Baton Rouge tri-weekly gazette & comet., 1865-07-15

Herald, for paying off the national
debt by individual subscriptions, is
a big thing if it will only work. We
have heard nothing OF it very re-
Gently, but few weeks since. accord
ing to statements made in the Herald.
some three millions We think, had
already been subscribed. Assuming
our national debt to be three thou
sand millions, and that in the process
of acquittance therefrom an average
sum Of fifty millions per annum IA
huge estimate, by the by,) could be
realized in accordance with Mr.. BEN
NETr's plan, space OF threescore
years would suffice to lift this bur
then Of debt completely from the
shoulders OF the nation An early
succeeding generation Of the genus
Yonng America would then start
ont unclogged by onerous taxation
already "booted and spurred" to
run its race Of destiny. aud perhaps
(altholgb we earnestly pray not,)
electrify the world by some utopian
scheme Of wanting ambition" which
''o'erlsaping ITSELF" may plunge anew
the country into sxcesses OF mad
dened strife, aud pile up another tire
mendous debt. eclipsiug il possible,
the present modest one Of only three
thousand millions. .'
It is hardly susceptible Of proba'
bility that BENEFITS project will
amount to any great thing in the end.
however much its novelty may please
or its success be hoped for. Ema-
mating from source so purely sensa-
tional, people are apt TO judge of it
in the light of "nine days bubble"
and to rate its feasibility accordingly,
without the trouble Of further inves-
tigation. But, nevertheless, it may
not be inappropriate to hazard certain
speculations on the bare possibility
Of success which might attend q per-
sistent effort to relieve the nation OF
its debt in the manner prescribed.
When we come 10 consider the
quantities of wealth concentrated in
the hands of the rich Northern mer-
chants, bankers and manufacturers,
who, instead of having suffered DESC
Iation and ruin from the war, have
profted therefrom to degree Of opu-
lence hitherto unknown in this coun-
try we can almost discern in that
source alone, an inexhaustible Ophir
of riches whence might be drawn, if
patriotic incentives could prompt it,
the aggregate required Tor " footing"
the bills of the nations indebtedness
ia all their entirety. What sub
liz ne spectacle it would be to see those
men Of mighty means come forward
with one accord and put their shoul-
dbrs to the wheel to rid the nation
Of its incubus of debt, Were it nec-
essary to enlarge the scale of opera
tions so as to include all, rich as well
as poor, each subscribing TO the pa.
triotic measure IN proportion to his
means, the grandeur Of the spectacle,
in which a q whole people were par
ticipants, would be unparalleled.
But. while such schemes must re-
main for long while in abeyance,
being Of the kind
"Tbst keep the word Of promise TO The sar
And break u 10 shs hope"
the old process of taxation will 90
on, the burden Of which, in the opin-
ion Of some Of our politico-economists,
will become "small Of degree and
beautifully less" as the vast agricul'
turaI, mineral and industrial resources
Of the country develop themselves.
The Hon. JoHN SHERMAN, of
Ohio, said in a recent speech, that
our national debt, upon the basis of
the present tax laws, will bs paid OF
in twenty-five years. and without
depressing any branch Of industry.