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TEE WEEKLY 00N8HTUTIOHALIBT
WEDNESDAY MORNING. JAN. 5, 1870
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OBOFS AND OUERENI' NEWS.
Our subscribers and friends in the coun
try will confer a favor on us and our nu
merous readers by sending us Items as
to crop prospects and general news in
their different sections. .We trust that
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tionalist, and thereby add to the interest
of the paper.
WHAT SHALL WE DO ?
First of all, we should have no dealing
with our enemies, or as little as possible.
If Congressmen can only be brought to
terms by bargain and sale, we may possi
bly have occasion to use a corruption fnnd
at Washington ; but, in matters of general
business, let us henceforth patronize home
industries, deny ourselves many lnxurle*
not yet obtainable at home, or else pur
chase, when obliged to, from friends. We
hold that the Bouth is in a first rate condi
tion to make Reconstruction howl, if her
people have the nerve, the sagacity and the
fidelity to play their game to the end.
Commercially, the West is bankrupt ; but
the South is the best purchaser in the
market, as well as the best producer. She
has over and over again, with her cotton,
saved the General Government from finan
cial rain, and the merchants of New York
confess that she, this year, preserved
them from a terrible catastrophe. Wc
learn that so cramped and distressed
is the West that the East has abandoned
her to a great degree, and the hordes of
drummers who once swarmed out there
have turned their faces Southward. These
pertinacious and oily persons do not come
here to collect bad debts. There are none
to collect. Oh, no, they come to make
good debts for the next season, since the
South has become the most lavish its well
as the most honest customer extant. Now
what do we got from the Northern govern
ment—we scorn to call It our government
—but kicks, blows and Insults? And what,
do we receive from many of those we nr*
helping to make riclier and richer, tint a
strong backing up of this oppressive gov
ernment, and a continuance of the party in
power who have made Reconstruction u
grand stealing expedition ? We owe
them n debt of vengeance, since debts
of gratitude are out of the question.
How shall we pay it? By war? Not
a bit of it. That would not ire smart,
even If It were not impossible. But we
owe them a debt of vengeance and we.
can pay it, by refusing to traffic with them
any more than we can possibly help and by
giving oitr trade to assured friends. We
should deal more at. home. We should en
courage home-manufactures of all kinds.
Wc should stop the extravagant tastes of
onr households. We should make certain
that every Northern nviu wc have anything
to do with is something better than a latter
day saint or fair-weather sympathiser. The
Boqjh can get along very well without the
North ; but the North ran not so easily do
without the South. If our people had the
heroism and spirit of sacrifice necessary to
stop cotton planting for one year they
could smash the machine now run by
Grant, Butler aud Bullock. But as
they are wanting ill this transcendent
quality of self-almcg it ion, we suggest, the
next best thing: t n •onragement of home
institutions and discouragement of every
thing unfriendly at the North. If the peo
ple of the Smith can not come up to the
height of the great argument, they may as
well prepare for unlimited cheating, un
limited tyraunvand unlimited “ reconstruc
tion.” The North deals with the Sooth on
the theory that her people are business
fool*. And indeed there would seem to ho
warrant for this presumption ; for what
greater folly Is then* than to suffer from in
sult and yet help fatten the rogues and
cowards who keep piling oil the agony,
f r'oss of reprisal. Fellow couutrymen, if
y a 1 are really anxious to pay a debt of ven
geance and save yourselves from continu
ous f Pure calamity, show your pluck, your
mauliood and your strategy by cuttiug off
the enemy’s supplies.
Bullock’* Calculation.— OnrTrrMouas
expects to hold the Georgia Senate and
,House of R> preset)t*tlves “ in the hollow of
his hand.” Be calculates that the ac! of
Congress will disqualify 85 white Georgians
and give the Radicals 15 majority on joint
ballot. With this in ijority h- hones to
hoM t.ht* United States Senate In the hollow
ol a s foot as well as the hollow of Ida hand.
Hum«ock Is a great scamp ands narrow
inlU'Wd eh irlaian. hat he understood Con
gres* I ret ter than Mr Tis.. He spent
momy (nti.er p*ipt«’» i.omy) m lialn his
ends ; whereat, Mr. Timr only ancm elo
quence, whe'i » not recognised as cur
rency at the National Capitol,
IttITI.KH ANII 111 'UIIAM YOU rMI
thief. "•MV HlkuiUM 'O Ill’ll.KH. *• , oil I
in a murderer"nays ItiTl.KMlodlNiitUN
I
THE DEATH OF EDWIN M. STANTON.
