Martinsburgh gazette. [volume] (Martinsburgh, Va. [W. Va.]) 1810-1825, 1815-04-06

defective - that estimate winch Couh'S 'hN
cost of war by the expenditure OF pnohc
money-for one cent OF national wealth. ,hus
expended, dollars and hundreds oil ooiiars
are los, in the stagnation OF commerce, ana
the mechanic arts; in the waste ana decay
Of individual property in the want OF
sale for the products Of agriculture IN the
heavy personal services demanded by the
government or in the enhanced price OF
Inc necessaries and conveniences OF life
But even these, weghty as they are, bear
no COMPARISON with the sacrifice OF iDdivi-
dual happiness, the wreck of domestic Joys,
and the destruction of pure morals To
value these, no scale OF political economy
has yet been graduated Too often there
fore, do they escape the notice of the short
sighted politicians, to whom an unsus-
pcous people sometimes entrnst their con
Germs.
In reviewing the history of this contest,
some consolation may be found in the re-
Election, that the American character final
" eaped degradation, in defiance of all
the Encouragement of the American cabi-
net and that gross and dangerous error
is now dissipated, which party prejudice
had endeavored, not without effect, to i'm
press on the public mind. The vain gio-
Tious boastings and wretched failures of
our Counsellors and Generals, at the be-
ginning ofthe war, and in the two first cam
paigns--the shameful flight of the princi-
pal officers of opr government, from the
capital of the nation, and the abandon
ment of its splendid monuments and edit
ces to the torch Of the invader-these re.
quired some indications of conduct and
yalor, to prove that A mericans had not de-
generated from their fathers Happily the
testimony has been exhibited The ocean
has been " our Geld Of fame" and the
lakes have moro than once resounded to
the sho1ts Of cur trinmph In no Instance
have fe had reason 20 blush for our sea
frc7 Where Victory was possible, they
have achieved where impossible, they
have deserved it The navy, formerly the
object of party jealousy, is now the subject
of universal favor. Even those politicians
who formerly declared themselves reluct
ant to " hand one bucket of water to save
1t from the flames are now ready to ad-
init that it is the cheap defence of our
rights ard our honor. And on the land
TOO, occasions were not wanting, nor per-
united to pass without improvement, to
shew that Detroit and Badensburgh are
not the standards by which to test our
military character The sanguinary bat
ties ofChippewa, Erie and Bridgewater-
the repulse of q vastly superior force at
Pattsburgh-and, to name no more-the
late unparalleled victory at Orleans, a vic
tory which ushered in the peace, which
was obtained indeed after the treaty was
ratified in England, bot before it had ar
rived here-these have preserved to us the
rank which our revolutionary struggle had
obtained for us, and of which the pvesump.
ton, cowardice or imbecility of few, had
almost deprived US
Some time must yet elapse. before we
ascertain with certainty the addition which
the war has made to our public debt -
Claims are even now brought before Con
gress, which had their origin in the war of
the revolution; and this which has lust
past, short as was its continuance has
given rise to many more than our revolu.
tionary struggle. Several of these debts
will be paid off as they are iquidated, and
thus pass unobserved, in the general mass
of expenditures most of them, however
must be funded and made an annual CHARGE
on the public resources
The funded debt of the ma
tion on the LIST January pre-
ceeding the war, was $45,l54,l89
0tthis, there has been paid
IN 1912, rs III, 5,244,oo6
Leaving on the LIST January
ISIS, Of the old debt $50 ,9o5, ls3
During the war, loans have
been made. and funded stool,
created, or is about to be Great
ed, 47,so3, 220
The United States also owe
on account of certain temporary
loans and issues of treasury
noes, I9oO2, 500
hIany urgent claims on ac-
count OF military services and
supplies, the paying of the dis,
banded troops, and various
other military expenses, will