
ness held abroad. To this must be added
the adverse balance of lS69-70, which
amounts to $1,000, 600; interest, $780,
900, 600; and the % per cent. already
spoken Of, as allowed by the department,
e
1926, 900, 600, and a grand total of about
81, ZOO, 10000 The Hon. B F. Butler
saws the amount is call of two thousand
millions" 1t is thus that the principal
part of the war debt has already been
transferred to Europe.
The amount of United States bonds
now held abroad is 81, 100, 900, 900; the
amount held by the treasurer as security for
national bank circulation is $3.50, 900, 600;
sinking fund, $3.50, 000,0 900. There will
be required for the new banks, in Curren-
cy and gold, $50, 600, 900; for Mr.. Bout
wells monthly purchases there will be
required $50, 900, 900: and two hundred
and fifty millions held in the United States
as permanent investments in savings
banks, insurance companies and other
IIuSl luuQS. lily VIII ltdNt OulN go,
600, 600 available for further remittance
abroad.
1t will be seen, therefore, that even if
the war had not occurred to stop the sale
of bonds, we should have been nearly at
the "end of our tether," so far as United
States bonds are concerned. And we
hardly think the Establishments of our
railroad rings will be sufficient, in the
present state Of public opinion, both at
home and abroad, to force another issue,
especially as the unpaid interest, Sc, 500,
600, on the Union Pacific railroad, has
been pretty well ventilated. With the
exhaustion of the supply of bonds, the
treasurer must look 10 some other source
10 procure the means to pay for erceSSiUe
iDlpOrtdtiOaS, which gives him the
means TO pay the interest. There will be
no more debts to export 1t is clear that
when this source of payment for imports
is cut off, the question of the payment of
interest for the first time comes up. Pay
ment will only he real when made in that
which involves no future claim. Neither
an individual nor nation, though holding
receipts and the coupons for interest, has
paid it, if mortgage or obligations of the
government have been transferred to for
a;.rnarc IN lipui1atp them