Under ordinary circumstances, it is well
to speak kindly of the dead; but when an
eminently wicked man passes away, it Is
not Improper to utter the truth. Animat
ed by this principle, we shall say of the
late Mr. Stanton what we think, and not,
hypocritically or with mock sentimental'-
ty, twaddle about the precept of charity in
connection with a human fiend who never
knew what that virtue was, or, If he knew,
never pretended to practice It.
We need not dwell upon his extreme
Southern proclivities in 1800; his subse
quent rabid hatred of everything and every
body in the South; bis deviliNh schemes
for Ihe ravage of our section; his torture
of prisoners North and South; his ii.fa
mous intrigues for personal power, bused
on indiscriminate human slaughter. Pass
ing these matters as too fresh in the minds
of our people for lengthened review, we
shall regard him simply as the murderer
of Mrs. Surratt, and, from this one stand
point, deduce a moral which may admon
ish others that Retribution Is still a force
In the-administration of Pro/idence. One
by one the principal actors in the Surratt
tragedy are being reckoned with. First
came Preston Kino, who stood at Presi
dent Johnson's door and barred the way
for mercy. Stung by a guilty conscience,
he sought death in the waters of the East
river, a swift and conspicuous suicide.
Then came the turn of Sandfobd Con-
over, the perjured witness, now rotting in
jail for another felonious offense. After
him, Lafayette C. Baker, the chief de
tective, who concocted the false testimony,
literally sneaked out of existence, despised
by even those who hired him to perpetrate
their crimes. And now, with a warning
briefer even than that of his victim, Edwin
M. Stanton Is rushed Into eternity by a
disease which the telegrams say centred in
the heart—a place which has hitherto fool
ishly been suspected of engendering the
loveliest and tenderest emotions. But two
others of the more celebrated of Mrs Sur
ratt’s persecutors remain, Bingham and
Holt. The former has occasionally ex
hibited signs of repentance and becomes
more and more appalled as the circle nar
rows down upon him. The other has slunk
away Into something like the wolfs seclu
sion, and very little of him Is known. We
say but these two remain, yet, thus saying,
we by no means forget that Andrew .John
son Is still alivo. Johnson, the least guilty,
perhaps, has had a poignant reminder of
his complicity with these bad men. He is
just as politically dead and disgruced as
Stanton is actually a corpse. It may be
that the punishment meted out to the guilty
performers in the Surratt tragedy is but
a singular freak of chance and not a case
of Heaven’s retribution. But it is just as
likely to be the latter ns the former. Aud
if so, Is it not eloquent, Is It not Instruc
tive? If men are to be so branded or so
smote down for the mere killing of a
woman, what shall be the vengeance
wreaked upon those who deliberately mur
der States ?
MR. BINGHAM’S PROTEST.
Mr. BiNon iM thus protested against the
Georgia bill, against which lie also voted :
“The bill, he said, was in conflict with
every letter of the past legislation of Con
gress on the snbjectof reconstruction ; with
the express order of the Presideut when lie
was General of the army, acting under the
law of reconstruction in 1868 In relation to
Georgia ; with the utterances of the Attor
ney General of the United States in re
ference to Virginia, under the operation of
all our reconstruction acts, and with all
the past legislation of Congress, and of the
Interpretation of the Constitution. We are
asked to decide a question by passion, which
ought to be decided lu the llghtof the calm
temp* r of reason and under the obligations
of an oath. This bill affords no additional
protection to anv man, white or black. It
is gratuitous to attempt to bring to the
support of this measure the recommenda
tion of the President. The speaker hap
pened to know that there was a single line
In the President’s Message which he never
Intended to he there, and which he does not
stand by to day; the line which refers to
the Imposition of the oath enjoined by the
Reconstruction acts on members of the
Legislature. The whole context of the
message shows that what he meant was the
Imposition of the oath rcqTre ' ->v the third
section of the Fourteenth Amendment. The
Reconstruction act of the 2d of March, 1867,
which underlies the entire legislation, en
joins also the oath of qualification required
by tlie third section of the Fourteenth
Amendment. Commending on the section
which allows the army and navy to be
placed in the control of the Governor, Mr.
