Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1895-02-28
The Bond Sale.

1oO AVG" ioTh IOSt says: Ger
tain brutal newspapers have Joined
forces with british Congress to cast
discredit on the administration be-
cause the recent sale of bonds has
yielded a profit to the syndicate in
stead of loss, as the two previous
BOND sales had done. Nothing more
discreditable to the intelligence of
the nation has ever been seen than
these appeals to personal envy and
party malignancy. Every day we
find some new evidence of the dete-
rioration and baleful influence of the
newspapers, which is prevented from
being utterly destructive to the gov
ernmeut only by the fact that they
jump from one side to the other of
all public questions so rapidly that
not even the fools can keep pace with
them. 1t would be mistake to sup
pose that they have any other mo-
tive than the sale Of a few extra cop.
| les. One sensation is as good as an
other for this purpose. Bloody muir
ders, elopements, rapes, divorces and
bond sales all come to the same thing.
The accusation is that the 500, 600
GEO bonds sold by the government
the other day have advanced sud
denly from the price that the gov
eminent received, so as to yield net
profit of several million dollars to
the syndicate. Yes. Did the gov
eminent lose anything by that? If
so, who was the loser or the gamer
by the other sales that have taken
place within year? These
amounted to 100000, 900. The
bonds were sold at III ond upward
and have declined to ia net. Was
the government a gamer by the de-
cline of its own credit to the extent
of 3 per cent. within a few short
months? Persons who are able to
put two and two together and realize
that they make four must see that
|
principal and interest is not affected
in the smallest degree by the subse-
quent movement of the market, up
or down, but that its moral advan-
tage lies altogether with the upward
movement. The reason for this is
that the upward movement implies
good credit and assures a higher
price for the next lot, if il should he
necessary to sell more. while a de.
/. cline imposes more onerous terms
hereafter. In addition to all this a
high state of public credit acts ia
vorably upon private crdit.
1t is within the recollection of all
that foreigners refused to touch either
Of the previous loans on any terms
whatsoever. Foreigners have been
brought into this one to such an ex.
tent that they have subscribed for
ten to twenty times the amount of
the loan, and the oversubscription OF
course put up the price. Every man
OF financial training and experience
knows that the syndicate's labors
have only begun. The contract un.
dertaken by these bankcrs-to restore
and protect the treasury's gold re-
serve, and for that purpose to con-
troll sterling exchange in the govern
ment's interests i'm many regards
the most extensive, complicated and
onerOus contract ever entered upon
in the history of finance. Services
infinitely less arduous than this have
in recent years been rendered by
banking houses to embarrassed rail-
ways. In at least two cases of the
kind cash commission of a million
dollars was paid by the companies,
and in one of these cases the bankers
eventually lost money heavily on
their contract. Possibly it is too
early yet to expect a rational view
of this matter, but the people will
soon find out the truth in spite of
blackguard newspapers and blather-
skite Congressman. AS to the latter
1t Is we'll to remind the public that
the chance to save SIG, 200, O0C to the
taxpayers was offered to them for
the space of ten day, and that they
threw 1t away as an angry child
breaks its toys because it is not al
lowed to have lollypop."