Northwest boundary of the United States; Oregon question
The probable annual expenses which must be incurred in a war with
England, and the resources for defraying them, are the next objects of
inquiry.
It is extremely difficult to draw any correct inference from the
expenses of the last war with England: the amount of the arrearages due
on account of the military services at the time when the peace was
ratified, is not stated with precision in any of the public documents
which I have seen. Although the laws show the number of men voted, that
of those actually raised has never to my knowledge been officially
stated. There can be no doubt that the want of a proper organization
increased the amount of expenditure much beyond that which would have
been sufficient under a regular and efficient system. This has
undoubtedly been much improved; yet the expenses incurred in the
Seminole war, compared with the number of men employed and that of the
hostile Indians, show that either there are still some defects in the
organization, or that there were great abuses in the execution.
The payments from the Treasury for the military department, embracing
only those for the army proper, militia and volunteers, and exclusive of
those for fortifications and the Indian department, amounted for the
year 1813 to 18,936,000 dollars, and for the year 1814 to 20,508,000
dollars. The disbursements for the navy are stated at 6,446,000 and
7,311,000 dollars for these two years respectively. By comparing the
reports of the Secretaries of the Treasury of December 1815, 1816, 1817,
it would appear that the arrearages due on 1st January, 1815, exceeded
ten millions of dollars: and it seems certain that the actual war
expenses of 1814 could not have fallen short of 35 to 40 millions of
dollars. It has been asserted that the regular force during that year
amounted to 35,000 men.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account