Year: 1861

serve the most careful consideration; and
the peculiar resources Of our own State,
occupying as it does central position in
the Northern empire are liable to be afTec-
ted in a remarkable degree. We hsve to-
day paralysis in the manufactures Of the
Eastern States; We have large bodies of
men diverted from their usual pursuits, for
in addition to the army Of three hundred
thousand men now formed, as many more
are directly and indirectly employed in. the
support and maintenance of that army.
The Government is also organizing large
navy and it will not be deemed IN extrav-
agant computation 10 say that seven hun
d1ed' and fifty thousand men are at this
moment separated from their homes and
organized in various camps and positions
to which the Government or State author
ities will find it necessary to transport all
the food that may be required for their
s'tstenance. Thus the number of men
ufua1)y composing an entire State will re-
qulre to be fed BY those who remain at
hcme The attention of the Govern
mcnt as well as that of the Union
offence committee Of the city Of
New York which has afforded the
most powerful aid to the Government, has
already been called to this most Important
subject, and We learn from well advised
source, that the deepest solicitude has been
felt in leading commercial and financial cir
clcs, lest the cmbaIrassments from the local
interests in Chicago arising mainly from
our currency difficulties should continue
and prove serious bar to the export ofour
produce. Letters have been received in
this city from the highest eastern CONNER
cial sources, manifesting the greatest graft
dcation at the action Of the Board of
Trade Of Chicago, Which reduced values
to coin basis and has simplifed thetrans-
actions in sur market and placed Illinois
for the first time in her history, in posi-
ton to avail herself Of the extraordinary
advantages with which nature has blessed
eur6tate. We are possibly upon the eve ofa
long WAT The experience fall time demon
strates that IN all countries engaged in war,
the tendencies Of the price Of food is up
ward Breadstuffs and provisions constant
II appreciate in value. Even those nations
which are not directly engaged in the war
lay in large supplies Of food England, es-
pecialIy, dependent as sue is upon supplies
from abroad, is keenly alive to the posi-
bility Of short supply. This is especially
noticeable if any ofthe continental nations
manifest thes1ightest sign Of an imbrioglio.


II, for example, the Emperor Of France
threatens Austria, breadstutfs rise in Eng
land, and we observe in the foreign jour
nals--the London Economist and others of
tie highest authority the English
statesmen are looking with as much anx-
iety to supply Of food as to supply Of
cotton. At the moderate prices which now
prevail in this country, it is quite evident
that the forecast and the prudence Of that
country Will induce England to lay in a
large supply Of breadstufs' Thus lis ap-
parent that IN unusual demand will exist
both for the United States Government and
for foreign shipment.


This is not local neighborhood traffic
which may be controlled by petty consid-
erations. It will be taken up under q
broader view, and the source Of supply
will be determined at the point Of the 1arg-
est production and upon the lowest terms
There are no granaries east Of the Ohio.
Neither Pennsylvania nor New York will
produce enough this year for home con-
sumption. Tie States OF the Northwest
must therefore be called upon for large
supplies Of food If the cost Of producing
a bushel Of Indian corn or bushel Of
wheat is less upon the prairie soil Of 1li-
ncis than upon the cleared wood-lands Of
Ohio and Indiana, it is evident that Illinois
will command the market, and that the
application Of capital to the. soil Will, in
The next few years, leave great impress
upon our State. A bushel Of corn can
easily be produced in Illinois for ten
cents; q bushel Of wheat for fifty cents.
God forbid that in this unhappy contest
We should lend ourselves even to the ap-
pearance of striving to make gain of it
But we shall not lessen the sad reality by
a proper effort to make the most of the
natural advantages We possess. This
mighty question, the greatest that ever
agitated 3 civilized nation, will be adjust
ed through the power and the resources
of the parties engaged in it. The men,
the mbney, the arms, and the implements
Of war must come mainly from the Eastern
States; the subsistence Of the Eastern
States and the supplies for the army are OF
equal Importance, and must come from the
West 4 distinguished statesman re-
marked, d few days since, that at the close
OF this war Illinois would take her position
next to New York in the National Govern.
ment. Her resources would be stimulated
to IN almost unnatural development By
The war, and could in no wise be dimin-
ished.


We look with pride upon the devotion
manifested by Illinois for the Union and
fer the Government, and we rejoice in the
certainty that the resources Of our State
will be equal to every emergency. Illinois
will be able to respond to every requisitiou
the war may impose upon her. No matter
If she burdens herself with debt for the
support OF the national arm-she will
have larger population; she will have
twice the surface Of soil under cultivation
and she will demonstrate, were it neccssa
ry to do 90. that che can, in single year
spare one hundred millions of bushels O
grain, if that amount is required.


We think these considerations specially
deserving the attention Of our friends il
the interior at the present moment; and
We hope this may induce many to extend
their broad fields; to preserve all thels
young cattle; to raise all the pork they can,
and to provide themselves for any emcr.
gcncy which may tax the resources Of ou1
soil.


We are now nearly through the ordeal
Of sudden and violent sinking out O.


sight Of our local medium Of circulation


The time is never opportune to destroy al


established interest. Parties who hav


protited by our bank charters would neve


be ready to redeem or close business


The uttcrers Of this currency, thrust b.


millions into the hands Of producers, witt


no responsibility for its redemption, wer