The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-28 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 28, 1867.

CONGRESS.

SENATE.

In the Senate on the 9th inst., Mr. Chandler, of
Michigan, called up his resolution ,4 to recognise the
belligerent rights of Abyssinia," and supported it
by a long speech. Mr. Chandler said his resolution
only differed from the British proclamation of neu-
trality in the substitution of names. It was de-
signed to reciprocate the courtesy of the British
Government in 1861. This bad been called a good
joke. It was the furthest possible remove from a
joke. If it was such it was never equalled before ;
but for it the rebellion would have been put down
in six months, and two hundred thousand lives and
two thousand millions of dollars would have been
saved. These rebels would have been in the same
situation as was the devil when he tempted our
Saviour, and offered him the kingdoms of the earth ;
neither of them had anything to give. Everything
the rebels had belonged to the United States. A
good feeling towards the mother country had existed
there before time. What justification was there,
then, for that proclamation? Over 8,000 ships,
too, had been lost by that recognition. He called
attention to the similarity of the condition of the
lately rebellious States and Abyssinia. In 1862
he had claimed that every dollar lost to this nation
by this act should be either paid or retaliated
for. In 1864 he had offered a resolution of
similar import, and the United States had then
a fleet that could have maintained that policy.
In 1865 he had offered a resolution of non ,
intercourse, and in 1866 a resolution making
neutrality laws similar to those of Great Britain.
Had Great Britain acknowledged the Alabama
claims of the United States he would have been
silent, but she had thrown them out of court.
That proclamation of neutrality had necessitated a
10 per cent. war risk on vessels. Great Britain
could not restore the lives lost by it, but she could
refund every dollar. Those claims were a first lien
on every foot of land on this continent, and the
adjacent islands owned by Great Britain, which
would be sufficient remuneration and would satisfy
the national honour. He would never again refer
to the Alabama claims until this mortgage was
foreclosed. If the statesmanship of this procla-
mation was bad, it was Great Britain's, not theirs.
Abyssinia (said the speaker) was a Government
thousands of years before Great Britain was a
nation. It appeared there had been some love propo-
sitions between Victoria and the King of Abyssinia.
He knew nothing about that ; but the United
States should exercise perfect neutrality in such
matters. He would let kings and princes decide
these matters for themselves. The King of Abys-
sinia claimed to be, and no doubt was, a descend-
ant of King Solomon. He believed messengers were
on their way from Abyssinia to procure ships and
war materials, &c. Ile believed that flag would
be recognised, and he would, if a British ship of
war chased one of them into a United States port,
compel her to remain under the guns of a fort until
the Abyssinian vessel had 21 hours' start. Give
Great Britain a dose, not as homoeopathic as one of
her own medicines. Let the Abyssinians light up
old ocean with th 3 burning ships of Great Britain.
If the King of Abyssinia enlisted seamen there, he
hoped perfect neutrality would be observed. He
believed if the resolution p tssed that from 10 to
15 privateers would be on the seas in 100 days, and
British chronometers would be as cheap in this mar-
ket as American chronometers were once in Great
Britain.

Mr. Anthony, Rhode Island, thought magnani-
mity the true system of retaliation, although he
agreed with Mr. Chandler in condemning the atti-
tude of England during the civil war : yet the
United States had conquered. "LA us," he said,
" shame Great Britain by the arts of peace." Ile
even held that civilised nations should go the length of
proclaiming the immunity of private property at sea.
Mr. Reverdy Johnson considered that the adoption
of the resolution would be a resignation of the
claims of the United States against Great Britain.
No greater evil could befall the country than a
war with England, a war that would militate
against human liberty. Mr. Sumner thought the
resolution premature, and as Mr. Chandler was

supported only- by Mr. Nye, of Nevada, the subject
was dropped without taking a vote. On the 10th
Mr. Stunner introduced a resolution, which was
adopted, calling for a copy of all correspondence on
the Alabama claims. Mr. Morrill spoke at length
in favour of his bill providing for the payment in
gold, after the 4th Jan., 1869, of all legal tender
notes not bearing interest, and authorising the sale

of all surplus gold on premiums in the Treasury
after January, 1869. A bill was alzo introduced
declaring null and void all laws and acts of the
Confederate States.

tion of the debt of British Columbia, extension of
additional aid to the Northern Pacific Railway, and
division of the new territory into " territories of
the United States."

