Lexington weekly intelligencer., 1883-04-14
NO PERPETUAL NATIONAL DEBT

"A press dispatch from Washington
City is in these words :--:sA statement
OF the United State~ bonds held by the
treasurer 10 se sure national bank Cir
.ula'ion' ~" published here, shows
sna' ne' ny all the three per cents. re-
:. Sen' y issued are held by banks for
nat purpose, and that of the 1857 ,0OO,-
600 of bonds held for this purpose about
5000, ,OOO, 900 are three per cents. This
is somewhat interesting in itself, but
becomes moro so when 1t is considered
that 8 per cent. bonds are the next to
be redeemed after the present SIS (ex-
tended s. and 6s) are out of the way.
These 81 per cent. bonds will not last
longer than about the end of the pres
ent fiscal year, and then comes the attack
on the 8 per cents. At the rate the
bonds have been called during Secreta-
~ Folger's term these would not last
two years, and by the end Of 1884 one
half the national banks would find their
financial foundation gone. There will
be nothing left with which they may
continue to furnish security for their
circulation save the 4 and A per cent.
bonds. When it is considered that the
former are at a premium of20 per cent,
and the latter of "A per cent, it will be
seen that there will be great hesitancy
on the part of many to invest in them
for circulation securities. How rapidly
these remaining 8 per cents will be paid
of, since last winters reduction in the
revenue, cannot, Of course, be told, but
they must soon begin to melt away.
When they begin to go the per cents.
and 4as will probably go higher, and
when your national banker finds that
for every four dollars he invests in
bonds he can only issue three in curren-
cy, and that for every five dollars SO in
vested he will only get four back when
the bonds are redeemed, there seems
grave doubt as to whether he will make
the investment. And If he does not
his bank circulation is withdrawn.
What is to become of the circulating
medium of the country" This dis
patch illustrates the hypocrisy Of re-
publican legislation. When in the last
congress the majority of democrats
pointed out facts analogous to those
above cited they were accused ofhostil-
ity to national banks growing out of
unpatriotic motives. 1t was held 10 be
rebellious and reasonable to say that
legislation should be enacted looking to
the abrogation of the present system of
securing the circulation of National
banks with United States bonds. 1t is
now apparent that the question must
soon be decided as to whether we are to
perpetuate our national debt in the in.
terest of the banks, or whether congress
shall first consult the true interest of
the people by paying off the debt as
fast as is fair to the people, even though
the present national banking system
is practically done away with.
There can be no halfway ground.
The question must come, and woe be
to the man or the party which stands up
and advocates the indefinite sustenance
of bondholding class Of aristocrats.
We recently had occasion to say that
Europe was annoyed by two classes of
fools, the aristocrats at one end of the
ladder and the socialists at the other.
The only way this country can ever
find real trouble from the bottom class
is to permit the top class to become
insolent and dictatorial. In a normal
condition American society is the best
organized on the face of the earth. 1t
will be very poor craftsmanship that
gives the disturbing elements in our
midst good cause for complaint. So
long as the national debt is due from
the people to the bondholders without
any apparent effort not to pay it, so
long the people will be loyal to its
liquidation, but whenever it becomes
plain to the masses that there is an
intention to perpetuate any part of it
in order to sustain a privileged class,
then there will be tempest in the
country, ground swell such as will
dwarf any tidal wave heretofore felt
into very insignificant proportions.
Let US have none of this folly. And
above all let democrats be true to their
old Jackson doctrine of emo national
banks" if the debt must be continued
to sustain them, and the democratic
party will retain the confidence of the
people. As for circulating medi-
um" there need be no trouble while
our mines of gold and silver continue
to yield as they do now. Give us un-
limited coinage of gold and silver.
Stack up the bright yellow and white
dollars in the treasury vaults, and
issue to the business of the country
gold and silver certificates, and we
will have the soundest and the best
"clrculating medium" that any coun-
try has ever possessed. 1t will have
the argument of the hard money man
to support it, and the convenience of
paper circulation without any of the
weaknesses heretofore found attached
to paper money.
The New York Sun seems still to be
suffering from mulligrubs. 1t says:-
"The Democrats can secure the next
President only by carrying some of the
States that voted for Garfield. The
tidal wave of last fall gave them six or