And we ought not to borrow. We ought to resort to taxation, however we
may regret the necessity of putting additional temporary burdens on our
people. To sell bonds would be to make a most untimely and unjustifiable
demand on the money market; untimely, because this is manifestly not the
time to withdraw working capital from other uses to pay the Government's
bills; unjustifiable, because unnecessary. The country is able to pay
any just and reasonable taxes without distress. And to every other form
of borrowing, whether for long periods or, for short, there is the same
objection. These are not the circumstances, this is at this particular
moment and in this particular exigency not the market, to borrow large
sums of money. What we are seeking is to ease and assist every financial
transaction, not to add a single additional embarrassment to the
situation. The people of this country are both intelligent and
profoundly patriotic. They are ready to meet the present conditions in
the right way and to support the Government with generous self-denial.
They know and understand, and will be intolerant only of those who dodge
responsibility or are not frank with them.
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