The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-29 00:00:00

REPUDIATION AGAIN.

(Frem the Nation.)
The act of Congress known as the Legal-Tender Act,
because it authorised the issue of $150,000,000 of paper
money, [declared to bo a legal tender in payment of all
debts, also authorised the issue of $500,000,000 of six per
cent. bonds, redeemable after five years at the pleasure of
the United States, and absolutely payable after twenty
years from their date. Those are the bonds which are now
well known all over the civilised world as United States
Five-Twenty Bonds, which are sold at all the principal
European exchanges, and are almost exclusively owned
by European capitalists. The interest on them has here-
tofore been paid in gold, and everybody believes that it is
due in gold. Concerning the interest no serious question
has ever been raised. But the five► years after which the
United States may at their pleasure pay off the capital of
these bonds have expired, and Mr. Butler and his friends,
in their deep anxiety to diminish the taxation of the people
and increase their own political reputation, propose that
the United States shall avail themselves of this option
and pay off these bonds. Now, the safest and simplest
way of diminishing the interest charge upon a debt
undoubtedly is to pay the debt itself, and we belong to
that class of taxpayers who would be very glad to see this
or any other portion of the debt paid off as soon as possible
and taxation correspondingly reduced. The question is
not as to the propriety of paying it, but as to the money in
which it shall bo paid. Mr. Butler says that it should be
paid off in legal-tender notes, claiming that the law allows
this mode of payment and that the public welfare
requires it.

Does the law allow it ? The very fact that the question
can be asked and seriously discussed proves that the law
is not clear. In fact, the letter of the law leaves an open-
ing for doubt. The spirit of the law removes all doubt
The letter of the law makes it possible for reckless dema-
gogues, and for a thoughtless people oppressed by :a bur-
den wilfully and knowingly assumed, to claim the right to
redeem the bonds in currency. The spirit
.of the law
imposes a far different obligation.
In July, 1861, a law was passed authorising the issue
of $50,000,000 of paper money and $50,000,000 of bonds
bearing 6 par cent. interest, redeemable at the pleasure of
the United States after 20 years from their dato. At the
time the law was passed there was no question as to the
currency of the United States. It was a gold coin cur-
rency, and both the 50 million dollars of paper money and
the 50 millions of bonds were and are payable in coin with-
out any stipulation to that effect, for the simple reason that
at that time no other mode of payment had yet been dis-
cussed or thought of. 'rho paper money issued under this
act became known as demand notes, and has been gradually
redeemed in coin or its equivalent. The bonds became
known as the Sixes of 1881. The interest on them has so
far been paid in coin, and it seems difficult to imagine the
slightest ground upon which either interest or capital can
be paid in anything else. Nor, as far as we aro aware, has
any one asserted that it can be paid in anything but coin
In February, 1862, the law was passed authorising the
issue of the Five-Twenty bonds. Nothing was said in the
act of the currency in which the principal should be paid,
nothing was said of the currency in which the in-
terest should be paid. But it was provided that the
receipts from customs should be specially pledged to the
payment of the interest, and it was specifically enacted
that all customs should be paid in coin. The bonds were
6 per cent. bonds, precisely like those issued six months
before. There was no distinction in tho acts providing
that capital or interest of either should be paid in coin.
Only in the act authorising the issue of the Five-
Twenties, to make the interest payment all the more sure,
specific revenues were in another part of the act pledged
to the payment of that interest. And now, because ad-
ditional security was given for the payment of the interest
iu Win, it i 4 urged, that it could dot have Wm Waded ty

