Charles City intelligencer. [volume] (Charles City, Floyd County, Iowa) 1864-1866, 1865-03-30
Gge ynteuigtnte1r:.
ThesWar Debt,

The opposition newspapers whic
have obstructed the war from it's on
set, and which endeavorcd to break
down wholly at the polls in the Pres
Dental Election, are attacking afres|
the credit Of the Government. The,
do this partly on the general accom-
Of an indispensable hate i principally
in the interest Of that semi Rebel trai
fic ia Gold, which seeks to sustain thu
Rebellion by increasing the expense,
Of the war, by pntting graenback'
down and putting gold up. and lifting
MP to it's forced level the prices Of al
commodities necessary to soldiers ant
in domestic use by civilians.
IL the unpatriotic malignants who
call the Issue Of the 7-30 loan "a
swelling of the volume Of the curren
cy"-who declare that "if we do not
conquer the South within the next six
months, our finances will break down
and all our immense sacrifices prove
unavaiing at last who say that IL
VIC do not scatter Gen. Lees army in
the Spring and early Summer months,
there is danger that we may pass
from the pcrilous brink Of bankrupt
cy into it's yawning depths who de.
clare that in our finances We are rap
idly nearing the vortex Of the terrible
whirlpool who say that, "after an
abortive Spring campaign, the Gov
eminent could no longer negotiate
loans "-if these men were well.mean-
ing and honest, instead Of being stu
diously unpatriotic, their presagcs OF
Of evil would not be entitled to any
consideration. They would he but
the devisees Of an economical bsander
and a financial terror, which shook
England half century agn, and
which half century Of British ag-
rrandizement in wealth and power
has wondered over and laughed at.
The history Of the protrscted struggle
of Great Britain against Bonapartc is
full of the fears Of her best ccono.
mists, that her war expenditure would
terminate in irretriev&blc bankruptcy
and in the utter destruction OF the ma
ton. Adam Smith was among them,
and the historian Hume, and DR.. Price,
the author Of Pitts Sinking Fund Sys.
TEN. Indeed, between City and Album
dred writer's Of note, statesmen, histo'
rians, statists, editors, pamphleteers
bankers and scholars gave earnest
utterancc to their alarm, and contrib.
uted to the common sentiment that
the War Debt of England had ruined
her, or was running her, or would ruin
her. Lord Macaulay, who, as DR.. I'll,
der saws, knew the domestic history
of England from the gloomy month OF
November to the merriest day in May
Of every year throughout the period
of her great struggle with the Repub-
lie and the Empire Of France, even to
The minutest scraps Of newspaper Cos
SIN" thus SIMS up his picture OF these
financial terrors, and OF their entire
ncedlessness:
AT every stage in the growth OF that debt
Il has been seriously asserted by wise mer
that bankruptcy and ruin were Mt hand a.
eyery stage of the growth OF that debt, The
,natinu has set up the same cry OF anguish ano
adespair. Yet still the debt went on growing
and still bankruptcy and ruin were as remote
rs ever" T1aFEE &C #-Ga
Making special mention OF the Deb
at the time It reached the highes
point. he says:
at was in truth a gigantic, fabnlou
debt and we can hardly wonder that the CT,
of despair should have been louder than ever
But again the CRY was found to have teen a
unreasonable as ever. The beggared, tb
bankrupt society not only proved able to NEE
all its obligations, but while meeting them
grew richer and richer so fast that the growth
could almost be discerned by the eye"
What is the error honest alarmist'
among MS have fallen into? Thu
same that the English fell into. Ma
caulay exposed it clearly thus:
s"They enormously imagined that Their
was an exact analogy between the case of al
individual who is in debt to another individu
al, and the case of society which Is In debt t
a part of itself. They were under an erro'
not less serious, touching the resources OF thu
country. They made no allowance for the ef
feet produced by the incessant progress OF CIV
ery experimental science, and by the incessan
efforts Of every man to get on in lite. The
saw that The debt grew; and they forgot ths
other things grew as we'll as debt.
II economists OF the school Of Adam
Smith do forget these manifest truths
the People do not. See with what up
precistion of the Present, and conf
dence in the Future. they pour thei
savings into the 1870 Loan. i
Bnt let US not he understood, i
thus in adverting upon the motives
those who would cripple the Govern
ment by exciting the fears of the pee
ple. as the advocates Of q Public Deb
without limit. While we urge tb'
people 10 aid the Government with al
the requisite means TO carry on an cS
haustivc war, we at the same time in
seist upon tue most rigid economy 2
the part OF the Government. Will
it relies upon it's credit and the patr
otism OF the people. it must not fo
get that dollar saved 10 doila
earned with nations as well as wit
men. It cannot be too economical
and if IL wants to preserve public col
fidence il must show that it deserve
il, by avoiding all unnecessary expcr
ditures, and shutting off the stream
Of extravaganza and waste, which u
some quarters. are allowed to fios
unchecked. The people are ready I
give it money every loan it has ask
ed for has been promptly responds
to. That which it is now seeking L
obtain will be all the more easily 60
If it is made manifest that the Gov
ernment means to save money as wei
as borrow il, and that it will neve
borrow more than is absolutely neces
sary.-N. Y. Tribune.