The Express.
London, England, 1861-11-14 00:00:00

FINANCIAL SITUATION OP THE AMERICAN

SLAVE CONFEDERACY.

The L.' bury (Va.) Washingbmian, of Octoberl9,
a sound accession journal, contains the following expose
of the Mancini difficulties of the Confederates, taken from
the Richmond Whig:—
".OUII FINANCIAL CONDMON.

" There is a growing feeling of uneasiness in the country
regarding the conduct of our public affairs. Many letters
we receive admonish us of this fact. One correspondent goes
so far as to say that this feeling of uneasiness is augmented
by the silence of the press. Fur months, while the War De-
partment was in hands utterly incompetent, not a murmur
of complaint found its way to the public ear through the
columns of the papers. The apprehension exists, in view
of the sluggishness of our operations, that similar imper-
fections still continue, and are smothered over by the re-
missness of editors.

" There may be something in this. We, in common with
the press and people, received the administration with open
arms and unbounded confidence. We all felt that our des-
tinies were linked with it. We had faith in its zeal ; we
had an aversion to distrusting its capacity for promoting our
common wishes. The deplorable consequences which re-
sulted from the mistaken confidence in the War Depart-
ment are 'till felt, and may at this very time be causing
We embarrassments which shed such a gloom over the land.
There is, however, another branch of the public service,
little lees important' than the War Department, which
attracts public attention and excites anxiety ; that which
relates to the ways and means for defraying the expenses
of the war.

" It is evident our expenditure cannot fall short of
three hundred millions of dollars. What expedient
basthe Secretary of the Treasury_proposed by which
W raise this amount of money we are only aware
of the loan for 15,000,070 dolt., authorised by the Congress
at Montgomery, of which only ten millions have bun taken
the produce loan, which has yielded only OM* thousand
bales of cotton, not yet sold, and not likely to be acid soon ;
the 100,000,000 dolt. Treasury notes, lilltbOnted by the last
session of Congress ; and the direct tax, which may yield
is 15 millions. This the sum total, nod on its foe* it does
not reach one-half of the Inevitable expenditure. Ths
failure to realise the loan for the whole of the fifteen mil.
lion proves, not a want of zeal among our people, but the
*bunco of money. No people are richer is property neces-
sary to the support of life but not convertible into specie
and none have more valuable products, when the markets
of the world are open, but valueless under existing cireum-
dances. As to the produce loan, we suppose every man
in the Confederacy, except the Secretary of the Treasury,
and Mr. De Bow, is conscious of its utter failure. The
direct tax, when collected, may produce fifteen millions.
But that, in coooexiou with the State taxes, will require
more than the amount of money in the hands of the pectile.
The banks will be only recourse, and they, to meet the
wants of the community, will be forced to expand to a point
prohibited by their charters, and endangering the worth of
their notes. The remaining and most considerable item is
the hundred millious ›f Treasury notes. Without this item,
supposed to be opposed to all Mr. Merninioger's financial
views, be would have not more than 23 millions with
which to confront 300 millions of expenditure ; with it,
be can only muster 123 millions, leaving an unprovided
deficit of 175 million of dollars.

It will do no harm to look the difficulty moue in
the face. The war moat go on. It will require largo
rams of money. The people, who have no money,
are waling to mortgage every particle of property they
own to feed, clothe, and pay the army. But how does the
Secretary of the Treasury propose to raise the missing
175 millions? The direct tax is 'heady accounted for on
the other side ; the produce loan cannot be relied on for
a dollar • and any other mode of borrowing is wholly im-
practicable. if 8 per cent. stock is not taken, neither
would 20 per cent.--and for the same reason, the want of
money or the conventional representative of value.
" It will not do to postpone this vital question till our
armies are paralysed for the want of money, as they were
sin weeks ago for the want of arms and powder. If Mr.
llemminger can fight the war through without money,
nobody would be more rejoiesd at it than we would be.
But we do not believe he or any one else can achieve
impossibilities. We know that vast sums of money will be
nersoury to work out this great cause. Übe has any other
expedient for raising these sums than by converting the
production of the country into currency, it will be a great
relief to know what it is. Our conviction is, that if a wise
forecast had been exercised in this regard, the Confederate
States might six mouths ago have bad 150 or 200 millions
to their credit in London, and our crest might now be
guarded at all point. by iron-plated steamers.

"Mow coaches will not do il2 PlTOilltiollikU UMW. The
Yankees are issuing indefinite millions of Treasury note%
belied on nothing but the Lint hope of our subjugation ; and
with them, though in competition with sterling bills, they
fancy they will be able to wage successful war molest us ' •
while we, who have cotton bales and tobacco hogsheads,
which possess political as well as financial value to make
them the basis of the best currency in the world, refuse to
profit by them."