The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1876-10-05
The Public Credit.

VIII ut IL was at the end of that period
which we often are called upon to adj
mire as the brilliant and glorious
ID mocratic age. The figures which
we shall use are official and were
| furnished 10y Mr.. Conant, Assistant
Secretary of the Treasury, in his let
| ter to Senator Cragin
ON the 9Th or March 1861, there
vas II deficiency. created by an excess
expenditures over receipts in that
n3 Tie three Immediately preceding
t,&.s, amounting 20 S57,9s9, ,526,52
TO meet this deficiency and current
| expenses the Government issued bonds
| which were sold at a rate which made
| the interest on 4 part of the loan
| twelve per centum and on another
! This was the condition of the public
credit when President Buchanan
went out with the Democratic party,
and the splendid Democratic era
| ended.
| What is its condition now? Mr..
| Couant says that it Stands unpar-
alleled in our history" and TO prove
his assertion shows that in August
last United states bonds bearing in
terest at the rate of four and one-half
per centum were sold at par. This
certainly is great gain in credit in
fifteen years. How has 1t been Sc
cured? Not by the Democrats. Bu-
chanan has had no party successor, the
Democrats have not come back since
they went out of power, ana so they
have done nothing to "restore the
public credit" 1t may be said that
several great general causes have con-
tributed to the restoration. The sue
cess of the people in maintaining the
Union, Notwithstanding the technical
objections of the Democratic party. to
use mild terms, is one of these causes.
The demonstrated strength of the
country, its capacity for industrious
advancement, is another. There are
other and special causes. One is the
determination of the people, as shown
by the course of the legislative and
executive departments of the Govern
ment to perform their obligations.
Congress by passing an Act, and the
President by approving it,, have de-
clared that the principal and interest
of the Federal bonds shall be paid in
gold. Meantime the Democrats have
been declaring-in the year 1868 they
so declared in national convention
that the bonds ought to be paid in
paper If the declaration of Congress
) had not prevailed, and if the Demo
cratic declaration had been adopted in
its place, what would have become OF
the public credit? 1t would have
not only neglects to pay his debts, but
; openly announces that he does not in.
tend to pay them. Happily honesty
triumphed; the interest on the bonds
and that part of their principal which
, has been discharged have been paid in
gold, and we are now able to borrow
money at four and one-half per cen.
tum instead of twelve. Now, will il
be pretended that in respect to these
various causes the Democratic party
has done anything to 'restore public
credit?"
f But there is still another set OF
e causes of the improvement of the Fed
eral financial standing. The people
might have defended the Union sue
3 cessfully and yet might not have paiC
q dollar of the cost of its defence
r They might have made the faires
promises to the public creditor ant
yet might have broken them all. Th'
money raised by taxation to pay thu
a debt might have been spent for some
thing else. In any of these supposed
5 cases the public credit would hav'
! grown rapidly worse. What reall.
d has been done in the management 0
:, the Federal finances may be shown il
1t a few words and figures. Let us no
g be unjust to the administrations of tn
e last dozen years. There are text
n enough for discourses on economy an
: reform without misrepresenting tn
actual facts. In eleven years the deb
has been reduced 1856, ,992, ,246 A, II
IS seven years the yearly interest charg
,f has been reduced S3l, ,2S5,2Sl. In tel
d years the yearly reductions of eXpen
. ditures have amounted to S262, $40
~ 6l9 &C, and in the same time the yearl
Ie reductions of taxes have amounted t
II 5000 1850, III. Every year since 1866,
:, in the words of Mr.. Conant, ''the GOV
ernment has not only lived within il
!. income, but has been able to say
If towards paying its Indebtedness a
"a average amount per annum of sos, ZAP
- 2S4, ,20,n That in all these yea
V money has been spent extravaganza
: may be readily admitted, but the r.,
" publicans clearly have right to set o
n against the reckless arraignmeI
ut made by the Democrats the facts W
* have shown. Charges of corruptio
~ are not wholly ,unfounded, but it
. worth knowing that "the ratio of lo
at per 81 900 to the amount involved" b
IA defalcations is less under the presel
s administration than under any othe
"a 1t is thirty-four cents, as against So.
a underthe administration of Buchanan
C, The financial facts of the last eleyC