Bingham said: The law is not worthy of a
moment’s consideration, and fbr one. uo
matter what party dictation may say, I
stand hero to say that I shall record my
vote against it. It, does not become t lie
representatives of ihepeoplo tobodragooued
in any such raauner into legislation, touch
lug uot merely the rights ot the people of
Georgia, but the rights of all the people of
the Republic. I deny the right of Oongr ss
to lay the executive power of a national Is w
at the feet of a State Executive, to be exer
cised at his discretion. Congress Is hound
to execute its own laws through Its own
officials.’’
If there Is a hue in Grant’s Message
which he •* did not put- there and which he
does not stand by ” who Is the udaclous
man. greater Uian Gk ant, thus 1 uterpol atin g
a document of such gravity? It mav have
been the work of Butler. Or wax it tlie
work of Bullock, who, though a consum.
mate humbug, “holds the United Plates
Senate aud the House in the hollow of his
hand?” If Grant baa risen to the Presi
dency from the gutter, why should uot
Bullock assume the purple, emerging out
of a negro restaurant ?
— —
Father Hyacintiim —The ex .frit r lefr
New York and Vmer'ca for averygo.nl
reason Ills money wi* gone. The Fifth
Avenue Hotel wi» frere to him and the!
French Beiievueii rim-lpty paid It's journey j
to lUvre* The New York *fii sns "in |
this iv»|mv| ht m pleasing comra»i •»»
m toy of the | illi ’"si literary, and religious J
ESP""’ -H
Virginia.—The Richmond Whig grows
lachrymose over the condition of the
Mother of States.” The Whig thinks it
hard that Virginia should suffer for the
fault of Georgia, and harder that she
should be suspected of “ following any
body's example” and entering on a course
of conduct which would “ touch her
honor.”
God knows she has not followed Geor
gia’s example, and therefore ought not to
be punished ; bat Georgia will deserve the
severest punishment when she follows the
example of Virginia and licks Beast But
ler’s hand.
The Whig makes the great mistake of
supposing that abject submission to Con
gress, must, pcrlorce, win the estepm of
those who rule Congress. Never was there
a more flagrant error. We want no better
proof than Virginia’s present situation and
the comment of Forney upon it. The
Washington Chronicle, editorially, says :
“Is it not a striking retribution, that
that State which constituted itself for four
long years the bulwark of secession, should
now be compelled to cringe at the feet of a
man once so abhorred and denounced by
the Richmond press, craving the boon of a
place in the Federal Union ? ”
Even Grant has turned against her, it
is said and answers ail tlie newspaper
adulation with treachery.
Prose having failed, poetry is evoked.
We find this verse in the leading columns
of the Whi'/ -‘
“Anil n«w she stands knocking and knock
ing in vain,
At the temple she helped to prepare,
And the children she dowered, in pride and
disdain,
Are deaf to her motherly prayer.”
We submit the following, in answer:
Your knocking is vain, for a very good reason,
The temple is filthy with flics from the East;
And the door you approach is to honor a trea
son,
Since it hides but the wallow of Bcti.er, the
Beast!
The Almighty Dollar. —It seems that
Cornelius Wendell saved Andrew
Johnson from impeachment. Wendell
thought $150,000 would answer for bribery.
He checked off twelve Radical Senators who
could be approached, and finally selected
of these four who would stick. Senators
do not receive money in person. This is
the way a bargain is managed:
" The confidential man of a particular
Senator is found, and an appeal made to
him. Probably he is told that on a certain
measure It is very important to have a vote
In a certain way. A roll, of money is hand
ed to him, and he is told that if themeasure
succeeds lie mav retain the money; If It
fails he is to return it. He is put upon his
honor regarding the transaction, and noth
ing more is said. He understands what is
expected of him. If the price offered satis
fies his Senator,lt is all right; otherwise
he brings the money back.”
One Senator returned $30,000 because it
would not pay for his political death at
home, not because the offer of money was
an insult. Wendell says Senator Pome
poY was not even tampered with, being
too cheap. President Johnson was not
cognizant of Lite bribery and would not
have allowed the use of money if he had
known of it.
When we sec wliat a few thousands spent
at a negro restaurant have accomplished
for Bullock, and how much was done to
help A. J. by the disbursement of $150,000,
our people ought to wake up to the proper
way of dealing with Congress. Delega
tions are humbugs ; petitions are farcical.
