of opinion could not be written than he has outlined in his December message, from which I have quoted at length. James Russell Lowell wrote for the North American Review of January, 1864, an estimate of public sentiment which is also remarkable in that the years have demonstrated its exactness. Nothing can so well reinforce the utterance of the backwoods lawyer in the White House as the words of the poet, the apostle of culture, who, from the groves of the academy, spoke in energetic diction for the mass of the common people of the North. "The "The progress of three years has outstripped the expectation of the most sanguine," he wrote, "and that of our arms, great as it undoubtedly is, is trifling in comparison with the advance of opinion. The great strength of slavery was a superstition which is fast losing its hold on the public mind. When it was first proposed to raise negro regiments, there were many even patriotic men who felt as the West-Saxons did at seeing their high-priest hurl his lance against the temple of their idol. They were sure something terrible, they knew not what, would follow. But the earth stood firm, the heavens gave no sign, and presently they joined in making a bonfire of their bugbear. That we should employ the material of the rebellion for its own destruction seems now the merest truism. In the same way

men's minds are growing wonted to the thought of emancipation; and great as are the difficulties which must necessarily accompany and follow so vast a measure, we have no doubt that they will be successfully overcome. The point of interest and importance is, that the feeling of the country in regard to slavery is no whim of sentiment, but a settled conviction, and that the tendency of opinion is unmistakably and irrevocably in one direction, no less in the Border Slave States than in the Free. The chances of the war, which at one time seemed against us, are now greatly in our favor. The nation is more thoroughly united against any shameful or illusory peace than it ever was on any other question. . . . The Rebel leaders can make no concessions; the country is unanimously resolved that the war shall be prosecuted, at whatever

CH. XXIII.]

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cost. . . . While every day was bringing the people nearer to the conclusion which all thinking men saw to be inevitable from the beginning, it was wise in Mr. Lincoln to leave the shaping of his policy to events. In this country, where the rough and ready understanding of the people is sure, at last, to be the controlling power, a profound common-sense is the best genius for statesmanship. Hitherto the wisdom of the President's measures has been justified by the fact that they have always resulted in more firmly uniting public opinion. It is a curious comment on the sincerity of political professions, that the party calling itself Democratic should have been the last to recognize the real movement and tendency of the popular mind. The same gentlemen who two years ago were introducing resolutions in Congress against coercion, are introducing them now in favor of the war, but against subjugation. Next year they may be in favor of emancipation, but against abolition. It does not seem to have occurred to them that the one point of difference between a civil and a foreign war is, that in the former one of the parties must, by the very nature of the case, be put down, and the other left in possession of government. Unless the country is to be divided, no compromise is possible. . . . If Mr. Lincoln continue to act with the firmness and prudence which have hitherto distinguished him, we think he has little to fear from the efforts of the opposition. Men without sincere convictions are hardly likely to have a well-defined and settled policy, and the blunders they have hitherto committed must make them cautious. If their personal hostility to the President be unabated, we may safely count on their leniency to the opinion of majorities, and the drift of public sentiment is too strong to be mistaken. They have at last discovered that there is such a thing as Country, which has a meaning for men's minds and a hold upon their hearts. . . . In any event, an opposition is a wholesome thing; and we are only sorry that this is not a more wholesome opposition. We believe it is the general judgment of the country on the acts of the present administration, that they have been, in the main,

judicious and well-timed. The only doubt about some of them seems to be as to their constitutionality." 1

In his annual report to the President, the Secretary of War said that the Conscription Act had been enforced in twelve States, levying fifty thousand soldiers, and raising by the three-hundred-dollar exemption ten millions for procuring substitutes. "Volunteering is going on, in some States, with much spirit," he said. "The prime importance of filling up the old regiments, and the superiority of such force over new regiments, is a point on which all military experience and opinions agree. . . . The indications are that the force required will, in a great measure, be raised by volunteering without draft. It is proper to add that commanding generals bear testimony that the drafted men who have gone into the ranks acquit themselves well and make good soldiers."

The Secretary spoke of the development of the national energy. "At the beginning of the war we were compelled to rely upon foreign countries for the supply of nearly all our arms and munitions. Now all these things are manufactured at home, and we are independent of foreign countries, not only for the manufactures, but also for the materials of which they are composed."

