The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1861-06-04

F1ou1s mSs AOuSIhc ChuhOs VIC Ao0nou No " Os"s0O
man, he can be ranked o. patriot, whose loss
at this juncture is loss which the country must
dsplore, on account of bis great power over the
masses Of the people.
The War and Financial Measures Of the
New Congress.
The approaching session of Congress is
looked forward to with feelings Of the most
lively interest. Among the peacemakers there
is lingering hope that there may still be
found in its deliberations some means of arrest
ing the horrible evils of civil war. Those who
cling to this expectation are, 1t must be owned,
but few, and it is noteworthy that they are not,
generally speaking, of the number of those
whose mission should incline them that way.
The fiercest advocates of war on both sides of
Mason and Dixon's line are, we regret to say,
the parsons. The churches, in this melancholy
contest, present the strange spectacle of divi-
sions as bitter and unrelenting as those which
separate the politicians.
Congress has other work before it than that
of endeavoring to patch up a hollow truce be-
tween them. No accommodation is now pos
sble except at the bayonets point, and any
attempt to occupy its time with vain discus
sions on the philanthropic suggestions thatw will
be forced upon its notice will be frowned
down. The best service that their authors
can render to the cause of humanity is to
contribute by their votes to render the
war as vigorous and short as possible. On the
measures to be resolved upon by Congress at
its next sitting depend our future destinies.
Its first duty should be to provide for such an
augmentation of the army and navy as will
enable the government to crush out, in few
months, this hydra-hesded rebellion; it, next,
to legislate for the permanent maintenance of
such force by land and sea as will prevent
the recurrence of the dangers by which we
have been visited. The fears that have hitherto
induced us to keep our standing army and
navy at such ridiculously low figure have
been the means of betraying us into errors as
great as those which their limitation was in
tended to guard against Between military
despotism and an insolent and unscrupulous
slave oligarchy, seeking monopoly Of power,
there is not much choice. We have to protect
ourselves against both, and this can only be
done by rendering the general government
strong enough to enforce its authority at home
and to make itself respected abroad.
But the task which lies before the new Con-
gress must not stop here. 1t will not be sufi-
cient merely to conquer peace for the country;
it will have to devise measures to palliate the
disastrous results of its interruption, be the
term long OF short. The conclusion of the war
will find US in very different condition from
any which the experience of our national legis-
lators has hitherto been called upon to provide
for. Every branch of commerce and industry,
every interest-no matter how remotely de-
pendent upon their prosperity-will have re-
ceived shock from which it will take long
time to recover. One of the first and most
pressing necessities felt will be the want of
reliable circulating medium. Out of the four
teen hundred banks of issue, with capital of
nearly four hundred aud twenty-five millions,
which were in operation in the Union on the
LIST of January, 1860, but few-and these only
in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston-are in
what may be called a sound state. The banks
in the West, whose capital was nearly all based
on Southern stocks, are thoroughly rotten !;
those in the South are either suspended or
broken; and the country banks in this State
and New England are in such condition that
a few months more of our present difficulties
will render their circulation next to worthless
With such prospects in store for us, it is. obvi-
GUS that unless Congress comes to its aid, the
commercial and manufacturing industry of the
country will not derive any immediate benefit
from the cessation of hostilities. The question
is, What measures of legislation will soonest ef-
feet its resuscitation and restore general conf
dence? The experience of commercial men
generally will at once suggest an answer The
establishment of national bank with capital
of from seventy-ive to one hundred millions.
would give US at once uniform and reliable
currency. The seat of its operations should be
at New York, as the great commercial centre to
which all the trade Of the continent, domestic
and foreign, converges. The facilities af-
forded by such an institution, and the conf
dence inspired by the guarantees that would
surround it, would restore trade at once to its
regular channels and revive the exhausted
energies of the country. To be productive,
however, of full benefit, it will have to be &C.
companied by an equalization of the present
absurd tariff, and general bankrupt law to re-
lieve commercial men from the embarrass-
ments entailed upon them by differences in
prices and Southern reputation. These mea-
sures, we are glad to say, have already engaged
the attention of some of our ablest economists
and will be brought under the consideration of
Congress as soon as the Army and Navy appro-
priations are got through. They hold out to us
prospects for our commercial future which
will afford some compensation for the heavy
sacrifices that we are at present compelled
to make.
RRITIsH AGENTS PREVENTING EwrcR ATroN To