Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1863-12-28

Inc noooCiol delusion Woson -
BE- ought that Cosfedsracy into ito pssss
sut unhappy plight i one whish u veil
worthy Of or stteotios. inssmuch - Il
10 one ia which large number Of PEG.
pie Ct the North Also rather prone 10 10.
dulge. Il consists il the belief that .
nation can pledge its sohels property for
the payment Of . large debt, and that
such pledge is coed and substantial
security. No hing has been more com
mon here az veil az 9Th South than
10 see in print elaborate summings up
Of the value Of the whole real and per-
sonal estate Of the citissos OF the Unit
Q States, followed BY IN assurance that
this was the exact amount Of the fand
on which the Government was at liber-
ty to draw for the expenses Of the war,
or OF asy other undertaking that public
liberty or security might require.
Delusions Of this sort would sever
gain carfsncy in any community. II pso-
pie generally were in the habit Of bring.
ing their common everyday senss 10 the
disc ussion Of public aff.irs. But they
do nothing Of tho Kind. Nothing is
more difficult than to get the msss Of
men to believe that the principles Of hu-
man nature which regulate the conduct
Of individuals 10 the managept Of their
private affairs. have sny influence what
ever on the conduct Of large communi--
ties. Nobody has probably ever yet
ha.,1 rT III H. .t~nEh c1lo.. N = hauL
rupt company voluntarily, and without
any compulsion guaranteeing Up oil their
private property for the payment Of the
debts Of the corporation. Nobody be-
lieves for one moment that any corpora
ton exists, or has ever existed N this
country j; the members of which are
capable of Any such sot Of self-sacri6ce.
II any one we're to assure Us grasely
that it this city, for instance, ever got
SO deeply in debt that it could not meet
ito bills, the citizens would oil sell their
houses aud goods, hand ever the proceeds
to the Treasurer, and begia life anew,
who would believe him Who does
not know perfectly we'll that they let
the municipality repudists dssen times
over sooner than submit to any such
surrender Of their property We sec
every day proofs Of the wilderness of the
interval which separates 10 from any
such heights Of public spirit. We have
seen States here, Is we'll - in Europe,
refusing to submit even to the moderate
amount of taxation necessary 10 pay
sums which would not amount to mill
per cent. Of the value of their collective
property. We know, moreover, that
net one man in hundred, in spite Of
the stigma attached by public opinion
to non.payment Of debts, would ever
surrender everything he possesses to
meet his just liabilities if be were not
compelled to do it by the law.
And yet the superstition that either
single States, or cities, or indivicuale
should display this nice sense Of honor,
would be natural, simple and ordinary,
compared with the supposition that
whole nation should hand over 70 it,
creditors even one-Qsarter IF It, poses
sisns. Bat nobody that Iends money to
a Government 10 ever such simpleton
as to expect anything Of the kind. The
the victims Of the halucinatien are gen.
orally found, as night be expected,
amongst the more sengunine and en-
thusiastic Of the borrowers.
What . government 10 able to pledge
for the redemption Of any public debt,
far from being the whole real and per-
sonal estate Of the country is simply =
moderate percentage on the annual IN
come realized from that real and person
al estate. More than this i sure, in
the long ran, to bring bankruptcy and
reputation on any country in tho
world. II the percentage becomes very
large, it dminishss production and drives
capital abroad if it threatens the whole
income, it stops production, and pro-
duces public bankruptcy and general
poverty. What would happen if it got
to the point Of touching the capital it.
self, it is impossible to assert positively,
because no such . thing has ever hap
pened. But We can guess what wosld
happen with tolerable accuracy. THs
PEOPLE would tell their creditors that
they were very sorry to disappoint them,
but that nothing scos farther from their
thoughts than to plunge Msmsslves and
their families into beggary IN order to
pay them.
Nothing, in short, il good security for
q public debt except something that can
be turned into money. Taxes that can
Re collected are good security, because
they are money, or can be converted in
to money. Public lands are, because
moderate amount Of public lands can be
sold every year. Cotton il, . good &C.
curity, if purchasers can be found for it
aud it can be delivered to them. Any
thing, in short, is good security which
the people are willing 70 surrender 10
the Government, and which the Covers.
ment can find buyer for and hand over
to them. But You cannot cell whole
continent yov cannot dispese Of ne
goods and chatelss ef milli0ns Of fam
lilies at auction. Who would boy them,
and what would become of the owners
after they were soldP 10 short, talking
Of the whole property Of natiop 90 %.
ourity for its debts, is a. soild and sense.
lees az talking or a. rsudisess Of a
whole people to Re slasghtsrsd rather
than submit to . oonqusror, - popular
orators are in the habit OF doing. Nc
such readiness on the part Of any pso-
II "a .