The loyal rulers of the nation must either
be bought or defied.
Pryor and Forney.—Mr. Forney tells
how Roger A. Pryor was released from
Fort Lafayette. We condense his long ac
count Washington McLean, one of the
editors and proprietors ol the Cincinnati
Enquirer, called on Forney and begged
him to Intercede with Lincoln for Pryor’s
enlargement. Eagerly and prayerfully, For
ney went to old Abe with the petition.—
Abraham listened good-naturedly and at
last presented the following on a card :
7i> Colonel Burke. Commanding at Fort
Lafayette. New York:
Please release General Roger A. Pryor,
who will report to Colonel Forney, on
Capitol Hill. A. Lincoln
PitYOßgot oat of jail and reported to
Forney. He spent a week with his libera
tor, who thus eulogizes him:
"What he promised he has manfully ful
filled. He has never since been found
among the obstructionists or the Govern
ment. He took no part in the calamitous
policy of Andrew Johnson. lie has never
been among the assailants of Congress.
Settling down in New York in the indus
trious, and, I am glad to hear, successful
practice of his profession of the law, he
lus made many warm friends. I have not
met Washington McLean since he brought
Pryor to my lodgings; but 1 owe him
thinks for a barrel of Cincinnati hams
which lie sent me, as if to prove' that when
he takes up the eau.e of a frieud It is iu the
spirit of the homely Western axiom—he
goes 1 the whole swine.’ ”
Wash McLean evldeutly knew his man,
as the barrel of hams may testify. Had
Pryor waited a few weeks louger, he
would have been set at liberty without
damaging concessions; and, though For
ney might have lost his boar-meat. McLean
would have been that much the gainer. It
is a pathetic sto-y, ami Pryoh uodouh re
-1 .eats it with unction to his friends, who
weep lu chorus.
Bahama.—The Journal of Commerce thus
uuiuasks the Santana Bay transaction:
•• It Is known that, fbr some time, there
“ has been u powerful ring In operation
“ lor the purchase, or leasing, of Samsna
“ Hay by the United States. The memlters
”of this cotuolnation, United States offi
"cials ami o"iers, It Is said, receive from
”Kan ’him ig • i e.i'alu very liberal com
” mls.lou n lire lre.sn money. These gen
“ ileimm have manufactured the hulk of
” pu'illr o(nblob iu favor of the ib'ifotla
" ilon which they have now brought so
“ nearly to a auccsssful issue, Ho far, It
“U a repetition of Ihs Alaska biainvM,
“As Ike Hcuaui under Mr Hi Ri>Mn lead
“ erahip, invariably votes for propositions
“ to buy or lease land at the highest possi
“ ble prices, but never, under any circum
“ stances, to secure it for nothing, there is
“ a probability tliat the new San Domingo
“ treaty will be ratified, and the Govern
“ ment be badly stuck again, as usual.”
Everything in this loyal Government Is
a job. If the South wants to checkmate
Reconstruction, she must treat it as a mat
ter of business and buy up Congressmen. —
Tift’s thunder may be dramatic, but it is
not the one thing necessary.
A Note—The Columbus Sun says that
B. H. Hill's last “ Note” is “ written in his
best style, and strikes the line marked out
by the Press of the State.”
Death of Ex-Secretary Stanton.
PARTICULARS of his illness and sudden
DECEASE —ORDER OF RESPECT BY THE
PRESIDENT.
Washington, December 24. —The com
munity this morning was shocked by the
report of the death of Hon. Edwin M.
Stanton.
As his friends, only a few days ago, had
announced that he was slowly bat surely
recovering his health, the intelligence was
the more startling. Manv persons refused
at first to believe that he had died, but
were soon convinced of the truth. Little
more than a week ago he made an. argu
ment before Associate Justice Swain, in
Chambers, in the Whitney and Maury case,
and it was admitted by those present that
it was thr ablest argument that he ever
made, and which satisfied even himself.—
Mr. Stanton liad been confined to his house
for about one week. The President and
Vice-President called last Sunday, his 54th
birthday, when the former tendered to him
the appointment of Associate Justice of
the Supreme Comt of the United States,
for which Mr. Stanton expressed his grat
itude and acceptance.
The next day the nomination was made
aud confirmed by the Senate without the
customary reference to the appropriate
committee. Representative Hooper, of
Massachusetts, passed an hour with Mr.
