The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-05-20
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE CREDIT.

to supply a means OF investment for surplus
capital and the savings of individual industry
and thrift. Public debt necessarily produces
heavier taxation, which Is certainly an evil;
but that 1t Is an evil of SO grievous a charac-
tor as to justify the absolute reputation of
honest obligations with the deliberate pur-
pose Of destroying public credit Is to US, o
doctrine equally repugnant to common sense
and the plainest laws Of morality.
Yet this Is the position into which the ex-
treme advocates of reputation have been
forced In order to justify the arbitrary
disposition Of the State debt proposed by
them. They begin by representing the indt-
viduaI as In d state OF natural hostility to
government Government 10 to him not
"choice" but cruel necessity" and the law
and order it enforces are subyersive Of liberty,
which Is TO be found only In unbridled license,
while every contribution he Is required to
make for the support Of the lawful establish
ment ID to be regarded only as indirect rob
berry Of the proceeds Of individual thrift and
industry.
Proceeding on this same line OF argument,
these people reach the conclusion that public
credit Ia a "culse," because 1t renders public
debt possible, and this means public profig-
acy, universal deprivation and poverty, and
Ignorance, the repression OF enterprise, public
spirit and patriotism, and the creation OF
class who, by reason Of their being creditors
OF the Seate, become the natural enemies OF
the people, III these be the fruits OF public
credit, then 1t is, indeed. an unqualified
evil. But that public credit necessarily pro-
duces public debt, or that public debt inevta-
bly, entails public proflgacy and the long list
of mseries enumerated as Its immediate
fruits, we utterly deny. But, even were all
this true, we find III it 10 justification for
habitual bad faith and disregard Of obliga-
tions. We should as soon think OF urging upon
an individual the advantages Of like con-
duct In order to destroy his credit and thus
preclude all possibility Of mourning debt.
Rather than advise such course as this and
give our sanction to such immortality, we
should insist that the debt OF Lou
isiana remain as 1t Is, without refer
ence to how or by whom 1t was incurred,
and that 1T be paid In full, dollar for dollar,
principal and interest. We can enter into no
project to destroy the credit Of the State, and
for the reason that we regard public credit an
unmixed blessing, instead Of curse, and be-
ieye that the loss OF 1t would entail miseries
and misfortunes far exceeding any that could
result from the most onerous taxation.
Any man who has taken the pains to study
the history of modern commerce cannot fail
to appreciate the value Of public credit to the
State, and, by reason Of its close relations
with private credit, to the individual. His
tory teaches us that taxation has but little to
do, either wi th political freedom or Individual
prosperity. while neither Of these have ever
subsisted for any length Of time In State
devoid Of public credit. Discussing the rela-
tions between the weight Of taxes and Hber-
ty, Montess...' says;
tits general ru.o that taxes may he heavier
In proportion to the liberty Of the subject. and
that here Is q necessity for redUciBg them In
proportion.to the increase Of slashry This has
q rule derived from nature that never varlea.
We find II In ell parts. 10 England In Holland.
and In every State where liberty gradually de-
cIines, till we come to Turkey.
No people have ever borne st1ch enormous
taxation as the English and the Dutch. Yet
no people enjoy more substantial liberty.
No people have ever been more prosperous,
more frugal, more enterprising, more enlight-
ened, more patriotic Montesquieu wrote
nearly two centuries ago almost before such
a thing as public credit" had been invented,
so to speak, and his observation had only q
political significance; yet we find that the
parallel he drew still maintains In matters of
d material and commercial character, and
that In every instance the exact relations
between public and private credit have been
preserved. Indeed, the two most conspicuous
examples Of great national prosperity, afford
ed In modern times, accompanied by the most
extensive and lucrative commerce and the
widest diffusion OF wealth, are England and
Holland, States whose people have borne the
most onerOus taxation known to history, but
which have never violated q national oblga-
ton. ..5
Who can say, In the face Of these examples,
that public credit is curse or that the
taxation entailed by public debt necessarily
produces poverty, discomfort, ignorance,
lack Of enterprise, dearth Of patriotism and
the loss Of liberty and equality? Who
that has made himself at all familiar
with the political. social and commercial
conditions of the Dutch people, but finds
| them the examples Of every virtue and In the
enjoyment OF every benefit which constitutes
the reverse OF these frailties and misfortunes?
Who does not stop to admire the energetic
honesty with which they have sustained their
public credit, and the political endurance with
which they have borne the burdens of public
debt? That calm but consummate courage
which called In the sea as an auxiliary
against civil and ecclesiastical encroachments,
has been displayed in characters more glo-
rious, because under circumstances more try
ing, by the regular and full payment Of the
interest Of debt, the largest and most gall
ing In history.
Their reward has been found in the most
extensive commerce and the most general
comfort and absence of want and suffering
among the people. The same and even more
may be said of England, and even France,
through all her Commissions, Rugged her re-
pudiated debts to her bosom, and many who
read this will recall the fidelity with which
| tho twanty- fl va millions indemnity claim in