National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-06-15

4a. Lgyt..
lsPSel.l ulspu'Gn 70 'nu Oiuc,l'""'I Enlt''o.l
COLUMBUS, OHIO, June L. IneS OK
Senator Joseph Il. McDunald, OF Indian
apolis, at the Neil House last evening. He
was over here on the Bell telephone case.
v.,,y - - -. ~ ~. A.. M.
knowing tnat nc VooN an acuVo par. III .ne
Thurman funding act, relating to tue PaA
ciic roads, while a member OF the United
Stotea Sonata. I asked him tn give me his
views mon tho handing hill. framed by
congressman Outhwoite. extending and
0xins, Tho time fnr tho navment of the Pa
ci1c railroad bonds.
Senator MnDonald entered into some
vcry interostInty details. bepinnine with the
ORIGINAL Thurman act and coming down to
the present These details in full are too
lengthy for publication, ana / shall COM
TENT myself by irving some of the main
points.
~ was A member OF the Judiciary COM
mittee OF the Senate said Mr. Mcdonald.
Uwhen The Thurman funding not was
framed. and helf,ed TO forInulhfe Il. n was
NOT what ia author honed or intended
owing 10 nowerfnl. and adverse Influences
which then obtained In the Senate. IL was
very Important' howeyer. in the fact that h
clearly established the right and the power
OF The government To control and reailate
The Pacific railroods The fundIno mart of
the law has been a practical failure. for
reasons now obvious, but which could not
then be foreseen. Under its terms the
sini,,' ,d SCI ~ innosto 4,
ment ilves. and by commemorative the accnu
Mated ,rt,e r 4 was bsiieve3 tsat tbsre
would he enough N the fund when Inc
bonds fell dine In 1905. 10 nav Oft n very
large nronortIon m thern Bnf that 'calci;.
latIou proved to be erroneous.
uUoiv errnneons ~
uWhen The government flyes were taken
of the market and a large portion of the
national debt refunded, the prernium on
.
fund inyestments acciimulated no Interest
for wears. AS, for Instance, when the
nrani,im on oovernrneht fves rose 10 19l.
II the sinking FINDS were Invested IN them,
IL would require the interest for six years
to paw the premium, and there would be no
accretion to the fund from interest, 10 be
converted into principal or Investment and
again draw interest, as originally antici-
pated, and thus the sinking fund failed to
develop into the redeeniihg factor antici-
pated. No one could foresee this, and no
one is to blame that the governments credit
sinking funds II is a singular distinction
which few, II any, nations enjoy.u
"With this failure OF the sinking fund
part of the. original scheme, what then was
necessarily
"something must be done to meet the
case of the maturing bonds, which come due
in 1s9S-that is to say, they were payable
thirty years from the date OF their issue,
and they come due In '97, 1913, and '99, the
mean time being in 1913. Unless something
is done the government will have to take
possession OF the road upon Its second lien
and pay OF the S56, 1000 first lien"
SIN what sense is the present bill a sew
enty years. extensionr"
"ln no sense: None OF the bonds are
due until 1897. Under the pending bill the
last payment is to be made ffty-eight years
from the date 81 the maturing OF the pres
ent bonds. But In inc meantime payments
are to commence at once and there will , be
,swenty,iour semi.annual instal am PAID
INTO the treasury before the irst bond now
existing TAILS due Instead Oh an extension
In the usual sense OF the term, IL anticipates
aportion OF the DEBT ana CONTINUES another
parG OF IL over longer perlod'
,,o hn1 g, you examined into tne merits OF
inc PHI ~
nave, ana aln lavorapiy impressed WIFI
IT'S WISDOM ana practlca9lity.n
VIII you kindly explain inc real OBJECT
VI VIC pdil
~ Is ttls ~ Is propossetn , 10 ascet-
tne g9vernmeht, priheiPai anu in i',, anu
Sonsoiiuate tneH pegInning WIN ocC. /,
1850, upon thls tne roans are 10 pay into
tne treasury per cent. ihteiest anu por-
uon OF tne prlnclpal, pegihning from tn INA,
aatel SO that .ne wnoie OF the princlpai VIII
be dlseharged IN l1Vsem nn payments
In round numDers inc ponas OIL that roau
amount 70 81 wv wv: Inc government -, mas
paid TO date Sg5,oyo,OOo OF interest. Inc
Central Paciilc Is, therefore, indebted 10 inc
government IN tne ROUND sum Oh SoO,oV9,
900. The Indebtedness OF the Union Ia
chic is, In round numbers, SoS,OOO,VOQ;
NOV, referring 10 the 0en .s I raeihe
again 1or liiustratlonl uhuer the proyls
ions Of the bill 1t would be required to pay
over to the government the first year 8 per
cent, interest, equal to 81 ,5OO'OO0, and one
SEVENTEEN OF the principal, equal TO S1l4,'
2e5. AS the principal would decrease Will
each semi.annual payment, the amount Of