pay the principal in coin, or else the additional security
would have been given for the principal likewise. Tho
fact is that the same security actually was given. The
same paragraph of the act which pledges the
customs receipts for the payment in coin of the
interest on those bonds provides that a part of the coin so
received shall be set aside as a sinking fund for the payment
of the principal of the debt. Yet in face of this the letter
of the law is appealed to, showing that in the paragraph
authorising the bonds nothing was said of the currency in
which principal or interest should 1)3 payable.
It is true that the same act under which these bonds
were issued also authorised the making of $150,000,000 of
greenback paper money thenceforth the legal-tender cur-
rency of the United States, and herein lies the strong point
of the repudiator's argument. It is first proved that the
law does not declare in what currency the bond shell be
paid; it is then shown that the bond was sold for legal-
tender currency ; and it is next alleged that, as the law
does not specify in what currency the bond shall bo paid,
equity demands that it shall be paid in the same currency
that the United States received for it. The argument is
plausible, but it is, after all, but special pleading.
Granted that the law does not specify the currency in
which the bond is payable; granted that the strong infe-
rence drawn above in favour of the bond being payable in
coin is unwarranted; granted tbat the bond is payable in
the same currency that the United States received for it—
granted all this, and we must still deny that the bond is
payable in legal tender currency.
In the first place, the legal-tender currency issued
under the act of 1862 is no longer the legal tender of to-day.
The old legal tender which was paid back into the United
States Treasury for these Five-Twenty bonds had at-
tached to it the privilege that it could be exchanged at
par, at the option of the holder, for the very bonds in ques-
tion. The present legal tender notes have no such privi-
lege, and the old notes have been withdrawn. In the pre-
sent legal tender the bonds are worth 12 per cent. premium,
whereas against the old legal tender they were, by the
strict letter of the law, obtainable at par. Surely on this
ground alone it would scarcely be equitable to pay tie
bonds in the present legal tender.
In the second place, the old legal tender issue under the
act of Feb. 25, 1862, was limited to $150,000,000, and stood
for a long time at par with gold, or at a merely nominal
premium. At that time no ono yet dreamt of "the price
of gold." At that time two or three Israelites and a few
Christians of kindred spirit met furtively at the corner of
William-street and Exchange-place, or in the dim base-
ments of a few professional money-changers, and, to the
scandal of a loyal community, tried to persuade one an-
other that gold would be at a premium one of these days.
But for months and months gold did not go there, and the
legal tender notes, for which the 5-20 Bonds were sold, were,
to all intents and purposes, as good as gold. Is this the
legal tender currency in which Mr. Butler would redeem
the bonds ? On the 25th of May, three months after the
passage of the Legal Tender Act, gold was at a premium
of only three per cent. On July 11 Congress authorised
the issue of $150,000,000 of additional legal tender notes,
and in less than three months gold was at a premium of
30 per cent. On Jan. 17, 1863, Congress authorised the
issue of further $100,000,000 of legal tender notes, and in
30 days gold was at a premium of 72 per cent. In which
of these legal tender currencies would Mr. Butler redeem
the bonds ?

It is useless to go further in this direction. Tho facts
are simply these: The United States has borrowed from
its own citizens and from foreigners money on a bond. The
letter of the bond does not specify how the money or what
money shall be paid. The strict letter of the law cannot
be appealed to. Equity alone can decide by establishing
the intention of the parties to the bond and their interpre-
tation of it at the time of making the agreement. At the
time the contract was made not one person out of a hundred
in the United States believed that wo should have
any other currency but a specie currency long be-
fore the five years' option matured, and all who thought
so must have thought that these bonds were payable in
coin.

