The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1861-08-13

War and high taxes are convertible terms
Whosoever, therefore, advocates the war policy OF
the Administration, is in favor of imposing heavy
taxes upon all classes of the people. War paral-
| Yves industry and, at the same time, largely in
creases the cost of the necessares of life 1t draws
heavily upon the capital of the country it lessons
the value Of all kinds of public securities it puts
an end to industrial and commercial
enterprise; it ruins the merchant the manu-.
facturer and the tradesman, and takes the bread
from the lips of the laboring poor. Every sue
ceedlng month that the war is prosecuted, the ex-
penses of the war will necessarily be increased,
and the period, during which severe taxation and
utter prostration in every branch of business,
bring sorrow and suffering in its train, will be in
definitely prolonged. A great national debt will
be fastened, like an incubus upon the people now
living, and upon their posterity. We are SPEND
ing IN this war upon the South-according to the
admission of THADDEus STEVENS, one of its most
ardent promoters-a million and quarter of dol
lars day. At this rate, by next April. the war
| debt will amount to four hundred and fifty
| millions of dollars, and if the struggle
be continued for another year we shall be bur-
thened with nine hundred millions of debt. As
the interest upon this enormous sum will have to
be paid, it will be necessary to double the war
taxes to meet it. These are plain facts which cannot
be gainsayed, and it is the duty of every man to
ask himself what the purport of the war is, and
whether the end to be attained will justify the
waste of blood and treasure already incurred, and
to be increased hereafter if the policy Of the Ad-
ministration is permitted to be carried out. Let
1t be remembered, also, that the taxes imposed
will not cease with the close of the war; that the
tremendous expense attendant upon fitting out an
army of four hundred thousand men, and of fur
nishing it with supplies and munitions of all
kinds, must be met by borrowing the money, and
that the revenue derived from direct and indirect
taxes will barely suffice to pay the annual interest
upon the loans required leaving the principal as
a burthen upon the country, for which taxes must
be levied for generations yet to come. In other
words, the war is to be carried on with borrowed
money; the people to be taxed to pay the inte-
rest the longer the war continues the more money
will have to be borrowed, and the heavier the taxa
ton will be. II the war were brought to a speedy
close, its changes, under prosperous condition of
things, might not be very severely felt. But ey-
cry succeeding day increases their weight whilst
lessening the ability of the people to bear it. This
is, therefore, one point to be considered. Another
and still more important matter is to know what
we are fighting for. 1t must certainly be for a
very different purpose than that of mpressing upon
the seeded States, the truth of those glorious
propositions put forth in the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, that governments derive their just
"powers from the consent of the governed" and
that, whenever any form of government becomes
obstructive to these ends it is the right of the
"people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute
"new government, laying its foundation on such
principles, and organizing its powers in such
"form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect
their safety and happiness If this doctrine is
now dissented from by the Northern war party
as it certainly appears to be-what are its aims i?
10 force upon the South government it has alb
Jured? That can only be done-if it can be &C
compished at abby subverting the whole theory
upon which our government lis founded 1t
would make, forever hereafter, the North
the master and the South the vassa. Would
this be right? would this be just? would it
even be desirable under any condition of circum-
stances? What strength would the Southern
States add to the Union if they were brought
pack into it by force, and held in subsection by
standing army2 Would not their open enmity
nua passive resistance battle every attempt of the
Federal authorities to enforce the laws2 Would
'''' '0n'ens 70 recognize and yield obedience to