Yankee Speculations about the war.
The New York
World, under the caption "Shall we have an eight years war," has the following article:
Is the
Union worth an eight years war?
Except for illustration, this is an idle interrogatory; for it is certain that the war cannot last eight years on its present gigantic scale without engulfing the country in hopeless bankruptcy.
The war has already lasted two years and six months, and in that time we have accumulated a national debt amounting to about $2,000,000,000--Each year of the war must cost more than the year next preceding, for the constantly increasing inflation of the currency will cause a corresponding increase in the cost of military supplies.
With the same number of men in the field it is probable that taking one year with another, at least thirty per cent. will be annually added to the cost of supporting the war. A simple calculation will show the impossibility of the war continuing eight years without bankrupting the nation.
It may fairly be doubted whether it can continue five years from its commencement, or double its present duration, without prostrating the credit of the
Government.
It is clear that a war even for the
Union cannot be indefinitely prolonged, and consequently that an Administration which spends much and accomplishes little will, if continued in power, bankrupt the nation, and fall to restore the
Union at last.
"The Union at any cost!" is a well soundings cry till you come to examine it. Do we want the
Union at the expense of national honor?
Ought we to purchase the
Union by national bankruptcy?
We are shocked at such questions; we recoil from the alternative they present.
But if the thought of either part of the alternative is intolerable what shall we say of an Administration that is so managing the war as to threaten us with the accumulated horrors of both?
If the war continues to be mismanaged as it has been — that is to say, if the Republican party continues in power another four years--we shall have a nation bankrupted and dishonored, without the compensation of a Union restored.
"But the war has made considerable progress."if you look only at the credit side of your balance sheet, and shut your eyes to the debt side, you may easily fancy yourself rich.
It may be satisfactory to have an omelet on your breakfast table, but if you have paid enough for the omelet to buy a house and lot you have really very little to show for your money.
In proportion to the number of men called into service and the amount of debt accumulated, the Administration have accomplished very little. "
Washington is safe."--and so is
Richmond. "
Vicksburg is ours"--but a cry comes from all the
Western cities that the
Mississippi is no more open to commerce than when
Vicksburg was in possession of the enemy.
"The Army of the Cumberland river is in
Chattanooga"--but it was driven there defeated and stands on the defensive.
The Administration has called successively for 75,000 men; for 500,000 men to end the war early by a single overpowering effort; for 300,000 men to save
Washington and repel the invading rebels; for 300,000 men again to serve nine months, and end the war within that time beyond all peradventure; for 300,000 men still again to replace the nine months men who were mustered out, with
Washington again menaced and the
North again invaded; and now the
President calls for still another 300,000 men, to be allowed for, he tells us, on a future draft!
Unless the war makes a more rapid progress in proportion to the colossal scale of our expenditures, our resources will give out before the rebels give up. We shall have lost the knife, and have flag the handle after it.
