Year: 1861

THE S1NEWS OF WAR;"
We yesterday stated some reasons
| which seem to US conclusive why war.


though it might check, would not ar


rest the industrial and commercial


growth of the North, We now purpose


to show that the Confederate States are


in no position to sustain the burdens Of


protracted war, and that the prosecu-


tion of such war would weigh on
those States with crushing force. We


went into some showing of the steady


growth of British industry and wealth


during the great European conflict


which followed the French Revolution


and terminated with the fall of the first


Napoleon. We used that growth as an


argument to show that war does not ne


cessarily paralyze industry and prevent
ace umulation But there is another


fact, forming part of the history of that
period, which has a significant bearing


ON the ability Of the rebel eonfederacy


70 sustain the burden Of long war


The fact to which we allude is the i'm


portant one that Great Britain, in the


mi ghty struggle against France, more


than doubled her national debt. The


great significance of this fact lies in the
illustration it affords Of the inability


even Of a great, powerful and prosper


Gus nation to conduct long, war with


out depending largely on its credit for


the means of carrying it on.


Contrast the wealth, prosperity, re-
sources, stability, and prestige of the
British nation with those of the Confed-


crate States There is no people SO ac-


customed to taxation, or who have SO


habitually borne the exactions Of the tax
gatherer, with so few manifestations OF


restiveness, as the people Of Great Brit
ain. The first Of modern nations in


commerce, the largest producer Of man


ufactured goods, the most improved in


agriculture, abounding III wealth, and
the great money center of Europe and


Of the world, it was still unable to de-
fray the annual expenses of war out Of
the annual proceeds Of the public taxes.
But il Great Britain, with her wealth


and resources, could not support such
burdens without making large use of


her credit, how can the Confederate
States hope to do it? Those States, like
all purely agricultural communities,


have paratively little accumulated


wealth


They have little capital invested in


shipping, few manufactures, not many


railroads, and they are not dotted all
over like the North, with fourishing
cities and villages. Lacking these evi-
deuces of accumulated wealth, and hav-
ing large proportion Of non producers


among their white population, they have


no taxable resources which will enable
them to maintain war, and they must
depend mainly on their credit for the
means of prosecuting enc.- I heir com
mcrce wifi be cut OF by blockade OF


their leading ports. Their people, who
have never felt the burden Of direct taxes


for federal purposes, will soon learn to
curse the tax gatherer with more fervor


than they now do the people of the North.
And yet all that he can extort from them
will bear small proportion to what they
will mead in a war with the United
States.


But Of whom will the Confederate
States borrow? Not to any great ex-
tent of their own banks and citizens, for
the plain reason that these have no re-
sources which would not be speedily ex
hausted by war with so formidable a


power as the United States. In the
great money centers Of Europe not a
dollar of Southern loan could be ne


gotiatcd Foreign capitalists would
inquire how they will get their money


back If the attempt to found a new re-
public should miscarry. To what pur-
pose is it that the new Confederacy of
fers to guarantee its loans by an export
duty on cotton, when the odds are so


greatly against its success? If it fails,
what becomes Of the export duty
Who then will pay the debt? Not the
United States, certainly, against whom
this rebellion is directed; not the Con
federate States, for if they fill there
will be no such Government. IF the


debt should be distributed among the
several States that had participated in


the rebellion, the capitalist would hardly
expect such States as Florida and Mis-


sissippi to be in better condition to
pay than they were to meet the debts
they had incurred and repudiatea be-
fore the war The Confederate States,
then, necessarily depending on credit
for the sinews OF war, unable to borrow
a dollar abroad, and but limited sums
by forced loans of their banks at home,


would speedily reach the end of their


career. The people, ground down by
Oppressive and intolerable taxation,
would rise against Government which
has never been submitted to them for


their consent, and demolish it without
remorse, seeking refuge from its exac-


tons under the protecting flag OF the
Union