Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1862-1865, 1863-03-06
From the New York Herald.
From the New York Herald.
THE DANGERS OF THE CRISIS-OUR NATIONAL
FINANCES AND THE ATTITUDE OF THE NORTH.
WFST

4
| FINANCES AND THE ATTITUDE OF THE NORTH
| WEST.
Whoever has attenlively read heSclcar, calm and
mastery speech Of Mr.. Spaudipg of this State upon
the new Bank BILL cannot fail to be deeply impressed
with the gravity of tue situation and the fearful respon
sibty that devOlves on those to whom the manage.
ment of the for the Union is entrusted From the
enormous expenditures. and the railroad speed with
which we are running into debt 1.-TWO millions and half
per day. he shows that there absolute necessity
for unanimty and for such vigorous prosecution of
the war as will bring it to the speedy termination
that is pos b Every day that the war is prolonged
the daily debt being increased and it must be paddy
taxation in come form or other. The government is
speudng at fearful rate the dccumu alto of former
| years Of prosperity.
Already the tax is beginning TO be felt by the people;
but the is procrasnaled and the debt iucreas
the burden will become more and more grieyous till at
last it is nto'erabe. The present taxation be paid
with comparative ease, running along as are, at
forty miles hour under the pressure Of rredeemabe
paper" There is now seeming prosperity in the East
ern and Middle States; but day reckoning viii slreY
| come.
In addition to The financial difficulty of carrying on
long war OF such magnitude there is another difficulty
which is looming up in a very alarming shape, and that
is the position aud attitude of the Northwest. Without
i tho hearty cooperation OF that section of the Union the
war would soon be brought to a dead halt. But it
Northwestern States feeling of general discomfort has
grown up, arising from the military bundcrs at Wash
ington resulting in the failure of campaign after cam
paign and from the political bunders perpetrated in the
same centre appearing TO change tho legitimate objects
of the as announced in the beginning by Congress
and the President. and to turn the struggle into anat
ica crusade for the abolition Of negro slaVery-a policy
calculated to unite the people of the Southern States q
man, to render their resistance desperate ard to
| protract tie war to All indefinite period.
The Northwestern States entered with enthusiasm ,p-
/ ,,,1o tnn ;t -.
and that it would result in speedy restoration of the
Union under the constitution as il has come down to us
from the founders of the government They cared moth
ing about the negro Their interests and their patriotism
combined for the Union. Their interests lay both with
the East and the South but far with the South the
chief aud natural market for their agricultural produce
By the war that market closed against them 1t was
their interest to have speedily opened by bringing the
war rapid conclusion BY the triumph of the Union
| arms Their patriotism tended in the direction
Hence their zeal in the They went heart and soul
into the war; in order to make it short One of their
main rcances that it would be Of short duration was
that the peculiar institution of the South would not be
mcdded WITH except far military operations rem
dercd it necessary and that the Union sentiment in the
Southern States would be developed with the pogress
of our arms. The Northwestern men believed thar
tie Unioniss really in majority, would be seen il
they had only opportunity to declare themselves
But if that the in the beginning of the war; the
course of events has completely changed it, and there
is now 10 real Union sentiment worth speaking of any.
where south OF the Potomac. Hence the Northwestern
men are disappointed They account for the C. ange,
and for the determination of the Southern States to fight
it out to the bite: end, by the change in the political
| programme at Washington. This charge, they thirk,
separates their patriotism from their interest for while
the voice of patriotism prompts them TO battle ald
battle for the Union the voice of interest whisper
that long would ruin them, if il should be
successful; for it would consume all their properly
while at the same time would destroy the goose of the
South that laid golden eggs for them.
Already the patriotism of the States Of the Northwest
has been severely tested. We Of the Atlantic States
can hardly appreciate their situation. They are purely
agricultural population. We are a commercial. trading
and manufacturing people. We are making money by
the war This is particularly true of the New England
States. The people of the Northwest have present
compensation whatever for their loss Of blood and trea
sure On the contrary they losing money rapidly
that if the war continues long they will be baggued
Those States, bordering, they do, upon the Upper
Mississippi its tributaries their agricultural pro-
duce down the Father of Waters the plantations bor-
derng the Lower Mississippi andits tributaries
wheat Hour, hogs bacon, hams, beeves, butter eggs,
homes ana mules, for which in return they received
either sugar moasses or the gold poured into the
Planters Golfers from every nation of Europe No. that
the Southern States in the valley Of the Mississippi could
not have raised for themselves they do now the pro-
ducts sold them by the Northwest but that l. was more
profitable to grow cotton, and that the transportation
down the Mississippi of cereals and animals SO cheap
and convenient the navigation being open to all
| seasons of tho year. Thas the people of the
Northwest fed and supplied with mules three
millions of negroes employed in raising the great
Southern sapes-sugar, rice, tobacco and cotton, but
particularly the last named product Before the war the
price of mule in Illinois hundred and twenty
five dollars in gold At present, notwithstanding the
great demand for the animal in army, the price is
only sixty dollars in deprecated currency. The is
true of other agricultural products late number of
Minnesota journal quotes prices there as follows
Flour four dollars per barre corn fortyfve cents per
bushe; dressed hogs three dollars aud twenty-five cents
per hundred; hams, four per pound; butter ten
per pound eggs eight cents per Dozen and other
articles equally low In the river ceundes OF Iowa beef
is only two dollars aud fifty cents per hundred the
rate Of two and abaf cents per pound and in the same
State last winter not hundced miles from tho Misss
sppi pork sold dressed at less than dollar per-
hundred 1t is certainly not cheaper now What is the
cause of this while the articles high in New
York? IL is the increased of railroad transporta
ton Owing to the closing Of the Mississippi by the
blockade tho reights offered to the railroads exceed