Stanton on Sunday, soon after the Presi
dent and Vice-President left the house, and
represents that he was then in cheerful
spirits, though lying on his couch from
weakness. Yesterday Mr. Stanton com
plained of his sickness; but his family were
not alarmed, as to a fatal result, as. he had
apparently been in a worse condition pre
viously. Shortly after midnight his symp
toms became alarming. Surgeon General
Barnes was present on his accustomed
visit, but found it impossible to afford re
lief. Rev. Dr Starkie, of the Church of
the Epiphany, Protestant Episcopal, of
which Mr. Stanton was a member, was
summoned, but shortly afterward the suf
ferer lost consciousness and was unable to
converse with any one. The pulsation of
heart ceased a few seconds and then re
turned, his breathing being very faint. It
was not until half an hour before his death
that his family could realize that he was
dying. About three o’clock he expired.—
Surgeon General Barnes says he never saw
a man die so quietly in his life, breathing
away without a struggle. He died of con
gestion of the heart. At his bedside in
these last moments were his family, consist
ing of Mrs. Stanton, his eldest, son, Edwin
L. Stanton, Ella, his eldest daughter, about
twelve years of age, Lewis, his second son,
nine years of age, and Bessie, Ills youngest
child, five years of age.
Mr. Stanton was born in Steubenville,
Ohio. His mother is living in that State.
A telegram was sent to her this morning.
A large number of prominent citizens and
gentlemen holding high official portions
to-day called at the late residence of the
deceased, some of them being unable to
credit the report of his death, so unexpected
aud sudden, nutil they had satisfied them
selves by personal inquiry.
Department of State, )
Washington, December 24,1869. J
The following announcement of the death
of Hon. Edwin M. Stanton is published by
direction of the President:
(Signed) Hamilton Fish.
Executive Mansion, )
Washington, December 24,1869. j
The painful duty devolves upon the Presi
dent of announcing, to the people of the
United States tlie death of one of its most
distinguished citizens aud faithful servants,
the Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, which occur
red iu this city at an early hour this morn
ing. He was distinguished in the councils
of the nation during the entire period of its
recent struggle for national existence, first as
Attorney General theu as Secretary of War.
He was unceasing in his labors, earnest
and fearless in the assumption of responsi
bilities necessary to his country’s success.
Respected by all good men and feared by
wrong-doers, in his death the bar, the bench
aud the nation sustain a great loss, which
will be mourned by all. Asa mark of re
spect to his memory, it is ordered that the
Executive Mansion and the several Depart
ments at Washington be draped in mourn
ing, and that all business be suspended on
the day of the funeral. U- 8. Grant.
Tlie President and Cabinet officers will
go to the residence of the late ex-Secretary
as soon as the Cabinet shall adjourn.
The funeral will take place at noon ou
Monday next. The body will be interred
at Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown.
The remains will be taken from the resi
dence of the ex-Secretary and rect to the
1 cemetery, religious ceremonies beiug per
formed at both places.
' The Justices of the Supreme Court now
iu Washington, Chief Justice Chase and
Justices Clifford, Swayne, Miller and Field,
being present, had a conference this morn
iug, with a view to take charge of the fu
neral of Mr. Stanton, but, on consultation
with Secretary Belkuap, it was thought
most appropriate that the funeral services
should be under the control of the Depart
ment. of War. The pall bearers of the late
Secretary Stanton will be General Belknap
and Mr. Creswell, representing the Cabi
net; Senators Sumner aud Carpenter; As
socia'e Justice Swayne, of the United States
Supreme Court, and Chief Justice Carter,
of the Supreme Court of this District;
Surgeon General Barnes, Assistant Adju
tant General Towus*nd; Uni'ed Suites
District Attorney Pierrepont, of New
York ; Geucral T. T. Eekert.and two mem
bers of tue House ot Representatives yet
to be selected.
The Nhir says : “The death of Mr. Stati
tou was first announced to the President,
who was walking ou Pennsylvania avenue
at the time, by Senator Williams The
President's first remark was one of surprise,
aud when assured of the fuel h's head
dropped v Kin hia breast, and he showed
tuiu’ii onto. Ion." |
The issiy I* laid out lu the front room on
the second floor of Ills late residence, the
room ill which he died, ami attired In a I
plain iilm'k dre»» suit. The api<earaure of 1
die face Is |M>rfr)etly natural, and very
placid, there lielng uo discoloration, though
he haa lost in ill'll flesh within the past few
months
Tbs arrangement# for (he funeral are'
under direction of Hon. Samuel Hooper, of
Mass., an intimate Mend of the family, and
the ceremonies will take place at the house
of the deceased on Monday at noon, under
direction of Messrs. Harvey & Marr, the
undertakers. J
The remains will be Interred at Oak Hill
Cemetery, Georgetown, where Mr. Btanton
has a lot, aud where one of his children is
buried.