Mr. Banks, chairman of the Comm;ttee on Foreign
Affairs, announced that the S3cretary of State is
preparing papers to submit to Congress relative to
the trial and imprisonment of naturalised American
citizens.

The Committee of Ways and Means reported the
bill on the contraction of the currency on the 7th
inst., and General Schenck, the chairman, to stop
any debate, moved the previous question, and it
was rushed through the House by a vote of 128 to
32. The members in this vote did not divide ac-
cording to any party lines, Democrats and Repub-
licans, Freetraders, and Protectionists being found
on both sides.

The debate on the Finances immediately followed
in committee of the whole House, and Mr. Paine,
Republican, of Wisconsin, advocated the payment
of the 5-20's in gal. Mr. Ross, Democrat, of
Illinois, followed him, supporting the Butler plan
of repudiation, and Washburne, of Illinois, and
Judge Spalding, of Ohio, Republicans, both took
occasion to support the position of. Mr. Paine, that
the promise of the Government to pay in gold is
sacred and should be inviolable.

receipts were $1,347,862. The Indian Commis-
sioner reports favourably on the progress and con-
dition of affairs in this department during the year,
and recommends an increase of the salaries of su-
perintendents as the best means of getting men fit
for the positions. The immediate appointment of
superintendents for Colorado, Idaho. Montana, and
Dakota is also urged. During the year ending
September 30 there were 16,547 applications for
patents, and 11,655 were issued. The (mike ba-
lance in the Treasury to the credit of the patent
fund is now $286,607. The whole expenses of the
United States courts during the year amounted to
$1,695,626.

WALKER ON SPECIE RI f MEN TS.

The following are the main points of the letter by the

Hon. Robert J. Wallur, on tho resumption by the United

States of specie payments, as it appeared in the Baltimore

Commercial:—

The question to be discussed is very comprehensive,
and requires a review of our whole system of loans and
banks and currency, as well as of revenue and taxation.
We have now a depreciated paper currency called legal
tenders, amounting, according to the returns on the Ist
of November, to three hundred and eighty-seven mil-
lions, eight hundred and seventy-one thousand, four
hundred and seventy-seven dollars ($387,871,477). We
had also then in the Treasury one hundred and eleven
millions, five hundred and forty thousand, three hundred
and seventeen dollars ($111,540,317) in coin, and twenty-
two millions, four hundred and fifty-eight thousand, eighty
dollars in currency, making one hundred and thirty-three
millions, nine hundred and ninety-eight thousand, three
hundred and thirty-seven dollars ($133,998,397) in all.
Deducting this from the above leaves two hundred and
fifty-three millions eight hundred and seventy-three thou-
sand and eighty dollars ($253,873,080).
_ _ _

It may beassumeci, then, that a loan of two hundred
and fifty millions of dollars in gold, together with the
balance now in the Treasury, would redeem all our legal
tenders, and restore immediately specie currency. The

question is, how or where, and in what manner, and at

what rate this loan can be effected ? As a general rule, I am
opposed to foreign loans, and made none while Secretary
of the Treasury, even to carry on the war with Mexico.
But the loans then required were very small as compared
with the amount now to be obtained. We did not suspend
specie payments, and the condition of the country was
very different then.
Tho object is to resume specie payments, and should we
now borrow $250,000,000 in gold, at home, even if it could
be obtained, the rates would be more extravagant, and the
loan would so exhaust the available money resources of the
country as to cause a great and immediate contraction of
the currency, to be followed by a terrible revulsion. No,
this must be a foreign loan, so as to bring the gold here to
create an expansion, not in paper, but in specie, and to in-
fuse now life-blood into all the channels of industry. It is
contraction Without resumption that is driving the country
to the verge of repudiation, and threatening most disastrous
consequences to the honourand interests of the nation. No one
boforo this has ever threatened to stain the faith and ho-

nour of the nation, and but for this system of contraction
and taxation, the spectral shade of repudiation would
never hive been evoked from the dark abyss of infamy

and crime.

