The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1872-10-24


administration and national prosperi
ty than sound financial condition
The close of the late war found th'
nation burdened with a debt thaI
would have staggered any other peo
pie. There were sOme-and they are
now arrayed in the support of Horace
Greeley-wbo, under more or less de-
ceptive guises, advocated reputation
The Republican party was not slow
to put itself squarely upon the record
1t declared, and has ever insisted, that
the payment of every national obliga-
ton to the last farthing, according tc
the letter and the spirit of the con-
tract, is as much the duty of the ma
ton, before God and man, as integri-
ty and fair dealing are the duty of the
individual. Nor is such a course be-
lieved to be dictated less by our high.
est interests than by our duty. But,
in what manner and with what ra-
pidity payment should be made,
while they were questions of detail,
were yet questions Of difficulty.
The great battle having been fought
by the present generation, the Repub-
lican party holds that the payment of
the debt should not be pressed so as to
impose further burdens upon the peo-
pie, but to such an extent only as
may be warranted by the surplus of
the revenues, which, 1T believes, should
be raised in such a manner as best to
promote financial prosperity and well
being. Acting upon these well-settled
convictions, the present administra-
lion devoted its frat efforts to secure
an honest collection of the revenue
and judicious
REDUCTION OF THE NATIONAL DEBT.
Since the Inauguration of the pres
ent administration, the national debt
has been reduced three hundred and
thirty million, four hundred
and four thousand, six hundred and
three dollars. The vast proportions
of this amount may be better realized
| by q comparison. Take any average
State in the Union-Maine: The cen
sus of 1870 shows the population of
the State to be 626, ,463, and if this
amount were equally divided among
/ its inhabitants, it would be sufficient
/ to pay to each man, woman, and child
more than five hundred and thirty
! eight dollars; or, the number of acres
Of cultivated land in Maine in 1850,
being 2,677, 1876, it would be sufficient
| to purchase every acre az a price Of
Sl26 per acre, or over four times the
value as given in the report of that
year.
The amount of annual interest
saved by this vast reduction is more
than twenty millions of dollars. Two
/ millions of dollars in interest has
been saved by q single transaction,
namely, the substitution of ) per cent.
in lieu of per cent. bonds.
Not to undertake an enumeration OF
the large sums disbursed on various
accounts, it may be added that, from
March /, 1869, to June 80, 1872, there
was paid in the single item of bOun-
ties the sum of ten million, two hun
dred and ninety-One thousand, seven
hundred and twenty-seven dollars. A
proportionally large sum has been
paid on account of pensions. During
this time both bOunties and pensions
have been increased by law.
On the 5th of December, 1871, the
Tribune said, "The fact that the debt
has been steadily and largely reduced
has done more than anything else to
make the administration and the par
~ 1AAOIA anu BOHuA1AAs ~ DO
added that this almost Incompetent
sible result has been achieved by the
people without burden, according to
the decided policy of the party and
administration.
Upon this point President Grant
| thus expresses himself. Let his
words be carefully noted and COM
pared with the Greeley-Democratic
plan:
"The vast resources of the nation,
both developed and undeveloped,
ought to make our credit the best on
earth. With a less burden Of taxa
ton than the citizens have endured
for six years past, the entire public
debt could be paid in ten years. But
it is not desirable that the people
should be taxed to pay it in that time.
Year by year the ability to pay in
creases in a rapid ratio. But the bur-
den of interest ought to be reduced as
rapidly as can be done without the
violation of contract. 1t is believed
| that all bonds which are now due
may be replaced by bonds bearing a
rate of interest not exceeding four and
a-half per cent, and as rapidly as the
| remainder become due that they may
| be replaced in the same way. With
an acquiescence on the part of the
whole people in the national obliga-
/ ton to nav the rpaDlic debt, created as
Ithe price of our Union; the pensions
| to our disabled soldiers and sailors,
and their widows and orphans; and
/ in the changes to the Constitution
which have been made necessary by
a great rebellion, there is no reason
why we should not advance in mate
rial prosperity and happiness, as no
other nation ever did, after so pro-
tracted and devastating war"
HOW MR.. GREELEY WOULD PAY THE
DEBT.
Let us take his own words. He
says: ave believe i9 tdriag so as to
pay the debt an ten gears" June 5,
1867 The debt at that time was
more than two billions, seven hund-
red millions of dollars, which Mr.. G..
would have paid in ten years, by
''taxingn the people-twO hundred
and seventy million of dollars per
year, besides paying current expenses.
He would not only compel US to fight
the battle, but pay the bill. He would
/ station a collector at every door, and
relentlessly would he clutch every
tithe to the last penny.
Strange as it may appear, while the
Republican party has steadily reduced
the debt, it has at the same time ef-
fected
A GREAT REDUCTION CT TAXES.
Up to April, 1871, the direct tax had
been removed from over 10000 arti.
cles. Tea and coffee have since been
put upon the free list; the income tax
(which Mr.. Greeley so heartily ap-
proved, and then so violently assail-
ed has been removed and under the
new system, says Mr.. Boutwell,, "the
people will be entirely exempt from
direct taxation, and will see the face
of the tax-gatherer no more"
The rebellion prostrated our CON-
merce. After numerous efforts to re-
lieve our ship-building interests, we
have finally passed a law by which
all materials used in ship-building
are free Of duty.
! A Just idea Of the amount stricken
from taxes may be realized from the
statement of Secretary Boutwell,, that
the estimated reduction almost EQUALS
the amount of debt cancelled; that is,
If taxes had been held at the old rate
we could have discharged, upon the
assumption of unchanged production,
importation, and consumption, twice
as much of the great war debt.
While all this has been going on the
aggregate expenses have but slightly
increased in a whole decade.
The whole current expenses of the
government in 1850, on a gold and
peace Lasis, were S6l, ,4O2, ,40S, against
| S68, ,6s4, ,613 in 1871, being an increase
of 81, ,2S2, ,205, with an increase of %
per cent. In population; while, taking
the rate for each person, the erpensei
ICere less IN 1871 than az 1850, viz: in
1871, Sl.77 for each person, and in 1860
Sl.95 for each person.
Mr.. Greeley's ideas as to taxing The
people are already stated in q preced
ing extract. He was in favor o
maintaining the taxes as they were
and paying the whole debt in a singl,