Norfolk Gazette And Publick Ledger

The report of the secretary of the treasury furnishes a gloomy picture of the finances of the country. Of the amount which it was calculated would be received into the treasury, from loans and otherwise, for the year 1814, there is a deficiency of eleven millions six hundred thousand dollars. But we do not understand that this sum, if it had been received into the treasury, would have covered the expenses for the year; the extensive scale on which the enemy is prosecuting the war, has produced the call for a force that was not contemplated. The nation must prepare for new and extraordinary taxes, and they must be direct, for the extensive system of blockade which the enemy has instituted, and which the powers of Europe are unable or unwilling to resist, leaves but very uncertain hopes from impost.

The people will understand that the war has assumed a new shape; the enemy no longer acts upon the defensive, but aims at conquest; we do not say this by way of complaint against the enemy; according to the usages of war, he only does in this particular what we and others have done; but we venture to say that he will find himself most egregiously mistaken. Under the circumstances which the country is now placed, it has nothing to hope (under Providence) but from the energy of the people and the wisdom of their rulers. The times require all the wisdom and virtue of the nation to be called into action; the people must place men in power of known talents and integrity, without regard to political sects. The nation can yet, not only be saved, but assume the elevated rank which she has held.