Mexico weekly ledger., 1898-11-10

at a rate of more than 8 per cent with.
out compensation to the depositors, our
friends ON the other side, when search
ing for objects of taxation, overlooked
that one which above all others ought
to have been subjected to a tax.
The Democratic Proposition.
81 might enumerate others, but this
will suffice for my purpose here. for II
Is not my intention to discuss this bill
either as to what it contains or rs to
what it omits. We say to the gentlemen
on the other side of the house that we
recognize the necessity for raising
money, and we are willing to take what
they have proposed If they will join ~
in a proposition to raise 500, 600, GOO
more. Their proposition is TO lay a tax
upon the consumption OF the country
and supplement- that taxation on the
wants Of to-day by mortgaging the ener-
! giles of children yet unborn. We will
accept the proposition to tax the con-
sumers of today IL gentlemen on the
other side will accept our proposition to
make the wealth Of the country divide
with the want Of the country the bur-
dens Of this war.
"In other weeds, we will support
your tax provisions, which you assume
will raise s10& 600. 900, if. instead of
| your provision for the borrowing Of
money, you will take our income tax
provision, that will raise $le0, 600. 600
| more, and we will pass a bill that will
raise $500, 600, 900 to meet the necessi-
| ties of war. Will that be enough? The
gentleman from Maine (Mr. Dingley)
says that the wal will cost $25, 600, 600
q month. I think that a reasonably fair
estimate. If that be true, then, with
the $i19, 600, 900 which we now have
in the treasury above the 800, 900. 900
gold reserve, added to the $500. 600, 900
which we propose to raise, we will have
ample for the next year at least with.
| out borrowing a single dollar. We will
| pay the expenses Of the war as we 60.
Having declared it, we will fight it and
| pay the cost Of it in our own genera
tion.
silver S~eigniorage.
"If, however, gentlemen insist that
they must have 800, 600, 600 before the
tax can be made available, we will pro-
vide that also. We have an asset in the
treasury of more than $40, 600, 600,
which we will place at your disposal.
We will not only direct the secretary
Of the treasury to coin the seigniorage
into silver dollars, but we will author
ize him to anticipate that coinage by
issuing silver certificates to defray the
expenses as they are incurred. II that
il not sufficient-and, according to your
estimate, it will not be-we will 60
further, and we will authorize the sec-
rotary Of the treasury to provide the
balance Of the 800, 900, 900 which you
say is Immediately necessary by issu.
ing $5s, 600, 600 of United States legal
tender notes. There is no man who
doubts that this government can with
perfect safety extend its circulation
$5s. 600, 900. am as far from believ-
ing in fiatism as anybody in this house.
I have never subscribed to the doctrine
that congress can make something out
Of nothing, but / know that this gov
eminent in a time like this can easily
and safely increase its demand notes
SOS, 600, 900, and there is not a gentle
man on the other side who would be
willing to assert to the contrary.
with this $42, 900, 900 of seigniorage
and the $5s, 000, 900 of legal tender
notes we will not only meet the ex-
penses of the war, but we will relieve
the business of the country from a strain
which it must otherwise suffer on 40.
count Of the withdrawal Of gold from
circulation. 1t must be remembered
that when our ships go abroad they JAN
not carry our notes. If notes are carried
at all, they will be used merely as bank
paper and sent back for collection. Our
officers must take coin, and the drainage
from the channels of trade within the
next four months must inevitably be
above the 800, 600, 900 which we pro-
pose to supply. Our proposition, there
fore. NOT only meets the question from
the standpoint of economy. INIT il msats
il from the other and more important
standpoint of preserving the business
interests Of the country from q dearth
Of circulation.
No Necessity For eeoO,OoO,00o Debt.
"Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from
Maine I'M. Dingleyl, after stating that
this war will cost at the rate of $25,-
600, 600 a month, attempts, at the on
clusion of his speech, to defend a prop
osition to authorize a debt Of $780,
600, 600. The first proposition that came
to this house at the extra session OF CON-
gress in 1851 did not propose to create
half the debt the majority propose to.
day. The bill reported by Mr.. Stevens,
votes, asked for q loan OF only $780,
600, 900 at the beginning Of the civil
wal.
"Why do these gentlemen ask us to
pledge the credit Of this government to
an extent equal to the estimated cost of
the present war for two years? What
good reason can they offer for such a
proposition? Do they doubt that we are
ready to vote whatever is necessary and
whenever it is necessary? Does anybody
doubt that the party in poverty will not
say the party in power, because there
ought to be no party in a matter Of this
kind-does anybody doubt that those in
power, whenever they need it, can lay
a plain statement of their necessities
before this house and get whatever may
be needed? Nobody questions that.
Then why ask us to mortgage our coun-
try for 5000, 600, 900, when you tell us
that $500, 900, 600 will be sufficient to
defray the expenses Of the war for an,
entire year. It proceeds either from a
desire to provoke opposition or from a
failure to properly appreciate the deli
caoy Of dealing with a great trust fund
like the credit of this nation.
In the Peoples Interest.
81 believe that whenever the needs
Of the country require its credit to be
used it ought to be used, and I believe
it ought to be used in the form that
best serves the interest Of the people. I
am frank to say, however, that I be-
lieve the first credit to be used ought to
be a noninterest bearing credit. When
we have reached the safety limit there,
DIR. A. c. WHITE.
EXPERT