On the Ist of March, 1862, seven days after the passage
of the Legal Tender Act, an act was passed authorising
the issue of certificates of indebtedness drawing 6 per
cent. annual interest, without stating whether the interest
was payable in coin or currency. By an act of March 3,
1863, the interest on these certificates was declared to be
payable in coin on all those issued to that date, and on all
subsequently issued to be payable in currency; a striking
argument against the assumption that in the absence of an
express stipulation payment is to be made in currency.
On March 3, 1864, the act was passed authorising the
issue of $200,000,000 of so-called Ten-Forty Bonds, bear-
ing 5 per cent. interest, principal and interest in coin.
These Ten-Forty Bonds are the strongest card of the
repudiators, and their argument is this : the fact that the
Ton-Forty Bonds are made specifically payable, principal
and interest, in coin, proves that it could not have been the
intention of the Government to make the Five-Twenties
payable, principal and interest, in coin, or it would have 33
stated with equal precision. The very reverse is the case.
The Five-Twenty Bonds early became popular in Europe
and here, and it was thought that money could be raised
almost equally well on a 5 per cont. bond, and thus 1 per cent.
of annual interest be saved. Just at that time the question
first began to be raised, especially abroad, whether the Five-
Twenties might not perhaps bo paid off in currency, and in
order to avoid lest any such doubt might attach to the new
4. 44.
principal and interest in coin. But, strange to tell, of all
the loans issued during the war, the only unpopular and
unsuccessful one was this very Ten-Forty loan. If any
serious doubt had prevailed anywhere about the Five-
Twenties, who would have hesitated to exchange a doubt-
ful bond for one which admitted of no question, although
the interest were slightly lower? But far from this, these
undoubted bonds wore not taken, and in less than three
months the Secretary was compelled to seek authority for a
further issue of the very Five-Twenty Bonds which it is now
claimed were purcha sedw ith a knowledge of the doubt adher-
ing to them. And from that time to thisthe Ten-forty Bonds
have stood in the market at almost precisely the same
figure as the Five-Twenty Bonds, taking into account the
difference in the rate of interest. Is it possible to adduce
a stronger proof of the conviction of bona fide buyers that
the Five-Twenties were payable, like the Ten-Forties,
principal and interest, in gold ?
We pass by, as not of binding force, the various letters
from different Secretaries of the Treasury giving their in-
terpretation of the law, all of them in favour of our view.
We waive all claim to our version of the law, but we lay
the facts fairly before the people, and ask them what was
the interpretation put upon the bond by borrower and
lender alike when the loan was made ? We take it there can
be but one answer to our query, and that answer the people
of the United States will have to honestly abide by. It
may require an effort to shake off the temptation, but the
people of the United States have scarcely sunk so low as
to yield up their consciences to the guidance of such
spiritual directors as Messrs. Butler, Pendleton, and Val-
landigham.
We have no space loft to show how petty would be the
advantages gained by so gross a breach of faith, and how
enormous the loss, how incalculable the evil. Nor can wo
now enter into the absurdity and impossibility of the diffe-
rent means suggested for the actual execution of this nefa-
rious scheme. The fuss and flurry which it has excited
hero and abroad are only another warning illustration of
the extreme ease with which the influence acquired for
one purpose may by some men be applied to another.
The best plan, indeed, of meeting Mr. Butler's
sophistries is to remember that throe-fourths of
the difficult science of finance is made up of honesty,
which all men can understand. Whatever cannot be
understood by honest men is apt to bo " financiering," and
something usually called by a worse name. The specific
allegations as to the representations made by the Govern-
ment and its agents in this matter, by which Mr. Butler
has sought to bolster up his plan, in his last letter to the
Tribune, have been admirably met by a correspondent of
the Boston Advertiser, signing himself "W. E.," and we
do not see anything bettor for Mr. Butler to do than to
let the subject drop. Ms share in this discussion
furnishes strong support to the prediction we have more
than once ventured to utter, that a good many gentlemen,
whose "opinions on public affairs" aro now supposed to be
of considerable importance, will, whenever the reconstruc-
tion problem is settled, have either to provide themselves
with a new and complete mental outfit or let the unfortu
nate country go to the dogs for want of their advice.

The Springfield Republican says :—" The Adven-
tists find confirmation and comfort in an article by Pro-
fessor R. D. Hitchcock in the Bibliotheca Sacra, in which
ho argues that tho earth contains in itself all the elements
necessary to its desolation by fire, and cites instances of
burning stars, which have apparently passed through the
same experience that Peter predicted for this earth. No
longer ago than May of last year a star of the eighth mag-
nitude in the constellation of the Northern Crown sud-
denly blazed out into a star of the second magnitude,
burned brilliantly for awhile, and in twelve days returned
to its original appearance ; and astronomers are agreed that
the planet was wrapped in the flames of burning hydrogen
during the period of its extraordinary brilliancy."

