, 1864-08-15

sacrificing large proportion of the wealth
and the best blood Of every age and people.
We have only 80 take a cursory view of the
most enlightened nations to see it still do
Ing its bloody work on a scale of magnitude,
if possible, surprising all former periods.
Millions of men are under arms. Nations
are at variance with nations, while the ge-
Mus of the world is employed in invcnting
and improving agencies Of destruction.
Our country was at peace with all nations.
Our ship of state seemed to be sailing with
fair breeze and beneath pleasant skies
but, 10! a small dark cloud appeared above
the Southern horizon, becoming larger,
darker, and more threatening as it ap-
preached, and finally bursting in terrible
power over our devoted heads, devastating
large sections, causing every family to mourn
the absence of near and dear ones, and
hundreds of thousands to drop tear for
their martyrcd fathers, brothers, sons and
husbands
1t is difficult to convey a proper idea Of
the immensity Of the sums which represent
the cost of war. The figures seem made
quatc.
The war preceding the treaty of Ryswick,
1897, cost l3O,OO0,OO0.
The Spanish war of 1894, settled for at
Aix-la-C Chapelle, cost s570 100000.
The treaty of Spanish succession cost
S3l1, 100000.
The treaty of Paris, in 1853, ended in a
bloody struggle, costing s500,O00,00O.
The war for American Independence cost
England and our country 81 600, ,000, 900.
The Revolution of 1893 cost $3.50 900, :
900.
The wars of the first Napoleon, from 1903
to 1915, cost the extraordinary amount Of
S., 800, 100000.
The Crimean war cost the powers that
took part in it more than 81 ,000, ,O00, 900.
The late war in India cost England SAC, :
100000.
With the number of men now in the field,
the war for the Union now costs upward Of
s., 600, 600 per day.
The disprOportiOn between the cost Of war
and civil government is especially apparent
in the case Of Great Britain. Her expen-
diturcs in 1854, for wars past and prospee-
tive, were more than S250,000, 900, while
all other expenses were about $50, 600, 900.
The number Of her agricultural laborers,
male and female, old and young, at that
time, was somewhat over 100000 the
average wages per person about 500 a-year.
Thus all the men, women, and children who
make Great Britain garden Of beauty and
land Of wealth earn about S100, ,000, 600
per annum. What difference between the
cost Of producing food for man and beast
and the expense Of slaughtering them |!
What difference between the husbandry
Of. the plow and that Of the swOrdi In
our countsy the disprOpOrtiOn is far greater (;
but there are better days comiDg-peaee and
prosperity will soon be ours.
The present war debts Of all the states
Of Christendom from which We have official
returns amount to s12, ,O00, ,0O0, 900 Twelve
billions Of dOllarsD 1t takes more than a
passing thought to comprehend such an
amount. What known measure Of value
can we apply toit? What shall we put in
the opposite scale to ascertain its weight
the power with which It presses upon the
civilized worldg The present paid-in cap
ital Of oil known banks amounts to 81 ,00O,-
900, 600. Thus the war debt exceeds twelve
times the capital Of all the banks of the
world. At 500, 900 a-mile, it would con-
struct SOC, 900 miles Of railway, betting the
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column Of dollars 10000 miles high. 1t
would take half amillion Of teams to carry
the silver, allowing aton to each team, max
ing line Of teams 1900 miles in length.
Such is the condition Of the world result
ling from war. When will tho burden be
lessf When will the swords be beaten into
Iplowshares and the spears into pruning
hooks, and tho nations learn war no more
i Our war debt must be at the present time
something over two thousand millions, and
may yet exceed three billions. Even If Il
REACHES that, il will not be too much to pay
for tho results attained. The triumph Of
freedom, liberty, and justice over falsehood,
i ldespotism, treason, and oppression, at 50
lgreat a sacrifice, will be too highly priced
to again be trifed with. Il will secure us
a peace that will be permanent. II we had
succeeded with seventy-fye thousand, OF
even with half million Of men, IL would
| have been at 50 small sacrifice that we
soon would have settled back into the old
state of affairs, leaving the control Of the
Government in the hands of those under
/. whom conspiracy, treason, and rebellion
would have free scope to foster future
outbreak from which there would be No
4 recovery.
i Wealth dishonesty obtained BY an indi,
yidual or nation will not be lasting. Prom
the establishment Of our Republic we have
succeeded, Bithouta parallel, in acquiring
immense wealth by trampling upon the God.
given rights Of the slave. The value Of the
exports alone Of sugar, rice, and cotton, as
a product of slave labor for the year 1860
] amounted to s222,0O0,00O. II such arc
the figures for one year, what must be the
whole amount since the slave system first
obtaineda afoothold upon thesoil Of Virginia.
\ The blood Of the oppressed has not cried
from the ground these many years.
Will our ship Of state outride the storm
Of rebellion, and triumphantly reach tho
haven Of peace and prosperity Glance al
our immense resources, exceeding fourteen
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