Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1875-09-22
Is fbc Country Poor!

la order to answer this question satisfac
torily, it is necessary to look at three things
first, the liabilities Of the country second
the assets third, the producing power.
!. There is no doubt that the indebtedness.
ofthecontry is immense. The national, stat,
andmunicipal liabiitesof thewhole country
exceed sl,0O0,00O,OO0. The railroad debt
Of the country exceeds S2OO,000,0OO Tn,
personal liabilities can only be conjectured
But they will not fall short Of all the Other
Indebtedness. The eutirc debt which rests
upon the people of the country, cannot there
fore, be less than Ss,2O0,0O0,0O0 The inter.
est upon this debt, reckoning at six per cent,
which is the minimum, is sl92, 100000. The
aggregate amount of interest merely is enor-
nous. The actual interest paid 10y federal,
state, municipal and corporate institutions,
and by individuals, is estimated 10y good
statisticians to equal the sum Of s700,0OoO0O
annually.
II. The total valuation Of the property Of
the United States aud Of all the states, real
and personal, by the last census, was s2s POO
2s3,s03 The interest paid by the whole
country is, therefore, about two and half
per cent upon the entire property Of the
country. 1t is as if man with property
OF $1,000 was taxed twenty-five dollars per
annum. It diminishes his income just FIVE
tweliths, or nearly one-half. While the as
sets Of the country are very large and under
stated, according TO this estimate, it is
yet evident that there is an indebtedness
which is alarming to the political economist.
The people in the aggregate have got to pay
annually two and half per cent. Of their in
come in taxation. OF course it does not
bear equally on individuals. At present two
classes feel the pressure most heavily the
poor who are deprived Of work, and the rich
whose capital consists largely of the paper
Of corporations and the Indebtedness of in
dividuals. The holders Of government stock,
Of state and municipal bonds which pay their
interest, Of national bank stock, do not feel
the pressure Of thedcbt The debt is largely
due to them, and their interest is always
ready. But those who are in debt, and those
who are holders of obligations that default
the interest, are at present the great suffer.
ers They are suffering enough just now to
stop the wheels Of industry all over the land,
or to reduce the hours and the rates of la
Dor Hence, labor is beginning 10 suffer,
also. It finds it hard to earn its daily bread,
simply because our liabilities are out of pro-
portion to our assets.
III. IS the producing power of the country
equal to handling the liabilities Can it
meet the interest and sink the debt or is it
likely that we shall have to go into general
bankruptcy?
The answer to this question depends upon
two things. If there should be any initiation
Of the currency it would tend to enlarge
both the principal and interest Of the debt,
and make certain in few years a uniyer.
sal reputation. If the currency should be
steadily and slowly contracted, if the coun-
try should come speedily upon a specie basis,
it would necessarily result in contraction
of the indebtedness, in a stoppage of inter
est, in habits of prudence and economy, and
in the ultimate extinction of only such debts
ms are necessary TO the public welfare.
There is clearly producing power enough
in our country, if coupled with retrench-
mcnt and economy, 10 meet all its liabilities.
The liabilities are about one-third of the as
sets of the country. The active producing
power of our people may be reckoned in the
assets, as rendering them valuable in all re.
spects While we admit that the indebted
ness is far out of just proportion TO the
property of the country, we yet see no
reason for panic or financial embarrassment
These can only come with imitation which
means the enlargement Of the debt of the
country, and the diminishing, at the same
time, Of its resources.
The country has oyerdone business, but it
is not poor But it requires careful aud
prudent management, in order to save it from
bankruptcy. We are passing through one
of those periods of distress-felt mostly in
the cities and among holders of doubtful Sc
curities, and by railroad corporations which
a people must suffer who have been spend
ing money faster than they have made it,
and who are checked up in a career of fcti
tious prosperity, by the necessity of meeting
their obligations. The check is not day
too soon. We are glad to see that men of
all parties are beginning to comprehend the
need of retrenchment and reform. The day
OF speculation is over. Honesty and sound
political economy both now demand the ut
ter rom of the initiation heresy, and re-
sumption Of specie payments as speedily rs
consistent