(ADvEunsmiENT.)—Avoid Medicines: they always aggravate
chronic complaints: but Du Barry's delicious health-restoring
Rovelenta Arabica Food, which yields three times the nourish-
ment of the best meat, saves 50 times its cost in other remedies,
and invariably restores perfect digestion, strong nerves, sound
lungs, healthy liver, pure blood, refreshing sleep, functional
regularity, ano energy to the most disordered or enfeebled. We
extract a few out of 68,000 cures ;—" The Pope's health restored
by Du Barry's Food. Cure No. 68,413.—" "Rome, July '2l, 1866.
—The health of the Holy Father is excellent, especially since,
abandoning all other remedies, he has confined himself entirely
to Du Barry's Revalenta Arabica Food. of which ho consumes
a plateful at every meal. It has produced a surprisingly bene-
ficial effect on his health, and his Holiness cannot praise this excel
lent food too highly." From the "Gazette do Midi, July 25. Cure
No. 58,216, of the Marchioness de Brehan, of seven years' liver
complaint, wasting away, debility, nervousness, with a nervous
palpitation all over, bad digestion, constant sleeplessness, and
the most intolerable nervous agitation.." Cure No. 1,771; Lord
Stuart de Decies, Lord Lieutenant of Waterford, of many years'
dyspepsia. No. 49,832: " Fifty years' indescribable agony from
dyspepsia, nervousness, asthma, cough, constipation, flatulency
spasms, sickness, and vorniting.—Maria Joly."—Cure No
46,270: Mr. James Roberts, of Frimley, Surrey, of 30 years'
diseased lungs, spitting of blood, liver derangement, and
partial deafness. Important Caution.—Beware of the many
unsavoury and more than sloppy imitations to which, without
i.uthority, Baron Liebig's name is most audaciously attached.
In this at ls. lid.; 1 lb., 2s 9cl. 2 lbs., 4s. 6(1.; 5 lbs., 11s.;
12 lbs., 225.; 21 lbs., 40s.—BARRY Do BARRY and Co., No. 77,
ilegent-street, London; also Fortnam and Mason, 182, Piccadilly ;
and at 61, Jracechurch-street; 4, Cheapside; 63, 150, and zB9,
9g9rd-fitnet • 330 §tnuld; and all grwers and cherniatst

THE PUBLIC DEBT OF THE UNITED STATES.

(From the Wall-street Journal.)
SECRETARY M'CULLOCH'S MONTHLY STATEMENTS.
The following is the Official Statement of the Public
Debt of the United States on the Ist of October, 1867:

DEBT BEARING COIN INTEREST.
Five per Cont. Bonds
Six per Cont. Bonds of 1867 and 1868
Six per Cent. Bonds of 1881
Six per Cent. Five-Twenty Bonds
Navy Pension Fund 1,21335:030800;0705 00
00
00

---
Total
~ 51,745,196,14180
DEBT BEARING CURRENCY INTEREST.
Six per Cent. Bonds
Three Year Compound interest Notes
Three Year Seven-Thirty Notes 365,489,100 00

Total 5461,074,680 00
Matured (lett not presented forpayment
three-year sevon-thirty notes, duo Aug
15, 1867
Compound interest notes matured June
10th, July 15th, and August 15th, 1867
Bonds of Texas Indemnity
Treasury Notes Acts July 17th, 1861, and ,
prior thereto
Bonds April 15th, 1812
0000
Treasury Notes, March 3d, 1863
Temporary Loan
Certificates of Indebtedness

1G4,511 64
54,061 64
959,380 00
5,012,203 55
36,000 00

Total
DEBT BEARING NO INTEREST.
United States Notes . $361,164,844 00
Fractional Currency
Gold Certificates of Deposit 14,867,820 00

Total
Total dobt 52,630,389,456 00
AMOUNT IN TREASURY
Coin 5103,298,659 69
Currency

Total 5135,112,009 24

Amount of debt, less cash in}. $2 49 „
~
Treasury , 5 21‘ 446 76
The foregoing is a correct statement of the Public Debt,
as appears from the books and Treasurer's returns in the
Department on the Ist of October, 1867.
HUGH 3.l.‘Ctazocir, Secretary of the Treasury.
A comparison of the statement of the Public Debt for
the month of October, just issued, with that of the last
month, shows the increase of the Public Debt to the e%-
tent of 2,000,471 c. This increase is in consequence of
the heavy payments on account of the War and Interior
departments (the latter on account of pensions), and the
small receipts from internal revenue during the past month.
It is anticipated, however, that the receipts for the pre-
sent month will be considerably in excess of the pay-
ments, and that the statement on the Ist of November
will show a reduction of several millions. A further com-
parison between the present statement and that made on
the Ist of September exhibits, under the head of "Debt
bearing coin interest," an increase in the Six per Cent-
-5-20 Bonds of $29,670,250. Of the debt bearing currency
interest there has been a decrease on the Three-Year
7-30 Notes of $35,296,925.

