Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-03-22
The Public Debt.


to be jubIlant. exhilarated, hopeful ana
even liberal. as it is for them 10 De oe-
pressed, gloomy and despairing unuer .u-
versity. Both extremes are to ne g''afue"
against because appearances are ue-
ceitful." and prosperity is seldom as great
rs IT anpaars to be, or adversely alto
Oether rs bad as il seems. Iva the matter
of our public debt, Notwithstanding It's
enormous proportions just after the war,
the unprecedented recuperatiOn and
growth Of the country has scored it OFF so
rapidly. that the fears first entertained
of its permanently settling down as
m incubus upon the nation, ike
that Of England. soon changed 10 the ap-
prehensiOn that its too rapid discharge
would derange the existing adjustment Of
trade and bring about changes likely 10
place a check upon our growth and pros
perity. This apprehension divided pub
lie opinion upon the subject Of its immt-
diate discharge. and even converted some,
who feared the first as a calamity, into
advocates of the second as 4 national
blessing.
We do not propose TO discuss the finan-
cial wisdom or folly Of either, but upon
the general principle that debt, under any
circumstances. is burdensOme and wrong,
we have no possible sanction for any
theory or practice that entails it with any
shadow OF permanency upon pdsterity.
That the English ''cOnsOls'' or any other
permanent national debt is "a blessing to
the people," is an affectation to hide the
smOuldering volcano Underneath the tinan-
ciaI crust formed by accident or necessity,
and TO compel, for common safety. acqui-
escence and even confidence in seem
ingly unavoidable oppression and
wrong. II Is TO be hoped that such AN
affectation will never become necessary
in America as the only grounds of finan-
cial safety to the nation, and yet we are
beginning. in the joy and strength of our
prosperity, 10 regard the public debt
as very small affair, so easily
paid of as to raise a doubt about the
propriety of paying it all. See,
for illustration, how we can talk
with the figures: The outstanding 81
per cent. bonds of the government are now
but SIS, 600, 900, and the Treasury will call
in this small sum in few days, if for no
other reason. to relieve the bOndholders
AMI spectators in stocks, etc, who, just
now, are a little apprehensive of the finan-
eiaI outlook. We snail then have all the
wears between 1883 and 1891 TO settle a lit
tie bill of sos, 600, 600 of per cent. bonds,
into which some Of the 81 per cents. are
being converted. Following theses small
er bill of $3.50, O0O, 900 of AZ per cents. come
in between 1891 and 1907, and after
that the remainder Of the
interest bearing bonds ut per cent. foot
Ing up, it is true, the considerable sum Of
$40. 900. 900. But then the time is a good
way off and the country Is very prosper
Gus, presenting some good pickings TO
bondholders and monopolists WITHOUT OBJ
struction TO the golden stream Of interest
flowing out Of the pockets Of the producers
into those of the nOn-producers. As TO
the non-interest bearing debts,
we may say they are mere
bagatelle, amounting to several hun
dred millions in greenbacks and other OBJ
legations, but they bear no interest and
give no apprehension. The increasing
resources of the country give ample as
surance. even with the reduction of the
tariffs, that the Treasury will be able not
only TO pay OFF the interest bearing bonds
as they fall due, but meantime afford
large surplus for the gradual eXtinguish-
ment of the nOn-interest bearing debts.
This programme is reasonable from the
appearance Of things, and seems easy
enough to carry out, but it rests upon
contingency that matters will 20 on as
they do now, and that we shall not be
drawn into the social and political mel
strom now agitating and upheaying al
the civilized nations of the earth, and
whose mutterings Of discomfort are even
heard in our own. A large proportion Of
ourpublic debt will still be unpaid twenty
years hence, and that period promises to
he most memorable in the history of ciYili-
cation. Nearly, if not all, the great pow
ers Of Europe will have changed their
forms of government, and America, with
a population dOubly as large as at present,
will be gathering the harvest we are SOW
ing to-day. Whether she shall be adYanc-
ing with steadiness and dignity
to that exalted national grandeur
her purer statesmen have desired, or
whether she will appear a monster boil
ing, seething cauldrOn Of social and pOliti-
cal ..Isms,' imported from Europe or
bred in our own schools of social error,
will depend upon the principles we now
prOmulgate. Freedom from buriensOme
public debts will avert many evils and
modify others, and in our opinion that
government cannot err who, without OPP
pressing the people, eXtinguishes its pub
lie debt in the shortest possible period of
time.