Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1884-11-28
A GENElNE RLESSIXil

'S '"S EdHV u!O'ltu Or TWO W
have been urged to advocate tn
funding of the floating indebtedness
OF Alturas county. 1t is held bv tn
advocates Of the measure that, if thi
were done, the debt could be paid OF
in bonds bearing six per cent. inter
est, and that, the warrants bearing II
per cent. interest, some $1,000 o
5000 per annum gould thereby b,
saved, and tal~ county expenses 70
duced to that extent.
"A: first sight, this proposition seem,
very plausible and business like. Bu,
we feel sure that those who advance
1t have not studied the question in all
fts bearings, There are about 1926.
wv worth OF warrants issued that are
pnredcemed. To handle this an cunt
OF warrants, at least double the sum
must be kept in the county. That is,
the warrant buyers must keep on
hand sum equal to double their face
value. Were the warrants redeemed.
that amount would at once be with.
drawn from local circulation, to be in
vested elsewhere. The floating capi-
tai ut the command of the business
men OF thls county would therefore
10 Teauced by II quarter. million dol
lars, The coasequepce of such step
can be readily foreseen by any bust
ness man, since. even with it; we cau-
not get haif-cnough money for our
Legitimate wants, and on the best of
.collaterals.
1t is serious mistake to suppose
that Il moderate public debt is any.
thing but Il blessing. Aud bold AS
pms avermcnt is, we need only refer
70 ihe experience of the past few years
to conyi"ce the majority of our read.
ers OF its soqndnfss. Ten years ago
the tnlted States debt was much
greater han it is now. No two hun,
dred or four hundred millions were
locked up in the United States Treas.
,ury, money was easily had for all busi |
hess purposes, wages were high, and
the whole United States rrospcred |
Since the rapid reduction of the deot.
and the decrease of the rate of inter.
es: OF what remains, business has
stagnated, wages have decreased, the
bank vaI Its have been gorged with
IDLE capital, and she whole country
feels the pressure Of hard times. IL
good laies Of inteses, were obtanabl.,
does any one suppose that money
would not circulate H;ove freely. and
thus conduce to the general prosper
lty: If, therefore, so much Of the
puolc debt had ,-ol beer paid, and
The money obtained by that means (di.
rcctIy or Indirectly had remained in
circulation, it would he better for all
What is true in national affairs, is
true IN local affairs. If we get rid of
our floating Indebtedness during the
existing stringency in financial mat.
ters the result will be highly disas-
;rous.
There Is no cause for alarm in the
present condition of our county
inances. The county's income ex.
leeds the expenditures by .paut
$4,000. During the next two wears
'sa expenses will not be as heavy as =
luring tine past two by Al5,OOO per
ear, while the taxable property will
undoubtedly increase. There will >
therefore, be an annual surplus of at
east 5000 10 $4,000 that will be
pplied to the redemption of the war
.nts; ard in this way the debt will
e paid off without its being felt. :
We are therefore opposed to the
nn1ing Of the county indebtedness.
nd are Of the opinion that fully four
fths of tue rrol erty owners of Al
lras cqaaaty will agree with US. e