The body will remain in the apartment
where it is now laid out until Monday
morning, when it will be brought into the
pallor. Until that time none but the im
mediate family and friends of the deceased
can be admitted to view the remains.
The coffin will be a plain one, covered
with black cloth, and ha'ndsomely trimmed
with silver.
Mrs. Stanton has requested that the
funeral lie as quiet and uuostentatious as
possible; therefore the body will remiiu in
possession of the family at the residence of
the deceased. It was suggested that it
would be appropriate to have the remains
placed in state in the Supreme Court room
at the Capitol, but on account of the above
request of Mrs. Stanton this part of the ar
rangement lias been given up.
Mr. Stanton’s first entry into public life
was on the 17th of December, 1860, when
Judge Black resigned the position of Attor
ney General in Mr. Bnchanan’s Cabinet,
and Mr. Stanton was called in to take his
place. Upon the inauguration of Mr. Lin
coln, Mr. Stanton retired to his home, and
on the 11th of January, 1862, was appointed
Secretary of War by Mr. Lincoln. On the
18th of May, 1868, Mr. Stanton resigned the
office and retired to private life with shat
tered health. On Monday last President
Grant appointed him to the Associate
Justiceship of the Supreme Court, which,
however, he never lived to fill.
[From the Missouri K publican.
Special Commissioner Wells’ Report-
Some Unexpected Facts.
The complete Annual Report of the Spe
cial Commissioner of the Revenue, David
A. Wells, fully justifies the eager interest
with whicli it has been looked for and
spoken of, for it is, in truth, the only one
of the recent Government reports and mes
sages that rises to the dignity of a great
and instructive paper. It is at once a
comprehensive exploration and a minute
dissection of our whole fabric of wealth
and industry, the most intelligent, thorough
and instructive ever given to the public,
and few persons can read it through with
out rising from the perusal with a feeling
of regret at a disposal of party rewards
that places Mr. Boutwell at the head of the
Treasury Department, and makes David A.
Wells his second subordinate. There is all
through the Special Commissioner’s report
a vigorous and masterly grasp of the
myriad-sided subject which he handles, and
a cheerful, confident and direct feeling of
knowing what he is about, that is lacking
in a higher department of the Government
that we find ourselves involuntarily wish
ing that Wells and Boutwell could change
places.
Plunging vigorously into his theme, the
Special Commissioner lets us know what
no one ever took the trouble to let us know
before—what was the real cost of the late
war. The total expenditure by the Govern
ment on account of it has been $4,171 914,-
498. To this sum ought to be added the
value of pensions capitalized, $200,000,000;
the expenditures of Stutes, counties and
towns on account of the war, $600,000,000 ;
the increase of State debts on account of
the war, $128,000,000 ; the estimated loss
to the loyal States by reason of the war,
$1,200,000,000; and the estimated direct ex -
penditures and losses of the Confederate
State-!, $2,700,000,000. This makes an
aggregate of $9,000,000,000 as the entire
cost of the war—a snm nearly equal to the
entire increase of property ($9,216,784,372)
in the country from iB6O to 1869.
The report shows that the total number
of immigrants arrived in the country, dur
ing the fourteen years from 1856 to i869 in
clusive, has been 2,918,213, of whom 78,817
were Chinese. It estimates the present an
nual increment of population in the United
States by natural increase of births over
deaths and by immigration at 1,100.000.
The wonderful revival of industries at the
onth prostrated by the war, and the cheer
ful progress made there in the accumulation
of wealth during the last five years, are
alluded to as the most striking illustration
of the extent of our resources, and the ener
gy of our people.
