The National tribune., 1884-10-23
A SHORT CATECUISM,
Whot uas the financial condition of this cotnltr

| What uGs the financial condition Of this coaltr
at The beginning of the ,car'
Very bad, indeed. Before the war broke ou
| the Government had to stand a shave of nearl.
| IL per cent. on a small loan it made. and afte
| the firing on Fort Sumter its credit became
very much worse. All the people of Europe
| all those in the South, and a large portion o
those in the North were confident not only
that there would be division between thC
North and South, but that the North would
again break up into "New England Confed
eracy," middle States Confederacy," {
Western States Confederacy," a Pacific
Coast Union" and then again into still smaller
fragments, until there would be as many little
puny Governments north of Mason & Dixon's
Line as there were in Germany in the begin
ming of this century.
What acouId hare been the effect on all kinds o.
property of such breaking up?
Exceedingly bad. All manner of business
would have been so demoralizcd by it as to be
in reality ruined. Merchandising would have
been destroyed by the loss of markets, and the
barriers to transportation and intercourse.
Manufactures would have been in like state,
railroads would been rendered valueless by en-
countering frontiers every few miles, and as
farm products could only be moved to market
little, because of the upheaval, the enormous
taxes, and the great number Of soldiers and
officials that would have to be maintained.
What prereated all this train Of erilsP
The courageous self-sacrifiee of hundreds of
thousands of young men, who left all the COM
forts and safety of their homes, who turned
their backs on all chances for money getting
and advancement in life, to devote years to
the terrible tolls and dangers of conquering
the enemies who were striving for the Nations
destruction.
What erideace do ,re hare of the greatness Of the
emergeRcy9
During that time every newspaper in the
country, every speaker on the stump, every
orator in Congress constantly declared that
unless our men in the field won victory the
country would be irrecoverably ruined.
What further eridencee
The fluctuations of the price of gold. Gold
is the worlds measure of values. When the
work of subduing the rebellion seemed to be
hopeless, the price of gold ran up until it indi-
Gated that the utter extinction of our values
was threatened. The variations in the price
of gold showed that whenever we gained vic
tory the valuation of every mans property in
creased, and when we lost battle it lessened.
Did not the youag men acho composed the armies
Shog roRdeTf,a consistency as weH as cOHrages
Their fortitude and persistency amazed the
world. Never were men called upon to fight
SO many battles in the same length of time, or
in any time Never were armies called upon
to do SO much fighting and marching from the
time they entered the field until the victory
was won There was continual expectation
on the part of Europeans that the Union
armies would go to pieces after some of the ter
rible battles, and the men refuse to endure
any more slaughter. 1t did not seem as if it
were in human nature to bear up under such
awful demands upon courage and self-sacrifice
In such an event the whole country would
have gone down in chaos.
How uere the yonng men rerarded rho did all
this for the NationP
They received $l3 and SIG month in depre-
ciated currency, about equivalent to So, and a
sufficiency of coarse food and coarse clothing.
1t was not in any way one-fourth what they
would have got for themselves had they been
at home in peaceful pursuits.
What does the country oee to The men rho made
such sacrifices aud did so much fer as
The result of their eforts-the end accom-
plished by their lavish expenditure of blood,
strength and life-the success that crowned all
this enormous strain, struggle and sacrifice by
them, was the laying deep and broad of the
foundations for prosperity such as the world
has never before seen. Never before, in any
country or at any time has there been such a
place in this country since the close Of the
war. When the country was poor these young
men gave it all they had, without thought Of
recompense. But now that they have made it
the richest country in the world, now that its
income is hundreds of millions more than it
can spend, that its Treasury is overflow
ing with millions that it has no use for, they
feel that it can afford to do them justice, and
in some measure requite them for all they did,
endured and lost for it.
1t will be wickedly ungrateful if it does
not
BEAEEEGAKD'S "BATTLE OF BULL