Contraction is only advocated with a view to ultimate
resumption of specie payments. But why contract, and
thus depress all our industry, when we can immediately
resume without contraction ? If wo are not to
resume until the whole paper currency is gradu-
ally taken in, how many years will it take to accom-
plish it? What will be the condition of the country
in the meantime, whilst the contraction is constantly
going on ? And what will it be when all our legal tenders
shall have been thus exhausted, together with the national
bank currency based upon them ? Why, our condition
would be growing worse and worse every day, and at the
close we would be left almost without any currency.
There aro two kinds of contraction—the one by the gra-
dual exhaustion of our paper currency, and the other by
a domestic loan, draining from the people all the available
money of the country.
I, then, am for a foreign loan, so as at once to supply
the vacuum, to replenish our exhausted resources and
resume specio payments, with all its incalculable benefits
to our faith, our credit, and our industry.
What real objection is there to a foreign loan ? Did
Washington and the patriots of '76 object to it when
auklin negotiated our foreign loan in Holland ? Did
not Mr. Lincoln, concurring with Mr. Chase, warmly ad-
vocate it, when we obtained the necessary money to re-
plenish our exhausted Treasury during the late rebellion ?
It is certain, on resumption, that this whole loan would
b taken by the masses of the people of Germany at par,
or higher in gold, for 6 per cent. Bonds. We borrowed
$250,000,000 from the Germans in 1863-4 to carry on the
war then. And I would open the new foreign loan at Ham-
burg, Berlin, and Frankfort, aided by C.:mint Bismarck,
who is as great a friend of American as he is of German
unity.

The European bankers have now studied our statistics,
and they understand our boundless resources. All we
want is to sustain and improve our national credit, to put
an end to an irredeemable and depreciated paper currency,
and scout indignantly repudiation in all its forms, whether
direct or evasive. British Consols, bearing 3 per cent. in-
terest per annum, as wo have seen, bring 94 in gold, whilst
our 6 per Cents. are at 70. Yet, as shown in the third edi-
tion of my financial letters of 1863-4, the following were
the actual statistics from the census of England and Ame-
rica :

Our national wealth in 1850 was 5.7„135,780,228

Our national wealth in 1860 was 1059,616,068
England's national wealth in 1861 31,500,000,000
United States' increase from 1850 to 1860, 126 45-100
per cent.
England's increase from 1851 to 1861, 37 per cent.
Assuming these ratios, the wealth of the United King-
dom would increase as follows :

