The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1895-07-05
National Debt-What Is 1t?

mortgage to few persons who assume to
loan the government money to enable it
to transact its business. This proceeding
is sham. 1t is the people going through
the ceremony of borrowing their own
money from themselves for the luxury of
paying interest to an idle class. The
money of a country belongs to the people
of that country. To-day it is ours. To-
morrow it is yours and its legitimate use
is to transfer the value of property from
person to person. The government col
1ects money to defray public expense, by
taxing the people. If there are not taxes
collected sufficient to meet some extraor-
binary emergency, in place of going
through the blank, stupid policy of Dor
rowing from manipulators of money as an
individual must do, the supreme power
which represents all the people should
create more money and issue it among
the people by paying its bills or "appro-
priations" in place of issuing bonds in
order to have the temporary use of a part
of the currency already in circulation.
When a condition arises in the affairs of
nation and there is not money enough
in circulation to supply the demand, as in
the case of the breaking out of the late
rebellion in this country, the government
should make use of its supreme power to
supply the extra demand by issuing suf-
/ Ea;a,t &c 1aro1 'T1,ie
government was compelled to do as
almost every government is in times of
extraordinary emergency.
If more money is issued to meet the
demand of such extraordinary occasion
than is necessary to conduct business
when normal conditions return, the gov
ernment could readily tax the surplus out
of existence and destroy it. In place of
pursuing this common sense method, the
holders of the surplus money have inter
est-bearing bonds issued to them in ex-
change for the money, which is then
destroyed and sudden fall in prices
bankrupts thousan ds.
An extra levy sufficient to create fund
over and above the ordinary demands for
public use under normal conditions, equal
to the annual tax required to pay the
interest on the bonded debt, would draw,
i'll few years from circulation, the over
issue of money which the extraordinary
occasion demanded. The bonds repre-
senting public debts are paid by sinking
fund, which is an annual tax in addition
to current expenses, that is laid by, a
surplus fund to liquidate the bonds when
they mature.
During the war of the slave holders
rebellion there was but comparatively
small bonded debt created outside ofwhat
was used as circulating money, land there
need not have been any. But after the
war had ended and there was no longer
occasion for the government paying out
more money than it could collect as taxes,
Hugh McCulloch, Secretary of the Treas
ury, and Wall street banker gold bug,
commenced system of manufacturing
public debt in a kind of wholesale man.
ner, by destroying the money the people
had used to conduct their business during
the war. The money was collected by
banks and other shylocks and sent to the
national Treasury, long term bonds of
large denominations, bearing high rate
of interest were issued to the handers-in
of the money and the money destroyed.
| This &c no ,,otiAno1 Inht
was created. In very short period after
the close of the war twelve hundred mil
lions of money was in this way destroyed,
and public debt drawing interest was
created which caused an annual tax to be
put upon the necks of the people, that
has compelled them to pay, in interest
alone, since this debt was created, over
two thousand millions of dollars to these
shylocks, who engineered through, Hugh
Mccullough, this gigantic fraud of pub
lie debt, after all need, or rather Plea for
a need, had disappeared.
Had there been a redundancy of money
too much nioney-in circulation, more
than the business of the country demand
ed, the tax which was collected to pay
interest on the bonded debt would soon
have destroyed the surplus currency. For
instance, 81, 200, 600, 900 at per cent is an
annual interest of So, 100000. BY col
lecting this seventy-two millions annually
in excess of the running expenses Of the
government and destroying it, the cur
rency would have been reduced yearly
that amount, and in gradual manner,
which would have allowed business to
adjust itself to the fall in prices. which
must always take place when the amount
of money in circulation is decreased BY
collecting in excess of current expenses
seventy-two millions and destroying that
amount of the redundant circulation, in
little over sixteen years the twelve hun
dred million which was funded, traded by
shylock for Understanding bonds and
destroyed at once, would have been grad.
ually wiped out. Half the interest which
has been paid on the national debt would
have reduced the surplus circulating
medium, and brought the country down
to coin basis.
For the purpose of logically illustrating
the folly and dishonest, over-reaching
policy of public.debt, We have supposed
that it was necessity to destroy the