Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-10-09
HONESTY.
The True Republican Policy
How the Credit and Faith Of the Ma.
tion Have Been Kept.
What RspubIlcsnlsm has Done for the Ne.
ton-Rs duosd Its Debt, Cut Down
the Interest, and Lessened
Taxation 0ne.haIf.

-,s,,d and the credit of the nation So ror
| 49,, :, was having higher rate of interest Iha
- ,,i,,,in rhe generation, and even more tba
u-as having in the height of the war thar IN,
! -. We had this war forced upou ms who
~. a., vrss scattered 10 The four onar,a,
sS,,,, ,,,ohs and material and Ammunition Mia
-, ~, ,ra,torous officials In southern forts an
ais.,,o1s in readiness for the contest which IN
60, r,,lars Of the south had planned long betor
~. ,,o,rb swoke 10 the desperation of The mo
who saw slipping away rom them, never to re
-, ,nenower that they had held so long. w
had 10 begin from the beginning. There was a,
amy 10 raise and 10 equip, navy TO bulk, an,
| % man. with not q dollar in the Treasury
,or,,,v, a enn in the arsenals, and not a shin q,
,,e ssa mat was worthy of the name. SucI
,-as ,,,a condition Of the country when the neo
| ,,o At last asserted themselves, and wrested In
eo,,rol or its destiny from the party thar ha,
h.sn Wandering 1t and squandering its resource
| for a score OF years.
THF pFMoCRATIc LEGACY.
The Republican party can indeed ohalleng,
| ,te -ecor5. and stand or fall by the result. Tn.
~ waS fought and won-not witbout ar
e,o-,,ous expenditure OF blood and treasure
b,,, sill yyifhout the ruin of our industries N,
onr credit. The close OF the war saw In,
country with lis manufactures fully EN-,
ployoi. agriculture comparatively neglected,
and 4 debt OF = 6So,o0l, 600, which was in.
creased IN the following year by the ex.
peuses OF The war 10 SD, 600, OaO. There were
state debts besides amounting To ss6i, 7s5. Oeo.
Total 10 the credit Of Democratic rule in this
country. over ! million lives lost and abou,
=. 600. .OgO, 900. This was the burden that was
laii upon the Republican party, and which il
mas carried ever since, although il has been
steadily lighiened each year. All through Bu-
cbanan ; administration, with no extraordi-
nary expenses, it had been steadily growing,
but under Republican management i, has been
decreased every year-!n some years by an
amount greater than the largest total OF the ma
tional debi in any one year previous to 1861. not
excepting even the heavy obligations remaining
after the war OF lSI2. Some facts concerning
the growth and decrease OF The debt will show
how il was piled up and how il has been re-
ducei. On July ], 1851, three months after
Sumter was tired upon. the debt was $50. $50, =
SIS, aud il bore i've and six per cent. interest.
For temporary loans the Democratic Secretary
OF the Treasury had paid as high as ten and
the debt grew with frlghifgl rapidity, for war is
expensive, and the government was such Gus
toner Of the people that took all that they had
10 SELL and yet in all this time no higher rate of
interest was paid than and 3-lOths, and al
though there were Ssj0. .oj0, 600 out at the close
Of the war, all had been paid off three
years later. Nor did the government ever fail
TO get tie full value Of its bonds. The
Greenbackers and the Nationals are yery
fond OF talking about the bonds that were
bought al thirtyfve and iOrty cents on the dol
lar, and there are some people who are foolish
enough 10 believe them. Yet a glance at the
annual reports OF the New York Stock Ex-
change sales will show them that the minimum
price for which any United States bond was
ever sold on the Exchange was So, which was
the lowest quotation Ia 1861 for the SKIES of
ISL. We repeat, Instead OF the bonds being
taken by the capitalists al thirty-five and forty
cents, there is no case recorded on any stock
exchange Of any bond OF the United States
being sold at less price than 81 in the year
when these bonds were first Issued, and they
sold up TO $50. IN lSG2 these bonds were still
the only securities Of the government that were
on the list, and the minimum price was S6s
while the maximum was lO7 i. Never since
the very first year OF The war has
there been a twelvemonih in which the
bonds Of the United States did not touch
par This IS a record unparalleled by that
Of any nation in the world. In 1865, the dark
days OF the rebellion, these bonds reached their
lowest price at 5lis, tut they sold up as high as
ll0A. In that year the frst iive-twenties were
Issued and they never sold more than one
quarter below par until 1865, when they once
went 10 80 i. Since then not one OF the different
classes OF United States securities has ever been
sold at public sale below par.
