Litchfield enquirer., 1865-12-14

general administrative Bureaus of the War De f'partnent during the past year are detailed and estimate made of. the appropriations that I will be required for, military purposes in the 1 iscal year commencing the 30th day of June 1866. The national military force on the ls
 of May, 1865, numbered 1000, ,5l6 men. It ii proposed to reduce the military establishment
 to q peace footing, comprehsnding fifty thous and troops of all arms organized 90 as to ad nit of an elargement by filing up the ranks to feighty-two thonsand six hundred, if the circum
 stances of the country should require an aug mentation ofsthe army. The volunteer force
 has already been reduced by the discharge from
 service. of eyer4eight hundred thousand troops
 and the Department is proceedingly rapidly in
 the work of further, reduction. The war esti
 mates are reduced from $5l6, ,240, l3l to $33, 8l4 46l, which amount, Fin the opinion of the Department; is adequsteifor peace establish ment- The measures of retrenchment in each Bureau and branch of the service exhibits dil. 1 igent economy worthy of comnendation. Ref erence is also made in the report to the neces- sity ofproviding for a uniform militia system,
 and ,t9 the propriety of making suitable provis- ion for wounded and disabled officers and sol diers. '''''9 ss...s...-. ,S Fqe yiSs9aap' INTERNAL REVENUE ''' '." s-' '''
 
 The revenue system of the country is. sub
 ect Of vital interest to it's honor and prosperity,
 and should command the earnest consideration | of Congress-. The Secretary of the Treasury
 will lay before you g tall and detailed report Of
 the receipts and disbursements of the last fiscal year, of the first quarter of the present fiscal year. Of the probable receipts and expenditures tfor the other three quarters, and the estimates for the year following the s30th of June, 1866. I might content myself with reference to that report, in which you will find all the informa- ton required for your deliberations and decis- I tioh.I But the paramount importance of the subject so presses itself onsiny own mind, that ! cannot but lay before. yonmg yiews of the measures which are required for the good char actei, and. might almost say. for the existence of this people The life of republic liaa gcer. tainly in the energy, virtue and intelligence of its citizens; but it is equally true that 2 good
 revenue system is the life. of an organized gov fernments ISmeet you at time when the na- ton has voluntarily burdened itself with debt unprecedented in our annals. Vast as is its
 amount, it fades away into nothing when com pared with the countless blessings that will be
 cohferred.upon our country and upon man by
 the preservation of the nation's iifs. Now, on the, first occasion of the meeting of Congress
 since the return of peace, itis of the utmost
 imbortance to iDaugurate just policy, which
 shallnt oncssbe putin motion, and which shall
 command itself to those who come after us for it's continuance. We must aim at nothing less
 than the complete effacement of the financial evils that necessarily followed a state of civil
 war. We must endeavor to apply the earliest remedy to the derauged state of the currency, and not shrink from devisiDg. g policy which, n,sfk lon immediately begin to effect a reelection of. the
 within, 8 definitely fixed number of years. | D 4REDucnoN or TEE cuRRrscy. l' I It is our first duty to prepare in earnest for our recovery from the eversincreasing evils of an irredeemablei currency, without sudden re. 1 yulsion, and yet without untimely procrastina-
 tion. For that end, wey must each in our re-
 spective positions, prepare the way. I hold it iity of expenditufes; and atsparing economy ia
 itself great national fesourcs. T or the banks
 10 which authority has been given to. issue :, notes secured by the bonds of the United States , we may require the greatest moderation and prudence, and the law must be rigidly enforced when its limits aresexceeded. $ We may, each
 one of us, counsel our active and enterprising
 countrymen to be constantly on their guard, to
 Hquidate debts 'coDtractedin paper currency, EaHd by conducting business as nearly as possi- i ble on system of fl cash ipsyments or short
 credits, to hold themselves prepared to return
 to the standard of gold and silver. To aid our l ifelloW-citizens ins the prudent management oi ltheir monetary affairs, the duty devolves on us ito diminish by law the amount of paper money
 now in circulation Five years ago the bank
 note circulation of the country amounted to 4uot more than two hundred millions; now the 1 circulation, bank easd national exceeds seven
 hundred millions. The simple statement of l the fact recommends more strongly than any words of mine could do,' the necessity Of re- stsaiBing this expansion.s The gradual 9reduc- i htien of the currency is the only measure that :, can save inc business of the country from dis
 astrous calamities and this can be almost i'm. fperceptibly accomplished by gradually funding the national circulation in securities that may
 be made redeemable atithepleasurs of the Gov. ttfrnNent 1sfnos oi sst53nmos safo4ga e iss sfj asfsousr rsAxAT1oy.1 q 4 Eaniax II is Our debt is doubiy secure first in the factu
 al wealth and still greater undeveioped rssour ces of the country and next in the character Eof our institutions. The most intelligent ob servers aniong political economists have moi Efailed'to remark; thasthe public debtof [ coun
 try is safe sin proportion sas peopls are free
 that the debt of . republic is the safest of all
 Our history confirms andestablishes the theor, and is, firmly believe, destined to give it {
 still more signal ill6straiticti. The secret q this superiority springs not merely from thu
 fact that in . republic the national obhgstiorl are distributed more widely. through counties. iInumbers in all classes of society; 1t has 1t. 'i:root in the echeracter ofsourlawss Here al
 imep contribute to the public yalfare, and beal their share of the pnblic burdens. During. thu war under the impulses Of patristism, the mel Iof the great body Of the people, without regari 1 to- their owuoeompafatiTe want of wealth lthroueed to our armies ands flleda onr fleets Q war. and held themselves ready to offer thei lives for the public good. Now, in their turr 2 tthe property and income of the country shoult lhesr their juss propertioa eftheburdens eftax Istion, while in. our imppst system, throuQi meahsof which increased vitality isincidentail,
 l.mpaftsd to all the industEial interests 0f thi,