of the nation for its
protection and preservation, the other is contrary to the express
declaration of the Constitution that "a well-regulated militia being
necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to
keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

It is believed that the repeal of all such laws would be accepted by
the American people as at least a partial return to the fundamental
principles of the Government, and an indication that hereafter the
Constitution is to be made the nation's safe and unerring guide. They
can be productive of no permanent benefit to the country, and should not
be permitted to stand as so many monuments of the deficient wisdom which
has characterized our recent legislation.

The condition of our finances demands the early and earnest
consideration of Congress. Compared with the growth of our population,
the public expenditures have reached an amount unprecedented in our
history.

The population of the United States in 1790 was nearly 4,000,000 people.
Increasing each decade about 33 per cent, it reached in 1860 31,000,000,
an increase of 700 per cent on the population in 1790. In 1869 it is
estimated that it will reach 38,000,000, or an increase of 868 per cent
in seventy-nine years.

The annual expenditures of the Federal Government in 1791 were
$4,200,000; in 1820, $13,200,000; in 1850, forty-one millions; in 1860,
sixty-three millions; in 1865, nearly thirteen hundred millions; and
in 1869 it is estimated by the Secretary of the Treasury, in his last
annual report, that they will be three hundred and seventy-two millions.

By comparing the public disbursements of 1869, as estimated, with those
of 1791, it will be seen that the increase of expenditure since the
beginning of the Government has been 8,618 per cent, while the increase
of the population for the same period was only 868 per cent. Again,
the expenses of the Government in 1860, the year of peace immediately
preceding the war, were only sixty-three millions, while in 1869, the
year of peace three years after the war, it is estimated they will be
three hundred and seventy-two millions, an increase of 489 per cent,
while the increase of population was only 21 per cent for the same
period.

These statistics further show that in 1791 the annual national expenses,
compared with the population, were little more than $1 per capita, and
in 1860 but $2 per capita; while in 1869 they will reach the extravagant