The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1871-10-02
Mr.. BousweWs financial Exposition and
Special Pleading.

uuauCioa motterb. we nave rarely seen uuer
specimen Of political special pleading than his
speeches delivered at Cincinnati and Cleve-
land, Ohio, which were published in our issues
Of Friday and Saturday last. Indeed, the
administration Is fortunate In having several
Cabinet officers possessing like qualities. Mr.
Delano made an able and ingenious speech in
Ohio short time ago of the same character
and tenor. Another Cabinet official, Mr.
Robson, IL is announced, Is also to stump
that State. From the speeches delivered by
Mr.. Delano aud Mr.. Boutwell, we may antici-'
pate what the other Secretary will say. These
speeches appear to come from the same mould,
and, no doubt were carefully concocted by
concert in Washington as part of the ad-
ministration business and with special refer
ence, first, to the election In Ohio, and next,
to the fall elections generally. They will
doubtless be widespread as campaign docu-
ments, and the government presses, probably,
will be kept active in printing them.
With all our desire to do the administration
and the Secretary Of the Treasury Justice tor
the good done or contemplated in the manage
mcnt Of the national finances, we cannot allow
the fallacies and special pleading Of Mr.. Bout
well to pass unchallenged. The Secretary
claims great credit for paying off 1881, $40, 500
of the public debt since General Grant came
into power--a period of two years and six
months-which is at the rate of . hundred
millions year. But by his own showing tho
administration Of Andrew johnson paid off in
r.. 80 -Gxxo
which would be at the rate of over sixty-six
millions year. True Mr.. Boutwell, makes
an insidious qualifying statement to exalt the
administration Of General Grant over that Of
Mr.. Johnson, that portion Of the money
obtained by the Johnson government was from
the sale Of war material We have no data to
SLOW what amount was realized by the sale Of
war material, but it could not have been COM
! parativcly a very large sum. Then there was
q vast amount of floating indebtedness dis
charged by the Johnson administration. The
expenses Of the government, too, were neces-
sarily much greater than since General Grant
has been President. Besides, Mr.. johnson had
the enormous corrupt jobs Of bitterly hostile
Congress to meet, and was rendered utterly
powerless to prevent them He was badgered
and thwarted at every turn. Yet his admins
tration, which the republican Congress and
party repudiated and embarrassed, accom-
plished more really in paying off the
Indebtedness OF the government than General
Grants has, notwithstanding the far more
favorable circumstances in which Grants adj
minisration has been placed. The figures
from which we make this deduction are Mr..
BoMtwelps and, therefore, cannot be ques-
toned as far as the comparison goes. On the
last day Of July, 1865, he says the ascertained
public debt was So, 755, 995,275. This was
when Mr.. Johnson was in the Presidential
chair Ga the first Of March, 1869, when Mr..
Johnson went out Of Office, the debt, as Mr..
Boutwell, shows, was SO, 49l, 1893, 9O4. Now,
considering that the burden of taxes has been
kept up-for il is only through the acts OF the
last Congress- which now begin to operate,
that taxation has been reduced-aud that
the War Department and every other depart
, ment of the government needed much less
money than in the former administration, we
think Mr.. Johnson did as well as General
Grant, or better.
But, after all, what credit is due to any adj
ministration for paying off the debt when the
money is wrung from an Overtaxed people and
the revenue comes in like food at the rate
of four hundred millions or so year? Mr..
Boutwell, could not help paying the debt unless
he had thrown the enormous surplus revenue
that came to his hands into the sea. The
real question al issue is, has the Secre-
iary made the best use of the means
at his disposal? He has kept over a hundred
millions Of reproductive capital locked up in
the Treasury all the time, which, had he used
properly, would have saved to the nation since
he has been in Office twenty millions of dollars.
Then he attributes a part OF his debt liquida-
ton and his financial success to what he terms
the appreciation OF the government credit by
making the whole debt payable in gold. We
will not here discuss the specie paying or
Greenback paying policy, for we regard this
m after az settled by the action OF the govern
ment; but we may inquire whether larger
amount of the public debt would have been
liqudated or not had the fve-twenties been
made payable in legal tenders, as Thaddeus
Stevens and other statesmen claimed they
should be paid. The national creditors would
have had no cause 10 complain and would
have been well paid had the dve-twenties been
lqudated in legal tenders. 1t would have
been undoubtedly according to law, and the
creditors would have received much more in
principal than they loaned. We think the
debt would have been reduced several hun
dred millions more than it has been reduced
had the policy Of Thaddeus Stevens been car
ried out. We think, too, that instead Of i'm
pairing the credit Of the government that
would have risen under larger reduction