Year: 1871

| said, will bo Senator Morton, OF Indiana. Tho
reason assigned foy Mr. Boutwe!ps retirement
IL that the President regards the financial
| policy of the Secretary a. unpopular and
damaging to the administration. Whether the
old saying, that where there is much smoke
there must be some Gre, be applicable or not
to the rumors about Mr.. Boutwell, going out OF
the Treasury, there can be 20 doubt that the
reason assigned for his retirement Is good
one. He has been weakness and drag to
the administration all along; he has done
nothing to make 1t popular, and had 1t not
been for the superabundant resources OF tho
country and the enormous revenue, which
have kept the Treasury on q high tide of pros
porlsy and enabled the government to pay off
a large amount of debt, public opinion would
have set strongly against him long since.
Ths people have borne heavy taxation with
| patience, and have lost sight in measure Of
Mr.. Boutwsll's incapacity because they felt
some qualification at seeing the debt greatly
reduced. But the credit Of having vast
income is not due to the Secretary; that
| comes from the enormous wealth, resources
and industry Of the country.


| But there are two sides to this question of
raising vast surplus revenue and paying off
the debt so rapidly, and Mr. Boutwell, has
been On the wrong side, as far as any action
| he has taken in the matter goes. What the
! country most needed after the bulk Of the
floating war debt was paid or adjusted was q
| reduction of tayation-a removal of its bur-
dens-ana limited income only for eoonomi-
cal current expenditures and small sinking
fund. That would have stimulated industry
aud enterprise, improved The condition of the
people and increased trade and commerce.
1 The money unnecessarily extracted from the
! pockets of the peopls to keep the Treasury
| gorged would if left with them, have created
more wealth, have placed the country in
| bstter condition TO pay the debt hereafter, and
have checked exttraVagance and corruption.
I'ho Secretary did not or would not see this.
lie had but one idea, and that was to keep
the Treasury fuli--to keep on hand all the
time from a hundred 10 hundred and fifty
millions of dollars, and to pay off the debt at
the rate Of a hundred millions year, in order
that he might make political capital. Then,





some financial policy, there has always been
another one which springs from Mr.. Boutwell's
New England protective education and notions
He has been conscious that the larger the
revenue exacted from the people the more
protection would necessarily be Afforded to the
New England manufacturers. In taxing articles
OF general consumption to raise vast revenue
the home manufacturers ara protected, and
the higher price they get in consequence from
the consumers is rs much a bonus as il the
money were paid directly out of the Treasury
or transferred directly from the pockets Of the
people TO the manufacturers. Here, then,
was double motive for the Secretary to
oppose the reduction of taxation and to keep
up an normous surplus revenue-to promote
! bis own political aspirations and to serve his
| New England frienda.


! Mr.. Boutwell, has overreachcd himself and
| damaged both the administration and his
| party. We should not be surprised, therefore,
if General Grant is waking up to this fact and
should desire change iu his Cabinet. The
divisions in the republican party on various
grounds are embarrassing the administration,
but none are likely TO prove more disastrous
to it than the difference that exists between
the Eastern and Western republicans on
revenue and tariff issues. The revenue re-
formers, who are for the most part frag-
ment Of the republican party, are numerous
in the West, and have no interest in common
with the New England protectionists. AS an
agricultural people those of the West naturally
incline more to free trade. Many Of them, it
is true, are from the Eastern States, but while
their radical and old home affiliations may re-
main to some extent they are governed
chiefly, as all other people, by their material
interests. As consequence the breach
1 that is already apparent between the old
republicans Of the East and the West must


widen Gs time advances on revenue aud tariff
issues. It is certain, too, that the mighty
West will COON oyerrule the New England pro-


tective policy which has controlled the gov
ernment for some time past. Then the in
terests of the South and West, both being
agricultural, win be combined before long
against the projections. section.


The sooner General Grant emancipates him
self then, from the control Of New England
politicians, modifics his policy to suit the West
and leans more upon that section for support
the better ii will be for him. The people are
weary with the burden Of taxation. They
bore 1t patiently and noby as long as the life
Of the nation was in question or its credit re-
quirsd to be sustained. But the war and war
issues being settled and the credit Of the
government firmly established they demand a
large reduction Of taxes much less revenue
and economy. They cannot see the justice Of
keeping up taxation for the protection and
benefit of a small section or limited class.
Besides it is well known that plcthoric Trea-
| aury Il alweya q tpmnia atinn To exiravananca