St. Cloud Democrat., 1864-03-10
AFTER THE WAR.
4 kdR the N. y. Independent.

iAkdpthe N: Y. Independent. l
The prophets of eN' an both side, Of
ths Atlantic, who at fsst stxove to frieht.n
|.the atriotic people of theNortHihtos dis
honorable submission te tlts rebel secession-
lists,by demonstrating tLesntterly Jr.,inous
effects Of war on trade and the impossi-
|.bility of obtaining the necessary. funds for
its prosecution, have changed their tactics
since the results have 80 brilliantly belied
their predictions, and now busy themselves
in endeavors to create confusion and dis
trust by attempting to slIow, that intoncciv<F
able1disasters must " cftakc ns in CONNER.
cial affairs as soon as the war shall be at
an end. We regret.to find that among these
prognosticators Of ruin are some, Of our
heartiest friends in England, the most
prominent of whom is Mr.. Golden. In all
thtir public addresses aad writings, while
they admit the greatness of. our resources,
and the successful operation of the fnan-
,cial plans of tie Government, they predict
tremendous lfevuls;ons Us soon as the rebel.
lion shall be fairly squelched AMI we re-
turnsto our peaceful pursuits once more.
s This would be like saying to . man strug-
Cling in the waves to keep himself afoat,
"You may save yourself from drowning,
my friend; but what's the u.e :; You will
die Of exhaustion. as soon as you get> on
dry land" But our friends and our enc
mics viii be as mich disappointed at the
results of The first few years of peace sue
ceeding the rebellion, SO far as commerce
is concerned, as they have been in the f.
nancial influence Of the war. For our own
part, we never for moment doubted the
ability Of he Government, nor the willing
ness of the people, to supply all tho means
that night BE- required for the war, and we
do not now, for q moment, doubt that
the four years succeeding the end of the
rebellion will be the most prosperous the
country has ever known. The debt which
the war will leave upon our hands, though
Its enormity, If it had been foreseen, might
have staggered Us three years ago, will
then have reached its maximum, and ev-
cry day will increase cur ability to pay it,
while every year will diminish its magni-
tude. We have got used to i, now, and if
we can bear up under its weight while our
commerce is crippled, and the great export
staples Of the nations are lp great meas
ure cut off, what is to prevent our getting
along very comfortably under the debt with
an increased population, the cotton and su-
gar fields of the South again yielding their
rich harvests, and all restrictions removed
from our commerce? If specie payments
were to be at once resumed by our banks,
and>the Government were to call in and
destroy a,l>the greenbacks that haye been
issued to meet the requirements of trade
for circulating medium, it is vndeniable
that q tremendous crash would be the re-
suit, which would injure the country, f.
nancially, infinitely more than tho rebellion
has done. But there is no reason to fear
any such suicidal. acts. The greenback
currency will not be cancelled during the
present generation, at least, and the re-
sumption of specie payments must ncces-
sarily be SO gradually effectedthat no per-
ceptible changes vii! be effected by it.
The entire South, it must be remembered,
IS cen i,iefaly exhausted ,t al: TIE m:,c:i-
ais necessary to civilized life, :,,li is wants
will 'hare'to lie supplied chiefly by the in
dustrE Of Size No:,.. and West. l.: has still
. larss ;saounn of gold and s::l c., and
great Stores of cation an'l aaval stores,
which aaE> l.. s;c. than precious metals. Its
freed s;aye population will INSTANTLY be-
conc k;sssr producers AID cnnsuners than
they essr were BEFORE, and its Iisbanded
rebel arniiss, who. have hitherto produced
nothing, aa1 existed upon the 1.inimum
rations necessary for sustaining human
life, will Lccon,e cul,;vat RS OF the soil,
and an ely:ne.., 81 wea! ]. aud prosperity,
/ instca: ot ruin: There viii! be no lack of
employment for our own soldiers and sail
ors, who will at once return to peaceful
life, and the ships that have been tempora-
lily conver. ell into men-of war will be need
cd to help carry abroad the surplus pro-
ducts Of our fields, aud bring back the pro-
duets Of other lands, which will be needed
70 make good our deficiencies. There is
one very important fact which Mr.. Golden
AMI the cconom;sts Of his school arc apt to
overlook in making their calculations as to
our *utur", and that is, lhatwe are grow
ing people. They forget, if they ever knew,
chat while the population Of Europe during
the past fifty years have only inoreassd at
the rate Of thirty seven and sixty-nine per
cent, taking the highest and lowest ratios,
the population Of the United States has
increased in the same time learly six hun.
dred per cent; and population, with us, in
our undeyeloped resources. is wealth great
er than the mind Of the political econ nomist
ever dreamed of. 'its3* ~ 5E3{-7 S3Sf 3
81 There is just one thing that would change
the brilliant prospect Of our nation into
one Of gloom and disaster, and that is the
madness of faction, which, for the sake of
temporary power, would overthrow q sys-
tenn which no mind was wise enough to de-
viae- but which grew up naturally from our
| necessities.
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