The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1873-08-13
COLUMBIA, S. G..
Wednesday Morning, August 13. 1878.


July Statement OF United States Debt.
800. 900. 900 OF bonds. bearing six per
cent. interest were, due and payment
required on the 1st of June last. To
take up or ray for these bonds, the Go.
vernment Of the United States is au-
thorized to issue new bonds bearing Jfce
per cent. interest; and with the money
resulting from the sale Of these bonds,
to pay off the six per cent. bonds. This
is called q 'fauded loan"-by which
bonds bearing five per cent. are substi-
tuted for bonds due, bearing six per
cent. To carry ont this operation, q
syndicate, as it is called, is established
in Europe. It is nothing but what is
vulgariy called brokerage. A number
of capitalists in Europe, acting in con-
cert, agree to bo the brokers OF the
United States, and to sell the bonds Of
the United States for a certain conside-
ration. The old way OF doing business
by its immediate agents seems to be
abolished in the financial transactions
of the United States. Intermediates
ore used for everything, and everything
is q job, by which some favored few
make money outof the people Of the
United States. The syndicate agreed,
in behalf of purchasers they had found,
about the end OF February last, to take
s60,D00,000 of the new FIVE per cent.
loan bonds and pay for them on the 1st
of June. The question rcw is, has this
contract been carried out? and if SO,
has the syndicate paid for the e50,000,-
coo OF the funded loan of hye per cent.
bonds wholly in old six per cent. five-
twenty bonds, or partly in coin2 II is
now six weeks since the syndicate made
their settlement, Fscm the lst Of June,
When this settlement was made, to the
1st of July, when the debt statement OF
the Treasury is made, was one month,
quite time enough, with the ocean tele-
graph at hand, to know exactly, III the
Treasury Department, every item of its
adjustment or failure. But according to
the Treasury account, nothing has been
done in the matter, although the con-
trary is notorious. The entire $50, 0,000,-
600 of the old called bonds are counted
in the debt statement as still outstand-
ing and unpaid; and, OF course, none Of
the new bonds as being in existence.
But the delinquency does not end here.
The Government OF the United States
paid off in New York, in June, SIS, ,000.-
600 of coin bonds. The bankers, re-
ceiving the gold for their bonds, imme-
diately Deposited it in the United States
Treasury, and received therefor gold
certificates. Now, in the debt state
ment Of the Treasury, the S15, 5,000.0 600
OF gold paid cut Of the Treasury in
June, for the redeemed bonds, are
counted as in the Treasury, and consti-
tuting part Of its gold balnnce; and
then this same sl5,OO0.0O0 is added to
its cash in hand, when paid back into
the Treasury in exchange for its gold
certificates. Hence this SIS. 1000, 900 is
counted in the coin in the Treasury as
S30.000,O00. With such accounts and
accountabilities, who would not like 10
be in the Treasury Department of the
United States, if he wants money and is
unscrupulous in obtaining it? Honest
men sometimes, from ignorance or ina.
bility. make out false accounts; but
generally they are the devices Of rogues,
to coniound, confuse and cheat. Te 10
not charge dishonesty in the above
transactions, because there may, by
possibility, be an explanation consistent
with integrity. But the very object of
the Department statements Of The Trea-
sury is to explain the true condition Of
our finances. It is to render all further
explanations unnecessary. If further
explanations are required to make the
debt statements Ineligible or trustwo--
thy, their object is defeated. Why not
abolish them? They are like the laws Of
Imperial Romc-lowcd so high that the
people could not read them. We may
as we'll shnt fhe doors of t1,,, Traocrrv