Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-02-26

there "a Something satisfactory in fshiing four or
fvri the same month on the Potomac, the ONO
and the Mississippi Next 10 not being ruined 81
all. ;he finest thing. from the American point of
view. il 10 be ruined on a good scale-to go down
ike the tropical sun. blood red and blazing into
the sea. with no pale and ineffective twilight, no
shadings, no fadings away 70 extenuate the mag
nitude of the catastrophe
The latest commercial intelligence received
from America must though not very pleasant IN
itself. crafty 10 the utmost this size worship oil
the American mind. The telegraph informs Us
that the Government bill for the issue OF SyOO,
900 .D00-more than ESQ 900 900 sterling Of
United States bonds has passed the Senate
Wall street is much excited. Gold has reached
&c premium The ship which brings this in
teligence carries away S6OO,OOO IN specie 10
Europe.
We do not think that any one will be found to
complain that this sum is not large enough; that
il is not fully adequate 10 the dignity OF the Tree
and enlightened people who are anxious TO borrow
il. and in all respects thoroughly commensurate
to the scale of the war 20 which IL Is to be de-
voted For ourselves. we confess that we feel
deeply Inundated by the comparison. When We
reflect on the miserable driblets by which Mr.. Pitt
and other architects, considered not altogether
tmd or unskiilfnl in their day, built up the goodly
fabric Of our own national debt. we undergo the
sensation OF the frog trying to swell itself TO the
goodly dimensions of the OK. Alas who are We
that we should venture to criticise the magnif-
cent transactions OF which we are the remote and
admiring Witnesses All the wars of King William
Ill en,ailed upon Us but paltry debt of El5,-
600. 900. Queen Anne's left burden Of
only f3T 900 900, and we contriyed TO lose our
American provinces, after war OF seven years,
mt the very moderate figure of an increase 10 our
debt of fl2l 100000. Thegreat Napoleon him
self, after a struggle OF two and twenty years,
only bequeathed US a keepsake a debt of
f603, 100000. These figures used TO be thought
something. but. like finite quantity in mathe-
mates brought in contact with nhnty, they alb
solutely Danish ana efface themselves when com
pared for a moment with the grand American
style of doing business.
Nor are we less impressed by the stupendous
calmness with which these debts incurred
John, Duke of Marlborough. himself did not
ride in the whirlwind and direct the storm with
more complete and absolute equanimity than is
displayed by Mr.. Chase in these stupendous ope-
ratons. He has the prettiest way of sketching
out his alternatives. Take your choice, ladies
and gentlemen; which will you haveg Shall it
be 300 millions in legal tender notes, with 80
millions Postoffice stamps, and 800 millions in
three year notes bearing interest, payable to
bearer, or shall we 90 in at once for the grand
total of 900 millions? Thus adlured how could
Congress hesitate? The scale is every thing, and
of course it took the largest. and may now
claim the undisputed honor of offering to "A
fding public the largest loan that was ever ere
ated by single legislative act. Ii is just like
tale in the Arabian Nights, where Prince.
shepherd, a merchant, strays casually on to
the side of hill, and suddenly sees before him a
palace of a mile square and 500 feet high, made
of a single diamond. He always approaches and
enters it just as YOU would an ordinary caravan
sary. He eats, drinks, and otherwise amuses
himself, and retires to rest, and rises up in the
morning with the most perfect calmness and in
difference. He Is, to be sure, enchanted
ground, but his mind is reconciled to the change,
and you find him, under these extraordinary cir
cumstances, happy in all respects, like the most
ordinary mortals.
So it is in America; these things. though done
by delIberatiye assemblies, appear to receive a
very moderate amount OF deiberatiOn The
great Republic involves herself in the tremendous
transactions apparently with little thought and
elaboration as fast young man about town
gives to the subscription of his name to a piece
of stamped paper. No nation was ever ruined at
once so magn6cently and so gaiy. There is
only one entity in the United States which seems
at all to take to heart the awful state of the
finances, and that to the shame of human ma
ture be it spoken, is not man even ami
NAL. but a cold, impossible chemical compound,
that much abused and much coveted metal. gold
This singular substance displays sensbilty, a
life, keenness of observation and an alacrty
of movement which are wholly wanting else
where. So far from being favorably affected by
the size of the transaction, that magnitude before
which all else in the United States bows down
only to inspire il with the livelier panic.
1t flies from the happy shores of free America
and seeks protection from the terror of democratic
finance amid the rotten and Wondering despot
isms of monarchical Europe. This precious
metal clearly does not show when it is well off.
1t surrenders its place ANONYMOUSLY, and leaves
paper undisputed master of the field.