, 1870-01-13
TIE ROMANCE OF FINAKCR.

TIE ROMANCE OF FINANCE.
Secretary Boutwell,, in his speech for the |
benefit Of the Grand Army of the Republic,
On the 10Th inst, painted the financial COZ
d1tion Of the country in rose colora. Con-
6ning himself strictly to the condition Of
the Treasury, and ignoring that of the tax
payers, he forgot that the abundance in the
former results from the sacrifices Of the
latter. II it were true that the people grew
rich in proportion to the quantity Of taxes
they pay, then the secresa1y might we'll
judge Of the people's prosperity by the
amount of rorenue he is receiving. But
where the reverse is plainly true, any pic
ture Ct the enormity Of our revenues, with
out even an incidental allusion to the effect
Of SO heavy drain upon our resources, is
as fallacious as the rejoiciugs over victories
in battle winch take no account Of the killed
and wounded, the manned, ruined, md be-
reaved.
To prepare the way for proving that the
burden OF our present debt is lighter than
that Of 1890, Mr.. Boutwell, assumes that
the average wealth Of the people Ia three
times as great per capita now az it was
then; that it was $500 then, and is $1,000
now. He does not claim to have any basis
in fact for either assertion, but simply
evolves it out Of the depths Of his own
financial consciousness, because these were
about the figures required to prove his con-
clusion. II our property now is $1,000
pr capita, then, says Mr.. Boutwell,, we
have 81, 900, ,000, 600. The Special Com
missioner Of the Revenue recently estimat-
ed it with aome cure at less than $e5,000,-
00o, 1000. But Mr. Boutwell,, without
figure or thought, finds that, despite The
waste and cost Of the war, our aggregate
national wealth is now nearly three times
what it wns returned at in the census Of
1860, viz, $l5 900, 100000. Yet he does
not appear to be nwn1e that
his statement implies such an incseaso
t within the past ten years, for he elsewhere
estimates that our national wealth per
CAPITA has required eighty years to troble.
In short, be has made his guess without
| even 8 reference to the last census or the
| report Of his Special Commissioner Of the
Revenue. Nor has be my data for sup
posing that the ratio Of wealth per calik.
| has increased three times since l190. It
| must be remembered that the proportion Of
foreign, immigrant, and pauper labor to
the whole population was then very small.
! The vast immigration which has 6lnce
oye1ruu cur country with millions Of labor
ets. almost wholly destitute Of capital, had
| not begun. Besides, If he will examine
the reports OF Secretary Hamilton Of that
! period, he will find that, piia-
BILE as Mr.. Boutwell, thinks the
financial condition then compared with the
present, A1r. Hamilton indu]ged in The
same rose-colored expectation that in five
years he would be able 10 refund the debt
at and in fifteen years a: per cent
(ride Hlldreth's Hist. o. S., Vol. 4, P. Icy,
neither OF which expectations was ever re-
allied, though the country had paid of
half its debt before the WIZ Of 15l2-15. 1t
may be that the ratio Of our national
wealth to The national debt is greater nov
than in 1850; hut Mr.. Boutwell, cannot
prove it By figuring upon premises which
he has guessed at He says:
"So,h,rg but tho neraee OF pas ment viii In
dpce holders Of :hc six per cent bonds TO Hosreu'
der thenland adopt bond bearing lover fate
Of interest"
We bave tried to think what there would
be in the threat of paying to-moz1ow, nt its
face In gold, bond for 500, which the
owner could only sell to-day for S92, which
would cause that owner to tremb1e with
such inward fear lest he should get S. mcre
for his bond tomorrow than it is worth to-
, day, that he would inconinently rush te
the nearest broker and beg him to exchange
It for four per cent bond, which would bt
, worth about s5G. The proposition in ths
Secretary's mind is that the fear Of 81:
A dollars' profit would so freeze the blood Q
: bondholder with terror that he would be!
a somebody to infict upon him S22 loss
I This is e1actly Mr.. Greeiey 4 position, an
4 We can conceive how it should be, since, i
l. his view, men ought to carry on busine*
for the sake Of the loss, and as means {
manifesting their disinterestedneSs, Will
it is only in works Of philanthropy ths
it they should study their selfish Interests
l. But Mr.. Greeley is not Secretary Of II
4 Treasury.
d hfr. Boutwell, argues that, il We reduce Il
, revenues to the point required to pay e.
is penses merely, We Will, II thirty-fiSe year
\. t,ra rs;3 81 aof, Nof, non of interest mer
It X, and tho entire principal viii then be u,
Il paid.
N Assuming. for the moment, that the on
:. .,,a;o. ,ra1a hetvaen teeninp the ta1
Ia ~ - their present enormous figure, au
|o ~ tbe other hand. 60 reducing them as
"A Ia..s ~ snrn1na zbstever to be applied
a ~ ~sor1v radnct;on of the debt. it ia clc
= thst avan !, th:a case the present rate
~ .ass.sss - .-o,,,a Ia rrafarah,a Rv the ca
49, ,oro - 1000, th,t orr ANNA, NJ
Is a,,;a o ~ ,t - paat of orr entire canite
IA VIII VII .%o-isa 10 r. 49, 49, sast ia rnnn;no At
g. NET cent tbs n,nnartr ul;ch you'd
ha tsrsn Tr,D, H. -, n.ro-s n !,
mt il is earning u uer can't Hare is
nd clear loss of three fonrths an I,
On property invested in the payment Of Il
=; debt compared With what the same proper