National Republican., 1888-03-11
Buying Bonds.

prctuudcr> and the yIciuu,uc.~ ola small
number of blackguurds.
Buying Bonds.
The Secretary Of the Treasury might
take q lesson from the English Chancellor
ut the ENchcqucr The English debt Is
now of three clu,>r, of "consul>," which
Is the common term for "Cousulilatud
bonds THESE classes are r3l3Wu,UUU.
rlut +, about SlGl5Wn.UDO. Of regular con.
sui, irrcdrumahlr and hearing per cent.
interest: clmmOwO ur S>WVOWo ul
'urw thrccs' and cGDWwWOur SHl.ODU,-
ono of reduced thrrc."
Mir Gu,rhcu. the Chancellor of the
ENrhruucr" in our nomenclature "thr
secretary uf the Treasury has lust AN
uuuurcd hi, intention to reduce the inter
est on these cousol, and put the whole
sum into one new debit
the present ratcof interest u.s. percent.
hrrurirc drh, being cii~,WD,uDp. the in.
turr.i payable ,cmi-mnuully, would Ice
.lG5u"D. ur nearly S~lwOwr MIR.
Gu,rhrn proposes tu reduce the interest
on all this debit to- p per cent and anal
yuwuv the uuIiro debt az that rate ul In.
l,rc>l
The ollrr j, made tu the holder, of con.
sol, aud reduced three, or rlUu -, for
each loo bond, provided the exchange is
made hy the l2th of April Thi, {, q
premium of ! of per cent. tu the holders
for immediate action
There is no clause in the law, under
which rou,ol, have been ISSUED author.
Hing the government to refund the debt
in certain contingencies at a lower rate oN
interest, such H. there j, in the law uf Mar
j., 1853, rc.cnactcd in section 3GrI Of Tia,
Revised Statutes that authorizes uurScrrc
tary ot the Treasury to refund the debt u
the United States.
The English chancellor relic, upon wei
accepted principle, of general law. thai
the debtor has the right tu secure lowe
rate of interest whenever his improve,
credit enables him tD de- So lie says Eng
land can borrow money at 2 per cent
and pay oil her bonds that bear pei
cent. lie offers the present creditors th,
first choice of the new bonds
The Secretary of the Treasury. hr
sides the general law, has statutory
right To- do this. which hriuv par
of the law of the land when the bond,
were issued became part of the contract
The law reads q" But none of the Interest
bearing obligations not already due shall
be redeemed or paid before maturity, un
less at such times United State, note, ar,
convertible into coin at the option of III,
holder or unless at such time bond, of ia,
| United states bearing Il lower rate of in
tcrrst than the bonds To be- redeemed cm
be sold at par in coin"
| That law either give, the Secretary tn,
| power to redeem at par every bond nov
. "Ntant, except the Pacific railroad bonds
or it means nothing Laws are alway,
construed to mean something. The ccunliu
gcncic, provided for when bonds could b,
redeemed have both happened. Unite,
states notes are convertible into coin a
the option of the holder" and Unite,
States bonds can be- sold at lower rate %
/ interest than any now out.
Hundreds of millions of dollars are now
/ hoardcd in the treasury 10 the great dam
age of the commercial interests of til,
country, and the President, instead o
obcying this law, appeals to Congress tc
authorize him To purchase bonds at 4
| premium for that is what the Mills bill
means, though it does not say so.
\ Democratic House has given him thi,
authority, and it remains to be seer
whether Republican Senate will do 50 or
not. The law plainly authorizes the i'm.
mediate payment and rcfunding of the
bonds. II the Senate propose to pass this
/ House hill and make it law. let it he hon.
est with the people, and amend the bill :,
that it will clearly authorize the secretary
to buy the bonds at market rates" which
will be At any premium the bondholdcr,
syndicate may fix.
Before voting upon this measure We ASK
every senator Of the United States to read
thcabIoa and exhaustive speech ON this sub
jcct hy the Hon. Ralph Plumb, of Illinois