The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1896-05-21

the only Ihehace 60 our experiment OF BEN gov
eminent. The prejudice OF the uniformed
makes them the prey Of professional agitators
calamity howlers and politicians who are An
hungered for Office.
Our Excellent Financial Showing.
The argument Is made that we owe no much
foreign debt that the interest Is confscatiaa
IN. The ablest hnanciers on this oontinen nj
who have made the subject a study place our
foreign debt nc 81. 100000 .0oo which as they "a.
innate at t1arate of interest amounts 20 nm
annual interest account OF so0.000.0O0 Our
globe trotters are spending annually 81. 600.
000 abroad. Most OF Thorn are ignorant Of the
beauty and grandeur Of their own country.
which far SURPRISES anything they see abroad
They ought 20 give up this foolish fad and
spsnd their millions getting acquainted with
this country for a few years II we are nctu.
ally insolvent and cannot pay we ought Ia
make general assignment for the benefit Of
all our creditors. This IL the way an honest
man does when he fails In business. He does
noe hide out his property and offer 10 cents ON
the dollar. Instead OF being insoivent we
are better able TO pay than any people ON the
face Of the earth. Our national debt A. In
round numbers sel5. 962. 000. IL has been re.
duced 60 onethird its former amount. In lses
10 was q, s4S, e0, COO The debt Of Great Britain
and Ireland 1.-THE creditor nation) IN 90 $50 no
coo; the debt of France IL 81. 4i6. O0O 900: Rus
sia. S. AL, 10000; Austria ungary, ST. 500 OOO
000: Italy, 81, va, 00O000: Germany, 81, d50OOO..
600; Spain with one fourth of our popula-
tion), si.2ol, 100000.
Tho per capita debt of France il yll0. OF
Great Britain and ireland, $S7: Italy. s7e .
Spain. GS. Russia, So. while our per capita
debt Is sl4. Uncle Sam. bless his old soul. n
the only good housekeeper In the whole lot,
Our bank deposits amount to $4,000 % OaO
while those Of all Europe only amount 10
81. 5U,OOO0OO. BY our last census our per
capita OF wealth. as shown by the assessment
rolls. was s.Il, and the people have never been
bad about assessing their property too high =
The WAR veterans cannot be for rtpu,liation
ON account of our alleged inability 10 pay. IL
IL "A fundamental principle of law antfmorals
that man must be just before he il generous
and that gifts made by an insolvent are void
rs to creditors. Our government is giving then.
about $40. OoO. w annually. II we can affor,
to be liberal. we ought To strain a point and
be honest too. II our government can give IL
like prince. it ought to pay like "a gentle
man.
Who Are the Debtors?
A large part Of the debts figured against M
are In fact not interest bearing debts They
consist Of railroad. real estate and other cor
poration debts where defaults were made. and
mortgages on the property have boen fore
closed. the property sold and the debts prac-
tically extinguished.
The only debts that the people ut large are
in are the national debt and the
state debts The state debts by the last cen.
sus, amounted TO s22s.@5,3S7. The county
debts amounted TO si45. 04s, Ol5: school district
debts, $50, s0l 94s while the debts OF cities and
towns amounted to y2i, 4S3, 06O. making a total
Of 81, 1856. PIC, 49, You will observe that about
three fourths of this total debt is owed by the
cities and towns. With this borrowed money
they have built eas. electric light and water
works plants paved their streets, etc. Now.
the ID To city man asks his country brother
who uses coal oil in his house and darkness
outside, who draws his water from well and
bathes In the creek. who splits the mud In wet
weather and kicks up the dust In dry. to help
him repudiate the debt incurred by him in
getting ahead Of the countryman as to these
comforts and conveniences Of life. As to all
bur private domestic debts, IL is immaterial
10 the government whether the redheaded
men owe the black headed ones. or the black
beaded ones owe the redheaded ones. One
holds the debt and the other holds the prop
srty il purchased, and they cancel each other.
Injustice of Scaling Debts.
The suggestion Is sometimes made that by
he enhancement of gold, debts have been in.
creased when measured in property, and
therefore they ought to be scaled. have dis
'ussed the gold enhancement theory, but de-
Dire TO add; That practically all our debts
we're contracted since the gold standard was
Idopted, and that standard entered into and
'ecame part OF every contract, and IL gold
has advanced IL would be- Just as dishonest to
Jay by any other standard as IL would be IL 10 |
lad not advanced. II man contracts for
900 bushels OF corn, Il Is no answer TO his /
ontract to say that corn has risen since the /
ontract was made. Besides, all our obliga-
ions have passed from hand TO hand, most OF /
hem many times. and the present holders had
10 more to do with the rise or fali OF gold L
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