Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1867-02-08
The Finances and Resumption Of specie
Payments.
SFEEcH BY Hon. J, 5. MORRILL, Oh VI.
n me House January 9th. 1867.

~ fNe HNANt january -tiH. lcOl.
Wemust look at the sober facts before US
The inevitable expenses of the Government
must be provided for. The interest on oul
public debt is estimated next year at $l05,
5jl ,jl2, and unless the perpetual papel
rropagandists shall prevail, upon the fnal
redemption Of the legal tender currency
this viii lie intimately increased about
twenty or twenty-five million dollars, or in
the aggregate more than our whole public
debt IN 1916. when it reached :he highest
point (Sl27 ,354, ,993) prior to the recent re-
bCllion.
Our Navy has been very largely increased,
and j. is not probable that 1t viii ever
shrinks to i. former narrow proportions. In
tli- Department our annual expenditure
VII lc S23, IA $40 81, or nearly twice as
much rs before the war. The re-
T guIar Army is now fixed at about ffty-four
l thousand men. but We have to provide for
u,aIiy ninety thousand for the coming year
F anu it must be kept capable Of instant and
f formidable expansion. The estimated cost
tjr the War Department the coming year
I Is SJS ,S0i Gj7 05. The extra bounty We
provided for last year will amount to $780,
/ Uo0,C00, al OF which Is yet to be paid.
TIE pension Appropriation, instead Of
clgosi4E lew heroes Of hundred years
. as li tie Revolution, and five Ur SIX thous-
[ and Scared soldiers OF ihe war Of 1872 and
I lo47, r0w embraces young men, but mutt
ia,ed iu service, in every city, town, and
village, ID The extent Of nearly one hundred
GnG twenty-five thousand and instead OF
less t-au q million dollars, as in 1862 now
ICQuirls SIS, IL ,-i4G, or as much as the
whole expenses If the Government in 1921
and lS25 Tie ness claims OF several States,
il thai % Missouri, already reported apon
az s. 600 ,000, may be regarded as fore
taste VIII weigh heavily upon the Treas
urY.
The indians. though reduced in numbers
since the advent Of the Pilgrim fathers from
not ltss than fifteen millions 10 two hundred
and Tuotv-fye thousand seTen hundred and
s-v5ntY-lQur, maintain their nOmadic and in
tuctahlc character, requiring for each mile
square oi territory for support where white
man would need but few acres, and beyond
this az annual and perpetual expendi ure Of
s., 500. 600 more, winch does not include the
large and ,ar.abie su--s II costs us out Of the
military chost 10 bosiow upon them, ior ia
lious provoked and unprovOked offenses, that
Christian chastisement which tie agents and
traders who snatch aud dey0ur our smiable
CHARITIES. think they need Las; year seven
t151-ani nine hundred and nine NavajOes
were held bY us &c priSoEers 10 New Mexico
al an expense Ol Sl,500,O00.
Tie Freedmen Bureau, in Proportion u
BE value AMI importance the most economic
al expenditure OF the Government. viii scst
iOf tle coming year Sl0,3j0, ,265 IS bot it
ha al expended fund on hand of two
jh.54s u this amount. The elevation Of the
Indian NAV Ne hopeless bu, fortunately the
imlF ssl-t..t ui igc millions Of the African
race De- possibility gDundsni.y assured.
N lta t.c uost lLl-Xlhl, ec0nJmy ,1uE entire /
bros gh- l.wu 10 any thing ike the old stand
all oi .iz,g or seventy millions Ier aaDum.
HCayy ta1. uou is at present unavoidable.
but tAl- uIA every year be sensibly dimIn-
ishel ly increased wealth and increased Do /
pu!atal. Our t.sk. il We are wise, will be /.
at lea-, ticnuially o. relieve something IRON I
taxation.
Al annual item. however, Is this year to .
e provided Tor. The Paris Exhibition will .
attract Americans ty Thousands snd ;here
.- some ground i9r the satire conveyed in the .
pretended cable dispatch, that Napoleon has .
sct apart i1lr Hcres as a grave ward for I
American visitors who may not survive. 1t .
viii a. a very moderate estimate TO calculate I
that scyCnty-ive thousand persons viii this /
year cross the Atlantic from the United /
State. -al ,ie cost viii not be less thrn |
81 500 each in gold, Ga tSta! Of SIP, ,500,- !
eco. which IN currency would be over .
$50 600 COO. This Will swallow up the /
entire production Of all our gold and silver 7
mines i1r ,hc year 10 come, OF, what is more
likely. ..s o.Iirlleut in United States bonds.
sac- l.-ia u.y Dc i!l timed. Ia, thfre is
nJ --c.l- lrJl. a..
-U1u that cXclliel, men entertain much .
le ia a. paper money. | confess to a
.-chsz .lnost Of modification in having the .
conviction ttat this question rtq iires sober
ar-. -..tn, .eiol- IN American Congress. /
N-r aly r.clt ol Amcrican iudGstTy can
lsI.4-e the clusc II an endless reign Of .
r-plr currency. Of which II takes one dollar .
and -airiy forty, Or ifty cents to buy a dol
llr ID specie, is 20 me incomprehensblc.
Iron SHIPS are rapidly coming into use, but .
tac. lla BE- LuU. abroad and employed for
cuc-ia alt tie price they cost here Will any
American build an iron ship3 Tenements
fIr rent, unless already built, are no longer
Ay0uic Investments for mun having capital,
s.4A"A AN i..HA AAiAn AusNo ANA lhulltAAN "
dulgc tre idea Of building house and a
home. although all other circumstances,
save only our deprecated currcacy, indicate
q disposition and warrant in all parts Of our
country, North and South. East and West,
90 start new industrial enterprises, yet few
such are actually started. Men will not in-
vest expecting five years lence to lose one
Lsli Of the sum invested
Raw material has been consumed and labor
has advanced, bat prices of finished manu-
factLTes lave rccedod and are still rectdiny.
Many mills have already suspended, and
Others are working on short time. Certain
iy to embark in any new enterprise Is DEEM
ed hazardous. Neither the grest attractions
oil the West nor Of the South can overcome
thS dreaded longevity Of the race Of green
backs" The bare difference in the cost Gf |
the permanent capital Of English wOollen
manu- iacturiug establishments and An erican
gives 10 the Engl sh the mastery and ample
dividends SIX years ago a wOOllen mill
that would cost 81 goo 600 IN New York or
New England, could have been put up, so
much cheaper are raw materials and labor
for S5uO,OOo in England. Permanent in |
ytstmlni5 there winch yieli three and half |
FER cent. Ter annum are satisfactory. Here |
seven Icr cent. PER annum is the least that |
would tempt capital to such enterprises, or
that would anywhere be voluntarily accepted. |
To-day the prices Of bricks, iron, machinery
and llb0I have so largely increased that |
such an establishment would have coet near /
ly double what it would six years ago. or I
8, 900, ,0O0.-The interest upon this sum /
would be $4,000 Ter annum but the in
terest Of the British establishments $780, !
geo at three and a half per CENTS no
more than $l7 500. Here is 1922 500 per
annum in favor Of the British manufactur-
er, sum sufficient for very respectable diyi
deuds, certainly, on a capital Of S500,000 |
Is II any wonder that we have an extraor-
dinary influx Of British goods, or that all
Europe last year was swept to furnish Am
criean markets?
an 10 defender of the politics Of the
Secretary of the Tresury. They have been
and are as distasteful to me as to any of my
friends. lie is not, however, the FIRST man
who has sought distinction in a role for