The value of real and personal property
in the United States in 1860 was $14,183,-
215,628; the present value is estimated at
$23,400,000,000 —an increase of over nine
thousand millions, or 65 per cent. The
nopuTation is estimated at 39,000.000. In
1860, the average property to each inhab
itant was $451, in goid ; in 1869 it is S6OO
in currency. This increase is considerably
below the popular estimate; but. the Spe
cial Commissioner supports his opinion
with estimates and figures which it would
be difficult to refute. The gross aunual
value of leading products in the United
States is estimated at $3,282,950,000 for
agriculture; $71,500 000 for cotton manu
factures ; $69,000,000 for woolen manufac
tures ; $119,950,000 for iron (pig and bar)
manufactures; $262,200,000 for leather
manufactures; $360,000,000 for railway
service; and $100,000,000 for fisheries—
making am aggregate of $4,223,000,000. As
the total gross annual product of the coun
try is estimated at $6,825,000,000, there is
left the sum of $2,602,000,000as the product
of other industries than these leading ones.
That the loose popular ideas of enormous
increase of wealth in the country are uot
correct is proved by the Commissioner by
undeniable facts aud statistics. Thus it is
shown that in Massachusetts, situated re
mote from the theatre of the late war, and
suffering no losses, like many other States,
by the actual ravages of armies, the value
of real and personal property subject to
taxation in 1861 was $3,069 in gold to each
poll, while in 1868 it was $3,668 in currency
to each poll—a nominal increase of only
S6OO, but (reducing the valuation of 1868 to
gold) a real decrease of $126 for each poll.
The same phenomenon is made still more
manifest in the decrease in the number of
houses in proportion to the population, in
the same State. In 1861, there were 157
polls for every 100 houses ; in 1868 ihcre
were 166 polls for every 100 houses—an in
c:-ease of 9 polls to every hundred houses.
In ot her words, says the report, “ nine polls,
or, possibly, heads of families in every hun
dred have been crowded out of uouses—de
prived by industrial causes of that degree
of independence and comfort which is in
volved in the maintenance of a separate
household.” The fact Is adduced as a proof
that, in Massachusetts which a recent for
eign economist has characterized as the
head of the industrial army, “ whatever
the couditiou of the rich may he, the poorer
part of the community have certainly
grown poorer.” “ This exhibit,” ulds the
report, “la the more noticeable 'reoaiiae
MaMMocltuaeua Is pre-eminently a Mat< de
lieiidfiit upon mamifitcturee, and it would
fdrly Ir* supposed that its prosperity ml {lit
lie secured, If that ol any Slate could, by ,
the high degree of protection rfforded to
Its In lii.try by the existing tariff, one of
the most severe and rigorous ever enacted
stir tin purpose ot crest mg and endowing
a diversified industry." I
Other figures are given to show that of
the six States of Rhode Island, Connecti
cut, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and New
York, in only one of them, Rhode Island,-
has there been an actual increase of tax
able property in the eight years from 1861
to 1868. While there is absence of increase
of wealth, there rein Jieen a luge increase
in the taxes collected mSiiH^for the ag
gregate of State and local taxes in Massa
chusetts increased from $7,600,501 in 1861
to $16,056,143 in 1868; in Ohio they in
creased from $11,071,127 to $20,486,148;
and in New York from $20,402,270 to $44,-
298,436 in the same time. The retardation
of national development which these indis
putable figures prove is attributed to sev
eral causes, chief among which are the de
pressed condition of our foreign trade; an
industrial demoralization which has con
verted thousands who were once engaged
in productive pursuits into traders, brokers
and speculators: the increase in the amount
of capital and cost of instruments requi
site in the prosecution and development of
industry; the injurious effects of an irre
deemable currency and an unequal taxation
upon the producing classes; and the disas
trous pressure upon the same classes of an
exorbitant protective tariff which taxes all
articles of consumption for the benefit of
the few who are engaged in the manufac
ture of them.
These conclusions deserve to be carefully
pondered by the people, for they are truths
wliich the people are not accustomed to
hear from their rulers at Washington. Mr.
Boutwell bases Ids estimates on an increase
of wealth which his more intelligent sub
ordinate proves does not exist, and wrings
from the people $108,000,000 a year more
than he needs to pay the expenses of the
Government and the interest ou the debt
with, in the almost idiotic delusion that
the people are so rich and prosperous as
not to feel the extortion; while both he
and the President virtually favor a con
tinuance of a tariff which is the leading
cause of that absence of real prosperity
and accumulation which Mr. Wells so
strikingly exhibits.
(From the Hartford (Conn.) Timia.
The West.
