wish of their creators. If the capital of these banks shall be at once paid, as some propose, in unproductive and non-payable greenbacks, most of them must stop, because their capital will cease to be productive, and their profits must be derived wholly from circulation, which cannot be kept up, when the security upon which it rests is withdrawn from the Government. When these national bonds are all discharged, however paid, upon what is this system of banking to rest? They are limited to twenty years; what are we then to have in their place? If all national bonds are paid off in greenbacks, when are they to be paid, and when are we to have a gold currency, or a paper one convertible on the spot into gold? These are questions not to be solved by the provisions of Mr. Chase's law, which seems destined to form capital for future politicians in their struggles for power. But if Justice is not perverse as well as blind, long ere that the judiciary will condemn the whole scheme as unconstitutional, null and void, and its authors and their party will sink to rise no more. We speak of Mr. Chase as a politician. As a citizen he receives our sincere respect, and as Chief Justice we preferred him over all aspirants, in his party, for that office. He does not disappoint us.

112.-WHY THE WAR LASTED SO LONG.

The war began in April, 1861, and continued until the same month in 1865, a period of four years, with twenty-three States, including the five largest, against eleven, three of them being small. There was no lack of men or means, both being abundant, nor a deficiency of officers of talent and experience, nor want of courage, fidelity, and perseverance, among the Northern soldiers. Our large armies were, in all respects, the equals of the smaller one of the secessionists. We had a large navy and they had none. Our mail facilities continued as ample as they had been, while the Confederates were nearly without them. We had ample facilities for manufacturing arms, and all munitions of war, as well as clothing, but theirs were limited. We had the advar tage of being an old constitutional Government, fully organized, having representatives abroad, and receiving others from thence,

and ample credit, at home and abroad, while their government. was new and without these advantages. We numbered more than two to their one, and our confidence in the goodness of our cause and in a final triumph never wavered. Foreign nations as well as our own people have expressed astonishment at the long continuance of the war. The answer is easy, and will be fully confirmed by history. The Republican party so managed as to invite the war, and caused it to be conducted and continued for political effect, and especially to reëlect a Republican Administration. It might have been successfully closed in half the time consumed, and with less than half the loss of men, and with less than half the expense, but for the management to retain political power in the hands of the Republican party. Mr. Lincoln and the Republican party are responsible for this unnecessary prolongation of the war. They knew it and understood it. We understand perfectly well the force and effect of what we charge. But for the course pursued by the Republicans and Mr. Lincoln, there would have been no war. Had it ended in 1862 or 1863, Mr. Lincoln could not have been reelected. The cry was, "Let him finish what he has begun. 'Don't swap horses while crossing a stream."

The country was full of men wishing to be generals with important commands, though few were qualified for them. Most of those commissioned were Republican partisans, or soon became so, like Butler and others, to secure coveted positions. But neither Republican nor Democrat was allowed to accomplish so much as to make him a prominent competitor with Mr. Lincoln for the presidency. Fremont entered upon command in Missouri with high hopes, but was soon withdrawn from it, and sent into obscure employment, as he deserved to be. Neither McDowell, Pope, Burnside, nor. Hooker, was feared as a rival. Dix was not permitted to add military fame to his civil honors. McClellan's star was too brilliant and rose too fast. He arranged a sure plan for taking Richmond, and ending the war. Instead of sending McDowell, with his large force, to unite and act with McClellan, north of the Chickahominy, which would have insured success, he was sent nearer Washington, leaving the latter in a tight place, who had to fight his way across that stream, which he did with

