The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-05-19
Mr.. Gladstone on National Debts.


From the World
The most noteworthy utterance tif one would
but take the trouble to reflect little upon it)
made by any statesman, in this age, is that part
of Mr.. Gladstone's recent speech, in which he
touches on what he calls "the chapter of national
debts" 1t is, in substance, a confession that
ENGLAND has reached the summit OF her great
ness; that she will presently be on the declivity
towards a subaltern rank; that she is now better
able TO bear the weight Of her colossal debt than
she will be two generations hence that unless she
takes advantage Of her present prosperity to re-
duce 1t, she will eventually be crushed under
the burden. The handspring Of England's great
ness is her steam,engiDes We have no sta
tstics showing their number, but 1t is
probably safe conjecture to place it from thirty
to nifty thousand. The labor done by these
exceeds that done by all the human muscles in
the United Kingdom. 1t is these which enable
her to undersell all nations, to command all
markets, to gather into her Golfers the best share
OF the profits OF the commerce of the whole
world Stop all those herculean nOn-cORSumiRg
workers, which, unlike the lilies OF the field,
both toll and spin, but are arrayed in less clotn
ing than a tropical savage-let those stop, aud
the proud rank of England will have departed
forever. But what keeps them IN motion! The
English coal-beds. England outrivals the whole
world in ail the coarser manufactures because
her coal-beds lie so near the surface, and in
such proximity to her metallic mines, that the
natural cost OF propell1ng machinery and smelt-
ing ores is less in England than in any other
country on the globe. But her drafts on her
coal mines are so enormous that they a1e rapidly
approaching exhaustion. In one or two gene
rations more she will have to bring up coal from
such depths, and at such expense, that steam
engines can be driven more Cheaply in other
countries than IN England and then the United
States will crowd her out OF all the markets OF
the world, aud confne her to her own islands
This result is as inevitable tate although it is
lmDOScibln Drp0int
| 1t is not in the order oil Providence that coal
| and other mineral riches should have been so
protusely distributed in various quarters of the
| world, yet the supply in one petty spot be the
! permanent resource of the whole worlds indus
try. II all the coal in the earth's crust had been
| oeposited in one country, and that country
| England, her supremacy in wealth and industry
| would be as lasting as the human race. But as
1t is, England is destined TO occupy a relation TO
| industrial development similar to the historical
| relation OF Palestine to religion, and of ancient
Greece to Intellectual culture-givlpg an im.
| pulse and setting an example whose force will
| not be spent till the end of the world, but
! retiring herself to comparative insignfcance
| The Importance of the Christian religion bears
| no proportion to the geographical area of Paes-
tine, nor the influence OF esthetic culture to the
area OF Greece In like manner, England small
| in extent, is the parent of movement which
| assures to her in history preeminence whose
| brightness will not be effaced, even when
| she shall be reduced TO rank in commerce,
| industry, and wealth, similar to that OF modern
| tine in religious life. ..
The mission of Great Britain is one of the
| most glorious in the annals of mankind. The
| first TO reconcile political freedom with order
| and stability; the FIRST to recognize and adopt
the principles of free trade; the first to discover
| and apply the expansive force OF steam; the
| country of Adam Smith and James Watt, the
| two mightest names in what is most peculiarly
modern in the modern world, she has contrI-
! buted more to carry the human race forward
than any other nation of modern times. But
! although her relative rank will necessarily de-
cline, she will oe eclipsed only by the fruits of
her own discoveries, the influence Of her own
| example, and the spread of principles which
| she was the first to act upon.
| Not only will the approaching exhaustion of
| her cheap coal supply displace England from
| her commercial supremacy, but her relative
| rank will also decline by the approaching inde-
pendence OF her colonies. Even at present
| they make no direct contribution to her re-
venue. Although her territorial possessions are
almost boundless, her taxes are all levied ON the
| inhabitants of the British Islands. Our own
| successful revolt against imperial taxation
| taught her memorable lesson; and, instead of
attempting to tax her remaining colonies she
avowedly regards them as in a state of political
| puplage, out of which they will sooner or later
| emerge to full independence At present they
| contribute to her wealth by the produce of their
| markets, and by the return to ENGLAND of men
| who have been most successful in the colonies,
| bringing their wealth with them. As the colo
| nies become independent, the home yearning
towards England will become extinct, and
| social as well as political ambition will seek
| qualification in posts under the new national
| Governments England will have exhausted her
| STRENGTH in becoming the mother of great
| nadons-the United States being the eldest born
| and the most powerful-aDd viii pass, by
| gradual decline, into the decrepitude of vene-
| Table and venerated old age.
The English journals are reasonably struck
: with the dIsproportion between Mr.. Gladstones
premises and the practical superstructure he
proposes to build on them. If in half a century,
| the British debt will be too heavy to be borne,
| and ought, therefore, to be greatly reduced
| while the sources of British wealth are vet I'M
| exhausted, the proposal TO pay it at the rate of
| one million year is indeed, most lame and
| impotent conclusion, The probabilities are,
that the debl OF Enc landWl never be very greatly
| reduced, and that when the enhanced cost OF
| running her steem engines begins to transfer
| the great seats OF manufactures 10 THIS country,
| the crushing burden of her debt will cause pro-
| perty and population to emigrate 10 such an eX-
tent that the debt will be ultimately repudiated
| Mr.. Gladstone's account OF our own debt,
| though accurate enough in words, is calculated
to give an erroneous Impression. The rapldity
of Its accumulation is, no doubt, marvel; but
| the wonder is considerably reduced If we will
| but recollect that IL was incurred In currency
/ so enormously inflated that gold sold, at one
| time during the war, at 2sE. We have paid, on
| the average twice the ordinary prices for the
| articles we have consumed during the war. Mr..
| GlaIstone's astonishment at the amount of our
| revenue admits of a similar qualification. A
| farmer who gets a thousand dollars for crops
| which, ,in!ordinary times, bring him only five hun
| dred can pay very hin nominal taxes. Our reve-
| nues are tall by walking on tip-toen By calling
fifty cents dollar we have made sum which is
| really large seem enormous. With return to
| ordinary prices, our taxes must be either re-
| duced or become oppressive II our debt which