Civilian & telegraph. [volume] (Cumberland, Md.) 1859-1875, 1865-12-14
Presidents Message concluded from first page

Il festoeW IheSsuyo CT'etaoe" 'o"' jaw f~'N
The revenue system of the country is a sub
ject of vital interest to its honor and prosperi-
ty, and should command the earnest conside-
ration of Congress The Secretary of the
Treasury will lay before you full and de-
tailed report of the receipts and disbursements
of the last fiscal year, of the first quarter OF
tie present fiscal year, of the probable receipts
and expe nditures for the other three quarters
and the estimates for the year following the
3Oth of June, 1866. might content myself
with reference to that report, in which you
will find all the information required for your
deliberations and decision. But the para
mount Importance Of the subject so presses
itself on my own mind, that ] cannot but lay
before you ny views Of the measures which
are required for the good character, and,
might almost say, FOX the existence Of this
people. The life Of republic lies certainly
10 The energy, virtue, and intelligence of its
citizens; but it is equally true that coed
revenue system is the life Of an organized
government. meet you at time when the
nation has voluntarily burdened itself with
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 uIon our country and upon
man By the preservation of the nations life
Now, on the first occasion of the meeting of
Congress since the return of peace, it is of the
utmost Importance to inaugurate just policy
which shall at once be put in motion, and
which shall commend itself to those who come
af.er us for its continuance. We must aim
at nothing less than the complete placement
of the financial evils that necessarily followed
a state of civil war We must endeavar to
apply the earliest remedy to the deranged
state of the currency. and not shrink from de-
vising a policy which, without being oppres-
sive to the people, shall Immediately begin to
effect a reduction Of the debt, and, if persisted
In, discharge it fully within definitely fixed
number Of years.
1t is our first duty to prepare in earnest for
our recovery from the ever-increasing evils OF
an irredeeinablc currency, without sudden
revulsion and yet without untimcly procras-
tnation. For that end we must, each in our
respective positions prepare the way: ! hold
it the duty Of tie Executive to insist upon
frugalty in the expenditures; and sparing
economy is itself great national resource.
OF the banks to which authority has been
given to issue notes secured by bonds of the
United States, we may require the greatest
moderation and prudence, and the law must
be rigidlv enforced when It's limits are exceed,
ed. We may, each one Of us, counsel our
active aud entcrprising countrymen to be
constantly on their guard, to liqndatc debts
nearly os possible on system of cash pay
Iuens or short credits. to hold themselves
prepared to return to the standard Of gold and
silver. To aid our fellow citizens in the pru-
dent management of their monetary affairs
tho duty devolves on us to diminish by law
the amount of paper money now in circulation
Five wears ago the bank-note circulation OF
the country amounted to not much more than
two hundred millions; now the circulation,
bank and national, exceeds seven hundred
millions The simple statement of the fact
recommends more strongly than any words Of
mine could do the necessity Of our restraining
this expansion. The gradual reduction oil
the currency is the only measure that can save
the business of the country from disastrous
calamties; and this can be almost impercepti-
bly, accomplished by gradually funding the
national circulation in securities that may be
made redccmablo at the pleasure of the Gov.
eminent
Our debt is doubly secure--frst in the nc.
tual wealth and still greater undeyclopcd re-
sources of the country; and next in the char
acter ofo institutions. The most intelligent
observers among political economists have not
failed to remark that the public debt Of a
country is safe in proportion as its people arc
free, that the debt Of Il republic is the safest 0!
all Our history confirms and establishes the
theory, and is, FIRMLY believc, destined to
give it still more signal illustration. The
,ccret Of this superiority springs not merely
obligations are distributed more widely
through countless numbers in all classes Of
society; it has its root in the character of our
laws. Here all men contribute to the public
burdens. During the war, under the inpul-
SEES OF patriotism, :he men of the great body
of the people, without regard 10 their own
comparative want Of wealth, throngcd to our
armies and filed our fleets of war, and held
themselves ready to oEer their lives for the
public good Now, in their turn, the pro-
pcrty 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 impart-
ed to all the industrial interests Of the nation
the duties should be so adjusted as to fall mos!
heavily on articles Of luxury, leaving the
neccssarios of lie as free from taxation as the
absolute wants of the Government, cconomi-
ca!iy administered, will justify. No favored
class should demand freedom from assessment
and the taxes should be so distributed as not
to fall unduly on the poor, but rather on the
accumulated wealth Of the country. We
should look ut the national debt just as it is
not as a rational blessing, but as heavy
burden on the industry Of the country. to be
discharged without unnecessary delay.
It is estimated by the Secretary of the
Treasury that the expenditures for the fiscal
year ending the 30th of June, 1866 will ex-
coed the receipts $ll2, 1891 1t is graft
flying, however, to state that it is also esti-
mated that the revenue for the year ending
the 30th Of June, 1867, will exceed the ex-
pcnditures in the sum of Sill ,GS2, S1S. This
amount, OF. so much as may be deemed suif-
cient for. the purpose. may be applied to the
reduction of the public debt, which. on the
3lst day Of October, 1865; was $2.740. $751;
$50. Every reduction will diminish the to-
tai amount Of interest to be paid, and enlarge
the means of still further reductions, until the
whole shall be liquidated; and this, as will
be seen from the estimates of the Secretary of
the Treasury. may be accomplished by annu-
y Al.