Year: 1862

make OF fraud in the management of our
pecuniary affairs by which our public debt
has been so fearfully increased. l shall
now proceed to the brief consideration of
few other points properly in this connec-
tiop. and which conceive to BE- of public
interest.


We seek to take refuge. sir, from the
enormous figures of our national indebred-
mesa whenever they are brought to our at.
ten,ion. in the fact that we can defer i,s
payment and bequeath it as an inheritance
t" coming generations. Admitting that
this unworthy Thing may to some extent
be done. ye, let US zee. for few moments.
what amount Of money this Governments
will be compelled annually to raise in order
to prevent open and confessed bankrupt.
cy before the world. will conten, my
self with specific statement of the vari-
Gus items of current yearly expense which
must be regularly met. Against the sub.
stantial correctness of this statement
challenge successful contradiction.


The interest on the public debt. at
very low estimate. will reach 500. .OOO.-
600.


The ordinary expenses Of the Govern.
ment. including appropriations for the
increased magnitude of the army and ma
W after the war is over, will reach $780,.
OOO,O0 at another low estimate. I am
especially warranted in fixing this amount
in view of the declaration on this floor, by
the chairman of the Committee on Military
Affairs. Mr.. Blair. Of Missouri, that
hereafter our peace establishment will con.
sist of a standing army of hundred
thousand men.


The pension list comes next. This
Government must not fail to meet the 70.
qairements of civilization and of humani-
ty. 1t must and will provide for the sup
port OF its manned aud wounded and for
the maintenance Of the widows and Or
phans Of shcse who have fallen on the field
of battle. or been stricken down by dis
ease while IN ths public service. 1t 10
OF course difficult to calculate the amount
which will be required 10 meet this item
of expense; but no well informed person
will pretend that il will be less than the
sum OF 500. 100000.


To the above must be added at least
$50. 600 900 more as margin for claims
against the Government. contingent ex.
penses. and unforeseen events during this
oonvulsive and unsettled period Of the
worlds history.


We have thus an inevitable annual ex-
penditure. without making any provision
whatever for the payment of the sum itself,
of the sum of $500, 200. 900. This
amount will make iis demands on the re-
sources of the people in each succeeding
year. as regularly as the seasons come and
&C. and in voice as imperative and ineK-
orable as the cry of fate You need not
avert your frightened gaze from the sore
contemplation of this terrible fact It s the lion
IN the pathway of the future, but it must be met.
Death ltselfis not more certain 10 all than is thus
monstrous annual burden the shoulders Of the
American people And now, rir, bearing this
fearful fact in mind. from which there is now no
escape. the question now arises with immense ov
erwhelming force, TO what system of Snance
shall be adopted to raise annually this monstrous
sum of money IL is tho vital question of the
day, and paramount to all Others that CT civil
liberty and republican government. live, Mr..
Speaker in land of corn, land where the
fruits of the earth constitute the reward of labor.
live in great valley, beside whose agricultural
wealth the famed valleys of the Euphrstes and the
Nile and the richest fields of Europe sink into ut
ter insignifcance, and whose more THAI Egyptian
granares invite she markets of the civilized
world. The plow, the harrow. the reaper. and
the thrcshing machine implements of IN
dustry, and compose the coat of arms of our no
bihtv. The soil is our faithful mother, and ws
ere her children. We fill our cribs with grain and
stock our pastures with cattle, and with these We
seek to purchase those other necessary articles Of
lte which are not made in our midst. These are
our possessions which We offer in barter and ex-
change with the trading merchants Of the world
who give us the best returns. This we conceive
to be our right, and that this Government In which
VIC live should protect US in its enjoyment.


Blu. to turn to the contemplation of anotter re-
gion of this country. You there behold the land
of manufacturing machinery, and hear the sound
of the loom and the spindle. The people of the
North and East make. fabrics of cloth. and manu-
facture all those articles which man needs, ami
which do not grow. These constitute their
wealth and their stock in trade. The markets
of the world are open to them. and of right ought
to he. The W est is an immense consumer Of those
articles which they have TO sell. We are willing
to buy of them OF our own choice if We can buy
there cheap elsewhere.


But here aver that the unequal and unjust sys.
tenn OF finance now adopted by the party in power


gives to the manufacturing interests of this country
the arbitraiy power to ok its own exorbitant pri-
ces. and the laborng agricuturist is compelled to