1861
1871
1881
1891
1901

$31,500,000,000
43,155,000,000
50,122,350,000
80.998,619,500
110,966,837,715

And that of the United States as follows:
1869
1870
1880
1890

1900
1901

Thus our wealth in thirty-three years would be more
than quadruple that of England.
The European bankers, and especially the people of
Germany, fully understand these results. They know
also the reason of our hitherto wonderful progress—our
free institutions, our immense emigration, adding nearly
three thousand millions to our wealth from 1850 to 1863,
and our magnificent public domain, with our homestead
and pre-emption systems. They know also our capacity
for resumption, and look with amazement and distrust at
our failure to do so.
I am opposed to any considerable payments at present
in extinguishment of the principal of our public debt. Not
because I regard the public debt as a blessing. Far other-
wise. But when the debt is incurred the great question is,
By what system and at what rate of payment will the
public interest be best promoted ?
To decrease the principal of our public debt by present
annual payments of fifty to one hundred millions of dollars
is to increase to that extent the burden of taxation, which
is grinding out the substance of our people, and immensely
retarding the progress of our wealth. That it is vastly
injudicious now will not b 3 elenied, nor will posterity
thank us for it. We have seen that, at the rate of pro-
gress from 1850 to 1860, our wealth in 1901 would be
$466,063,481,116. Nov, suppose that we should, at that date,
Fy this oppressive process, have extinguished our whole
national debt of $2,500,000,000. According to every prin-
ciple of political economy, such a process, so oppressive
to our industry, and retarding so much the progress of
our weath, would have diminished the aggregate in 1901
at least ten per cent. It would be much greater, but even
at ten per cant. the diminution in 1901. would be
$46,566,348,211.
Now, deduct from, this the whole debt then extin-
guished, and the difference would exhibit a loss of national
wealth in 1901 exceeding $44,000,000,000 as the result of
such oppressive taxation. Now, to pay six per cent. in-
terest annually, and reduce the principal of such a debt
as ours, more than $500,000,000 in thirty-two years, is
more than England or any other country has ever been
able to accomplish in the same time. To do this would
require an annual payment (exclusive of interest) of over
$16,000,000 a year. But our payments ought to commence
with a much smaller sum, say, beginning with only
$1,000,000, and go on increasing at the rate of $1,000,000
a year, making the second payment $2,000,000, the third
$3,000,000, and the last $30,000,000 in 1900 ; besides meet-
ing the annual interest, we should have paid more than
$500,000,000 of the principal of the public debt in 1,900.
Thus we would pay annually, in proportion to our con-
stantly increasing means, for we must reflect that, accord-
ing to the census, we could pay $29,000,000 as easily in
propertion to our wealth in 1900 as we could $1,000,000
in 1860.

Accompanying the resumption of specie payments, and
essential as a part of the system designed to restore the
prosperity of the country, must be an immense and im-
mediate reduction of taxation. To accomplish this, we
must reduce expenditures, restore the Union, and dis-
burse only th r sums required in peace.
Our expenditures, exclusive of the interest of the public
debt, for the year preceding the war, were $59,848,474, of
which the expenditures for the War and Navy Depart-
ments were $27,922,917, leaving our other expenditures
$31,925,555. Now, supposing these to increase 50 per
cent. (which should not be), it would make them $43,000,000.
Now, if we double in time of peace our war and navy ex-
penditures, which is too great an increase, this would
make them $56.000.000. This would make our whole annual
expenditures, exclusive of the interest of the public debt,
$104,000,000. To effect this reduction we must resume
specie payments, for by laying in gold, the Government
saves at once nearly 30 per cont. of the expenditure.
The second great reduction should be in the mode of

extinguishing the principal of the public debt. These
payments, as I have attempted to show, should be gra-
duated in proportion to our means. Beginning with one
million dollars per annum, increasing the payment by a
like sum every year, and terminating in 1900 with a
payment of thirty-two millions of dollars per annum. By
thus graduating the payments in proportion to our means
we should lift an immense burden of taxation from the
people.

Another item, growing out of the repeal of taxes and I
excises, amounting to nearly $8,000,000, would be the dis-
banding of nearly our whole army of tax gatherers and
the expenses incident thereto, which I shall discuss
hereafter when considering the question of taxation.
In this way, and by avoiding all unnecessary expenses,
we can reduce our expenditure, exclusive of interest on
the public debt, to $101,000,000. 1 have not before me the
Report of the Secretary of the Treasury for this yearan,l
can therefore only give the expenditures fur the year end-
ing the lst of July, 1866. These, as given by the Secre-
tary, were $387,693.199. This is exclusive of payments
on account of principal and interest on the public debt.
Now these last payments amount to $140,000,000 a year.
This would make our whole expenditures at a maximum
$244,000,000. This would be a reduction of $143,693,199,
and compared with the expenditures of the fiscal year
ending the Ist July, 1866, would enable us to reduce to
that vast extent the taxes of the people.
This revenue of $214,000,000 a year as a maximum I
would derive from three sources alone ;
1. By a tariff for revenue.
2. By an excise on wines, malt, and spirituous liquors
and tobacco ; abolishing all other internal taxation.
3 By a tax upon our national banks, based upon just
and fair equivalents, remembering how essential they are
to the prosperity of the country, and that we must not
drive them into liquidation by unfair and unequal taxation,
and thus revive the wretched State-bank system.