Durango semi-weekly herald., 1904-04-21
A COUNTRY OF BouNpLEss RE-
SOURCES

On or about April %, 1904, the trans
fer of the Panama canal company's
property to the United States Is book
ed 10 take place in Paris. On or about
May Is the United States is to pay
the company for the property and to
pay the Panama republic for the priv.
ilege of being allowed to construct
the canal across the isthmus. In the
neighborhood of $50. 100000 is to be
handed over to these two corporations.
Immense sums viii have to be provid-
ed Immediately afterward for the pre-
llmnary work of constructiong the
canal. And yet the financial end of
the matter has not attracted the at
tention of congress except In a casual
way. Nor has the country shown any
particular concern in 1t. No effort has
been made by congress to provide new
sources of taxation on account OF the
$50 10000 or s60.000.00O which will
have 10 be paid out by The govern
ment In the next l2 months on canal
account. Nor does the 5000 600 900 or
more which will have 10 he furnished
In the next few years for the canal
arouse the faintest amount of uneasi-
ness as to where the money is to
come from.
In the early part OF the civil war
after congress In the called session
passed acts to enlist 100000 volunteers
for three years, to create navy and
to borrow $25O,O00. 900, the London
Times indulged in a raphsody some
thing like this: What resources,
what vitality, what energy there must
be in nation that is able to ruin it.
self on a scale so transcendent and
magnificent" That journal and 9th
er papers on the other side of the At
lantic had opportunities many times
In the ensuing three and a half years
to express amazement at what they
probably called the calamitous vigor
.and ACTIVITY of. the great repubic. In
the early part of 1862 the United
States took new departure in finance
by It's forced loan of the legal tender
notes, or greenbacks which soon AT
tanned volume of $3.50. 900 900 Al
one time in the war in July, 1864, IL
would have taken s2.S5 in greenbacks
to equal 81 in gold in exchange The
prices of all commodities, for the peo-
pie as well as for the armies. were
advanced proportionately TO the de
cline in the currency's value as repre-
sented in the worlds medium of ex
change. gold. In the latter part of the
war the cost of the government was
about s3.000,000 day. The national
debt at the time that Lees and John
sons veterans laid down their arms
was about $4,000, 900 900. Nobody on
the other side of the Atlantic. and not
many on this side, supposed that these
big debt burdens would he removed in
the lifetime of anybody then living,
or over
little OF the same sort of surprise
Is likely to be manifested by many
persons in Europe at the United
States unconcern at the beginning of
It's expenditure of hundreds of millions
OF dollars for the isthmian canal.
which is to be open to all the nations
on equal terms with this country. The
immense volume of the greenbacks
were brought up to the gold line on
January /, 1879 The governments
interest-bearing debt on t1is 10th day
Of April. 1904. is down To 1896. .0GO 900,
Notwithstanding the fact that 1t has
engaged in TWO wars of considerable
consequence, one in Cuba and the 9TH
er in the Philippines. In the past few
years. which sent the treasury's inter
est-bearing obligations upward. The
per capita debt of the United States
is only S1l.5l, which is far smaller
nf ha,
The United Kingdoms is $g2 50
SPANS is s1lO.72 and frances is
$l50S2. while that of the other i'm.
portani countries of Europe is smaller
than England's but very much larger
than that of the United States. As
compared with wealth this countrys
debt burden would he still lighter rel.
atively to that of the rest OF the couu.
tries. The wealth of the United
States today is considerably over
$lOo 900 100000. or almost twice as
great as that of the United Kingdom
which stands next on the roll, and as
greai as that of the United Kingdom
and Russia and Austria put together.
In coal. iron and steel production, as
well as In the aggregate of It's manu-.
factures,. the United States is far
ahead of any other nation. and its lead
Is constantly lengthening. Here are
some of the reasons why the country
shows no particular concern about that
$5O,oO0.O00 payment which is to be
made few weeks hence on account of
the Panama canal. and why the pros.
peci of gold expectation which that
transaction will incite is not making
the fainiest disturbance ON the money
or the stock market. The man who
wrote. the United States obituary. al.
ready referred to, in the London Times
In the summer of 1861. would need to
write an appendix to It to bring the
situation down TO date-Globo-Demo
crat.
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