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discharged in twenty years, would be no less than twenty-four millions of dollars; provided, the principal be reduced by the annual payment of thirty millions more, to meet the original condition of the loan. Adding to this aggregate sum of fifty-four millions, forty millions for ordinary Government expenditures, including the idemnity due to the citizens, and it will at once appear that, even upon the basis of this moderate calculation, the Confederate States Government will have to provide for a revenue of ninety-four millions during the first twenty years of its administration, to support its machinery and sustain its credit.*

By what alchemistic charlatanism is this revenue to be raised? Some are so deaf to all reason, and so blinded by prejudices, that a common sense argument has no charms for them. It brings home no conviction to their exhilarated fancy. They have taken it for granted upon the assurance of some astute political arithmetician, that free trade is the panacea for all political evils, and that two hundred millions being the annual value of the cotton and tobacco crop, the problem how to raise ninety-four millions of annual revenue for the government is of easy solution. But while the cotton crop may increase the wealth and sustain the credit of individuals, it will never furnish the revenue nor pay the debts of the government. As soon as the war is over, and the danger shall have passed away, every cotton planter will endeavor to make up for lost time. He has shown his lofty purposes and his undaunted patriotism while the enemy was at our doors; he has sacrificed his property and staked his life and honor upon the success of the - cause; and having thus contributed his share for the defence of the country, and the promotion of the common good, as soon as peace is established he will strive to be among the first of his compeers in the accumulation of wealth, and to gain consideration among his friends and neighbors. In other words, the planter will cease to be a lender of money and a usurer, and will become what he always has been, an everlasting borrower. Neither cotton nor tobacco can be made instrumental for the payment of the government debts.

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But if the magic of free trade and cotton cannot supply the necesed sary food by means of which the morbid cravings of hungry public creditors may be satisfied, is it possible that free trade and direct taxation will be more yielding in their disposition, and shower a mass of

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We take issue with this statement.

First. It is not probable that the debt will reach $600,000,000.

Second. Whatever the debt, the interest being provided, it can be carried o ver to 30, 40 or even 50 years, and by the method which the government has adopted it will be practicable to substitute 6 per cent. in lieu of 8 per cent. Bonds hereafter. Third. The ordinary expenditures could not reach $40,000,000 upon any reasonable estimate. The old Federal Government did not exceed half that sum during the first thirty years of its existence.

Assuming the War Debt at $500,000,000, the time of payment to be 50 years, the interest to be half six and half eight per cent., and the ordinary expenditures to be $25,000,000, we shall have at the highest for the first ten years of peace to provide a revenue ranging from sixty-five to fifty million of dollars. After that period $50,000,000 may be regarded ample for all purposes. Under the old union the South paid indirectly double or triple that sum.-Editor.

VOL. VIII.-NO. I.

8

untold treasure into the strong-box of the Government exchequer? The idea is too preposterous to be entertained for one moment, that after the country has been exhausted by a savage war, direct taxation can be brought to the relief of the Government, for the purpose of supplying its revenue, and providing for the payment of the public debt. After the termination of this struggle for life and existence, every State will have incurred a vast amount of indebtedness, which must be provided for by direct taxation. Not a single State of this Confederacy could command sufficient resources to be able, by taxing the property and income of its citizens, to contribute its proportionate share of the ninety-four millions, annually required by the Confederate Government for at least twenty consecutive years.

The absurdity of direct taxation for the object proposed, will become apparent at a glance from the subjoined tabular statement, in which the ninety-four millions of Government expenditures are apportioned among the thirteen States composing the Confederacy, according to their respective representation. Maryland is not included in this ap portionment, as no step has yet been taken, either by the State or the Confederate States, to make her a party to this Government:

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It is by no means contended that the people would refuse to contrib ute, by direct taxation, to the support of the general Government, for as Mr. Hallam observes, "the sting of taxation is wastefulness, but it is difficult to name a limit beyond which taxes will not be borne with patience when faithfully applied." Nor would direct taxation loosen the bonds of union, or alienate the affections of the people from the Government. Fear is the strongest motive power which prompts the citizen to yield obedience to the law. If the power of the Confederate Government is brought home to every man's pocket by frequent visits of Confederate officers acting in the capacity of tax gatherers, it would strengthen the authority of the general Government, by appealing to the most powerful sense of duty, and demanding the sacrifice of money interest, that public order may be maintained, and the citizen may be protected. If the Government of the old Union would have resorted

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to direct taxation, by creating a tax collecting agency with its local officers in every county, secession would have been defeated at the ballot-box. The local influence of the Federal Government would have been predominant everywhere, and the Yankees might now rule supremely over a deluded and demoralized people. The most ignorant countryman, who is incapable of comprehending abstract reasoning or logical argument, understands the more tangible principle that the Government which has the absolute command of his purse, being empowered to sell his most valuable property in case of refusal, is a power that must be obeyed, and which it would be folly to resist.

The old Federal Government was loved by the people, because the burden of taxation was artfully concealed beneath the flimsy veil of deception. It afforded excitement to the masses during election time, and held out fat offices to politicians. But the power of the Government was neither felt nor feared within the limits of the States; and had it not been for the periodical elections, and the buncombe speeches of Congressmen, the existence of a central authority could have hardly been suspected even by a stranger ignorant of our institutions. Direct taxation and a Confederation of Republics are incompatible in the nature of things; they cannot exist together. The central government must and will gradually and imperceptibly undermine all State authority and render it contemptible, if it is permitted to set up its most striking insignia of sovereign power in every household, and become the familiar acquaintance of every fireside.

A moderate tariff, sufficient for revenue purposes, is the most equitable and least burdensome mode of taxation. It taxes the poor and the rich in equal proportion, and exacts a money contribution from thousands who could not otherwise be reached, and who would thus defraud the government of its just dues.

