Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1865-12-16

also made in the report to the necessity OF pro-
yidipg for uniform militia system, and TO
the propriety Of making suitable pr,yils:ion ior
wounded and disabled officers and soldiers.
The revenue system of the country Is sub
iect of vital interest to its honor and prosper
ity and should command the earnest consid-
GRAFTON of Congress. The Secretary oil the
Treasury win lay before you z full and de-
tailed 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 for the other three quarters,
and the estimates for the year following the
30th of June. 1866. / might content myself
with reference to that report, in which you
will find all the information required for your
de ibeTations and decision But the paramount
Importance of the subject so presses Itself
on my own mind. that cannot but lay before
pou my views of the measures which are re-
quired for the good character, and, might
almost say, for the existence of this people.
The life of a Republic lies certainly in the en-
ergy, virtue and intelligence of its citizens;
but 1t is equally true that good revenue sys-
tenn is the life of an organized Government
meet you at a time when the nation has vol
unfairly bnrdened itself, with debt unprece-
dented in Onr annals. Vast as is it's amount,
it fades away into nothing when compared
with the countless blessings that will be con-
ferred upon our country and upon man by
the pre- ervation of the nations iife.. Now, on
the first occasion of the meeting of Congress
since the return of peace, 1t rs OF the utmost
importance TO inaugurate a just pollcy, which
shall at once be put in motion, and which shall
commend itself to those who come after us for
is continuance. We must aim at nothing less
than the complete placement of the financial
evils that necessarily follow a state of civil
war We must endeay0r to apply the earliest
remedy to the deraDged state IT the currency,
and not shrink from devisng a policy which,
without being oppressive to the people, shall
Immediately begin to effect reduction of the
debt, and, ii persisted in. discharge 1t 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 irredeemable currency, without Sudden
revulsiOn, and yet without untimely Pr ocrasti-
nation. For that end, we must, each in our
respective positions, prepare the way. hold
it the duty of the Executive to insist upon fru-
n llity in the expenditures; and a spaTlng econ
umv is itself great acknowledgements. or the
banks to which authority has been given to is-
sue notes, secured by bonds of the United
States, we may require the greatest mOdera
ton and prudence, and the law must be rigidly
enforced when it's limits are exceeded. We
may each one of us, counsel our active and
euterprising countrymen to be constantly on
their guard, to liquidate debts contracted in a
paper currency, and, by conducting business
| as nearly as possible on a system of cash pay
| ments or short credits, to hold themselves pre-
pared to return tn standard of gold and sill
YER To aid our fellOw-citiZens in the prudent
management of their monetary affairs, the du-
| ty devolves upon rs 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 more than two
hundrt Il millions; now the circulation, bank
and national, exceeds seven hundred mil ions
| The simple statement of the fact recommends
more strongly than any words OF mine coud
do, the necessity of our restraining this ex-
mansion. The gradual reduction of the cur
rency is the only measure that can save the
business of the country from disastrous ca
| lamities; and this can be almost imperceptibiy
ACCOMPLISHED by gradually funding the nation
| al circulation, in securities that may be re-
doemable at the pleasure of the Government
Our debt is donbly secure-lirst IN
| the acual wealth and still greater undevel-
| oped resources of the country; and next in
| the character of our institutions. The most
| intelligent observers among political econo-
mists have not failed to remark that the pub
| lie debt of a country ia safe in proportion as
its people are free; that the debt of a republic
| is the safest of all. Our history confirms and
establishes the theory, and is, firmly believe,
destined to give it still more signal iilustra-
| ton. The secret of this superiority springs
not merely from the fact that IN n republic the
national obligations are distributed more
widely through countless numbers in all class
| es of society; it has its root in the character
| of our laws. here all mon 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 DOuy Oh the ptOplo,
their own cOmpa' alive want OF wealth,
thronged to our armies and filled our fleets OF
war, and held themselves ready to offer their
lives for the public good. Now IN their turn,
| the property and income OF the conhtry
should bear their just proportion of the
burden of taxation, while IN our import sys-
| tenn through means of which increased vital
| ity is incidentally impaired to all the indus
trial interests OF the nation, the duties should
be so adjusted as to fall most heavily on arti-
~
|. free from taxation the absolute wants of
| the Government, economically administered,
will justify. No favored class should demand
| freedom from assessment, and the taxes
shOuld be so distributed as not to fall unduly
4 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 national
blessing, Int as a heavy burden on the indus
| try of the country, to be discharged with I'M
/ necessary delay.
| 1t IL estimated by the Secretary OF the
/ Treasury that the expenditures for the fiscal
| wear ending the Goth of June, 1866, will ex-
coed the receipts SIP, 1874, 947. 1t is crafty
ing, however, to state that it Ia also estimated
| that the revenue for the year ending the 30ih
/ of June, 1867, will exceed the expenditures in
| the sum of Sll $50, SlS This amount, or SO
much as may be deemed sufficient for the pur-
pose, may be applied to the reduction of the
| public debt, winch, on the 31st day of Octo-
Der, 1865, was $2,74O s54, $50 Every reduc-
ton will diminish the total amount of interest
| to be paid, and so 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 annual payments,
even within a period not exceeding thirty
years. have faith that we shall do all this
within q reasonable time; that, as we have
amazed the world by the suppression of a ciy-
| il war which was thought to be beyond the
control of any Government, so we shall equal
| " show tho superiority of our institutions by
| the prompt and faithful discharge of our ma
tional Obligations.
The Department. of Agriculture, under it's
present direction, is accomplishing much in
developing and utilizing the vast agricultural
capabilities of the country, and for information
respecting the details OF its management
reference is made to the annual report OF the
Commissioner.
have dwelt thus fully on our domestic af-
fairs because of their transcendant import
anee. Under any circumstances, our great ex
tent of territory and variety of climate, pro-
ducing almost everything that is necessary for
the wants, and even the comforts OF man.
make us singularly independent of the varying
policy of foreign Powers, and protect us
against every temptation to 'entanglng ALI
aEces while at tile present moment the re-
establishment of harmony, will be our best
security agar st ''natiops who feel power and
forget right" For myself, 1t has been and
it win be my constant aim to promote peace and
amity with all foreign nations and PeWers: and
] have every reason to believe that they all ,
without exception, are animated by the same
disposition. Our relations with the Emperor
Of China, so recent in their origin, are most
friendly Our commerce with his domlnioBs
is receiving new Developments; and it Is very
pleasing to find that the Government of that
great Empire manifests satisfaction with our
Dolicy and rennses inst confidence in the fair