Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1861-08-31
The War worth all it Costs.

nal says:
War is an expensive luxury. How
ever humanclv or discrcctly waged. it
is serious drain upon the life of ma
tion. We shall come out of the present
struggle impoverished in many ways.
With the best success we shall cXpcnd
hundreds of millions of treasure and
sacrifice thousands of lives. We shall
feel the bruises of the conflict for years
after the rebellion has been crushed
and peace has been restored. Thou
sands OF fortunes will be wrecked
thousands of homes will be made dcs
olate-thonsands of bright careers will
be arrested. The mourncrS will go
about the streets. There will be sor-
row and anguish-thcrc will be despair
that no human sympathy can assuage
in many Il gentle bosom. The wrecks
will I've thick around us-thc charrcd
and battered ruins of high hopes aud
sublime endcavors will attest how Sc
we're has been the trial through which
the country has passed.
Will it pay the cost? Yes, a hun
drcd, Il thousand fold, if we come out of
the struggle conquerors. If we sue
ceed in crushing ont this miserable re-
bclion: il we cXtcrminatc the fatal her.
esy of secession; il we shall be able 70
teach treason such q lesson as history
will never weary of rchcarsinT; if we
shall succeed in convincing the world
that we have Government, strong
enough, vigorous enough, determined
enough, to overcome all combinations
and attacks whether from conspiraoics
within or invasions without; if we
shall be able to Impress Christcndom
with the conviction that our western
empire is built upon n rock, which no
convulsions can shake and no tempcsts
undermine: if we shall be able to do
this, and do it effectively, the war no
matter how long or how desperately
waged, will be the cheapest enterprise
upon which the nation ever embarked.
Every drop of blood that has been shed !;
every dollar that has been expended:
every purpose that has been halkcd and
hope :hat has been crushed, will tructi-
fy into future blessings. We shall
emerge from the conflict stronger in
all that goes to make up the life of n
great people.
We shall resume the calm pursuits
of peace, chastcncd by the trial through
which we have passed--puritied by the
atlliction with which we have been visi-
ted. We shall find ourselves elevated
to a higher moral plane, and quickcnc1
by noDIcr impulses to the performance
ofnoblcr deeds. We shall find ourselves
purer, more sclf-rc|iant, more self.
poised more able to grapplc with future
issues, and avoid future dangers. We
shall find ourselves less bound up in
seltishncss, less the slaves OF toll and
business, less groyeling in our tastes,
less earthly in our admirations.
The successful termination of the war
will be the dawn of a new era in the
history of the country. Tho Republic
will enter upon new stage of its ca
rccr. The public heart will throb with
more generous pulsations. Broader,
higher, nob!cr issues will engage the
attention of statesmen. A loitier stan.
dard ofpublic morality will prevail. a
better class of public teachers will come
upon the stage. Purer aims and more
exalted conceptions of truth and justice
will animate the people. The sterling
metal of our western life, purified, as
it were, by tire--;bstracted from the
dross that has 50 long tarnishcd its lus-
ter-will shine out rs it has never shone
before.