OCR Text |
Show Let the Government Overdraw. As tlifi days go by it grows more and more clear that we have all been mistaken during the past three years, that in looking over the nation's apparent balance sheet and s oing how much to the good our nation has seemed to be, we have taken up the idea that a vast reserve ha been put aside. A little study, however, makes it reasonably rea-sonably clear that about all that seeming balance has gone in interest paid, in fares and freights to foreign nations, to the expenditures of the hundreds hun-dreds of thousands of our countrymen who have made their annual tours abroad, and that the panic of last October, after all, did not como nearly so much through the looking up of funds by timid capitalists as through the drain of money aaross the Atlantic. This is likewise shown in an inverse way. Neither Great Britain nor Franco has seemed to be nearly so prosperous as our own country during the past half dozen years; but when the squeeze came on this side both those nations had plenty of money to loan us. Where did they get it except from us? It seems a plain case. Now a bill is in Congress and liable to be passed calling for $50,000,000 per annum for several sev-eral years to come to add ships, guns and crews to our navy. A bill is pending looking to the expenditure ex-penditure of a groat sum on the Mississippi river improver -ts. The Panama canal will require a large sum every year for probably five years to come. One hundred millions should be spent in the next four years and a half on our merchant marine. The swamp and desert lands need many millions during the next five years. All these things and more should be set in motion in the early spring. There are some millions of idle men who need the work. It is clear that several hundred hun-dred millions of dollars will be needed in the next half dozen years for the country's constructive work. But it would be wicked to raise this money by taxation; it would be more wicked still to sell bonds to procure it. What then? The first thing should be to remonetizo silver and pay for it as fast as offered in silver certificates. But assuming assum-ing that cannot be reached at present, what ob jection would there bo to provide for the issuing of $500,000,000 in new greenbacks to be redeemable redeem-able at the rate of $100,000,000 per annum after twenty-five years? That would be -saving In in terest in those twenty-five years as much as the original amount put out. That would be in bank-era' bank-era' parlance, for the Government to overdraw its accountHhat much, which would, really bo returnable return-able on call, And what would be behind those promises to jj?ay? Just as 'much asj there is behind be-hind every national bank note or Government bond the full faith and all the property of this republic. No one on earth would object except the interest-gatherers. It would be what Congress Con-gress recognizes as United States money for home use, and having tbat wo could all the easier spare the gold needed for settlement with foreign powers. And while about it the Government should on first bonds loan four or five trunk lines of road "the money to double their tracks. If this is not done, accidents will continue to increase and sometime soon there will be a collapse undei the unparalleled traffic that is being heaped upon the roads. And the final great argument" is supplied sup-plied in the multitudes of men who need employment. employ-ment. Why should wo not have as much money per capita as France? |