The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-17 00:00:00

(I. rnm the T.;llico Correspondent.)

NEW YORK, Aug. 5.
We are now in the worst part of what is called
here, in barbarous language, the " heated term," or,
in plain English, the hot season. As the thermo-
meter rises the interest in events of the day de-
clines, and the only matters which engage the at-
tention of the public are the state of the finances
and the price of gold. The official statement of the
debt, unwisely withheld in July, has had a reassuring
effect, for it shows that the amount is nearly a hun-
dred millions less than was generally anticipated.
The total sum is two thousand seven hundred and
fifty millions, the annual interest in gold being sixty-
four and a half millions, and in currency seventy-
four and three-quarter millions. These are great
facts for the " heated" nation to consider, and it was
not unnecessary that the Secretary of the Treasury
should cause it to be announced that he will beable
to manage his business without further help until the
meeting of Congress. It is, however, only known to
himself by what means he hopes to getsafely through
the interval of six months. It can only be done by
a large issue of certificates of indebtedness, even if
the receipts from rep enue far exceed the anticipa-
tions of the most hopeful of financiers. Some per-
sons maintain that the debt is much greater than is
shown in the returns, but there is no reason to sup-
pose that Mr. M'Culloch is dealing otherwise than
fairly and straightforwardly with the nation. By
general consent all discussion as to the method
of dealing with the debt is postponed until the
subject is before Congress. There is no doubt
that great impatience of some of the petty taxes in
existence is already felt. There is, for instance, an
ad valorem tax levied upon every lady's dress that
is made, the dressmaker assessing the value of the
article, and making a due return to Government.
This curious impost seems to have been uninten-
tional, and it is only obtained by classing dress-
makers under the head of manufacturers. The
ladies have been throughout warm supporters of the
war, but now that peace is restored the " dress tax"
is ore of those frivolous and irritating methods of
raising the revenue which in England Mr. Glad-
stone alternately discards and adopts. Another un-
popular tax is one of two cents upon every photo-
graph or stereoscopic view. "If they don't take
that off," said a dealer the other day, " we'll turn
some of them out who put it on." In this country
the people can very soon decide which taxes they
will pay and which they will resist. Herein, of
course, consists one danger before the Government.
While the excitement of the war continued, and
the Administration was spending dollars at the rate
of a million a day, the people did not object to pay
anything that was asked of them. The battles are
now won, there is no more fighting, what has passed
seems like a feverish dream, and the public begins
to feel that it is giving its money without seeing
any return for it. There are no fresh victories to
gild the heavy duties imposed on every imported
article. Yet the complaints are few, and it is to
the farmers that men who know their country will
look with apprehension. They have never known
before what it was to have a tax upon land, and
how they will submit to it when it becomes a bur-
den is exceedingly problematical. From this
quarter, if from any, will proceed the cry for re-
pudiation—an issue which every man of foresight
desires to avert. "We can pay the interest on the
debt, even if it is 6 per cent.," one of the leading
merchants has said, " but whether the farmers in
the East and the West will be willing to pay it is
another question. They will probably return men
at the next elections whose ' ticket' will be repudia-
tion, and we shall have a hard fight to beat them."
On the other hand there are very many who affirm
that there will be no demur to any reasonable plan
of paying off the debt which the Government may
propose.

It is unavoidable that the uncertainty and doubt
existing upon this important point should prevent
that flow of capital to the South which would other-
wise take place, and which is so very necessary in
the present juncture. The tow:Jur of all the com-
munications from the States lately in rebellion is