The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-02-13
sPFE0TlF SENATORS LEINS.


Year, largely q political question. avid
ihg the great politicaf parties more
sharply than almost any other pubic
question. fhe refunding Of the PUBIC
debt ahpnla be made the subject q 2
e hui, 10 be cnnsid erad ana pass
"a when our bonds mature ana mone'
taFy conditions may be ennrelE alqFE1
enE
The blll undertakes too much. 4tnol
only deiines and establishes the ltnlqret
tafy stapdord. but aelg out Q scneme 70
fund the public debt three years before
cay OF our hqndR mature; and ~ order
10 axe thiS scheme a SUCCESS, u pro-
Vidts thai the national banks shall be
the most Important factors IN its e1ecu-
ton
IN my Judgment the public DEBT snou!p
be funded without any reference what
rVef 10 the national banks. Let 4he
scheme o. funding stand on 1te own
merits and by itSelf Let the govern
mont 70 forward when The time comes
and borrow money for fundlng pur-
POSES at Is low rate OF interest az ~
can. making such q rate ~ VIII insure
the b0hda being maintained at par,
without depending on national banks Or
any otitaidts agency and without giving
GT6rhds for the Impression that pub
ne debt 10 to be encouraged 9nd foy-
Tered N order 70 provide O safe CUR
rency.
IL Pressing Need for Revision.
hut there are other reasons why Il Np+
pears unwise TO me at this time % leg
islate definitely on the subject Of re-
funding the public debt. There IS no
pFesslng need for doing so, and Il seems
10 me Ne should not reach conclusions
apd leelaIate from the standpoint pt
vision or the highest wave Of prosperity
fhe Country mas ever had. The condl-
lions which surround US In the imam
clai and commercial world are esotra-
0rdinary, and are calculated to make US
optimistic II u this most favorable
condition Of AFFAIRS, think. which has
induced the committee ana It's diStln-
enished chaiTnan-l usually 80 cpnserya-
dive, and whose Judgment IL 80 clear on
questions Of fnance-tO take the nope
ful Views expressed in MS speech on the
bill Present favorable conditions VIII
not always exist; they Will be followed
naturally BY q reaction that VIII bring
new experiences. and these will enable
us, with present experiences. 10 judge
better than now what may be done IN
the matter OF funding the public debt
when our bonds mature, BY the time
our first bonds mature monetary condi-
lions may be entirel% different. The
question OF refunding can be delayed
without hurt. Rnd,pcssibly with benefit
to the public interest
Mr.. PresldeRt.I admit that Il may be
possible under present conditions, with
the Inducements offered In the bill, to-
fund perhaps the larger portion of the
$50. 100000 Of our per cent, per cent
and per rent bonds maturing In 1900,
1907, and 1905 But 1t Is not the question
Of the ability Of the government, nov or
hereafter, TO fund all OR q larger part OF
these bonds on q per cent basis. The
underlying question and the important
one that must By carefully considered
IL. can the United States maintain the
2 per cent bonds at par during the life
Of the bonds? OF course, when money
Is needed. as now. for active business, a
great many national banks Will buy
these 2 per cent bonds and increase
their note circulation. But when times
become hard, business stagnant, and
there 10 no demand for money, to my
mind Il seems the banks would largely
surrender their bond holdings by SELL
ing them on the market This would
not only cause them to fall below par,
but would bring about contraction Of
the circulation which should at all
times be avoided II possible.
Reduction Of Interest Charges.
'The chairman of the committee, by
way OF argument in favor Of funding on
2 per cent basis, shows that on $s4s.-
sS9,52O Of bonds that viii mature in
1905 1907. and 1908, there would be an
annual saving Of Si5.9 73, Ss2 so; in other
words. that interest would be reduced
from $50, 100000 Gin round nunbers) to
- m al
or plan which saves interest on the
public debt ls both attractive and desir-
able; but the fact that we may now
FUND large portion or all Of our bonds
at par Is not conclusive that we can
maintain them at par
"But apart from this feature OF the
case the chairman OF the committee
argues that the funding scheme must be
SUCCESS, because the inducements Of
fered national banks IN the bill are so
great that II will be to their Interest TO
take the per cent bonds ut par. Would
Il not be better and in the public inter-
est to make the rate OF Interest higher
and offer no Inducements to the nation
al banks? II may turn out that the In
ducements and advantages offered the
banks may cost the government more
than the saving In interest that will re.
suit from funding the debt ut per
cent.
"a good showing In the saving Of the
annual interest could be made By fund.-
ing the public debt on a basis OF even
~ or > per cent interest. II there Is
Well-fOundei opinion that the debt can
be funded Mt per cent and maintained
AT par, II would be reasonable TO sup
pose that placing the rate az 2iA per
cent would make the funding and keep
ing the bends at par certain. On the
basis Of 2Ik per cent, the annual saving
in Interest would be 3i1 ,G55. 900, the diff
ference between funding on basis OF
per cent and 25S per cent being about
S4,OOO.0O0 per nnnnUl.
ut seems to me safer course would
be to allow a margin OF discretion to
the secretary Of the treasury IN the
matter of TefundinE the public debt
when the time comes; for instance. give
him authorityto refund at rate not eX-
ceedfng, say, per cent per nnnum.
why should lower rate OF interest
than was ever attempted by any gov
eminent be definitely written down in
our iaw2 Would II not be Bafer to name
a higher rate Of interest with margin
OF discretion when there Is Well
grounded apprehension that . per cent
Is too low? Two per cent is a lower
rate OF Interest than Is paid to-day. or
over was paid by any Of the great ma
tons. Take the figures cited In the
very able speech Of the chairman OF thu
finance committee.
Experience Of other Nations.
"He says that only four times in the
century from 1888 to 1889 did British 3
per cent consos reach par, and even
now her securities yield only 2h per.
cent interest; while the per cent gold
i...a.. ~ A..atrln n re- anlllnn Z nor cont