The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-11 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

TIMES.—The Federal debt is a genuine American
article. Its growth is like that of our most recent
importations from that land of high magnitudes,
the Wellingtonia gigas. The stem of this tree is
vouched to become in course of time 450 feet high,
and so far there is every indication that the pro-
mise is no idle boast. It is as straight as a church
spire, and the foliage, consisting of straight lines
with the slightest possible curve, makes a perfect
cone. The wood is so spongy as to be useless; not
a band-box could be made out of a whole tree; and
the bark is worth about as much as the skin of a
crocodile. When the tree has attained its full
height, and is only stopped growing by the winds
or the. clouds,
i b have
i v a
as
it falls at last, and, if insidethweil
allowed to rot, in a few centuries you
capital bowling-alley. We will not be so hard on
the Federals as to put one final liquidation of their
huge debt at that value. Nobody knows what may
turn up, but it is impossible to prevent the intru-
sion of a few odd thoughts as one runs over Mr.
Chase's financial speculations and achievements.
To think of such a man having his full swing in
America, after not yet two years and a half, and
such a debt really inspiring no sense of distrust or
discomfort in a nation which, till the other day,
owed nothing but to hate one another and the rest
of the world ! They are now as proud of their na-
tional debt as the man who boasted that having
commenced business without a farthing he had suc-
ceeded, after only two years, in owing half a mil-
lion dollars. But with a debt which would crush
any State in the Old World except England, and
perhaps France, Mr. Chase still exhibits all the dis-
tinctive features of a splendid, increasing, and per-
manent prosperity. He has a large stock of bullion,
so large as to keep in hand all the speculators in
gold. Should they venture to buy gold faster than
he wishes, he can immediately buy up millions of
paper, and make them complete their purchase in
a dear market. He has powers to issue paper,
and inconvertible
"greenbacks," to an extent which
it is almost needless to state in
means an infinite figures, because it
really
a surplus—yes, a goldpower. He has also
golden surplus—a difference
of more than 20,000,000 do between the actual
debt and the estimated debt;
de-
mands of the -
war have been proving that the
more than provided for,
and have been even exaggerated by the cautious
financier. Gladstone, hide your diminished head ;
even you would hardly have done as much. We,
indeed, can do a good deal in this country. We
spent a hundred millions on the Russian war, and
yet could show a surplus. We can reconstruct our
navy and ordnance, and yet show a surplus. We
can spend several millions a year on fortifications,
and yet show a large surplus. We can increase
almost every item of our expenditure, and yet re-
duce taxation. The Conservative spies, indeed,
sometimes raise an alarm, and proclaim the surplus
a mere cooking of the accounts to make things plea-
san'c for the House of Commons. So we must not
repudiate our American cousins and their clever
ways without a thought of ourselves. No doubt,
there is a strong family likeness. But children have
been occasionally bad likenesses of their fathers, and
worse imitators. We see in Mr. Chase's injurious
bits of prosperity and confidence only the customary
devices of habitual insolvents. A nobleman who
owed a million and a half always managed, even at
the most usurious interest, to have twenty £l,OOO
notes in his secretaire. Others, in the like case, have
taken care to keep a balance at their banker's what-
ever that balance might represent. This is but the
cork jacket which a man keeps within reach when