Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1865-03-21
Tho a.ondon Times on the Effects of
Ihe War.

Tbo 7.o,dou Times on the Effects of
the War.
The London 7snles, in an article on the
rseent retirement of Lord Lyons, and the
appointment of Sir Frederick Bruce as
minister to the United States, draws the
following highly imaginative picture of the
ruin which this war has wrought IN Rspub
licsn institutions
When Lord Lyons went to Washington
the United States stretched in pesceful and
prosperous dominion from the Calf TO the
st. / lawrence, and from the Pacific to the
Atlantic; they were the fsvorite model OF
free and Republican Institutions; they
scarcely possessed an army; they had an
Absolutely insignificant debt, and the whole
energy of their Industrious and vigorous
popnlstion was devoted 10 commerce, to
agriculture. 70 learning and the arts. Lord
LYONS leaves them in the convulsions OF 8
political earthquake. One vast chasm
yawns from East TO West, dividing By
blood and fire two hostile sections of a
scarcely kindred race; Republican institu-
tons are rapidly becoming imperial in al
most all but the name; personal freedom Is
a memory of the past; enormous armies,
like swarms Of locusts, devOur the face Of
the country; a debt unparalleled T its
growth and threatening aspect overshsdows
the resources of the nation, and the whole
energy Of the people is withdrawn from the
life-giving exercise Of peace TO the exhaust
ing fever Of war.
No doubt the Tines is very much pleased
at the picture of desolstion it has SO graph
icslly drawn, and very willing that its
readers should accept its details as accurate
and truthful. But American readers will
scarcely receive them as utterly and en-
tirely faithful representation of the state
of affairs. What would the wri .er Of that
srticle say, when told that the population
of the Northern States is larger than it was
st the common cement of the war; that its
wealth has increased enormously since then
by the process of opening up to civilizs-
tion and productive labor the wilds of the
West, by the invention and application
of new labor-ssving machines, and by the
development Of the petroleum and mineral
wealth of the country, to an extent never
before dreamed of; that the corn crop of the
United States for the year 1864, alone was
worth over five hundred millions Of dol
lars, nearly twice as much as the previous
years crop; that the total agricultural
products Of the country for the year 1854
were worth over a billion and half of
dollars, nearly enough to pay our entire
national debt; and that the value of the
crops for that year WIS more than five hun
dred millions of dollars greater than the
wear previous Would he still insist that
the face Of the country is devoured by
enormous armies, like swarms Of locusts
In view of the scene enacted at the Presi-
Dental election last fall, of q nation pass
ing, with quiet dignity, through the sgita-
tion of 8 political canvass, in the
midst Of the greatest war Of modern
times, each voter left unrestricted in
the freedom Of his choice, and the
will of the people recognized as the ulti.
mate tribunal, does he dare to ASSERT that
Drepublican institutions are rapidly be-
COMiAS III PEI AdL IL oLA4Dsb Ill DAk s-C
name While the=NeW York NelCs is
left 10 utter with impunity its daily and
blatant treason, can this writer declare
that personal freedom is a memory of the
past" While the whole North presents q
picture Of activity and thrift in every de-
pArtment Of business, unsurpassed even
IN the annals Of our nation previous to the
rebelliOn-in agriculture, in manufactures,
IN oommerce-in the building of new rail-
ways and the vast increase of business
upon old ones-in the wondrous develop
ment of wealth made in the coal oil coun-
try of the West-in working the extensive
mines Of gold, silver, copper, lead, coal
and iron which the Republic is rich in
in the increase in population and business
of every city in the free States and the i'm
Provement in fertility and productiveness
OF the agricultural sections of the North
is the Times editor himself an idiot or
does he think his readers idiots, when he
grsvely tells them that athe whole energy
Of the American people Is withdrawn from
the life-giYing exercise Of peace to the ex-
hausting fever of war;