The Union flag. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1865-187?, 1865-12-15

erations OF the general administrative Bureau;
oil the War Department during the past yeal
are detailed, and an estimate made of the an
preparations that will be required for mlitar,
purposes In the fiscal year commencing tn,
goth day OF June, 1866. The national mill
tary force on the, LIST Of May, 1866, numberet
l,ooo,ols men. It is proposed to reduce the
military establish,ent 10 q peace footing
compromising fifty thousand troops of ali
arms, Organized so aa to admit Of an Charge,
ment by filling up the ranks TO eigh,y.twc
thousand six hundred, If the circumstance
OF the country should require an augmeato.
ton OF the army. The volunteer force has al.
ready been reduced by the Discharge from
service ofover eight hundred thousand troops
ana the Department is proceeding rapidly in
the work Of further reduction. The war es
Inmates are reduced from S5l6,24O l3l tc
S3s3l4 i6l, which amount, in the opinion Of
the Department, is adequate for peace es.
Establishment. The measures for retranch.
ment in each Bureau sad branch of the ser.
vice exhibit diligsnt economy worthy o.
commendation. Reference Is also made in the
report to the necessity Of providing for uni.
form militia system, and TO the propriety Of
making suitable provision for the wounded
The revenue system of the country Is o
subject OF vital Interest TO its honor and pros.
perity, 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-
l'ments of the last fiscal year, of the first quar-
ter Of the present fiscal year, of the probable
receipts and expenditures for the ether three
! nd In f,r ba Col
lowing the goth of June, 1866. might con-
| tent myself with reference TO that report in
| which YOU will find all the information re-
quired for your deliberations and decision.
! But the-paramount.r Importance of the sub
| ject so presses itself on my mind, that can
not but lay before You my views OF the mea-
surea which are required i3r the good char
! acter, and might also say, tor the existence
of this people. The life Of u repuSlic lies GER
tainly in the energy, virtue, and intelligence
Of its citizens; but it is equally true that
| good revenue system is the life ofan organ
| lied governmental meet you at a time when
thcnation has voluntarily burdened itself with
a debt unprecedented in our annals. Vast as
MS is its amonnt, it fades away into nothing
when compared with tie countless blessings
that will be conferred upon our country and
upon man by the preservation of the ma
tons life. Now, on the first occasion Of
the meeting Of Congress- since The return Of
peace it is of the utmost Importance to
inaugurate 4 just policy, which shall at
once be put in motion, and which shall
commend itself to those who come after
US for its continuance. We must aim at
nothing less than the complete clfacement Of
the financial evils that necessarily followed
state of civil war. We must endeayor to
apply the earliest remedy to the derangcd
state of the currency, and net shrink from
devising q policy which. without being OPP
prcssive to the people, shall Immediately be-
gin to effect II reduction Of the debt, and, if
persisted in, discharge it fully within de-
iinitely fixed numbcr of years.
1t is our first duty to prepare in earnest for
our recovery from the cyer-increasing evils
Of an irrcdeemable currency, without sud-
den reyusion, and yet without untmely pro-
crastination. For that end, we must each
in our respective positions, prepare the way.
hold it the duty of the Executive to insist
upon frugalty in the expenditures; and n
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, Ne may require the
greatest moderation and prudence, and the
law must be rigidly enforced when lis limits
are exceeded. Wemay, each one of us, coun-
sci our actiye and entcrprising countrymen
to be constantly on their guard, TO liquidate
debts contracted ina paper currency, and, by
conducting business as neatly as possible on
systc,u OF cash payments or short credits,
to hold themselves prepared to return to the
standard of gold and silver. To aid our EEL
low-c,i1ens in the prudent management of
their monetary affairs, the duty deyolycs on
US to diminish by law the amount of paper
currency now in circulation. Five years ago
the bank note circulation of the country
amounted to not much more than two hun
bred millions; new 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 ex~
pansiou. The gradual rcdustion of the cur
rcnCy Is the Gully measure that can save the
Business OF the country from disastrous cal
antilles aud this can be almost impercepti-
bly, accomplished bp gradually funding the
national circulation in securities that may be
made rcdccmablo AZ the pleasure Of the Gov
eminent.
Our debt IS dou'ly sccurc--fr5t in the ac-
tua wealth and still greater unJcyeloped re-
sources Of tho coUutry and next In the
character Of our institutions. The most in
telligcnt observers among political economists
bayc not failed to remark; that the public
debt OF country is safe in proportion as its
people arc free that tho debt of n republic Is
the safest of all Our history confirms and
establishes the tbeory,,an is, ! firmly believe,
destined 10 rive il n still more SIGNAL illns-
tration The secret Of this superiority springs
not merely from the fact that ina 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 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 want of wealth, throng-
cd to our armies and filed our fleets Of war,
and held themselves ready to offer their lives
ltr tho public good. Now IN their turn, the
rro.oIty and income OF the country should
bear tier just proportion of the burden Of
taxation wtic In our impost system, through
means OF wIich increased vitality is incident
ally Unmarried to all the industrial interests of
tho nation, tho t.Hties should he 90 adjusted
rs to fall most heavily on articles Of luxury,
leaving the nocessariet Of life as free from
taxation MS the absolute wants Of the Gov.
crnmcnt economically administered, will
justify No favored class should demand
freedom from assessment, and the. taxes should
be so distributed rs not TO fall unLuly on the
poor, but rather on the accumulated wealth