While the prolongation of time enlarges the option of the nation, it increases the value of the bond in the market.
Charles Sumner
The Public Record
Charles Sumner was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1851 until his death in 1874. Before and during the American Civil War, he was a leading American advocate for the abolition of slavery, and after the war he was a key figure in the Reconstruction era, during which he and other Radical Republicans successfully fought to end slavery and ensure basic rights for Black Americans. He continued advocating for racial equality until his death, lobbying in his final days for a civil rights bill that served as a model for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Historians credit Sumner with coining the phrase "equality before the law," which he first used as part of an early attempt to integrate Boston's public school system.
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That which is most favorable to the nation is most favorable to the market value of the bond; and that which is unfavorable to the nation is unfavorable also to the market value of the bond, rendering its negotiation and sale more…
It means a debt never to be paid, or at least it is an inscribed debt carrying no promise of payment.
I would not only avoid the idea that our debt is permanent, but I would adhere to the form of positive payment at some fixed period, and keep this idea always present in the minds of the people.
Without the requirement of law, I doubt if the debt would be paid.
The Treasury of the United States, like the British Treasury, would always be without a surplus, and the national debt would be recognized as a burden to be endured forever.
Do Senators consider to what extent the Government determines the rates of interest in the money centres of the country?
Government bonds enjoy preëminence as an investment,--and if the interest is high, they attract the disposable money of the country.
Without any adverse intention, the National Government is a victorious competitor, and the defeated parties are those very enterprises whose success is so important to the country.
Thus, while refunding the national debt, we shall open the way to improvements of all kinds.
This is one of the desires of my heart, as it is one of the necessities of civilization; but I fail to see how this aspiration will be promoted by the system proposed,--which must be judged on its own merits, without any such…
I cannot imagine any advantage from this new system sufficient to induce us to encounter the possible embarrassments or entanglements which it may cause.
President, the payment of the national debt is an American idea, and I would say nothing to weaken it among the people.
Whatever we owe must be paid; but it is the part of prudence to make the payment in such way as, while consistent with our obligations, shall promote the national prosperity.
Promising too much is sometimes as bad as promising too little.
If we assume obligations so large as to bear heavily upon the business of the country and to compel unreasonable taxation, there will be little chance of financial stability.
A less ambitious effort on our part will be less obnoxious to attack,--thus leaving the bonds to their natural position in the money market, and strengthening all the movements of commerce.
The future has its great claims upon us; so also has the present.
I submit that the pending measure sacrifices the present.
Because they have a meaning; because they reserve to Congress what I call plenary power over the whole system.
That system may be readjusted, modified, shaped anew, and the banks cannot complain.
Nobody can say safely that what is now proposed is not within the power of Congress.
May not the country turn around and ask the banks to do their part in this great work of renovation?
To a certain extent the banks are in partnership with the Government.
May not the Government insist that they shall do their part on this great occasion?
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