New-York daily tribune., 1858-04-02


Indebtedness. This is the cum at wtice the
Trct,rty vss knocked Of yesterday By t3e sheriff
The naIts;Ug owners beld debt OF s5OoWo
| sgsnst the Company; the United States Go 7eri'-
neat, a claim Of Sll5 OGO more. and the city
smother Of $50 900 for unpaid taxes. TIE last TWO
ueLtoned claims aye however disputed Inc
purchaser is probably the house holding the deo'
of 500, 900. After this fashion have these ships
been s1 allowed. Whose interests have been swal'
loved 10 The same gulf Of insolvency and ruin We
do rot iuow. But We doubt not the Transaction
illustrates the Old fable Of the jsckass among the
chickeus
We should think this example might operate as
| q warning against these iegtimate connections OF
private enterprise and public patronage. lndVidu-
sls are drawn into schemes wholly beyond 'neil
means, under the delusye expectation OF speciA
Government aid Under this Government, all SUCH
expects tatiobs are deluson and snare The Collins
Company have repeatedly sent agents TO Washington
ard have lobbied large of money there 10 pro-
cure Of going on. One or more OF toeir ships
have been sent round into the Potomac ffelghted
with champagne and fat dinners, to lubncate tne
dispositions of reluctant members OF Congress-
Every Method has been used to draw funds from
the Treasury, but it has all proved inadequate
The line has broken down, and while the efforts to
support it have been fruitful source OF Congress
siOual Generalization, not one particle OF real oene
fit has been conferred any interest IN the country
by every thing that has been done In addition, the
Con psuy which has 40 urgently labored for the
Il. la. hos itsaf To the
wall, andbut wreck of its entire property remains
VIII the lesson be lost ? Or will some fresh,
and PEI enlarged schemes be hatched after
little while, to bamboozle future Congresses, and
entrap other innocent parties Just now the
Treasury is out Of money, and of course there IS
none to be applied to kite-fyng transactions OF any
description. But the buzzards are ever greedy.
They hover over Congress ready to pOunce at the
first opportunity. There are some ten or dozen
smaller schemes for steamship mail lines already
complete, and there are more in embryo. Con-
gress will be called upon to pour out its money for
them, on the beggarly plea of aiding commerce, as
soon as there are funds to respond to the apphca-
ton, ard probably sooner.
Let it not be said that because England does this
thing, we ought to do it also. Our circumstances
and our Government are totally unlike those OF
England. In the United Kingdom, in European
countries generally, Government is everything. 1t
is our boast that here Government is nothing and
the People every thing. Such is our theory, and 1t
ought to BE- our practice. The concerns OF COM
merce should be let alone BY our Government, how
ever other governments may choose to dabbe in
them What our Government should do, and all it
should do is to throw one broad shield Of protection
around the national industry, and then leave it to IT.
self The people want no special aid, In managing
any Of their private affairs, and ought not to have
it if they did. Oar postal arrangements with for
eign countries like our carrying trade with them,
need no artificial help Indeed, we hope to see
the day when the P0stO Office will cease to be de-
partlnent of the Government When Mr. Wander
bilt, WI o has built and owns as fine steamships as
float, and who fairly represents not only the un-
aided enterprise Of the steam marine OF this coun'
try, but represents private interests struggling suc-
cessfully against gigantic Government monopoly
when hs fails, and is sold out under the hammer OF
the Sheriff, it will be time enough to conclude
agaiI st the capacity OF the American steam marine
to maintain ITSELF and develop itself up TO the point
Of answering all the demands of commerce upon It.
We DO not mean to Say we would accept this test,
but, till it is furnished, We submit that people
should stop talking about the necessity of special
Government aid in the line of this peculiar busi-
ncss.