Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1866-09-12
NATIONAL POLITICS.
THE CAMPAIGN IN OHIO.
Able Review Of the Situation.
SHEECH BY HON. ]. A. GARFIELD.
Delivered at Warren, o. Sept. 1, 1866.

/ OOu. OdTuOlu Opcu6u Inc CdAupdlSu III
his district at Warren, Ohio, on Saturday,
when he delivered the following speech /:
FELLOW CITIZENS The great conflict
of arms through which the nation has
passed, the many and peculiar conse-
quences resulting therefrom, and especi-
ally the new duties -devolYing upon the
people, must, for the present and for
many years to come, be the chief topic
of political discussion. The stupendous
facts of the rebellion overshadow and in
volve all other political considerations,
and the new problems arising out of the
contest are beset with difficulties of unu-
sual magnitude. The work of oVercom-
ing these difficulties and solving these
problems has been committed by the
good people of the United States to their
representatives in the executive, legisla-
tive and judicial departments of the Fed
eral Government, and some progress has
been made during the past year. l shall
undertake to prove to you, my fellow
citizens, what progress the servants of the
people haYe made in the discharge of
these high duties. l shall speak of the
progress made during the past year in
1. Our financial affairs
II. Our military affairs;
III. The restoration of the States late
ly in rebellion.
The pecuniary cost of the war was
enormous, and without parallel in his
tory. 1t is impossible even to compre-
hend the sum expended. 1t can only be
understood when compared with other
expenditures. In the statements l shall
make concerning the cost Of the war, let
it be remembered that / do not include
the loss occasioned by the withdrawal of
more that two millions of laborers from
industrial pursuits, nor the vast sums ex-
pended by States, counties, cities and in
diViduals in payment of bounties and for
the relief of sick and wounded soldiers
and their families, nor the larger losses,
that can never be estimated, of property
destroyed by hostile armies. The cost of
which l shall speak is only that which
appears on the books of the Federal
Treasury. For thelast three-quarters of
century the debt of Great Britain has
been considered the financial wonder of
the world. That debt, which had its orr
gin in the revolution of 1858, was swelled
by more than one hundred years of wars,
and other political disasters, till, in 1893,
it had reached the sum of one thousand |
two hundred and sixty-eight millions of |
dollars. From that time till 1915, pc
riod of twenty-five years of terrible war,
was engaged in life and death |
struggle with Napoleon-the greatest
war of history, save our oWn-and at its
close in 1915 she had added three thous-
and and fifty-six millions of dollars to her
debt, sum which all the world thought
must bring her to financial ruin. From
.he Both day of June, 1860, to the 30th
lay of June, 1865, the expenditures of the
Government of the United States were
more than three thousand five hundred
millions. That is, in FIVE years, we in
creased our debt FIVE hundred millions
more than England had hers in twenty
two years of her greatest war, almost as
much as she did in one hundred and
years of war.
But let US compare ourselves with our
selves. Our official records show that the |.
total cost OF our war of Independence was
l35 millions, and the total expenditures
of the Federal Government from the
meeting of the first Government on the
4th of March, 1889, to June 30th, 1860, |
was 2,0l5 millions of dollars, making the |
total expenditures from the beginning of
the revolution in IT'S to the beginning |
Of the rebellion, 2,150 millions of dollars. |
That is, the expenses of the last five years |
nave been J, $50 millions more than all |
our olner expenses since the Government
was founded.
According to the census of 1860, the
total value OF all the real and personal
property of the United States was sixteen
billions of dollars. The cost of the war
was more than three and half billions
that is every 1,600 dollars worth of prop
erty in the U. S. was mortgaged for
the payment of $50 dollars of the public
debt. This debt is the money pricewhich
the nation pledged to save its existence,
and we are bound by every consideration
of gratitude, honor and patriotism to re-
deem that pledge, principal and interest,
to the utmost farthing. The loyal peo-
pie have accepted the responsibility, and
have cheerfully consented to bear the
burden of such taxes as would hardly
be endured by any other people. Indeed
q leading English journal has recently de-
clared that if Parliament should impose