The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1861-07-05
A Look Ahead.


fa 100 FROM tue new horK Day BOOk. .a|f o.
The prenonitory symptoms of fearful
financial crash are upon US. Banks sup
posed TO be sound aud as sound in reality
as any, are tumbling down as the goossa-
mer veil of confidence and credit van
ishes. We fear our most sorrowful anti
cipations are to be realized; but we have
faithfully warned our fellow citizens of
the dangers they were encountering in
this fearful civil struggle. If there were
any essential principles at stake, if the
North was bound in honor to take the
stand she has, we would willingly see the
hard-earned toll of years of honest in
dusiry vanish, and poverty stalk our
streets in rags, rather than yield our rights
or submit to dishonor. But when none
of these are at stake, but when simple
political party, out of pride of opinion or
for selfish party purposes, wickedly and
remorselessly sacrifices the interests of
the people, despises the hardships inflict-
cd on the toiling millions, and all for
w.hat?-for an impracticable and wicked
ly false abstraction about negroes-we can
not refrain from denomcing such course
of policy as criminal in the highest de-
gree.
"Let us have high old panic," said
Horace Greeley, in great glee, last fall,
after he succeeded in his long-cherished
design of splitting the Union by eleotng
Lincoln. And we have had moro or less
of panic ever since. Now, it would seem
that we are to have .the high old one"
he so ardently desired. 1t has COM
plenced in the West anil has been mainly
occasioned by the discredit thrown upon
the State stocks of the seeded States by
the disunion papers of New York. The
western bank bills are principally secured
by the stocks Of these States, and the
ided"hculcated has been that secession
was surely going to ruin these Stttes,
while the truth is, these very State have
a more substantial basis than any others.
But the effect is the same. The Republi-
can papers have "wloto them down."
made the public believe they were good
for nothing, and the consequence is that
nearly all the Illinois banks have gone by
the board. In this way these papers en-
tailed an amount of loss upon the people
which is almost impossible to estimate,
while it would not be surprising if the
knowing ones should invest largely in
these very stocks, "write them up again, y
and thereby make their fortunes.
But this is not the only way in which
the people of tho North are destined tc
bo defrauded. This wor, by the time
\ that Mr.. Lincoln's three years standing
army are paid off, will have entailod ,
public debt upon the people of not les
than S300,O0O,000 which, together will
the present debt, al d the immense claims
that always follow war; will doubles
increase our national debt to $500, 900, 900
Now it will be impossible to get suiiicien
revenue to pay the interest of this debt
and meet the ordinary expenses of thu
government, without high protectiv,
tariff, and even this it is not likely vii
be sufficient. We shall be compelled t.
resort to heavy taxation upon tea anC
coffee, to income taxes and other mean
of direct taxation to meet our govern
mental obligations. The eastern manu-
iacturers, who desire some excuse to &C
Il high tariff, may have no objections t
such a public debt; but how will ou
farmers, mechanics and FREQ trade mel
chants and commercial men of this cit
like it? How will the great West vie,
this attempt to overthrow the great doc
trine of Democratic low tariffs, no natior
al debt, no standing army, and econom
in public expenditures? 1t will be sal
to all this, that we shall preserve til
Union," and that will be compensatio
enough. But did it ever occur to tn
most sanguine war man, that it was O
least within the range of possibilities tha
the Union, instead of being preserved
may be destroyed by this policy? Wha
then? Have they ever looked as far {
that?