Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1868-10-08

in every vein with inexpressible Indignation
How long, oh how long, shall this noble old
Commonwealth bear the burden OF such afro
cious shame?-Rica. Eng.
VII 1e ). Walker ON the Finances.
Extract from a letter dated Washington, DC
tober 6, 1868, from Mr.. r. j. Walker, late
Secretary of the Treasury, to o friend in
Philadelphia:
''Iu reply to your inquiry, / would say, that
the table OF the public debt Of the United
States at various periods, referred to in the
National Inteiligcncer Of yesterday morning,
is accurate in all respects, having been taken
from the books of the United States Treasury.
You ask Lie If it is fact that ehe annual ex-
penditures Of the Government have been IN
creased as thercin stated, oyer torty-slX mil
lions of dollars, (S46, 056, 500 by an augmen,
tation to that extent, OF the yearly interest IN
currency, of the public debt since Both April,
1865. I answer, that it is an indisputabe fact,
and. I will add that from careful considera-
tiou of the condition of the Treasury, it is
clear, that this annual interest will 90 on In,
creasing. 1t is possible that there may be
small reduction OF the public debt last month,
but this reduction, if made, will be in debts
bearing mainly no interest, or 10 war claims
withheld, whilst the debt bearing coin interest,"
will be augmented.
THAT there is an increased yearly expendl-
ture, exceeding forty-six millions OF dollars
since April go, 1865, to meet the augmented
interest as currency Of the public debt, Is
certain This is the true test of our financial
condition, and, to me, it seems certain, that
nothing but total change Of policy will save
US from national bankruptcy. This change OF
policy Dlust be based upon vast decrease OF
cur annua! expenditures, as recommended in my
financial letter in November last. We must
abolish the Freedmen's Bureau we must re-
call'thc army from the South and reduce 1T to
q moderate peace establishment. We must
terminate the joint rule Of the negro and the
bayonet, land, slavery and secession having
been forever abandoned permit the Southern
States, in obedience to the Federal Constltu-
ton, to govern themselves as before the rebel
lion TIE fact OF this vast increase OF the an
nual interest of the public debt is not dis
puted question. 1t rests on transcripts from
the books Of the Treasury, and cannot be de-
MED. This item Of expenditures for the in
creased annual interest Of the public debt Is
nearly equal to double the entire yearly expen-
ditures OF Mr. Folks administration before the
Mexican war, and nearly equal to its subse-
auent annual expenditures including the war,
and heavy payments for the principal and in
terest of the public debt But even if we take
the goth of November last, the date Of the
last annual report of the Secretary OF the
Treasury, We find the increased annual interest,
as currency, of the public debt $26, STA 329
from the 30tn OF November last (lS67) to the
3lst OF August, 1868, being an augmentation
at the rate Of three millions of dollars month,
or thirty-six millions of dollars a year. At
this rate of increased annual expenditure for
interest only on the Goth of November, 1869,
little over year, this single item OF yearly
disbursements would reach seventy. two millions
of dollars. 1t is clear, then, that the Radical
policy leads rapidly and certainly to national
bankruptcy, and that nothing can save US but
a change of men and measures"
VIRGINIA LANDs.-Th New York Mercan-
tile Journal says that "Virginia lands are loom
ing up in the market. The party of Pennsyl-
vania capitalists, who went through the Old
Dominion, last year, made known to The coun-
try some Of the advantages to be derived from
colonization there, and now, a company OF
German gentlemen have returned from still
longer and more thoroughly investigating tour,
delighted with the soil, climate, scenery and
agricultural and mlnera! resources OF Virginia.
This has set inquiry agoing, and holders Of
old land warrants are in haste to locate them
in unoccupied hooks and corners of the grand
old Commonwealth. And what a magnificent
country lies open for denser settlement and
better cultivation all the way South from Bal
timore through Maryland and Virginia to the
mountains Of North Carolina. When our
Northern soldiers passed along in the vicinity
of Baltimore and Harper's Ferry in the Spring
of 1861, at the outbreak of the war, they call
ed it the Promised Land, so impressed were
they by its matchless beauty and fertility
Would that the opening of 1869, might see
another 800, 900 marching on Southwark with
the implements of peace in their hands, re-
lieving our overcrowded cities, and replenish-
ing those unoccuEied plains and valleys p
But few women have appeared With the
"bend" in this city yet, but some men are