, 1870-05-11


expect that its credit will be rebuilt by the |
application Of its surplus revenues 10 the
purchase Of debts not yet dae.
Mr.. Boutwell, can place the national |
credit Mt par by the more announcement
that, hereafter, its surplus rsvanue, inctud- |
ing the gold on haud, shall be applied to
The payment Of its outstanding demand OBJ
legations, and, with credit thus restored,
may enter the markets Of the world to
make new loans at lower rates OF interest
to meet the $50 bonds, n thsy fall due
National taxation has now reached 911 ,0oO,-
900 month beyond what Is needed to
meet the current expenditures, and A1r.
Bontwsl thinks That, by taking this money
out Of the hands of the people, and apply |
ing it to the purchase Of bonds, and there
after paying interest to himself, he is doing t
the country benefit. He has published
his tables, showing that in given number
of years he csn pay of the entire debt.
His figures, if they prove that by e1to1ting
800, 900, 600 Of the peoples substance an
nually, and then taxing them with COM
pound interest on it, can pay the public
debt in twelve years, prove also, that by
taking the whole amount of the debt in one
year, the process viii be less prohacted.
Upon this subject Of ga1loping payment
Of the public debt, Nh. J. S. Mil, the high
est recognized authority on political econ
omy, says:
"The advantage OF paying on the national debt
OF Crest Britain, for instance, is, that 1t would
enable q to set ia Of the worse half Of our taxa
must be worse than others, and to get nd Of those
would be greater beaenf, proporttonally. than 70
set I'd 81 the rest L renouncing surplns res.
Is rrecIscly the ene which We are keeping up for
The aale Of ultimately abonshlng taxes not 80 bad
aIn country advancing in ,reanh, whose IN
sresng E7eS; # e at po"e1 Of r,aaln
esRsn' eslTs h00S 1sss the inereass Of revenue
% sases, tn.n By qnidusing ebt, Is ong as M vefy
objectionable tmposts remain In the sateof
England therefore, hold 1t 70 be good policy In The
government, when ii has surplus OF an apparently
permanent character, to take on taxes, provided
| these are rightly selected. Even when no taxes
em s 1e5 %ss p q osnaas g S5% Ra e.
policy br experimental reductions OF these taxes
unt1 the point Ia disee1ned at which given
pressure on the contributors Afzer This such sur-
plus revenue as might arise from anY further
Increase Of the produce Of the taxes, should moi,
don Of debt"
Here, then, is the clear exposition Of
policy under which Great Britain is annual
" making large reduction Of her taxation,
repealing the most obnoxious and oppres-
sive, and reducing the others, thereby giving
to her producing classes an enormous adTan-
tage over those OF oth0r countries, where
more primitive and less philosophical sys-
TEN prsvaila. And yet England is not in
cressing in population in anything Gks the
ratio Of the United States. Her popu-
1ation is at stand-indsed. every aid IS
given to reduce it by encouraging enigra-
| tion but, nevertheless, revenue increases
every yaar, and each increase is followed by
| corresponding abatement OF ta1as. We
| hare had the wisdom Of this policy Illus
| tzated in our Own day and country. Fol
lowing the close Of the wal, aud the e1tra-
ordinary expenditure Of paying OF the
army, and distributing nearly. $780,
GOO, 600 Of bounties, taxes which
had yielded oyez $500, 600, 900 annually,
| were repealed, md the impetus which waz
given to trade and production by this re-
lief wns such that, even in the succeeding
year, the ta1 On other objects Eas 30 in
creased that the aggregate revenue was
nearly the same. So, in 1868, VIC again re-
duced, or repealed, the tux on several arhi'
cles, and yet in 1869 there wns large SUI
plus revenue, which, for the year ending il
June, 1870, promises to be at leas
2le0, 600, 900.
Mr.. Boutwell,, instead Of reducing ta1a
ton to this, or any approximate amount
insists that the rates OF 1856
shall be retained, that he ma.
take these immense sums and appl.
them 10 the debt The Secretary doe
not seem to understand that q tax dimin
ishes the means Of the people to purchase
and that the removal of the tax from on
object enables the citizen to increase hi
consumption Of other articles which y1el
o revenue, and That, in the end, the article
taxed yield, from their increased consumF
ton, the same revenue which could hay
been collected from the whole. Ia1atio1
, limits consumption, and thereby produt
: ton, while the removal of taxation increase
both, and thereby increases revenue, be
. sides adding to the material comfort Of th
people
Our statute book is covered with the mos
. invidious, yexatious, and costly taxes, whic
? might be repealed to the great relief c
T the people, and add to thel
, means of paying such othe
: taxes as might be necessary. tn
r debt is burdenson1e, solely by reason OF tn
5 ta1ation it imposes. The function of go,
$ eminent is not to see how much misery
Q can produce in given space of time, no
: much deprivation it can cause, how man
, comforts it can take away from the people
9 It's duty is rather to devise means to he'
t necessary burdens with the least infIictio
upon the people ut any given period II
t men and women Of the present day NJ
+ entitled, at least, to this much consider
t ton. If the payment Of the principal
. the debt twenty OF thirty years hent
T will entail less suffering upon each 1ndlva
4 unl than its payment now, the present gel
: Grafton should not be required to bear
: double burden, in order to relieve the ne
= generation from MI burdens whatsoever.
4 Taration to pay both interest and pr1ns
!, mi within a few years, amounts to conn
It cation, and yet Secretary boutwell, seen
l. determined to e1tort from the persons Al
e capital of the present generation the VINO
u sum The Abatement Of S10o,Vo,ooo
ID ta1es annually, is greater relief TO Il
p public than the payment Of like SUM
70 the bonded debt. # the Abatement be CO
ae tinned until that point is reached, when Il
the expenditures Of the government, inclu
u ing interest, can be paid by the lesst pos
is BILE an1opnt OF taxation, then the nccelerat
ae increase of the country will discharge t
It debt quite al rapidly, and far less opprs
Z slrely, than will ever be done under 4
e. Boutwells confscating policy.
ia California is suffering seriously from t.
70 monopolies. Tho land is monopo'izea' y
a. large extent, under the old Mexican gran
b SO that nobody can purchase it, and nooe
h. viii therefore, improve it, and the la'
as which ought TO be subdi1ided over inc IA a.
mt as the land itself ought to be suod1vae
lth among The 1abore1s-the labor is held II
its the mnrket, or above the market, by
eighthour laws, and arbitrary eelcts
the tradesunions so that capital viii
re- venture to employ it. These sen-impo
hut restrictions on labor lead to retaliat
bill measures by the employers Of Labor Z
ein San Francisco Times tells US Of meet
it of the gardeners, aud growers Of fr