The Project Gutenberg EBook of Continental Monthly , Vol V. Issue III.
March, 1864, by Various

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Title: Continental Monthly , Vol V. Issue III. March, 1864
Devoted to Literature and National Policy

Author: Various

Release Date: July 17, 2006 [EBook #18848]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE

CONTINENTAL MONTHLY:

DEVOTED TO

LITERATURE AND NATIONAL POLICY

VOL. V.--MARCH, 1864.--No. III.

AMERICAN FINANCES AND RESOURCES.

LETTER NO. III. OF HON. ROBERT J. WALKER.

LONDON, 10 Half Moon Street, Piccadilly,
_December 3d_, 1863.

It is generally believed, even when the American rebellion should be
suppressed, that there would be a great loss of wealth and resources on
the part of the United States. As an economical question the great truth
is not disputed by me, that, as a general rule, wars by a waste of
property, by large expenditures, and by the withdrawal of so much labor
from the pursuits of industry, impair the material interests of the
nation. The influence of such considerations in the United States is not
denied; but there are in the cause of this contest, as well as in its
effects and consequences, results which will more than compensate for
such losses. Slavery was the sole cause of this rebellion, and the
result will be the reconstruction of the Union, with slavery everywhere
extinguished. On this assumption, the question is, whether the
substitution of free for slave labor throughout every State and
Territory of the Union will not, as a question of augmented wealth and
invigorated industry, far more than compensate for the losses incurred
in the contest. Reasoning inductively, it might well be supposed that
the willing labor of educated and energetic freemen would be far more
productive than the forced labor of ignorant, unwilli