The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1862-11-25
TUESDAY MORNING, nov. %, 1862.
Memorial OF the merchants ana
Finnncters NeVv York.

Memorial OF the TIercbants ana
Financiers.Of New York.
A number Of merchants and fnanciers
of the city of New York have addressed
memorial to the Congress Of the United
States upon the subject Of the National
Finances. After entering their protest
against the present management of the
Treasury, the memorialists submit the
following suggestions
In our country money is that article
which the Federal Government should
declare to be a legal tender, and the pub
lie will take this money so long as trade
and business may demand it. Trade will
employ money so long as the use of it will
produce profit greater than the amount
Of interest paid tor its USE When we
wish to float more money than can BIZ
proiitably employed in trade we must
make it bear an interest, or it will de-
preciate in current value.
1t is not the quality of bonds bearing
interest that creates initiation or over is
sues, but the large quantity of irredeem-
able bills forced upon the public as cur
rency that bear no interest.
The principle we now propose to en-
brace in our nntional finances we trust
may be the one that will preserve the
credit and life of the nation and alleviate
the fears of those who consider a national
debt an unmitigated evil.
Your memoralists, therefore, respect
fully request you to authorize and direct
the Treasury Department to issue coupon
bonds, having twenty years TO run, of the
denomination of twenty, fifty, one hun
dred, five hundred, one thousand and five
thousand dollars each, bearing an inter-
est of four and one-half per cent, and to
make such bonds legal tender.
Your memorialists represent that these
bonds will be taken and held by all
classes Of our people, and especially mer-
| chants, traders and manufacturers, to 9
| very large extent, and that the introduc.
| ton Of these bonds will induce business
men TO use more capital and less persona
| credit in their business, because surplu,
capital invested in these interest-payinl
bonds will still be money in the hands o
the holder.
We propose four and One-half per cent
interest because we find, by careful es
| innate Of current values, that four pc
cent. would be too low, and five per cent
too high; and that four and one-half pc
cent. with the legal tender clause maxim,
the bonds money, will make a merchant
able as well as legal par value, This will
cause them to be freely used in the genera
business of the country, in place of bill
of exchange, bank credits, and individua
acceptances.
Another important advantage will ao'
from this system Of finance This rat
of interest on Government bonds will nc
so seriously depreciato mortgage securi
ties or the current value Of real estate, a
the rate of six and seven per cent no.
being paid by the Treasury upon its is
sued bonds.
And, again, these bonds, being none,
bearing interest, will soon take the plaC
of as well as absorb the irredeemable dc
mand note, because these bonds will POI
scss the characteristics of money, an
bear interest
BY adopting this system the Treasur
will not be compelled to ask another LOAF
} for, as those bonds will be legal tende
the Treasury may use them as other MOI
) ey in payment to public creditors. Thu
will the national credit be protecte
) against dishOnOr, to which it is now e.
posed by the plan Of demand notes an
call on short loans.
0 1t is probable that these bonds may |
| absorbed in the business Of the Countr
0 without materially affecting values,
0 the extent of more than one thousan
70 millions within six months; and by a
D lowing a short time to bring about
b proper appreciation Of the value of th
, new money, bearing interest, and grad,
= ally placing the bonds into the hands
the public, il is not unlikely that tv
thousand millions may be proGtably tal
en- in our country,
BY issuing these bonds, that will tai
"a the place of the irredeemable demar
note, the Treasury will be enabled to T
sumo specie payments within ninety da.
from the time these bonds shall be offer,
70 to the public.
Q If the public should require the Go
eminent to continue the issue of demal
notes of denomination less than TWEEN
'' dollars, then provision should be made
redeem such notes in specie at the Su
Treasury.
'e This plan viii keep such issues with
TO proper limits, and will not in any dcgI
affect bank issues, because those inslit
tons, like individuals, may use the bon
and notes of the Government in place