The star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1849-1866, 1865-12-13


perisy, and should command the earnest con-
sideration of Congress. The Secretary Of the
Treasury will lay before you full and de-
tailed report of the receipts and disburse-
ments of the last fiscal year, of the fret quar-
ter of the present fiscal year, of the probable
\ receipts and expenditures for the other three
(, quarters, and the estimate for the year fol-
lowing the 30th of June, 1866. might con-
tent myself with a reference to that report
in which you will find all the information
required for your deliberations and decision.
/ But the paramount Importance of the subject
so presses itself on my mind, that l cannot
but lay before you my views of the mes-
sures which are required for the good char
acter, and. might also say, for the exis-
tepce of this people
| The life of republic lies certainly in the
energy, virtue and intelligence of its citi-
zens, but it 10 equally true that q good rev.
enue system is the life of an organized Gov
/ ernment 1 meet you at q time when the
nation has voluntarily burdened itself with
q debt unprecedented in our annals. Vast
\ as is its amount. it fades away into nothing
when compared with the countless blessings
/ that will be conferred upon our country and
upon man by the preservation of the nations
/ life. Now. on the first occasion of the mes.-
ing of Congress since the return of peace,
it is Of the utmost Importance to inaugnrate
just policy, which shall at once be put In
motion, and which shall commend itself TO
those who come after as for its continuance.
We must aim at nothing less than
the complete effacement of the financial
evils that necessarily followed state of
civil war. We must endeaVor to apply
the earliest remedy to the deranged state of
the currency, and not shrink fron devising
policy which, without being oppressive to
the people, shall Immediately begin to effect
q reduction of the debt. and, if persisted in,
discharge it fully within a definitely fixed
number of years.
1t is our frs: duty to prepare in earnest
for our recovery from the ever-increasing
evils Of an irredeemable currency, without
a sudden revulsion, and yet without untime-
( ly procrastination, For that end we must,
each in our respective positions. prepare the
way. / bold it the duty of the Executive to
insist upon fIugality in the expenditures ;
and sparing economy is itself great na.
tional resource. Of the banks to which au-
thority has been given toissue notes secured
by bonds of the Unnitcd States. We may re
quire the greatest moderation and prudence.
and the law must be rigidIy enforced when
its limits are exceeded.
4 We NAV, each one of u.s. counsel our active
and enterprising countrymen to be constantly
on their guard, to liquidate debts contracted
in paper currency, and. by conducting busi-
nesp as nearly as possible on q system of cash
payments, or short credits to hold themselves
prepared to return to, the standard ofgold and
silver. To aid our fellow-oitizens in the pru-
dent management Of their monetary affairs,
the duty devolTes on to diminish. by law,
the amount of paper money now in circula-
ti9n.
Five years ago the bank note circulation
Of the country amounted to not much more
than two hundred millions. The simple
statement of the fact recommends moro
strongly than epy words of mine could do,
the necessity Of our restraining this expsn-
sion. The gradual reduction of the currency
is the only measure that can save the bus-
ness of the country from disastrous oalami-
ties and this san be almost imprsceptibly
accomplished by gradually funding the ma
tional circulation in securities that may be
made redeemabls at the pleasures of the
Government.
Onr debt is doubly secure-frss in the ac-
tual wealth aud still greater undeveloped re-
sources of the country aud next in the char
( acter Of our institutions. The most intelli-
gent observers among political economists
have failed to remark, that the public debt
Of country is safe in proportion as its peo-
ple are free that the debt of q republic is
the safest of all. Our history confirms and
establishes the theory, and is, firmly be-
lieve. destined to give it a still more signal
illustration.
The secret Of this superiority springs not
merely from the fact that in republic the
national obligations are distributed more
4 widely through countless numbers in all
classes of society; it has its roots in the char
acter of our laws. Here all men contribute
to the public welfare, and bear their fair
share of the public burdens. During the war,
under the impulses of patriotism, the men of
the great body of the people without regard
to their own comparative wan. of wealth.
thronged TO our armies and filed our he cts
I of war, and held themselves ready TO offer
their lives for the public good. Now, in
their turn, the property and income of the
country should bear their just proportion of
the burden of taxation, while In our impost
system. through means of which increased
vitality is incidentally i'm parted to oil the
industrial interests of the nation, tho duties
should be so adjusted as to fall most heavily
on articles Of luxury. leaving the necessaries
! of life as free from taxation as the absolute
/ wants OF the Government, economically ad-
ministered, will justify. No favored class
should demand freedom from assessment,
and the taxes shosld be so distributed as not
to fall unduly on the poor, but rather on
! the accumulated wealth of the country. We
should look at the national debt just as it is
! NOT as q national blessing. but as heavy
! burden on the industry of the country, to be
discharged without unnecessary delay.
1t is estimated by the Secretary of the
Treasury that the exdenditures for the fiscal
I year ending the Both of June. 1865, will ex-
4 coed the receipt Sll2 1914. .947. 1t is CRAFTY.
\ ing, however, that it is also estimated that
! the revenue for the year ending the 30th of
I June, 1867. will exceed the expenditures in
i the sum of S4l4, ,62S.S .Sl8. This amount. or
so much as may be deemed sufficient for the
! purpose, may be applied to the reduction of
! the debt, which. Oh the 3Ist day of October,
/ 1865, was S2,740, ,S54,759.
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