The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1883-02-22
8rl,mpud nispatth.
THURSDAY. FEBRUARY %, 1888.
Paving tho National Debt.

speech in the United states Senate--we &C.
knowledge his courtesy in sending US a
copy OF n-oi which the burden Is that
the greatest relief which Congress could
give 10 the country would result, not from
the reduction OF the public revenues. but
from the reduction OF the public debt.
Mr.. HILL argues that the country wouid
derive more benefit from the diversion
into other channels OF money now iockeu
ND in United States bonds than II couio
derive from reducing the annual revenues
by same number OF millions OF dollars. ii
thetax-payers would be benefited by cutting
down taxes by the sum OF fifty millions %
dollars, they would be benefited TO a greater
extent, he claims, by paying Oh ui'y mn
lions Of the public debt, and thus COM
melting the owners OF the fifty millions III
money 10 invest the same in new enter
prises calculated to develop the resources
of the country and to add annually much
more TO its wealth than would be done Dy
merely reducing the revenues Oh the Gov
eminent.
There Is some truth in the views pre-
sented by Mr.. HILL. They are, however,
not new by any means. We recall having
Justified for the same reasons Mr.. BOUT
WELLS policy Of reducing the public deot
when he was Secretary Of the Treasury;
and we suppose there cannot be doubt
that by paving oil so many hundreds OF
millions OF the public debt during the last
fifteen years the Government OF the United
States has caused many investments oil
northern capital in southern mines, foun-
dries, factories. lands, railroads, &c. This
good result has been attended by counter
acting force-namely, that tendency 10
wastefunesS, extravaganza, and recklesshess
in public expenditures which an overflow
ing treasury has produced. There seems TO
be no value set upon money by our nation
al lawmakers. IL Is too abundant TO be
economical. IL is too easily obtained by
the Government 10 he deemed worthy OF
careful guarding by the Governments
servants. Look at the arrears-of-pensions
bill. 1t will cost the country, so it is cal
culated, as many hundreds OF millions oil
dollars as have been paid on the
public debt since the war closed.
Such bill would never have become a law
but for an OVERCOMING treasury. There
have been other expenditures OF the same
sort but no o;her so entirely ineXcusable.
For this arrears-of-pensions law enriches
one section OF. the country at the expense
of the other. 1t takes money collected in
the South, and pays il all to northern bene-
ficiaries. 1t causes the South to suffer as
Ireland has so long sutiered-we mean
from what is called "absenteeism," or the
spending in England OF money collected
In that country. III the landlords OF
Ireland had resided upon their lands |
for the last two hundred years, and |
spent in Ireland the rents collected /
from the Irish, that country would /
not now be "unhappy Ireland" The |
same evil results must follow to the south !
ern section of this Union if the money col |
Iected here is to he paid out only in the
North. Our share OF the Governments
burthens would be comparatively light u
the money collected here were pad out
here.
For these reasons we are inclined TO Diff /
fer with Mr.. HILL as TO what policy the 4
Government ought to pursue as regards /
the public debt. 1t surely were unwise to
pursue a course which leads to such re-
suits as those TO which we have adverted. /
Let us try retrenehment, reform, large
reduction OF the tariff charges, and the |
entire abolition OF the acknowledgements |
Bureau.
Let us say, by the way, that Mr.. HILL |
exposed the pretensions OF the New York |
financiers by showing that in 1879 they
held-and induced Mr.. SHERMAN, then Sec
rotary of the Treasury, TO predict,-that
the rate of interest upon money would /
probably advance from that time forward.
Under this belief. thus fostered by the SELF
conceited fnanciers OF Gotham. who inn
agiuc that residence in a large city imparts
wisdom to the fortunate residents, Mr..
SHERMAN declared that unless the Govern
ment then refunded its debt in four per
cent. bonds, it would probably have TO pay
five or six. From that day TO this the rate
OF interest has been falling.