The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1866-01-31

those who have ruled, and who would
have ruined our country, had it not beer
for the indomitable courage, unflinchipe
energy and patriotism of the people.
At the close Of the reign of Charlie.
I'd, the British debt only amounted to six
hundred andsixty-lour thousand two hun
dred and sixty-three pounds sterling
money but by the,Y year 1891, 1t had aug
! mented to three mitlion pounds ; and tk,
war with France, which commenced siz
years afterward, increased the debt tc
fourteen millions, at which figure it re
mained for three years; when the wal
of the Spanish succession increased it ia
thirty four millions. And the Spanish
war of the year l7lS, augmented the
debt to fifty y.iour million pounds, equal
to two hundred and fifty lone million foul
hundred and sixty thousand dollars
when the ministry of Robert Walpole
sanguine of success, determined to paw
off the debt. But, although favored by
eighteen years of uninterrupted peace, il
was only reduced eight million pounds,
equal to thirty-eight million seven hun.
dred and twenty thousand dollars And
the wars Of the Right of Search with
Spain, and of the Austrian Succession
left debt in l74S, Of seventy. five mil.
lion pounds sterling /; which for period
of seventy years.. put on end to all theo-
ries as to the payment of the nation.
al debt, although it then only amount
cd to three hundred and sixty three mil.
lion dollars, or about onethird tho sum
of our liquidated debt. After q short
respite, the seven years war broke out,
which swelled the English debt to one
hundred and fifty million pounds sterling.
An interval of thirteen years of peace
followed, which was succeeded by the
seven years war against the American
colonies, which left the debt at two hun.
drcd and forty million pounds. After
ten years of repose, the wars inaugura.
ted by the French revolution commenced,
and after twenty years Of conflict, Great
Britain found herself with debt OF
eight hundred and sixty millions pounds
sterling! British statesmen began TO be
alarmed at the danger of general bank.
ruptcy which might sweep away the Brit
ish throne and aristocracy, and during a
period of forty years, England INDUCED
in tho novelty of pesSc, and reduced her
| debt to soven hundred and sixty million
pounds; when the allied war against Rus.
sia again sweled it to eight hundred and
five million pounds, at about which figure
it now stands.
Here, then, citizens, in this mirror Of
the British funding system, We can see
reAectedthe fate Of our own country
Reputation is an evil which we all de-.
sire to see averted, and should such ca
Iamity ever befall our country, it will be
solely owing to unequal, and unjust, J0.
cause unequal, taxation.
-"When national debts" says Adam
Smith, "have accumulated to certain
degree, there is scarcely single instance
of their having been fairly and complete.
ly paid, The liberation Of the public
revenue, ifit has ever been brought about,
has always been brought about by bank
ruptcy, sometimes by au ayowed one; but
always by real one, though frequently
by pretended payment" y "The
Romans at the end of the first Punic war,
reduced the As, the standard coin, from
containing twelve ounces Of copper to
contain only two ounces. The law which
enacted it, was, like all other laws rela-
ting to coin, introduced and carried
through the Assembly of the people by
tribune, aud was probably a very popu.
| IGr law" "ln the course OF the
second Punic war, the AS, was reduced
to the twenty-fourlh part ,of its original
value" Sand even," says Smith, "tbe
enormous debt of Great Britain might he
paid in this manner" = "NatioDs,"
he says, have sometimes for the same pur.
pose adultcrated their coin-that is, have
mixed greater quantity Of alloy with it,
: Y "When King John of France, in
order to pay his debts, adulierated his
coin, all tho officers Of his Mint were
sworn to secrecy. And in the end of the
reign Of Henry the eighth, and in the
beginning Of the reign Of Edward The
9th, the English coin was not only raised
, in its denomination, but adult0rated in its
standard. And the like frauds we're prac
tioed in Scotland during the minority ol
James the Sixth, and have been occasion
ally practiccd in most other countries. y
And it is q remarkable fact, frequently
illustrated in history, that tho blotting
out of nations debt does not materially
prejudice a nations credit In treating
Of this subject, Jean Raptisto says, in biz
! admirable work on the science of Politi
| cal Economy, remarks, that "The mon
strous breach of faith on the part of the
French Government in l72l, in regart
to its paper money, and the Mississippi
share holders did not prevent the ready
negotiation OF loan oftWomillion lyre.
in lT59, nor did the bankrupt measure,
of the Able Feorral in l772, prevent thl
4 negotiation Of fresh loans in l77S, aut
every subsequent year,
Then, citizens ainpsmuch as the Ma
tioual debt is to bo perpetual, and as il
bears compound usurypit behooyes us Il
consider the means by which the psury
can be paid. 'l'.7 t'io i'4ofii- ~. .''
Heavy taxation is the logical and inev
table consequence Of heavy debt. Bu
what is taxation 1t is ths compulsory
taking from individualn, portion Of theil
Z property to be consumed for the public
purposea. Hence bv the navmnnt of The