The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1861-08-21
The resources Of the Nation.

The American people have hitherto escaped
any onerous amoant Of direct taxation. The
General Government has sustained itselkand
paid off its debts from duties and imports,
. method Of collecting revenue that falls 50
gently and equally on all, as scarcely to be
felt by any, and from the sale ofpublic lands.
The highest State tax, we believe, ever lev
led in the State of New York was three and
five-sevenths mills on the dollar of the as.
sessed valuation Of its taxable property. This
with the local taxes, outside of the large cit.
les, would probably carry the amount to
about four and half mills on the dollar
We have not the statistics at hand showing
the assessed valuation in all the loyal States.
but this we know, that one mill tax in the
State Of New York alone produces the sum OF
about $1,5oo,ooo. Assuming the assessed
valuation of New York to be one quarter Of
that Of the loyal States, q mill tax would
produce 10 them alone, an aggregate of $6,-
600, 900 annually, sum sufficient to pay
the interest on war loan of 800. 600 900 /;
or, q mill and quarter tar would be suffi-
cient to pay the interest on seven per cent.
loan ofthe same amount. leaving q surplus
Of $3.50, 900 to provide for contingencies, or
make up any deficiency in collections. II
the whole $500. o.oOo,O 90 provided by Congress
were raised, and the payment of interest
made dependent upon direct tax, it would
even then amount to less than FIVE and one
eighth mills, or about one half of one per
cent on the taxable property Of those States.
1t will thus be seen that with the full debt
Of $500, ,000,0 600 contracted. and the interest
required to be paid by direct taxation, the
burden would still be triAing compared with
that which rests upon the people of almost
every other nation in the world, and even
that would be temporary. The receipts from
the Customs under the present tariff, with
such judicious amendment as experience
shall indicate, together with those from the
public lands, would wipe out the principal
long before the expiration of the term for
its payment.
These present sacrifices, which may pos
sibly be required of US of the loyal States,
are by no means commensurate with the
good to be achieved by vigorous and sue.
cessful prosecution Of the war. The vindi.
cation Of the Constitution, the preservation
of the Union. the perpetustion of the Repub-
lie in all it's vigor and proportions, are con
siderations vastly beyond the payment for a
few years Of so trifing an amount OF taxation.
The safety Of the present and security OF
the future are worth infinitely more to the
people of these States, than the comparatively
small amount of money necessary to the
achievement of these objects. The depreci
alton of property alone, occasioned by dis
solution ofthe Union, to say nothing of those
stupendous social and political evils which
such catastrophe would inflict upon the
present and all future generations. would ex
ceed by thousand fold in amount the mil.
lions required for its preservation. Not a
farm in the country, not one piece of village
or city property, but would be more than
twice decimated by the disruption of these
States, while every description of busines.
and ali employments would suffer in cor
responding degree. Our pecuniary interests
therefore, and those of our children, as vel
as those higher and ho!ier duties which, a.
patriots, we owe 10 our country, require o
us that we should meet with cheerfulnes.
and alacrity the sacrifices demanded by the
exigencies of the hour.-N Y Times.