, 1881-09-05

tnat,lro for soute Iypars) nto tlIo ~ per cent
bonls. These rtjl It'll lS1i, nr len yetrs, nl,sl
nre sclflna At atbut iii. 1}y thu accepted
method OF ca1cdlnltn9 Interest they wpIttd
ytctt to tho t;o{rrts,nGnt n sAvltK Of nlmut
NJ per cent II u,t,glt nj tic prevailing rate
Of premium. TAry a,nunMt IL s2.'7l.o)0,000,
md 1t Is safo 10 lcu1ate lint they may all 10
retired on ur ileforo tho date Ut their INT
turtty.
u. 'rl,o botils bearing per cent Interest
ninb'l.t tn nbc,,t &rw,ooo,ooo, at1tl ,lu mt
inaturc ttll, 1Qoi, Or nearly twcnt,-stx ycars
from now 'fly nrc Mt premium OH tho
market, so that tlletr actunl, vaIno Is about
liz, and they yield about ~ per cent Inter-
est,
4. Thu rest Of tho debt, amounting to about
s57s,oo,on, slrtsws us pef cent Interest, nhl
f!'ay ba pala ut any time Or 10 My amount
that suits tiu convenience pf the 0ovcrn-
inent. Thcse aso TIM old at,.l per cent
bontis which werq extended ut their 1nnturfty
nt@5 per cent Interest, dn,ay be called the
"optlonal bonds" '' q:
Tho sutp1,s revenues of tho Government
go. oil Increasing ut II r'snid5rute, an,t Sscre-
tary Wlhtlotn Will soon be tnite,t upon 10 ,lc-
eide what caass Ut securities he shall bcgtn
to retire. Thu "optIona1 bqnt,s" cnn bo
called III Mt any tlne Mt par; The Government
will be obliged 10 go Into tile market n,,,l
btly lip tlte others Mt the current prelnlpni.
At first thought It would sec1n to he the best
policy to retire tfoso bO1,tls yhlci, ca1i 10
procured at par; but thu New York Euc,liny
Post suggests different course. which ,nay
be Of greatet advantage to The Government.
From the year tSat, wien tho ~ per cents
mature, till tic ycar 1!)07, WHEN the 4 1,er
cents mature, there will ho atl interval ,ot
sixteen years, during wl,lcl, tl,ure will hc ~
bonds that cah be paId Mt tlle option of, tho
Guvcrntneltt 1t the present "0pllot,n! bonds u
be retired fn tho meantime. 1t Il possible
and by ITO means improbable tlnt tho
premium oil tho outstanding bonds will
then he pushed up to MI lil,rcas0tl-
Nblo figure If The Government snll
still PURSUE the policy af maintaining
the snkln9-ftlu. Tho per tcnt md ~
per cent bO.hls car be purchased now Mt 4
rate which will save thE Government ns
1nncl. Interest In the long rll,, as by reiirlnE
tile w per cent "opttonal l,o,tis' at par,
Fur Instance, tllo bond running twenty-stx
years antl drawing i per cent Interest repre-
sents an rggregato expenditure Iii tito future
Of 104 per cent Interest. After tlrtlrcting the
Is per cent premium whicl, 1t will he 1cces.
sary to pay for TINT bond, tl.are Will remain
81 per cent interest to be pai,t hut If these
! per cc,ts were purchased aud the " per
cents allowed to ruil, say iifteGn years. tho
aggregate interest tlserIun would amount to
6nly b9111 por cent, which would DO gain OF
nearly u per cunt In Interest for tho Govern
Ment.
However Secretary Window nny figure
out the purchase uf bonds from Tho surplus
revenue tai,d ha may be safely trusted 10 Ito
the best for tho doyerlincnt), 1t will he scci,
that the arrangement uf tho debt Is about rs
favorable rs 1t would he possible to make It,
ul1d that CDnEress can find no exduse for
mctldllng Will, 1t or disturbing tho country
by my financial lcEislntion Of aMy kind DUR
ing niaiiy yenrs tU come,