The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-10-05
Financial Hocus Pocus ana Our For
eiEn Debt,

Financial Hocus Pocus and Our For
eign Debt.
| Atlanta Constitution.
Mr.. A. B. Stckney, president of the
Chicago Great Western railway, gives
some interesting facts and makes what the
| Daily Financial News of New York calls
rather startling statements" concerning
| our past financial history. These state
| ments occur in an article written by Mr..
] Stickney entitled Programme of National
| Finance"
Since 1860 the people of this country
have sold to foreigners more than a bill
lion and half dollars worth Of mefch an
disc than we have bought from them. New
ertheless, we owe to these foreigners the
enormous amount Of three or four billion
dollars. To put the matter differently, we
| have given foreigners the title to prosper
| ity which. including the debt we owe
| abroad, is equal to the value OF five thou
sand million of dollars. For this vast sum
we have nothing to show, no equivalent OF
any kind whatsoever.
Mr.. Stickney states fact which the
constitution has repeatedly referred to. to-
wit, that the notion that the government
received gold for its war bonds is entirely
erroneous. The bonds sold abroad, as well
! as those sold at home, were paid for in
| greenbacks. During the war we sold
abroad $1,000. 100000 Of bonds-half m.
| lssue-at about 40 or is per cent of their
! par value, measured In gold 1t has been
supposed. even by those who had the
rtney k1x@t~ s..f-
We received s6Oo,0OO,OOo In gold for these
ponds between 1862 and 1866. But the
hgures show that during the FIVE years
ending IN 1867, we exported $2S2 532, $40
more gold than We received. What we
CID receive for the bonds net was s54. 00O.-
ooo OF imported merchandise matter OF
per cent on the par value of the bonds.
statistics show that between June 30.
iSGo, and June 80, 1859, we shipped abroad
1aio'oooooo more gold than we received.
between the same dates, we sent abroad
merchandise, silver (gold valued gold and
Stocks and bonds to the amount of $50
.as'oou,ooc In excess Of our receipts For
.nis vast amount, We have no equivalent
OF any kind whatsoever
The coupons OF the bonds sold IN Eng.
land called for per cent interest at mar
equal to 10 per cent on the gold cost of tho
ponus, Az cents. Consequently this 1h
per cent In coupons redeemed England's
oept to this country in six years. In other
words, England bought 81, 500, 600 900 Of our
bonds. paid for them with the coupons at
sached thereto, getting possession of the
ponus and the interest on them thereafter
lor nothing. Moreover before the six
years expired, our government began 10
pay on the English holders OF these bonds.
not at f0 cents on the dollar (which had
peen paid for then) but at premium OF
zV-odd per cent above the par OF gold-at a
premium OF more than half the original
purchase money.
rms sort OF hocus- pocus is called finan-
ciering In some circles, and those VINO
object to 1t or criticise 1t are Denounced
us ignoramuses or anarchists.
TO the figures given, Mr.. Stickney adds
the statement that the annual income of
S9o,oo0O00 obtained from us by the foreign
holders Of these bonds has enabled them
TO get so many more Of thu other securities
at geometric rate OF increase, coupled
with compounded interest, that we now
nave 10 send abroad an annual tribute OF
SS1O,o0o,00o in cash, equal to the value Of
our whole wheat crop. And all this with
out discharging the principal
what Is most surprising Is that Mr.
Stickney does not perceive that the main
source OF the trouble Is the fact that we
debtor nation. have decided that gold
IL the ony available capital and as this
gold is all held by our creditors and their
financial agents, we must continue to go
deeper and deeper In debt Each wave Of
prosperity under the gold standard means
new load Of debt Can Mr. Stickney in
FORM us where the end is to be?
(Vinn N,v, rSv,~x