Tho national debt not presented for payment has de-
creased $1,219,119, while under this head there is au ex-
hibit of a decrease of the compound interest notes ma-
tured June 10th, July 15th, and August 15th, 1867, of
$5,189,630.

The debt bearing no interest has decreased $4,122,339 60.
There is shown an increase of coin in the Treasury of
of $2,034,639 69, while the amount of the currency has
'decreased $15,259,725.
We annex the Statements for the respective months of
August Ist and September Ist.

DEBT BEARING COIN INTEREST.
Aug. Ist, 1867. Sept. Ist, 1867.
Five per Cent. Bonds ... $198,431,350 00...5198,431,350 00
Six por Cont. Bds '67-68 14,932,141 80... 14,869,791 80
Six per Cent.,Bds. '81... 283,746,400 00... 283,676,100 00
Six per C. 5-20 Bds. 1,468,796,800 00...1,205,710,500 00
Navy Pension Fund ... 13,000,000 00... 13,000,000 00

Total
DEBT BEARING CURRENCY INTEREST.
Six per Cent. Bonds $15,402,000 00... $16,346,000 00
3-Year Compound in-
terest Notes
3-Year Sevon-Thirties 451,235,425 00... 400,786,025 00

Total
$574,964,855 00 $496,971,625 -
MATURED DEBT NOT PRESENTED FOR PAYMENT.
Matured debt not pre-
sented for payment $15,636,815 87 ... $19,440,375 g
DEBT BEARING NO INTEREST.
U. S. Notes $369,164,844 00 ... $365,164,844
900
Fractional Currency 28,554,729 72 ... 29,202,172 7
Gold Certificates 19,457,960 00 15,462,700 00

Total

Total debt 82,686,685,896 39 $2,653,792,189 64
AMOUNT IN TREASURY.
Coin in hand 5102,906,174 00 ... $101,263,620 1:2?
Currency on hand 72,474,296 38 ... 47,073,074

Total cash in Trea-
sury 5175,379,470 38 ... $148,386,094 05

Net debt 92,511,306,426 01 ... 92,492,783,305 05
Iludn 31'CLILLocu,
Secretary of tho Treasury.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

COLCHESTER-10cT. 26.
This market was fairly supplied with wheat to-dal I
and the business done was more brisk, and generally at to
per qr advance on last week's prices. Barley was in good
supply, and prices is dearer for malting sorts. Beaus
and peas were unall ered.

What. white. 748 80s Beans, Mazagan.,...,403 42.
red 885 728 Middle and ernall..44s 486
Barley... 42s Ova Peas, white. 38s 425
Oats —s 8 grey "468 421

CIIELMSFORD—Ocr. 25.
There was a good show of wheat on sale to-day, end
a fair amouct of business took place in all kinds at the
quotations of last week. Barley, except the best sainplo?'
at a reduction of is on late rates. Oats and peas firm in
demand. Beans the turn cheaper.
Whest, old white.— 66s 7;s fees, Partridge 43s 451
new 68a 79s White ...368 403
old red. 6.1 s 6es Bulling ........33s 42.
:
new. (Os 72s Dun....
Barley.... 26s 338 ditio, new....-8
Chevalier its 53a Beans, Tick, 01d......428 =lO
Grind ng 26s 32s
Malt 66s 74a Harrownetwiek.B...4329Bs :63:
Chevalier 68s 7611
Oats s9e
20s 268
Mazagan . 39s 4"

