39 pp. (8vo) original tan-grey wrappers. 

One of the earliest discussions of the eternally-controversial subject of America’s financial soundness and ability to pay its national debt. This booklet brought the 36 year-old Massachusetts scholar into prominence and attracted the attention of President Lincoln who appointed Wells chairman of a National Revenue Commission that pioneered in collecting financial statistics for government use and briefly gave official sanction to a post-war survival of the income tax. Wells (1828-1898) remained an economic advisor to several Presidents in the late 19th century and wrote classic economic tomes which are still read today. This imprint is the work that launched his long career.