Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-10-24


burden shall be lifted from the shoulders
of the people. 1t may be questioned,
however, whether the present generation
should be willing to bear for ten years
more the enormous drain on their re-
sources to which they have submitted SO
long.
While national debt is not to be de-
sired and is too frequently begotten or
vastly increased by the folly of rulers,
our own debt presents some exceptions
to the rules as laid down by economists
for the treatment of public debts IN gen.
eral. Undoubtedly in Europe, where the
probable course Of a nations history can
not be presaged, even for a decade,
steady liquidation of existing obligations
is the highest wisdom. We, however
can foresee pretty clearly what lies be
fore us. No exhaustive war is likely to
call for fresh sacrifices, and we have no
reason to expect financial revulsion in
which the interest on our obligations
could not be met, even should the pay
ment of the principal be lessened or
stopped for the time.
Our debt was incurred because those
at the head of the government, who
were sustained by the richer section OF
the country, concluded that the integrity
of the republic should be preserved at
every cost. Whatever benefit accrued
from the maintenance Of the political
status quo was not confined to the people
then living, but extended to those that
came after them. Yet, the present gene
ration has thus far seen fit to defray the
cost Of the struggle, and will have de-
frayed it all in another decade, if the
present policy is adhered to. This is
new country. There is no doubt
of its solvency, and it is both
needless and unwise to per
sist in taxing the men of to-day so
GENEROUSLY for the mere qualification of
seeing the country free from debt in their
lifetime. The time has come for peace
establishment. We have been paying
war taxes for two decades, and their ex
action for ten years more will be onerous
in the extreme. The debt can be pro-
vided for to the satisfaction of every
creditor of the government, and the
people relieved from much of the weight
that falls upon them. The internal reve-
nue. taxes can be largely reduced or abol
ished, and the tariff on imports fixed so as
to meet all the needs Of the government.
The problem presented is a choice be-
tween abolishing the internal taxes or
lowering the duties to a strictly revenue
standard, which would be about an aver
age Of 25 per cent instead Of AZ, or
thereabouts, as at present. 1t can be
shown that with the internal taxes abol
ished under the present tariff, the aim Of
which is not revenue, but prohibition,
enough income can be derived by the
government to meet all its obligations.
The choice of the people, could they
make it on the question pure and simple,
would be in favor of reducing the inter
nal taxes and the establishment of a
revenue tariff. What is given in protec-
ton is lost in revenue, and is paid
by the whole people to the few who
receive it. Whether the internal taxes
be abolished or not, the tariff
should be revised and put, if not
at a revenue standard, as near such as
the various conflicting interests will per
nit. With the internal taxes and lower
import duties the income of the govern
ment would be larger than it is at pres
ent, and wefe they abolished and prop
er tariff adopted the resources would be
more than ample for all purposes.
To the South the keeping of the
national expenditures on a war footing
is particularly onerous, and the fact that
certain portions of her people might, If
they choose, take advantage of the Nor
rill tariff and grow rich, is no comfort to
those who must carry the load of taxa
ton.
Protection apostles are telling the
South that her infant industries need the
fostering influence of the tariff. There
are no infant industries in the South.
Her mills and foundries were built later
than those at the North. In that sense
they are young, but in the profits re-
turned and the work turned out they are
abreast of those that have enjoyed the
full benefit Of our prohibitory tariff.
Their chief source of profit is Indepen-
dent of the thrift, and with the tariff re-
moved they would pay more than their
competitors at the North. When South
ern industries became formidable they
enlisted the sympathy of the North, and
now that the people are waking up to
the need of the revision Of the tariff,
protectionists seek to strengthen their
cause by conversions here.
Risen from the wreck and waste OF
war, the South is comparatively a new
section, and, though her needs are
many, she wants least governmental in
reference with the concerns of her So
cial life and industry. A tariff for reve-
nue. is her first great need. That would
place her on her merits with the rest of
the Union and remove from favored Sec
tons the advantages that class legislation
has given them. But whatever is done,
the time has come for a stoppage Of the
drain caused by the persistent discharge
of obligations, due share Of which be-
longs to pOsterity.
The County Convention of the New
York County Democracy" was a nov