ABERDEEN—OcT. 25.
There was a dull business done to-day, with a this
attendance. Flour in good demand at is decline.
White wheat 58s Od to G3s Od} 621 b
Red wheat Ns Od to 58s Od
Potato oats 28s Od to 30s Od t 40th
V bushel.
Common oats 26s 6d to 30s Od
Bore 3ss 6d to 36s 6d} 19 bushel.
531 b 19 bushel.
Barley 35s Gd to 36s Gd
Oatmeal 20s Gd to 21s 6d 111 boll of 280I6•
Flour, fine 48s Od to 50s Od Vsack of 260:b

KIRKCALDY—OcT. 26.
Good supplies of barley, but small of wheat and oaiff,
at the prices of last week.
Wheat. Barley. Oats.
First...— s's Od 36s 6.1 3os 6d
becond 62s Od I 34s Od ils Od
Turd 74s Od ' lls (3d 32s Od

COAL I
Price per To]

rARKET.
at the Close.

s d
Walls End Gosforth 20 3
Caradoc 2l 9
Haswell
Brancepeth Cannel lB 6
Cowndon l9 0
Hartlepool
Kelloe
Wylam 2l 9

s
Tees 22
Walls End Hetton 22
6
Eden Main
S. Moorirelton Gas l3 °
Hetton Lyons 20 3
Bradyell'afotton 2O
Wharneliffo 2O 3

Ships at mark)

I, &I—sold, V.

LADVERTISEDIE\T.I—HoIIoway's Pills.—With the ad-
vance of autumn the mornings and evenings become
chilly, stop the late free action of the skin, and give rise
to disorders of the lungs, liver or bowels ; under such cir-
cumstances prevention should be looked to as well as cure•
The first symptoms of cough, disturbed stomach, or de-
ranged bowels, should be removed by judicious doses of
those Pills. The very finest alteratives, which act with
certainty and success on any organ in which faulty action
exists, whether it be perceptible or unknown, acting all
gentle aperients, Holloway's Pills strengthen the 101°1°
system, increase the appetite, improve the digestion, raga"
late the bowels, exhilarate the spirits, and expedite the
circulation to pure, healthy blood.

Births.
COCHRANE —On the 19th inst., at the residence of her father,
the wife of the Hon. E. Cochrane, of a daughter.
EGERTON—On the 25th inst., at Grimston, Tadcaster, the
Hon. Mrs. Egerton, prematurely, of a daughter, still-
born.
FANE —On the 27th inst., at Heyford-hill, near Oxford, the,
wife of Capt. John A. Pane, of a son.

Marriages.
KINLOCII -Losa--On the 7th ult., at Nyneotal, Alex. A;
A. Kinloch, Esq., Rifle Brigade, eldest son of CoWiwi
Kinloch, of Kilrie, to Constance Emma Mary, youngeb
daughter of the late Frederick Beckford Long, Esq. ,4
STOREY—BAIutETT—On the 2-ith iust., at St. Joh7;
Church, Walhant-green, Frederick L. Storey, Esq,
son of Mr.Storey, Oxford-stroet , to Mary, second laug
ter of John Barrett, Esq., Wansdown House, Funi3ul.

Deaths.
BIRD— On the 20th inst., at Gravesend, Henry Birg,
Esq., of 1, Robert-street, Adolph', civil engineer, aged a
ETCHES—On the 25th inst., at 34, Victoria-street, Der*
William Jeffery Etches, aged G 3.
FITZMAURICE —On the 26th inst, at the Coastguard S.ts-
- Bangor, N. Wales, the Hon. Fred. O'Bryen Fltz-
maarice, Commander R.N.
KILDARE—On the 26th inst., Margaret, infant daughter Of
the Marquis and Marchioness of Kildare.
PACKE—On the 27th inst., in Richmond-terrace, White-
hall, Charles W. Packs, Esq., M.P., aged 75.
rd
WROTTESLEY - On the 27th inst., itt Wrottesley, the -'°
Wrottesloy, aged 69.

London : Printed and Published by WILLIAM .A.NDlig",2
of No. 119, Strand, Printer, at TRH Stut ODlce,
•
Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in WO GQ111"
Middlesex.. Tuesday, October A 1867.