The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-02-02
HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF.
Instructive Facts Cleaned from Former
Democratic Encouragement

Instructive Facts Cleaned from Former
Democratic Mfsrnans cement
The spectacle of secretary of the
| treasury beseeching congress for au-
I thority 70 sell bonds an time of peace.
because of deficit in the revenues, is
an unusual, but not an entirely IN
precedented one. 1t has been wit
messed once before in our history; and
then. as now. the democratic party had
control of the government That was
in 1s60-6l, when Buchanan was presi-
dent, and a tariff for revenue only had
been in operation for several years.
The treasury was practically bank-
rupt. and general business and indus
trial depression prevailed ALI the re-
ceipts frcm every source had been alb
sorbed. the public debt had been large
" increased. and unpaid creditors were
clamoring for their money. The
speakers warrants for the pay of mem
bers of congress were presented and
refused-protested, in other words
for want of funds. To meet the emer-
gency, the government advertised
s.. 900, 900 of bonds for sale. Less than
half of the amount was bid for, and
the bids that were made ranged from
10 to 80 per cent A few capitalists in
New York finally made pool bid for
81, 500. 900 at II per cent, on the ex-
press condition that the sum should
be used to pay the interest on the public
debt, thus preventing an etherwise in
evitable default; and. under this en-
enlargement. others came forward and
took the rest of the s., 0O0, 900 at the
same rate
That proceeding was simply bor-
rowing of money 20 pay the running
expenses of the government; and the
proposition to sell bonds at the present
time has precisely the same meaning
1t is well to keep this fact IN mind for
future reflection The government has
been mourning a monthly indebted
ness of from 5000, 900 To $1,000, 900
ever since the beginning of the current
fiscal year, on account of insufficient
receipts TO meet the expenditures; and
the only way to pay that Indebtedness
is to issue bonds and sell them for
what they will bring. Fortunately
the public credit was made SO good
while the republicans were in power
that money can now be borrowed at a
much lower rate of interest than that
which had TO be paid in Buchanan's
time; but after few years of expert
ence with the kind of a tariff that the
democrats are about to establish, the
situation will be no better than it was
when II per cent was exacted, and it
was almost impossible to sell bonds at
any price. The Wilson bill is virtually
a duplication of the law under which
the treasury was bankrupted before
the war, and all kinds CT industries
were paralyzed We cannot reason
ably expect any better results from a
second trial Of the experiment than
those which followed the first one, and
there is no telling what will become of
the public credit by the time the demo-
Gratis are turned out The selling of
bonds in the existing emergency is an
unavoidable necessity, and so the re-
publicans will reluctantly consent to
it; but the significant and instructive
fact remains that such necessities arise
only under he conditions of democrat
ic rule.-St. Louis Globe-Democrat-