It is a great fallacy in political economy, and ignorant charlatans only could have originated the idea, that a purely agricultural country which is enabled to export staple productions of the annual value of two hundred millions, must necessarily be the richest country in the world. This proposition would be correct if these staple productions were not exchanged, each year, for articles of manufacture, necessary for food and clothing, and for luxuries imported from foreign nations, which are annually consumed in the country where the staples are produced. Even the profits arising from the exchange of commodities, and the heavy percentage realized from transportation, is exclusively appropriated by the foreign merchant, and leaves the agriculturist, who fosters and sustains this immense commerce, hardly any surplus in excess of the moderate wages earned by his laborers. The Southern Confederacy could be made the richest country in the world, by giving proper encouragement to her external commerce, and by fostering her home manufactures for articles in daily use.

The creation of a commercial marine, protected by an efficient government navy, should be the first object of legislation after the establishment of peace. The South must make an effort to secure for

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herself her legitimate share of the carrying trade and the commerce of the world. Otherwise, while our citizens may be comparatively rich as individuals, we will be "poor, very poor indeed" as a nation.

History and experience establish the fact that those agricultural countries which have no external commerce, are the poorest countries in the world. Poland, Hungary, Spain and Italy contain the most fertile regions of Europe, and their people have carried agriculture to a high degree of perfection. But notwithstanding the advantages of climate and soil, they are comparatively poor, when placed side by side with England and Scotland, whose sterile lands hardly supply the necessaries of life, but whose people, by means of their extensive commerce and manufactures, occupy the first rank in point of wealth and refinement, among the civilized nations of the earth. When France was without a navy and without foreign commerce, she was poor indeed, but since she has developed her external commerce and stimulated her manufacturing industry, she has risen to the foremost position in power and influence in Europe. The United Provinces of the Netherlands, with a territory not exceeding in extent that of South Carolina, were once the first commercial people of the world, and were enabled to overawe with their war-ships, which whitened every sea, all the rival powers, with whom they formed alliances and to whom they dictated terms of peace.

It would be a suicidal policy on the part of the government to barter away the birth-right of our commercial independence to France and England for a mess of pottage. Our political independence can and must be secured by ourselves, without the aid of foreign intervention. The blockade will be raised whenever it becomes an imperative necessity, and unless impelled by circumstances, no inducement can stimulate foreign powers to action, if such action, involving them in a gigantic war, would be so destructive to their interests that the losses to be incurred would not be compensated by the advantages held out to them. As soon as they become convinced that we can maintain our independence, recognition will follow without much effort on our part, and while they are halting between two opinions, they would not listen to any proposition of treaty negotiation, for this would itself imply their acknowledgment of our independence, as a member of the family of

nations.

RICHMOND, VA., March 10, 1862.

ART. VI.-OUR CAUSE.

"God give the battle to the right;
We will be free or die."

"He who walketh upon the wings of the wind hath said to the waters, so far shalt thou go and no farther." Most comforting to the believer are these words from the inspired writings. Our destinies are in the hands of this Great being, and He will stay those Northern crusaders on their fratricidal way.

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When the soul finds itself overwhelmed in gloom, when the tear of agony forsakes its secret cell, and not a ray of sunshine illumines our path, when our own dear country is beset on every side by ruthless foes, and the blood of our gallant dead cries from the earth for vengeance, then it is that men, from the instincts of nature, are impulsed on to deeds of daring and of retaliation. But feeble woman, in her solitude, must watch and pray, and seek that last, best gift, hope, by casting her eye on the Rock of Ages, asking for more faith in that great God who T hath said "vengeance is mine." Thoughts of this character are induced at this moment by hearing of the desperate battle in the West, and by the echo of war's fierce alarms all around us. Our brave soldiers are performing prodigies of valor, contending with an enemy numbering thousands to their hundreds; but the "race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong;" we will be free!

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In the spring time of the year, this favored region, watered by the II graceful and winding Bayou La Fourche, presents a most striking and captivating landscape to the observant eye. Extensive lawns, carpeted O with the deepest green, lofty trees, natives of the circumjacent forest, with outspread branches, invite the young children, the skipping lambs and the feathered choristers to retreat to their emerald shades and be refreshed. The fertile sugar cane, springing from the bosom of mother earth, and waved by gentle breezes, diversifies the picture most agreeably. Can we for a moment indulge the belief, that devastation, with giant strides, approaches our doors, and that we never more shall pass a merry Christmas with our people, dancing upon the green before our portals, with their happy black faces smiling upon their masters, who are regarded as the father, who provides for their comfort in sickness and health, in infancy and old age, and who watches their sick and dying couches, as tenderly as the shepherds of old tended their flocks?

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A touching twilight scene, witnessed by us a few evenings since, would have melted the heart even of Mad. B. Stowe. A little fair

haired cherub, numbering scarcely three summers, was parting for the night from a small servant, his playmate; first was heard the lisping "good-night, Manuel," then the little ivory arm encircled the ebony neck, soon their lips touched, and then they parted. Could such a scene as this have been enacted in New York, in a family of the first position? Who will answer this interrogatory? Echo answers, who? This day, the 22d of February, 1862, is the anniversary of the birth of the "first rebel," and the day that has for so many happy years been celebrated by the North American nation. Probably at this hour (M.) our first Confederate President is being inaugurated at Richmond. We, the denizens of the South, should devotedly pray that the mantle of our beloved and honored Washington may descend upon President Davis, and that our country may long be blessed by his wise counsel-his devotion to the cause of freedom.

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OAKWOOD, LA.

M. M. C.

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