The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1872-05-04
The Debt Statement.
TFrom the Chicago Times

| 1hiOhl INC 1ILlcS.l
Those newspaper concerns that are
just now sounding the praises of Mr..
Grant and Mr.. Grants form of gov
eminent, because the apparent
amount of the national debt was re-
duced near $15,500,00O during
the month of March, are very careful
not to tell their readers where and
how Mr.. Grant got the money to pay
so much debt. They studiously avoid
all allusion to the fact that every dol
lar of the money wherewith so much
debt was cancelled came out of the
| pockets of the people, and leave it to
be inferred that Polymetis Ulysses
and Syndicate Boutwell, are paying off
the public debt'at a tremendous rate,
out of their own private resources.
Another trif1ing circumstance that
the organs of personal government
neglect to mention, is this: In talk
ing from the people fifteen and half
millions wherewith to pay the debt
during the month of March, the gov
eminent took thirty or forty millions
more from the Issople for no public use
whatever bus'simply to bestow upon
monopoEsts in the name of protee-
tlOp 50 American industry. A large
share of the money has failed to reach
its destination, it is true, by reason of
the cupidity and stupidity of the tariff
beneficiaries, but it has not come ont
OF the pockets of the people any the
less on that account.
The last statement like its predc-
cessOrs, shows an enormous treasury
reserve. The organs of the admins
tration do not attempt any explana-
ton of this fact, nor even allude to it
in any way. The statement shows
coin reserve of 0,2OG,6I0, and a
currency reserve of $40, 43I ,299, equal
to about 50, 482 800, coin. The coin
value of the cash in the treasury,
therefore, is $129, 6s2 ,609. From this
deduct 500 ,22S3, 400, the amount of the
coin certificates, and the balance,
500, 400 200, is the coin equivalent of
the cash in the treasury belonging to
the government. Neither Mr.. Bout
well nor Mr.. Grant, nor any one con-
nected with the administration, nor
any newspaper organ of the great
whitewashed, has ever undertaken to
show that any necessity exists for
holding such an enormous reserve,
and for the evident reason that no
such necessity exists. No satisfactory
reason can be given why $4,000, 900 |
of this money should not be used ut |
once to reduce the interest bearing
debt, and save S4,800,O00 a year on
the interest account. The monthly |
statements for the past five years |
prove, as clearly as anything that |
does not admit of mathematical de- |
monstration can be proved, that re-
serve of $50, 000,000 is ample to pro-
vide against contingencies, and i'm
part all the stability that a treasury
reserve can keep to the public credit.
But the laundering Secretary persists
III boarding the public money, reason
or no reason, and imposing an UNI
necessary burden of near five millions
a year upon the tax payers; and all
the newspaper props of personal gov +
eminent and bad financiering support |
him in pursuing his wasteful course.
There seems to be no explanation of
the business, unless it is that Mr.. |
Boutwell, wants to keep vast sums on
deposit with his friends the syndics,
or to accumulate enough to pay his
ship subsidies, or to furnish an excuse
for keeping up the taxes and perpe-
tuate the tariff robbery, or to do some
other thing that neither he nor any
one else has any business to do.