From AZ Quotes:
But with respect to future debt; would it not be wise and just for that nation to declare in the constitution they are forming that neither the legislature, nor the nation itself can validly contract more debt, than they may pay within their own age, or within the term of 19 years.
Thomas Jefferson: 1789
At least as indicated by this quote, Jefferson appears to have understood very well the immorality and destructiveness of running up public debt, and passing it on to the next generation to pay off. Yet that is precisely what our entrenched welfare state entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare do today.