St. Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1845-1863, 1861-08-15
Where the War Party il Carrying Us ,

We make the following extract from the
money article Of last Tuesdays Ph ladcl-
phia Leoiyer. Let the people reflect upon
its contents. They know as we'll as We
can tell them that thousands Of people
who never made eight hundred dollars
year ut their occupations are now making
thousands out Vt the war. OF course they
will not stop to count the COS. to the poor
man, the necessities of wlose fnmily re-
quire him to sweat under the heavy bur-
den for mere living:
the stock market is depressed and
inactive The whole days business is
included in $4,000 of bonds and 3O5
shares; distrust Of the future is the grea,
feature Of the market. Nobody seems
able to see very clearly the end of our
political difficulties, while almost all are
willing to admit the result is more indeii-
mite and more remote than even the more
cautious we're willing to acknowledge q
month or s:x weeks ago. Nothing Tut
the great abundance Of unemployed capi-
tai can account for the firmness Of the
stock prices. With rapidly accumula-
ting national debt, and business paralized
as was never known before, it is surpris-
ing that buyers Of stock securities can be
found at existing prices, or indeed at any
price, for however low they may seem.
there is much reason to fear that they will
60 still lower. 1t is estimates. that within
the present fiscal year the public debt of
this nation will lie swellcd to nearly or
quite FIVE hundred millions of dollars. For
the last two mo,ths it has been increasing
at the rate Of about million a dollars per
day. And, as yet not single cent is rea.
lized from the people and paid on account
Of this very large sum. The whole Of it
has been raised on well arranged loans.
plausibly presented by a very Industrious
aud ingenious Secretary of the Treasury
Capitalists, who had no use for their mo-
ncy. under the promptings of patriotism,
gladly exchanged it for Government loans
aud Treasury notes, which have been
created at various times and issued in al
most every variety of amount. at high and
low rates Of interest, anl as currency. a
SIT ii forced loan, at no interest at I'LL.
There have justly found witc favor, but
none Of them have been paid. and Con-
gress is even now hal,ing, whether they
will or not authorize direc, tax for the
payment only Of the interest, at the end
Of the year, on such an amount Of debt as
as the nation will probably then owe. Ii
the interest is not promptly paid as it falls
due. and by paying. we mean cash,
through the medium Of the tax gather.
aud not by further borrowing. the credit
Of the Government cannot be maintained.
And If maintained by direct taxation,
what will be the feelings and expressions
Of the taxpayers? There are complaints
now that this movement is unwi.e, that
that was wrong; that something other than
was attempted should have been done,
just as th. thing undertaken resulted, sue
ccssfully or otherwise; but when to this
contrariety Of opinion and complaining i.
added the failure to pay interest on the
public debt, or is coupled with the annoy.
auce Of the tax collector, we may imagine
the effect on the stock list generally. 10
US there is little in the future fayoring a
buoyant stock market, and not few
possible contingencies calculated greatly
to depress it."
Now. any can calculate the cost to
each man to pay the $500, 900. 900 men,
toned in the above. But supposing
that the whole sum will have to be paid
BY the ~. .O0O.O 900 Of people in the North.
it will assess $25 to every man. woman
and child. If We take the usual average
Of FIVE to each man Of family. the assess
ment will be Sl25 to each man. Deduct
about one third Of these as deliuquents,
or as not being able to pay. and the true
SUN which the war policy will extort frem