Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1862-05-23
For the Fremont Journal.

EpiToR JoURNAL:-In reading over Congress-
onal news, we see considerable said about the
enlargement by Government aid of certain cam
ais in the States of New York and Illinois, to
capacity sufficient to pass from the Mississippi
river and the Atlantic Ocean to the lakes, Uni
ted States War vessels TO offset against similar
vessels that Great Britain might pass up the st.
Lawrence in the event of war between the two
countries.
Now in the name of the people and an over
burdened treasury we emphatically protest.
Had not the augmentation of the huge debt we
now owe at the rate of three millions per day
ought to satisfy any oneH Congressman talk
about millions as though they were units, the
intervening denominations Of tens, hundreds
thousands and tens and hundreds of thousands
are ignored and jumped over at a single bound
There is seemingly no necessity for any such
thing at the present time. In contest with
England we should have greatly the advantage
on our northern frontier. To us the war would
be at home, while to England it would be 5000
miles away. Then large portion of her popu-
ation would be for us, especially that Of the
lower province, which is largely French, and
have always been restive under the English
yoke; and as TO the Irish they would almost be
with us by instinct. If we could not precipi-
tate force into Canada sufficient to destroy and
hold her canals, we need not expect to beat her
gunboats on the lakes. How wise in our Gov
eminent heretofore not to have followed the ex-
ample of other natiens in constructing great
national debts to build war vessels, when that
little affair down in Hampton Roads the other
day virtually demolished the navies of the
world. Under the present aspect of affairs ma
val warfare must be in its infancy; and to go in
on gigantic scale, which the enlargement of
canals presupposes, to building up a navy would
be foolish in the extreme. For, for ought we
can see, they would bid fair to be as useless in a
few years those heretofore built are now
Not but what we fully endorse the motto of
preparing for war in time of peace" and by far
the most effectnal way to do this is to keep the
nation free from debt, and prosperous and happy
in all its departments. Nothing can be more
fruitful of mischief than for the nation to be
beleaguered by an overwhelming and endless
debt. 1t is at antipodes with the genius ofdem-
ocratic government. To create distrust, uneas-
iness, discomfort, hatred of the laws, jealousy
of those that administer them and engender
political and party strife are among some of the
fruits of such course.
SPIRIT OF THE AGE
To heed this were wise. Yankees no longer
make nutmegs of wood. They also make them
no longer without money. There is but one
question with the yankee: "Will it pay?" Say
yes, and the Rock Mountains tumble at your
feet. What would British War vessels avail on
the lakes against the resource under yankee hat
crowns2 1t were an outrage upon the lowest
yankee character not to suppose for reasonable
compensation he would scuttle the bottom of
the lakes, and send their water to the ocean
through "Symmes Hole" or any other feasible
channel he might elect, leaving your belligerous
nd 1rxr I.tei
staked out after the disappearance of the waters,
and advertised in the daily papers, as "the very
best chance for rare 6drgdins"
Let England declare war to-day end to- -mor-
row will fetch you a yankee that will whip
her by contract. There arc plenty of yankees
that would have bargained one year ago with
President Lincoln to have hung every rebel and
colonzed all of their slaves for less than half of
what the war has now cost. And the job would
have been finished long ago without the loss of
scarcely man. When the South offered $40.
900 for j. r. Giddings' head alive, or $4,000 if
dead, he was ready to negotiate at once and told
them they could have it at the latter figure
when he had done with it.
do not mention this as supposing IL probable
that the day of delivery could have been agreed
upon but only oshow the readiness with which
a yankee can negotiate.
In ten months of American warfare we have
shown to the world that their war vessels were
powerless before our batteries; and, that other
little affair of demolishing Ft Pulaski, has
proved that the present system of Notifications
offers but trifing resistance to American cannon.
The two incidents which have disclosed this TO
the world were but bare experiments in each
case. And fso what may we not expect when
out of them, systems shall be elaborated. Let
nations be wise and take heed lest the very
ground opens and swallows them up Let Con-
gressmen also take heed against national exirav-
agance. Over tax yankee, and you kill him;
moderately tax him. and with the church and
W. L. O.