, 1865-08-04
How the british CruAked about their
G1Pht

! From tie day the war broke out q for
! mieable party hostile to the Government and
favorable to the REBELLION, predicted ruin to
| tic Country by the weight OF its debt. But
/. they t.-c ot the flrs. who proclaimed that d
large debt would csusl, aud bankrupt na-
| tcn. Many people In great Britain
p'tdichd and cscaBed abcut their lett
!! precisely ss GU. Cuppetleads prophes.ed
about ur debt Rad this graphic picture
painted by the Engl,sn historian MacsuIay.
"Cn the 18th December, 1862, the HOUSE
CT Commons resol7ed i:self into a 3mui.tee
OF Ways and Mesns- 1t was proposed to
raise @l,ooo,o coo 1'y way Of it'an The propo.
Eittcn Was approved.
"such vas the origin Of tha. debt which
tas k;nee btcone The greatest prcl:gy that
ever perp]exed the esgac.ty aud cous0uuJsd
the pride Of Statesmen and ph!losophe.s. 1t
every sta1c u the growth OF that debt the
na1icn has eet m cry Of anguish and de.
tpatr. Ateyery stage in the growth OF that
aebs y ms httn Seriously asserted by wis.
men that ban E1up1cy Apd :uin were At band.
LEI atsH the dtbt vert on growing and
Sill bankruptcy end ruin were as remote as
ever. Whtn the great contest vi Louis
Af, Was tinaliy terminated by the psa.e
e. ero ~ n1Issat' noa The nation o*td at,ut
0WVW; and that debt was con.
sidercc uoE merely by.1he ruds mult:tud4,
not E.ersiy bs fex.hrn.irg squifes aud coffee.
houee eratur7, but by acule and profound !
thinkers. as ~ iacumbrince which would |
It7nEneaf!y cripple 1hs bedy-polltic, |
Nevertheless trsd- ffourished, w:aith In |
ereastd, the nation becarle richer aud richer.
ihsu came the wsr OF the Anstriaa sucsc:-
s.or, and the aeot rozs 70 0,CU9, ,O09.
PampA1ette1s, historians and oraturs pro- |
nocncsd that no~, at all events, the case |
was 6espesa:e. Yet the signs of increasing |
pEosper1ty--sIgrs that could neither be
coMnte!sei:ed nor cose:aled, ought to hare
satisfied @ @obsMsrsant M and rejecting Mcu toat
dslt Of 1S0, ,o0o. 600 was less to E3g!and which
vas governed By Pelham than debt oc E;;J0.-
oOu,op0 had been to the Ennland which was
gov rntd By 0xf0,d. Soon war aRatu broke
1c1th !; and under the ehergeti Tic and prod!ral
asomm1stlaiion s OF the tt:st William Pitt, ths
debt rapidly swelled to G14O, OK. .001, As
teon Us the first intoxicatIon Of victory was
OYER, n:n Of theory and me1 Of bus:aess al
mos: unanimously pfonounc d that the fA.al |
day had nov really arrived. The only states-
4 IN, indeed. active or speculative, who did
not share IN the general delusion, was Edmund
Burke. David Hume, undoubtedly one Of
the most profound political economists Of
bis time. declared that our madness had ex.
cceded the m.dness of the Crusaders. Rich
nd Cnur de Lion and Saint LouIs had not
gone tn the face Of arithmetical demon st,a-
t,en. It WAS impossible to prove by figures
that he road to P..a3ise did not lie through
tbe Holy Land Int it was p poskible to prove
ty figures that the rad to national ruIa 1ra,
through the national debt. It was idle, how
Ever, noW to talk about the rual we Ind
reached the goal Gil YVES over. All the
fcrenEGs Of the Island north Of Trer! end
vest q Reading were morigastd. Better for
W 10 have been conquered by Prussia or
austria than 70 he sadd!ed 5ith the interest
II debt ii 4140, ,000, 900.
"And Jet this great philosopher, for such
le was, had cnly to open his cYes and to Gee
Improvement al around him-eItiss 1ncreas-
re-, cultivation extending, marts too small
Or the crowd Of huyeEs md sellers, ha:bo:s
nsuflicient to contain the shipping, artificial
-fye1s joining tie chief inland seats of indus.
~ 10 The chief Eeaporte, streets better l.cht.
d, houses better furnished, richer wares CT.
,osed to sale In statelier shops, swifIer car
,lsgts rolling along smoother roads &c
30, indeed, obly 10 compare the Edinburgh
u his boy LOod 10 the Edinburgh of his Old
'ge. Hts rtt die ions remain to posteritv a
n-moIahls {nstance Of the weakness from
Which the Strongest min.ls nle not cxemot. |
Adan Smith saw little, and but little. !
usther. Ha admitted that, immense as the
,urceu was, the nation did actually sustain I
ard thrive under 1t IN way thar nobody {
ou1d haye foseseen. Bnt he warned his
c1m1r5 men not to repeat SO hazardous au ! I
Xpeliment. The limit had been reached.
even small increase might be a-al. {
mot lets gloomy was the view which I
IL |
ictnt and practical, tsok Of our financial q
ttna1icn. Tee Iatlon must, H. conceived, {
ink under debt OF e1so,0 coo uuless 9
ortion Of the load was borne bY the Ameri- .
30 colonies. The attempt to lay portion e
the load on the american colonies pro- #
uced smother war. The var left Us with an c
1ditonal 2lO0, ,OO0, 600 Of debt, and without r.
1e colonies whcse help had been represent c
l as indispensable Again England was b
wen oyer, aud again the strange patient
crsisted In becoming stronger and more q
looming, In spite OF all The diagnosttcs and
rcgnus!ics OF State PbysicIans. As she had
Sso5 tsa %15s rR'f asS y FL ssS5
she was visibly more prosperous with a il
.bt CT e240, 900 th3n with debt Of n
LAO 000, 600. II The most enlightened man | r
I'd been told In 1702 that In 1916 the inter. Ii
t en- $500, ,ooo, 600 would be da!ly patd to the i
" at the bank, be would have been as hard Il
belief as If he had been told that the Gov n
cment would be in possession Of the lamp Il
A1nddM, or Of the purse OF Fortunatus. O
WAS in truth g. giganuc, a fabulous debt; q
ID we can hardly wonder that the CRY Of Il
SPAR should have been louder than ever. e
(ter few years Of exhaustion England re- ii
yere1 herself Yet like Addison's valetu. t,
( arian. who continued to whimper that be Il
rs dying Of tle consumption I'll hee became p
int he Was shnmed Into silence, Eha went le
complaining thas she was sunk into pov. e
u till her wealth showed itself by tokens | Ii
at made her complaints ridiculous. The b,
cgared, the bankrupt society not only II
owed able to meet ali Its obligations. but 4
bile meeting those obligations grew RICHER Il
d riebcs 80 fast thas the growth could al ii
est be disce1ned by the eye.
- In every county ne saW wastes recently l. B.
rned into gardens; in every city We saw d
" streets and squares, and markets, more Il
ullant lamps, more abundant supplies Of "
! CT; In the suburbs Of every great seat of &C
in Its gay little paradise Of lilacs n,
d roses. While shallow politicians were +.
{,eatlny that the energies Of the people ~
src borne down By tho weight Of public d,
1dens, the first journey was performed by NJ
ta1n on a railway. Soon the island was In "
t.1s y 4ahMays. su1 eAGeeulng Ine eV