The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1863-08-19

.~sRldS WINTED.-FnTExN AN
rrs>rw CnNrs Pm FOUND (according =
r..iSsi viIi s. raid q THIS OfflCk 70
~ q CLEAN COTTON AND LINEl
RAGS, IN iAsee OF small quAntities
TIE CusaxscY OF '61-62.-Governo
Letcher, in his Proclamation, proposes I
do that which We felt satisfied from tn
flrst would have to be done-viz: to re
trace the step taken by the last Leg'sia
turs, by which . very large part OF Tn
currency put ailoat by the Coniederat
Government Was refused to be taken u
tho psyment Of the State taxes. In
Governor exhibits his own good sense II
declaring the Introduction Of that cufreh
CIV to have been unwise, and to have re
sulted In public inconvenience ana IN SUI
further depreciating the Government
notea. The act by which these notes
were thus interdicted BY our own Stat
Government, was occasioned by the al
tempt Of the Confederate Government t.
drive them from circulation; and the Vir
xinia banks in this city endeavored to co
operate with both Governments, in refus
ing to receive them on deposit after thu
dsy on which the Confederate Govern
ment declared them no longer fundable.
Gov. Letcher, in his Proclamation
says very truly:
aWhle II 10 proper for the Government II
call In It's excessive issues, and to endeavOr T.
fund its debt, It Is not necessary or proper, il
only money that Is now in the hands OF IN
people to meet their everyday transactions
The capitalist and broker may collect ant
fund the amount Of the currency In tneI
hands. but the Government should not per
milf the banks and the corporations OF tnt
cou.tTy TO discrcdit the money. which thu
poor ere required to receive, Dy refusing ing
ordinary dues, and much less should the
Stafes themselves discredit It by prohibiting
its reception in payment Of taxes and puDilc
dues"
The Governor proceeds further to say
that such acts are calculated to excite a
panic, to the injury of the Government,
and be convokes the Legislature especial
" to repeal the act prohibiting the recep-
ton of Confederate notes of a particular
date. in payment Of public dues" To
this he adds very pertinently: much
rather would l punish those who refuse
10 receive the currency OF the country
with the utmost penalties Of the law"
We do not doubt for q moment that
the Legislature will repeal this act: 1t
ought never to have been passed. North
Carolina acted more wisely than Virginia.
She determined to receive the rejected
currency and very periodically to invest
Il in Confederate bonds.
While we should be gratfied to learn
that the Confederate Government secured
the conversion of a very large amount OF
the 8 per cent convertible notes into
bonds, we are certainly not surprised
that a large amount of those notes are
still in circulation. But, nevertheless,
as Gov. Letcher says, it was not proper
to attempt to drive that currency out of
circulation by discrediting it. Such an
expedient not only subjected the public
to inconvenience, but as an inevitable
consequence, it impaired the value of the
Confederate currency generally, in the
public estimation-not only that which
had been issued prior to April, '63, but
that which appeared after that date
This opinion was expressed in this paper
at the time the measure was adopted, and
its correctness is pretty we'll established.
The folly Of issuing notes promising
upon their faces that they would be re-
deemed in per cent. bonds is confessed
by the Government itself, - It has dis
continued to issue them, and unwisely, as
we'll as unjustly, we think, determined fur
.her not to fulfill the promise thus made
Besides, the notice that part of those
notes would not be converted into bonds
at oil after the first of August, and another
part only at per cent, was entirely IN
sufficient to enable the holders to bring
them in. however much inclined they
might have been to do so. That currency
was floating everywhere, to the utmost
extremities of the Confederacy. Even
could the new notes Of the LIST Of April
and subsequently, have been disseminated
rapidly enough to supply q currency to
take their place, they could not have been
collected and delivered in due time. So
the holders were required to perform an
imposdbility, and for failing to perform il
they were to be punished By condemnins
the notes they held after august 1st t.
depreciation
Every one knows that the financial pc
icy Of the Government, as displayed ir
the promise Of 8 per cent, and in the ef
fort TO call in the notes, was suggested BY
the most proper motives, viz: LIST. A de
sire to give the Government currenc,
good standing; and I'd, purpose to di
minish the amount in circulation by fore
inx the holders to convert it into bonds
The first expedient was fallacious. 1t hat
no effect ct all. People would have hat
the same faith in it had it made no pro
mise whatever. The second was unprac
teal and visionary. TWAS abrupt, harsh
and unpopular. It produced complaint
and engendered opposition where none
had existed 1t proceeded upon wrong
principle. It assumed that borrower
had . right to dictate terms-to coerce thu
lender 70 take whatever form of obliga
ton be choose to give. There Is certainly
no such moral right That this expedien
vas unfortunate in its effects there can
not, We suppose, be . doubt
1hs currency issued by the Govern
meut il IN excess Of the wants of com
msrce, and Of course must be deprecated
i osaGht to be diminished in quantity
There are two modes Of doing this: On
BY texation--the other by conversion Q