HOW WE ARE PAYING THE DEBT.
To this high point was the credit OF The gov
ernment kept As soon as the war was over,
and the enormous outlay on its account was
stopped, the Republican party addressed itself
' vigorously 10 the reduction OF the debt. Re
Iuhdins was secondary operation, and
one not TO be attempted until it was
shown that the government could not
only carry the debt, cut begin to pay it off.
Ihe debt, less cash on hand, was at its greatest
amount August 81, 1855, when ii reached the
vast total OF S2,I56 49, 51l 4S, eniaiIing an an
hual interest charge Of SljO, 81, ,6g7 s.. This was
4 debt Of SIS p for every man, woman and child
III the country. and 10 pay the interest on this
vast sum required an expenditure of SI29 for
very one OF the s., 2S, OOO people in Ihe United
>Idtes- linen began the reduction of the debt
" lle paying OF OF The six per cents. and the
'eFeA-hirIies- The total vas reduced the first
year si-jo 10000, and the next year sI2s,-
"O'Vv1. This was done by insisting upon the
hos' risid economy and the thorough col
eetion OF the revenues. and by the sale of
'-d materials and reducing the army and navy
Il once TO a peace footing. In the next two
years The cancellation was not so great
'ut III is'J The total Was cut down hundred
nililohS' and in ISL and 1872 almost as much
more Now, said the Republican party in Con-
'eSs' Ihe credit Of the United States is good
iousl 10 warrant Us in borrowing at lower
dtes oi interest. So the funding act was passed
u NY $50, and on the lst of December, 1871,
hundred millions Of six per cents were paid
Il ana disappeared from the debt statement,
tihg replaced by the fives of 1881. On The 10th
! A''Ich IN The year following like amount
as retired The saving in interest ON the nrst
injured millions has already been six and three
lafier millions, and on the second instalment
'iIed III, almost six-and-a-half more Every
'af since the last of the war the six per cents.
III been coming in, and this operation was
isiened by the operations of the funding act,
that The amount of this class OF bonds
deemed amounted TO S2I0, 600, 900 in 1872 alone.
ieSe changes in the debt continued during the
xt three years, until the early part OF 1863,
hen the last OF the fves had been placed. Up
that time the reduction in the amount OF six
r cents outstanding had been at the rate of a
mi a.
1869 there were only less than a thousand
lllions out in 1876. In the fall, after the abun-
mt crops had been harvested and the country
d begun TO feel the impetus given 10 trade,
iustry and agriculture by the Centennial tx
5ition, designed and carried through In The
&c of the most strenuous Democratic oppo-
ion, Secretary Sherman began measures for
G further cancellation of the debt by the
ue of four-and-a- halfs which many men of
ility and long experience had thought i'm
acticable. Never had a loan been placed
this country which bore so low rate of in
rest, and it was regarded as a hazardous ex-
rimeut 10 try 10 put this out at par. The
20, 900, 900 now out in place OF as many six per
nts. show what has been done by Repub ublican
anagement and assurances of honesty and
cd faith. In little more than year aud
IL -1UO oOu,po VI liie>e uau oeen lssue1, ana the
terest account reduced three millions a wear
} sooner was This issue exhausted, than the
cretary began another experiment even more
zardous Than the first. This was the effort 10
out four per cent. loan-someihing that
nnot be done by half a dozen nations in the
Drid. We said ''ha II a dozen nations. - Eng
nd, Holland and France alone can borrow
Oney at four per cent. interest and vet such
As the fame ofthe UBiIed States that millions
lay have been offered 10 il at that rate of in
rest during the present year. This is a tri-
nph OF which any party or administration in
e world may face The people, ana challenge
EN- 10 find a precedent for IL anywhere-not
en- in France, of which We hear SO much.
THE CASE SUMMED UP.
When the deot was at its MAXIMUM IL was
in 6y.a and :