The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1861-03-26

Our Bankrupt G0vcrnme nt Going Deepes
In Debt-The Duty OF the naeneyed IN
teresrs
On the lss OF January last the debt Of the
United States was s63,709, 900, including
eleven millions of Treasury notes. Since that
time loan Of ten millions on Treasury notes
has been raised, together with eight millions,
the first instalment of the twenty Eve million
loan authorized by Congress in February-mak
Ing in all $8l 100000. On or before the I'd Of
April the second instalment Of the twenty-five
million loan Is asked for by Mr.. Chase, which,
II obtained, will bring the total of loans up to
$s9,709,000 If we add $4,000, 000 the ba-
lance Of the $25, 900, 900, which + sure TO be
called for very soon, the whole debt will foot
up nearly ninety nine millions Of dollars.
Where Is this to end! Every day
the government Is plunsing the nation
deeper and deeper into debt, without q pros
pect of payment. What is the cause Of this
bankruptcy and this depreciation Of the public
securities? 1t Is the success Of the republican
party, organized upon purely sectional and
revolutionary issue, and forming coalition
with the aboliionists Of the North, who have
been laboring for the last thirty years with the
avowed design of overthrowing the institutions
of the Southern States, even were it necessary
to extiDgnish them In blood. Seven States
have been driven out of the Union, and more
are likely to follow from their fears Of the de.
signs of the party now in power.
The prospects Of the country year ago were
brighter than they ever were before. The
effects of the panic Of 1857 had vanished. The
crops failed in Europe last fall, and the Ameri-
can crops having been very abundant, the
orders for our breadstufs greatly exceeded the
demand of previous years. 1t seemed as If the
balance of trade would be largely in our favor,
and the merchants throughout the country cal
culated upon making heavier importations than
were ever made before. There was every
prospect of prosperous season and Of an
overlooking treasury from increased revenue.
A short time previous to the election the fair
prospect became clouded. Coming events cast
their shadows before. The probability Of the
success of the republican party and the conse-
quent revolution at the South began to operate
dsastrously upon the imports and the revenue.
1t was necessary to issue Treasury notes Ia or
der to keep the machinery of government in
motion. What was the result: The govern
ment could not get more than par for them
even in October last, and four millions of there
were afterwards repudiated by inan.
ciers. Hitherto United States stocks had stood
as high as ll6, and were regarded as a. safer
both in Europe and here, than any
other securities, and selling at 80 high pre-
MUM Aat capitalists did not find it profitable
to invsst in them, because they could not re-
alize more than four per cent for their money.
Hence the debt was chiefly taken by banks,
savings institutions and trust funds. The
gathering clouds, portentous of the approach
ing political convulsion, paralyzed the South
prn trade, the merchants were deferred from.
giving their intended orders for imports, and
many Of tlrem countermanded the orders al
ready given. The revenue fell of, and United
States securities, on the eve Of the election
were Deprecated to par by npprehensions Of the
triumph of the revolutionary republican party,
which bad fraternized with the abolihonists of
the Massachusetts, school of politics. 1t turned
out that those apprehensions were only too
we'll founded. M. Lincoln was elected, and
after down went United States
stocks below par; and, with slight fluctuations,
hey have been going down ever since, pari
oussu, with the progress of secession and the
revolutionary action of the leaders of the re-
publican party. The effect of the issue of Mr..
Chase's call for the new loan is an instant de-
cline of from e to *, to be followed probably
very soon by further decline. The last loan
was taken at q discount of nine per can't, which,
added to sixteen per cent premium, which such
securities formerly commanded, makes de-
probation Of twenty FIVE per cent. What the
discount will be on the eight millions asked for
on Tuesday next, or whether it will be taken
at any price, remains to be seen. The revenue
will not pay for its own collection under the
Morrill, tariff, and every day matters will be-
come more embarrassing; for willie the income
Of the government will be continually de-
creasing its expenses will DO constantly In
creasing, particularly If the war policy fore
hy the organs Of the admins
tration should be carried out Public
debt aad taxation will thus go on from
bad to worse till the country is rained,
and the mass of the people are reduced to the
condition Of the population of Eng
land, with her three millions of panpers re-
ceiying parish relief and six millions more on
he verge of starvation. At the time of the
Revolution her taxation was only ten millions
Of dollars. It is now 1856, 900 ,OOO-a million
for every day in the year. This increase has
been all caused By wars of ambition or des-
potism. The syssou was inaugurated by Will
liam Ill, whose reign cost the country, in
foreign wars, s224,OOO,OOO, without attaining
bis object. The American war eost the English
government ss45, 0OO, 900, and It failed In its
object. The French war cost 1t IS, 400 ,0O0, 900,
and that, too. utterly failed In its object
While a few are rich among the English, the