The West is full of uneasy, daring, ad
venturous men. They are today dictating
terms to the Republican party. They de
mand that there shall be no specie pay
ments, but on the contrary that there shall
be inflation. The leaders at Washington
hear and obey them. And this dispatch
was sent by telegraph from Washington a
few days since:
THE DEMANDS OF THE WEST.
“ The West demands more of the consul
ships. The call for the list of appoint
ments by the House is for the purpose of
showing that the Eastern 3tates have more
than their ratio, measured by the popula
tion. This is true, but the West has by
far the largest shire of territorial offices.
The President gives a majority of the con
sulships to the East because she is speci
ally interested in commerce, and the West
has a more direct connection with the Terri
tories.’’
This is only one of the notes of warning
to you. “The East is specially interested
in commerce.* True, and manufacturing
also. The West is a producing country;
so is the South. The Mississippi river
draws the two together, aud they will act
together, and act against New England
and her interests before two more Con
gresses are closed; nor will the New Fug
land plotters for negro equality be able to
control the negro vote. The African will
vote for free trade, aud cheap shoes aud
clothes; lie will vote with the West. He
is what a Southern letter-writer says (last
week) in his communication to a New
York paper:
“Not long will the weakening fetter
bands of central power hold the accumu
lating weight and strength of the great
West and Southwest to the bosom of the
she-wolf of New England.”
The West growing rapidly, and with in
creasing representation at every decade,
has already found fault with the great
weight of New England in the United
States Senate. With a less population
than New York, which has two Senators,
New England has twelve Senators. It is
true that the Constitution declares that
“ no State, without its consent, shall be de
prived of its equal suffrage in the Senate,”
even by an amendment to the Cons, itu ion.
But what does that amount to? Who
cares for the Constitution ? Do the people
lift a finger or cast a vote to save it?
Does not the party in power scoff at it, and
violate it frequent,!--, and in the most dan
gerous manner? When the “accumulated
weight and strength of the great West and
Southwest” sweeps down upon New Eng
land, the unconstitutional precedents of
her leaders at tlis time will be quoted, and
she may cry in vain for constitutional pro
tection. She will lean upon a broken reed.
A Southern paper, the Augusta Constitu
tionali t, of December 15, in view of the
policy of vengeance wreaked upon that sec
tion. turns its attention to coming events,
and savs:
“The Philadelphia North American and
the Boston Journal have open' i their bat
teries on Western t-ectionaiis®. We learn
from these authorise that the West is
‘ fast becoming more tyrannical and exact
ing than the South ever was or ever thought
of being,’ Great troubles in the long run
are predicted. It is asserted that the West
is too voraciou3and ungratefu.. Sh~ thanks
the East for no favor and takes all she can
grasp as a right indisputable. The North
American growls over the fact that the
West is a unit in Congress when the spoils
are on the carpet, while the East is dis
tracted by Iocs! jealousies. With an im
mense grimace, we are told that *ne West
gobbles up all the money, all the land, all
the offices, while t he East has to pay nearly
all the taxes and the bulk of the revenue.
The East is called upon to unite against
this novel version of the ‘slave-driver’s
lash.’ Os course the Western organs re
taliate in kind and threaten terrible things.”
As rapid as the tid of passing events in
1 hesc eventful and fanatical times, the day
is approaching when New England will
appeal to the Const* tution for safe-y ; and
then she will be confronted with „he pre
cedents which her representatives are
making and npholding to-day. She will
appeal to a government shattered by her
own policy and action, and the “vengeance”
now so sorely felt at the South will fall
with redoubled force upon Northern in
terests.
HrwK Industry.— Support home me
chanics—home mills—home labor—home
merchants—home press—home artisans—
home everything, and persons, as near as
possibl", in order to do your part in sup
porting and aiding In building up vour
ever-day n-lghbor, place county and State.
Also, pat ronixe those who patroni7"' ; >ur
mechanics—and those who do not Ml
through your papers to keep their business
befbre the |>eople. It shows business—it
shows a liberal «p 1 r l *—lt inuatm to II"« and
let live When you fi. <1 tin latte" k'nd of
•nslnesa n • you find men who will trade
llltera ly witn you—looking to both sides
of the trade Instead of one. Try It (V ends,
and •«« If we are not in the mala t ghi
Those are ottr sentiments exactly, If th«y
went wrltl* n by someone else.