The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1868-11-03

mrnst soon oyertake us and involve the country
in its paralyzing and disastrous results Il
however. a wise economy be adopted, the taxes
NAV soon be materially reduced, not merely Ior
the benefit of few, but in the interest of all
A revenue would yet remain sufficient Tor the
administration of the government, as web as 1or
such reduction of the public debt as would IN
few years relieve the people from millions Oh
interest now annually drawn from their resources.
The idea that the debt is to become permanent
should at all times discountenanced, as IN
volving taxation too heavy to be borne, and pay
mentof an amount in interest every sixteen years
equal to the original sum- The gradual liquida-
ton of the public debt would by degrees release
the large capital invested in the securities of the
government, which, seeking remuneration in
other sources of income, would add to the wealth
| of the nation, upon which it is now so great
drain This immense debt, if permitted to be-
| come permanent and increasing, must eventually
be gathered into the hands OF the few and enable
| them to exert dangerous and controlling power
| in the affairs of the government The debtors
would become the servants of the lendcrs-the
creditors the masters of the people. 1t is now
/ our boast that we have given freedom TO three
millions of slaves it will then be our shame that
by their own liberation of usurpatlon and pro,
Aicacy forty millions Of people have enslaved
taskmasters in the shape of bond holders and tax
CATERERS Hence the vital issue whether Con-
gress and its arbitrary assumptions OF authority
shall supersede the supreme law OF the land
whether in time of peace the country shall be
controlled by multitude of tax-collectors and
) standing army-the one almost as numerous as
the other, and making the debt permanent
burden upon the productive industry OF the poo
nile: or whether the constitution, with each and
all of it's guarantees shall be sacredly preserved
4 whether now as in 1889 and 1916, ProvisIor
shall be made for the payment Of our obligations
at as early period practicable, that the trnit
G of their labors may be enjoyed by our citizens
rather than used to build up and sustain !
n moneyed monopoly at home and abroad, lh'
S contest is not merely who shall occupy the prin
Il cipal offices in the peoples gift, but whether tE
= hirh behests Of the federal constitution shall b
e observed and maintained in order that our liber
f. ties may be preserved the un ion OF the State
n restored that our federal system may be unln
e paired fiaternal feeling re established, that on
!, national strength may be renewed; the expend
lures diminished, that taxation may be lghtenet
4 and the PUBLIC debt once more extingnlshes
st that it may not I'M uriouslyl affect the life an
y energy, the prosperity and morals Of the nation
t. Believing that for the redress of the gre;
re wrongs and the correction OF the many abq
y under which the country rs now tborrng, v
at must look to the American people, and that
"a them is our hope. - -..:-.~,-,..Es
[ am; very truly, your friend, -rs1- 49,
OF .s..s'a~a' 49, ANDREW JOHNSON.
Ell General Thomas Ewing. X ...rg --a. s,-