The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1861-12-28
rEcEsSlTY or INNEDlAIE ACTION IN
y FCoN0R eSS-

sEcEss'rr o. ce sSssesArx ACTION N
UsFs Il The Americas satioa embarked IN
u most g,sDsic var ever aged, with An
xny ofsix hsndred and seventy shoasaod
men, and navy Of three or four hundred
ships, ut N sxpeadisars Of about too Mill
ions per day. Hitherto the var has been
carried on BY means Of loaas. The SUM Of
one huodred and 6fty millions OF dollars
has ben obtained BY the government in thas
xax~pass.r ikan. Tia haaksss, AID partly
from the people. In three weeks the bal
snee Of that amount viii have been expended
and not dollar left in the pstionol Trsa-
sury, nor. any provision made to rep!eoish
il. At this critical moment intelligence ar
rives from Europe, from which it appears
We are msnaced with . foreign var in addi-
ton to our domestis struggle. The con-
sequence is that Wall street Is thrown into
confusion, stocks Of all kinds are affected
Ave to ten per cent, and foreign exchanges
hare risen to liz, with few takers. There
is suspense, s.sgnasion, paralysis.
In the midst Of this momensary and 6naa.
cial CRISIS, how do We End Congress employ
ed? Is it in devising the wsys and means
Of sustaining the WARP So far from it, the
halls Of Congress are turned into bear gar
dens, and We behold the pitiable spectacle
| of disgraceful personal alterations and pre-
| posterous debates about the everlasting
bigger. It is the most horrible exhibition
Of human folly to be Witnessed on the face
| of the earth. There is no necessity for any
| legislation about slavery, and oil talk about
i. is out Of place. So far as the question
has any particular bearing, it is not the
business Of Congress to dispose OF it, but
Of the generals Of the army, responsible on
| " to the President, who is commander in
chief. Let each general in his own district
adopt such measures in regard to the slaves
as seem best calculated to render the cam
paign successful in that particular section
of the country. The laws of war and the
exigencies Of the case will be his surest
guide, and Congress can only do mischief
by meddling with the matter. As far as
concerns the claims and rights of those
slaves who may be employed in the service
of the Union army, either by their own vol
un,ary act or by the impressment Of the mil
isary, the whole subject ought to be postpon-
ed till after the war, when it can easily be dis
posed of by the existing fundamental laws.
The constitution will settle it, and the laws
of the State Legislatures. Congress has no
power over the question, and if it had it
ought not to touch it. What is the press
ing duty of Congress at this hour? ltisto
provide funds to carry on the war for the
Union. That is its proper sphere OF action,
iostead of dwelling about negro slavery,
with which it has as little to do as it has
with the Koran. Money is the life Of war.
Without it nothing can be done. The pos
session of gold is necessary in order to 90
tain from foreign nations what we want,
unless the balance of trade is greatly in our
favor. But the balance Of trade will soon
be against US, and the gold Of the country
will have to 60 to pay it, and speedily it
may be spirited away by the English and
other foreign bankers in Wall street, whose
business it is not to leave US dollar in gold
or silver. The government would thus be
without the means of purchasing in foreign
countries the material it may need for the
war. How 10 this disastrous condition of
things to be prevented? By the suspension
of specie payment by the banks, and by the
creation of paper money by Congress,
based upon the credit and property of the
nation, and redeemable after the war. This
would become circulating medium Of ex-
change for the internal trade of the country
as good as gold, and rendering gold unnec-
essary, unless for the payment Of foreign
balances.
In all great and sudden wars, some such
measure as this must be adopted by the
belligerents for no machinery of govern
ment can raise sufficient money in the brief
space of time it is required. 1t is o necesl-
ty of State which cannot be avoided. The
example Of England in the long continental
wars which grew out of the French Revolu-
ton, and in which she had to struggle for
her own existence, is lesson to all other
nations under the same circumstances. At
first she tried to carry on the war, on the
specie basis; but she broke down in 1897,
and was compelled to fall back on system
Of paper money guaranteed by the national
faith. This carried her triumphantly
through, and at the close of the war she re-
turned to the specie basis the only sound
one for time Of peace; for paper money,
without gold or property to back it, 10
worthless, and cannot be the basis Of COM
mercial trapsporsa,ions. 1t took Englsnd,
however, period of seven years to gradu-
ally restore the normal condition and specie
payments. In the same war France was
compelled to adopt the same course; and
nothing else is left for the American re-
public.
Let Congress. therefore Immediately pass
an act authorizing the administration to is.
sue notes Of all denominations, on the secur-
isy of the national credit, to such an amount
as may be justified BY the exigencies OF the
war. In the meantime, let the State banks
be requested by the government to suspend
specie payment, and Let the banks oil do %