brilliant success, to save his army. He solicited an addition to his force, equal to McDowell's command, that he might make sure of Richmond, which would have ended the Confederacy. This was refused. If he had actually taken that city, and ended the war, his chances would have been fair for the presidency. His command was recalled from the Peninsula, placed under the braggart Pope, to add to the misfortune of his defeat at the second battle of Bull Run. When the Confederates made for Maryland, and Mr. Lincoln, his Cabinet, Congress, and others, were in a fright, necessity forced the recall of McClellan. He organized the demoralized army, fought and won the battle at Antietam, moved into Virginia to cut off the retreat of the rebel army, with fair prospect of success. But his star was rising too fast, and, without any decent pretence, his command was taken from him, and he sent to wither in New Jersey, and not permitted again to serve. He must not end the war, for fear he would be made President, to which all Lincoln officeholders and Congress said, amen! The years 1862 and 1863 had been worse than wasted, for we had lost many men and much money, and gained nothing. In March, 1864, Grant took command of the Army of the Potomac, but, as if it was intended to keep him from the achievement of closing the war, he was sent by land to fight from Washington to Richmond, where he lost nearly a hundred thousand men, and much credit, by not taking proper care of his wounded on the way. Grant, in June, stepped upon McClellan's old ground, but against the wishes of the Administration. If Richmond had fallen before the elections in 1864, the Administration would have fallen, and therefore it was not allowed to be taken. Sherman's mastermovement of the war was too late to create apprehension. When Mr. Lincoln was reëlected, and the public offices all secured to the Republican party, the steps necessary to terminate the war were permitted, and proved successful. With suitable men in the War Department, and at the head of the army, the war might quite as easily have ended in 1862. Every thing, from the recall of McClellan in August, 1862, from near Richmond, to Grant's arrival there in June, 1864, might have been avoided, and was a useless waste of time, men, and means. Notwithstanding Mr. Lincoln's

occasional expression, of allowing McClellan to have his own way, instead of permitting it, as he might, he went with the politicians in the work of sacrificing him to prevent his ending the war, and being made President. Lincoln knew his great ability, for he declared to a visitor, that if any six generals of the army could be put into one man, he would not be equal to McClellan. But for the war, and the means it controlled, Mr. Lincoln never could have been reëlected. All knew it.

There was another class of men, claiming to be Republicans, who cared less for the success of their party than for the profits of contracts for supplying the army and navy with things necessary for the prosecution of the war. These were numerous and active, and left no means untried to prevent peace. Many of them rolled up enormous fortunes, and were important and useful men in defraying the expenses of the Republican party at the elections. Their advice and exertions were always in favor of whatever would postpone peace, and continue their profits. Between them all, the war was prolonged for years after it ought and might have been closed, and history will establish the truth of the reasons which we can only suggest, that the necessities of the Republican party more than doubled the duration and expenses of the war.

113.-CONGRESSIONAL FISHING-COMMITTEES.

Committees in search of the faults of others were uncommon in the better days of the Republic. Since the Republicans have had control at the capital, it has become a very important branch of business. If a riot occurs in New Orleans or Memphis, if generals are supposed to have erred or blundered, a collector at New York cheated or been cheated, an old State suspected-Maryland, for example of adopting an anti-republican constitution before the Federal Constitution was adopted, or in Washington or Jefferson's time or since, or a murder has been committed and accomplices are unknown, or a printer gets too good a contract or none at all, or it is hoped that the Executive has done or said something wrong, a committee is at once appointed, clerks and stenographers employed, and they all proceed to the place of the suspected wrong, subpoenas are issued and witnesses compelled to

attend, a ream or two of paper is used, the whole matter printed, and, if possible, something against a political adversary extracted or at least made to look suspicious-and for what? For no lawful, constitutional, or useful purpose. The committees have had a pleasant trip to a new place, seen a great many people, have been kindly treated, and talked politics-and the Government has to pay a bill of several thousand dollars. No legislation, but much electioneering, grows out of these expeditions. Sometimes they sit in Washington, and at others go to the Rocky Mountains, and at others look about the country generally. These things are not within the powers or duties of Congress, and, although it will not be denied that very ignorant men get into Congress and need posting up and instruction, they are never made wiser by the doings of these committees. A bad feature in their labors is, that they proceed ex parte, and assail, and sometimes injure, men by the falsehoods they gather and publish. They seem to usurp the functions of magistrates, grand-juries, and courts, without observing the rules of law and regulations applicable to them. These fishing-trips seem to serve the purposes of congressional holidays, the Government paying the expenses of the frolic. Their cost is the least of their evils. All such performances are anti-democratic in principle and in practice, and the people should demand. their discontinuance, or the country will never get out of debt. They form a part of an espionage system which a free people should never tolerate. Neither the executive nor judicial branch of the Government dare venture upon any policy of the kind, and still each has as much power under the Constitution to apply it to Congress as Congress has to apply it to either or to anybody else. If subjected to such scrutiny, the acts of members of Congress would prove as objectionable as those they charge upon the President or others. If all the caucus-room talking and acting, the private consultation in the rooms of members and in other places, could be brought out and published, the record would show things as monstrous as any imputed to the worst of men. Why have not the Executive, the judiciary, and the people the same right to invade the privacy of members of Congress as they have to intrude upon either? True, all such things are forbidden