The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-09 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, MARCH 9, 1867.

and most tangible consequences of that " inflated
paper currency" to which all our financial evils are
now supposed to be due. We may, then, safely
assume that production has not materially increased
since 1860. In the four years from June 30, 1861,
to June 30, 1865, the debt of the United States in-
creased in round numbers 2,650 millions. During
that period the Government levied by taxation say
only 850 millions. During the same period the
Government of the so-called Confederate States
raised by taxation and loans say only 1,500 mil-
lions; 4naking a total of 5,000 millions of money
levied )and expended by the Government of the
United States in four years, at the rate of 1,250
millions per annum. We have seen above that,
before the war, of the 8,000 millions worth of pro-
perty produced annually by the entire labour of the
people, 7,360 millions worth was purchased for
consumption by the people themselves, and consumed
or destroyed by them. Since the outbreak of the
war the Government has appeared in the market as
a purchaser of property to the extent of 1,250 mil-
lions annually, almost all of which property so pur-
chased was consumed or destroyed. The ordinary
consumption of the people before the war was 7,360
millions per annum; the consumption of the Go-
vernment has been 1,250 millions per annum addi-
tional ; the consumption of the people and Govern-
ment together, 8,610 millions per annum. The
ordinary production of the people before the war
(and not materially increased since then) was
8,000 millions. The annual wants of the people
and Government combined, therefore, exceeded the
total annual production by 610 millions. It may be
objected that the consumption of the people during
the war was correspondingly reduced. But every
one knows that this was not the case. Indeed, the
reckless extravagance of the whole people during
the years of war has become proverbial, and, like
the " decline of industry" and the " diminution of
products," is incessantly brought forward as both
proof and consequence of the paper-money infla—
tion. There was no diminution in the people's con-
sumption. The people consumed as much as ever,
they produced less than ever, and of this diminished
production the Government consumed more than
the people had ever saved before. The whole coun-
try has been engaged in eating up its capital at the
very time it was congratulating itself upon its pro-
sperity. It is scarcely possible to doubt that the
people of the United States as a whole are to-day
poorer than they were six years ago. The na-
tional debt (hence called a national blessing) has
until now disguised the fact from us. The internal
revenue demands are gradually disclosing it to us.
The last balance-sheet at the end of December has
shown most people that in order to pay their taxes
they must spend less money for other things. In
fact, this process of " spending less money for other
things" has been going on for some time past, and
it is this process, and nothing else, that in our esti-
mation makes business bad. The process itself is
likely to continue for some time to come, and to
produce results far more serious than a panic in
Wall-street or a temporary suspension of business
throughout the country. But in the meantime it
is quietly repairing the great damage done to the
national property by the war, and teaching the peo-
ple the great lessons--that no national advantage
can be gained except by individual sacrifice ; that
war cannot be carried on except at a loss of comfort
and wealth, sooner or later, by non-combatants, as
well as of life and limb by the soldier in the field ;
that the expense and burden of this generation can-
not be shifted from our shoulders on to those of the
generation to come, but that the duty of to-day
must be done to-day, or twice done if left until the
morrow.—The Nation.