Henderson daily dispatch., 1943-08-13
Staggering Figures

| Calculations by StauS'lcIanS oi the
North Carolina Citizens Association
on the national debt. estimated a,
three hundred billion dollars by the
end of another fiscal year. are stag
gering in the extreme. Figures given
out by this body ought To make
even the most ca!lou> citizen do
some sober thinking about the di-
rec,ion in which We are travelling.
| and 10 ponder wha, the end ulti-
mately will be.
The average man may toss the
idea aside in frivolous manner, as
though il were something for OF
iicialdom. and o;iiclaldom alone, To
worry about. But. unfortunately. Of
!iciais are giving no more though,
10 the situation and the conSe-
quences than is the ordinary citizen.
and sometimes il seems not nearly
50 much Either way. p!;liully little
thinking j. being donr OF concern
ielt.
There Is too much oil an attitude
50 long aS money flows freely and
every one has plenty of il there i
nothing To worry about. But. alas,
that is the attitude that inevitably
leads to financial ruin for Il nation
rs we'll as Tor an individual. Sound
ness is soundnrS< IN public the same
a. in private affairs.
America Is riding tor fall eco
nomiCally just aS certain as nigh,
follows day, unless there is a halt
somewhere. and for the good Of all
il cannot be too long delayed.
The SiatiSticlanS figure II down,
on population basis, that North
Cardinals share OF the three hun
dred billion dollar debt is something
more than eight billion dollars.
Bringing il still closer home. the
same calculations all0t Vance coun-
tvs share as slightly more than fifty
lllllilNil hOlli4 - cNSl slltA siDONS
ont property valuations, which would
make total OF approximately sew
enty million dollars. Figured indie
pendently and entirely aside from 4
national debt, what would or could
Vance county DO about a debt of
seventy million dollars? Even al an
interest rate OF TO more than two
percent, Sl.i00,0O0 a year would
have 10 be raised by taxation to
meet that obligation alone. no, TO
mention retirement OF the principal.
Lay that down alongside the tax rate
last year OF eighty cents. yielding
Sl66. GOO. and figure FOR Yourself how
much the figure would have 10 be
liked 10 meet the interest on such
debt. J." round Figures. Il would
amount 70 eight times the Old levy
OF eighty cents, OF $3.50, Tor debt
alone. and including operating costs
rs at present would be nine times
the eighty. or S7.20 ON the 500
valuation. Go Il little further in
your figuring. and estimate how much
insolvency would result from such a
TAX.
This is not vain imaginations: il
IS actuality on the basis of a national
debt OF three hundred billion dol
lars. if il were pruratcd down to
counties and TO the individual. The
Federal government. OF course. will
shoulder the obligation. as it must
but who is the Federal government?
No enc else but the 100 million
persons who make up the country.
Sane. sober figuring OF this sort is
in order. 1t may take even more
than that TO bring the country TO
its senses. But come il must. We
are sowing to the wind and newt
ably one day will reap The whirl-
wind This is serious business and
cannot be nonchalantly brushed
aside. Some day the people will be
forced to take matters in their own
! hands, financially, if constituted au-
, thoritieS refuse to do so.