Juliet signal. [volume] (Juliet [i.e. Joliet], Ill.) 1844-1???, 1864-01-12
A Few Facts and Figures About
Finances,

The purity of Democratic form of gov.
eminent consists in free speech aud free !
press By which all the acts Of the adminis-
TRAITORS Of the government are freely dis
cussed, that what may be lily done by the
executive heads may be understood by the
the people and that evil remedied by their |
ballots, aud the next administration more
clearly represent the will Of the people in
the policy of government to be pursued.
And it is understood among all business
men that success can only be obtained by
q careful knowledge Of their income and
expenses. Thus We see that the able
financier becomes millionaire while the
man who goes forward with his expenses,
without reflection, is certain in the end TO
become bankrupt. What is true of in
diTiduais and corporations is also true of
the financial management OF the govern
ment-for what is the government indeed,
but corporate body in which every one is
stockholdsr and interested in its being
ably and carefully managed.
We therefore intend to takea brief view
Of the financial matters Of our own govern
mept, and see what q careful analysis and
calm reasoning will point out as the result
Of their management for the past two and
a half years.
The Indebtedness of the United States
was, in July, 1868, So. l25 900 900. At
the commencement Of Mr.. Lincola's adj
ministratiOn, two years and half ago, the
total indebtedness Of the government was
some $4,000, 600. making the expense of
the two years ending last July, $2,o95, 900.
Imagine the war TO be carried Oh until
July, 1864, and the most hopeful do not
prophecy an earlier conclusion of it, at an
expense of g. 500, 900 per day-and this is
a small estimate, and.Our national debt will
then be, in even figures. So, 037 500, o0O.-
Placing the entire population of the coun-
try at 81, 00.000-omitting the negroes
and we find that every man, woman and
child, as q stakeholder in the government,
will be indebted about one hundred dollars
each to the government for the bad man.
agement of its finances for less than four
years-or, take the heads of families, the
voting and arms bearing population, and
each man stands indebted about seven
hundred dollars.
Thus the national debt, under the most
careful and faYorable figuring, will be
So, OBJ 100000 in July, 1864, should the
war terminate favOrably.
Englard's national debt is 81 364, 800,
GOO, in round numbers, being about only
one fourth larger than ours. Our debt,
however, will have been accumulated in
less than four years, while England's has
been growing since the time of Charles III
in 1855, some l78 years. 1t should be
remembered, however, that the population
OF Great Britain and its provinces far out.
numbers our own, while in fact the i'm
mense debt Of Great Britain is not near
proportional lily as large as our own.
We have the word of our ablest states
men that light taxation is the very life of a
Democratic government, and no one doubts
that Ii has been the chief cause of our
prosperity and increase, yet political DEM
Ogogues point with pride to England as an
evidence that great national debt gives
strength to q nation. In England the
people are not stockholders in the govern
meDt as we are-tbey draw no dividends
az we do, wien our taxes are chang ed
from heavy to light. The aristoeraov are
the bankers of England and the lALoripg
people seldom become real estate property
holders whereby they would have stock
in the government. If large national
debt will make us nation like England.
the people, we think, would fain have it
otherwise. And large Indebtedness would
naturally soon ruin small laudholders by
making taxation too heavyto be borne-and
the result would be they would be reduced
to tenants and pay their tithes to the aris-
tocratic landhOlder.
England stands first as to national in
debtedness, as We have shown above, the
United States next. France with q popu.
latiOn of IS, $50. 900, for many years back,
amid numerous and expensive wars, has
an Indebtedness third in the list, of 81, 763,
OoOOOO. The great empire of Russia with
a population of 10000, 900, has an indebt
edness Of 81. 1SO,OOO.OO0, while Austria.
With population of 37,85O.OO0, has an
Indebtedness of 81 200, 600, 900.
1t should be borne in mind that the in,
debtedness Of Great Britain, France, Russia
and Austria, has not been created in few
brief years. but has been accommodating for
centuries through exciting and expensive
periods OF War,reVOlution ard the purchase
of territory.
Having thus briefly alluded to the in.
oebtedness of our own and the larger of
foreign powers. it may not be unsatisfao.
tory to look for moment at the property,
real and personal. ofthe United States and
see what we have 20 pay our large and
increasing Indebtedness.
By the census reports Of 1860 we find
the total assessment value of the real pron.
erty OF the United States tO. be Sc, 973, lO6,-
4o9. So five were called upon to paw IN
our Indebtedness at once, we find that we
should have lief: on hand 50, 935 ,6O6, O49-
our Indebtedness thus in 1864 being nearly
one half of the entire land property of the
states and Territories of the Union. Our
personal property, the Same census shows
is assessed at IS, 1,553. 1856, which is over
our Indebtedness S2,O74, O53, 956-beiug
over one half Of the entire personal prop
erty North and South.
If, in the fate of nations, the South
should gain their independenca o1 a.