New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-08-01
THE PAYING POLJrY

| George Washington, IN his Farewell Address,
thus admonishes and exhOrts his countrymcn
asa very important OF strength security,
cherish Pablo Credit One method OF preserving 1t Is
TO use il as sparngy possible avoiding occasions OF
expense by oultyang peace but remembering that
tncly disbursements to prepare for danger frequently
prevent much greater disbursements 10 ropel IT, avoid
ing likewise, tho accumulation OF debt, not only by
| shunning occasions OF expense, but On rigorous
| ,re,tions IN time Of peace 10 diseAdr1e me debts
Which unavoidable warS haze ooeaSi0ned not
ungcnerousy throwing upon poste,Tty The bur-
hen shioh ourselves Ought 10 bear.
The execution OF thcse maxims belongs your repro
senaves but it is necessary that public opinion should
cooperate. To facilitate to them tho performance Of
their duty II il essential you should practically bear in
mind that toward tho payment OF debts there must be
that to have there 10 taxes that
no taxes be devised which are not more or less in
convenient and unpleasant; that tho intrinsic cmbar
rnssment nseparable from the selection OF the proper
objects, which Is always choice OF difficulties ought TO
bo decisive motive for the candid construction Of the
conduct OF tho Government in making it, and for spirit
of acquescence In the for obtaining revenue
which the public eXigences may at any time dictate"
The maxims thus enunciated have sub
stantialy guided our public counsels from
| WashingtOn's day to ours. TO begin paying
off the debt unavodably incurred by war, so
soon as peace shall have been fully restored
and to continue vigorously paying 80 long as
any debt remains, such is a dictate Of the
craftsmanship which has given the United
States a proud name among nations. Let
corrupt, decaying mOnarchies pile debt upon
debt if they will, only troubling themselves TO
pay the interest in peace, and augmenting the
National burden upon every recurrence
of war-Our rule has been to pay
off in peace as resolutcly, if not SO
rapidly, "a We incurred in time of war. Aud
thus our country, Though heavily indebted at
the close of her Revolutionary struggle, with
her revenue nearly destroyed by French spolia-
tons before and after the opening of this
century, and with heavy setback by our
second war with Great Britain and the indus
trial collapse that followed, was yet able,
little more than fifty years after our lnde-
pendence was acknowledged, to proclaim to
astonished Europe that we chad paid the last
farthing of our liabilities and were entirely
free from debt. No other nation can look back
on kindred achievement.
When we began to incur debt heavily in the
War for the Union, and were constrained to
make a forced loan in the shape of irredeemable
currency, we were obliged to provide for the
maintenance Of our Public Credit. To this end,
Congress pledged the faith of the Republic to
the prompt payment of our interest in full, and
TO the redemption by payment of at least one
per cent. annually of the principal of Our debt
so long as any debt remained.
This pledge has thus far been nobly re-
deemed Shall it be repudiated nOwP We
find the whole crowd of Revenue Reformcrs'
intent on the overthrow of the paying policy.
Mr. David A. Wells assails it with adroit ma
lightly in his late essay on "The Meaning of
"Revenue Reform" which, whatever else it
means, is clear on one point: We must stop
paying off our National Debt.
If we stop. when shall We rcsume' The
next generation, we are told, will be far richer
and more able to pay than the present. VIII
not the next after that be richer still 7 Sup
pose we now repeal and reduce taxes till we
can barely pay the interest on our debt, who
will brave the odium of reimpOsng them
{" Next day the fatal precedent will plead"
and so will ;he next, and every day there
after.
We appeal to those who believe in the pay
ing policy of our Revolutionary fathers to
stand up for that policy, and insist that our
grandchildren's children shall not, through our
selfishness, sweat under the burden of an
ever.accumulating, never diminishing Public
Debt.