Year: 1865

Secretary McCulIoch and jay CooAe.


The head of the Treasury Department seems
to be not only practical 6nancier, but politi-
cal philosopher, who thoroughly understands
the history Of finance, the necessities Of the
country and the proper mode Of relieving the
people from the burdens which tho war has
imposed upon them. The tail Of the Treasury
Department-Mr. jay Cooke, Of Philadelphia-
seems to be q financial charlatan, perfect
quack, who sees nothing beyond his percent
ages upon the sales of government bonds, and
has no ideas above his business as broker
These facts are sbundantly proven by Mr.. Jay
Cookies circular, attempting to show that the
national debt Is national blessing. This cir.
cular il calculated to do the national credit 20
much harm, at homo and abroad, that we CON-
slider II worthy Of the serious attention and
explicit disspprobation Of Secretary McCulloch
and the government.


II has been suggested that II tho national
debt be national blessing, then the greater
the debt tho greater the blessing-an argu-
ment which would justify the most lavish ex-
penditure On the part of all officials Another
view of the case is, that il the debt be bless
ing, then tho rebellion which caused the debt
was also blessing-by which logic Mr.. Jay
Cooke is at once written down copperhead Of
tho worst kind. But we can reach the same
conclusion in several other ways. Mr.. Jay
Cooke advocates the debt upon the same
ground that the recent rebels advocated
slavery, viz. that it Is divine institution,
and as such ought to be continued. Nor is
there so very great dissimilarity between the
national debt and the system Of slavery. Un-
der slavery three or four hundred thousand
shareholders lived upon the labor Of four mill
lions Of blacks. Under the national debt three
or four hundred thousand bondholders are to
live upon the labor Of thirty millions Of whites.
The internal revenue officers are to the debt
system what the overseers and drivers were to
the slave system. Slavery created a secession
aristocracy, and the national debt will create
stockjobbing aristocracy. This Is Mr. Jay
Cookies quack philosophy, and 1t is the philo-
sophy which he seeks to palm upon the people


Fortunately, however, Secretary McCulloch
endorses no such charlatan notion. He regards
the debt, not as q national blessing, but as
q necessary evil, which we could not very
well avoid, under the circumstances, but which
we should now get rid of by paying 1t as soon
as possible. Whether he will do this by means
Of sinking fund, the issue of new bonds at o
reduced rate Of interest, by subscription or by
an effort to redeem the present bonds promptly
as they fall due, is perhaps not yet determined.
But at any rate, the Secretary is firmly con-
vinced that 1t is as wrong for the nation to be
in debt as for q man to be in debt He would
as soon think of re-establishing and continuing
slavery as Of making the national debt per-
mansnt institution. Our comparison Of the
national debt with slavery is the result Of Mr..
Jay Cookies own line of argument When we
find him adopting the same sort Of religious
slang to defend the debt which Southerners
used to employ to defend slavery, the idea at
once occurs to US that if You substitute bond
holders for Shareholders, and whites for blacks,
you have pretty much the same results from
one system as from the other. The laboring
man, who tolls In cold and heat to provide the
extra money which the tax gatherer demands,
is no more to be envied than the negro who To-
bors under the lash to fulfil the demands of
the overseer The profits Of the work of
the white man, under one system, and
Of the black man, under the other system, 60
to maintain in afiuence and luxury an aristoc-
racy which owns the laborers; for, as Mr.. Jay
Cooke will tell U.S. the holders of the national
debt have mortgage upon the bodies of all
the working men in the land, just a. the slave
owners had mortgages upon the bodies of the
blacks. Secretary McCulloch, we say, cannot,
and does not, consent to such sham financial
philosophy, and will not approve of Mr.. Jay
Cookies circular.


But if the Secretary of the Treasury does not
approve of Mr.. Jay Cookies proceedings, he
cannot help disapproving them. We shall ex-
pect, therefore, to see Mr.. Jay Cooke removed
before long and some more competent agent ap-
pointed. He has evidently shown himself entire
ly unfit for tho position he holds. His circular
will do us more harm abroad than the loss of
battle Foreigners do not understand, as we
do, that the Treasury Department is not bound
by anything which Mr.. Jay Cooke may say,
write or publish. They look upon him as the
recognized government agent, and his circular
will come to them with o certain authority.
Those persons in Europe who have invested In
United States bonds have done so because they
sincerely believed that this country was able
to pay its debts Now they are informed by
circular, which is apparently official, that we
never intend to pay the national debt at all,
but that we regard II p blessing which must
be eternally perpetuAted. What will Euro
neana sav when this 0ovarnment nlacea aomo
new bonds upon the market' With what grace
can we ask them to lend us money which we
tell them that we shall never repays Unless
Mr.. Jay Cookies charlatan theories are sum-
marily and emphatically disavowed by the
national authorities, the European market will