Congress took effective action towards filling the armies for the campaigns of 1864. By the Act of February 243 the President was authorized "whenever he shall deem it necessary during the present war to call for such number of men for the military service as the public exigencies may require," and

1 Lincoln read this article, which occupies twenty-seven pages of the North American Review, and thus wrote of it, Jan. 16, 1864 : “Of course, I am not the most impartial judge; yet, with due allowance for this, I venture to hope that the article entitled 'The President's Policy' will be of value to the country. I fear I am not quite worthy of all which is therein kindly said of me personally."- Complete Works, vol. ii. p. 470.

2 Probably an over-statement. According to the report of the ProvostMarshal-General of March 17, 1866, there were held to service 9881, furnished substitutes 26,002; total, 35,883.

8 1864.

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provision was made for a draft in any division where the quota assigned was not filled by volunteers.

The Secretary of the Treasury began his report to Congress by saying that the operations of his department had "been attended during the last fiscal year by a greater measure of success than he ventured to anticipate at its beginning. The Loan Act," he continued, "and the National Banking Act were followed by an immediate revival of public credit. Success quite beyond anticipation crowned the efforts of the Secretary to distribute the five-twenty loan in all parts of the country, as well as every other measure adopted by him for replenishing the Treasury." The receipts from customs, internal taxes, and other ordinary sources for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1863, were $111,000,000; the expenditures were $715,000,000; the difference, except $13,000,000 a balance from the preceding year, was provided by borrowing. The amount of the debt, July 1, 1863, was $1,099,000,000.1 "To check the increase of debt," Chase wrote, "must be, in our circumstances, a prominent object of patriotic solicitude. The Secretary, therefore, while submitting estimates which require large loans, and while he thinks it not very difficult to negotiate them, feels himself bound, by a prudent regard to possible contingencies, to urge on Congress efficient measures for the increase of revenue." He recommended that internal taxes to the amount of one hundred and fifty millions yearly be imposed, and spoke of the "importance of an economical and vigorous prosecution of the war." He congratulated himself on the improvement of the public credit. loans were negotiated at seven and thirty hundredths per cent.," he said; "the next at seven; the next at six; more recently large sums have been obtained at five and four [these at 4 and 5 per cent. were "temporary loans by deposits reimbursable after ten days' notice "].2

1 The exact figures are reduced to round numbers.

"The first

2 The reduction of interest was not so great as one might assume from Chase's report. The receipts from the first loans were in gold or paper payable in coin. After the suspension of specie payments Dec. 28, 1861, and the enactment of the Legal-tender law of Feb. 25, 1862, the receipts were in

Anticipating the chronological course of events, it will be convenient in this connection to touch upon the financial legislation of this session of Congress, which began December 7, 1863, and ended July 4, 1864. By two joint resolutions as a temporary expedient the rates of duties on imposts were increased fifty per cent., to take effect April 29, and to continue until July 1. A tariff act, being made up of the usual intricate mass of details, was passed, increasing materially the imposts.1 Another temporary measure was that of March 8, which levied a tax of sixty cents per gallon on spirits, thus augmenting this excise threefold. A comprehensive act of internal taxation, which repealed, except in some minor particulars, and superseded former acts, was passed, being approved June 30. Many of the duties were reimposed, some of them were increased. The tax on spirits was made $1.50 per gallon from July 1, 1864, to February 1, 1865, and after the later date it was to be $2; but the duty on malt liquors was not advanced. An income tax of five per cent. was imposed on incomes over $600 and less than $5000, of seven and one-half per cent. on amounts between $5000 and $10,000, and of ten per cent. on the excess over $10,000. The Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to borrow $400,000,000 by issuing six per cent. bonds, or in lieu of one-half of that amount he might sell $200,000,000 of interest-bearing legal-tender treasury notes. By the same section of this act the total amount of non-interest-bearing legal-tender notes, popularly known as greenbacks, issued or to be issued, was limited to $400,000,000, "and such additional sum, not exceeding fifty millions of dollars, as may be temporarily required for the redemption of temporary loan."3

greenbacks or their equivalent (see vol. iii. p. 559 et seq.). The date of Chase's report was Dec. 10, 1863. Gold sold that day at 1484, the value being measured in greenbacks.

This last amount was not afterwards exceeded. United States Notes,

Knox, p. 142.