Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1876-09-01

"But how will you do it?" said Mr..
Johnson, who, though Tilden man,
is still not quite sound on the goose.
"How would 1 do it?" said 1; "it's
the easiest thing in the world. The
first thing is to fund the debt at Al
per cent. interest. In other words,
to find somebody who will lend us,
on the credit of the United States,
$1,7OO,oOo,oOo at ~ per cent. If Mr..
Tilden and are elected, we will put
this whole matter into the hands of
Mr.. Rothschild.
In ninety days. time Mr.. Roths-
child will write to President Tilden
that he has funded our debt as desir-
ed in France, that is, he has issued
bonds by which the government OF
the United States agrees to pay in
thirty-elght years or less $l,70o,ooO,-
900 with interest at four and half
per cent. per annum, and at the same
time he returns our old bonds for the
same amount bearing on an average
81 per cent. interest, which we de-
stroy. In a year from the time Of is
suing these new bonds Mr.. Roths-
child will write to President Tllden,
or his Secretary of the Treasury, that
there is now due from tho United
States to France on account of inter
est the sum of $76.5OO,OOO, which
please remit in coin or bills of ex-
change on the Bank of England,
payable in coin. So we take the
seventy-six and half millions out of
the Treasury and pay the first years
interest, and instruct Mr.. Rothschild
to invest the Sl,7O0,OOO saved where
it will draw J per cent. interest,"
Mr.. Rothschild answers that he hasn't
got any sl7,OO0,OOo to invest, but he
says Germany wants to hire $l7, ,OOO,-
900, and will pay 4! per cent, and
requests Mr.. Tilden to forward the
money for investment, in order to
pay off the national debt" "But you
are not going to take this money out
of the Treasury" says our Republl-
can friend. "You agreed to pay off
the debt without cost to the people"
"True," says I; 1--WE will pay it off
without cost, but you must give us
chance to get started, you know
we saved this Sl7, 100000 on account
of interest.
But you have already used $76,5OO.-
900 Of the peoples money, says the
Republican, and if you now take
sl7,ooO,OoO more, it is evident you
save nothing the first year.
"Certainly not" said I. ''But just
wait till we get fairly started, can't
you?"
"What are you going to do with
this sl7,ooO,OOo of the peoples mon
ey?" says the Republican.
"Golng to lend it to Germany"
says I, "to get something to pay the
national debt" "At what rate of in
terest?" says he. "At four and half
per cent, says l.
"Why don't you apply it," says he,
con the debt you owe France, which
carries the same rate of interest?"-
"Because it wouldn't earn anything"
says I. awe want the interest to
accumulate to pay off our national
debt"
"You are simpleton," says the
Republican. "What is gained by
lending money to Germany at Al per
cent, when we pay the same to
France? If you lend this money to
Germany it will amount in one year,
principal and interest, to $l7,65o,oOo
and our debt to France will be just
$l7,65O,OOO larger than it would if
you lay the sl7,oOo,ooO to France
instead of lending it to Germany. If
you lend this money to Germany this
year, you will want $76,5OO,O00 to
pay the interest next year, and also
$17,O0O,OOO more to lend to Germa-
ny. If you take the sl7,ooo,o00 out
of the Treasury every year, and ap-
ply it on the principal of the debt we
owe France, it is evident the whole
debt will be paid off in just the same
time that it will take to lend the sl7,-
100000 annually in Germany. 1t
don't take a Philadelphia lawyer to
see through that problem. And Mr..
Tilden's great compound-interest-
hirty-elght-year-national-debt-paying
problem is reduced to just this:
IT the government can call in its
bonds bearing an average of 5! per
cent. interest and get the holders of
them to receive others instead, bear
ing 4! per cent, it will save money
by doing so, fact which the Secrc-
tary of the Treasury has stated over
and over in his annual reports during
the last fourteen years. My Tilden
friend, he added, your master is a
humbug, and so are YOU"
I felt hurt to hear anybody call
Mr.. Tilden a humbug, and replied,
"Sir, do you think man of Mr.. Til
denis genius and ability would say
the nationul debt could be paid off
without cost unless it could be done?
Do you think Mr.. Tilden is fool?"
But only spoke to empty air. My
Republican friend was gone, and l
had no chance to show him how the
thing can be DONE It's astonishing
how stupid some of these Republi-
cans are!
EYEzURK WIGGINs.