The New York herald., 1863-12-21
FINANCIAL AND CONNER cIAL.
SUNDAY. Dec. 20, 1868

SUNDAfs Oec' ~, 1000.
The great questions before the people of this
country at the present time are the condition of our
monetary affairs and the retention of the national
credit; and there Is now in session at Cleveland,
Ohio, convention of government assessors, the
object of which is to devise means to increase the
revenue from internal taxes without placing the
burthen too heavily upon any particular class.
By comparing the two systems of finance adopt
ed by Mr.. Chase, Secretary of the United States
Treasury, and Mr.. Memminger, the head of the
Treasury Department of the rebel confederacy,
the similarity will be found sufficiently striking to
elicit the wonder of how they could possibly have
been made 30 nearly to correspond without pre-
existing understanding. We do not propose to
trace each item of indebtedness based upon each
system to prove their similarity; but we will
merely draw attention to the issues Of Treasury
notes by both sections. Mr.. Memminger, in his
annual report to the rebel Congress in Rich
mond, says he has in circulation about seven
hundred millions of dollars, which we are
informed through other sources have deprecated
ninety-two per cent; and Mr.. Chase has issued
since the commencement of the war aggregate
of nearly six hundred millions of currency, which
are reduced from the gold standard about forty
four per cent. Mr.. Memminger's system, we
know. has broken down, and made bankrupt the
entire South, while that of Mr.. Chase, owing to its
being backed by our commerce and manufactures,
by the wealth, the enterprise and the industry of
twenty millions of people, whose chief aim is pro-
gress, has yet the virtue of stability; but, If the
is to 60 ON for two or three years longer, the
end will find Mr.. Chases system as fiat
that of Mr.. Memmngers, and its fall will pros
trate, as it has in the South, the vital in
terests Of the whole country. When the rebellion
broke out we saw that ii could not be quelled in
thirty or ninety days, as had been predicted,
and we admonishod Mr.. Chase to adopt course
diferentin some respects from the one he has pur-
sued. We knew he was ignorant of the duty he
had been called upon to perform, and we profiered
him counsel which came from knowledge gathered
in the field of finance by long years of experience.
We advised him to tax the wealth and the produc-
tions of the country to amount sufficient to pay
at least half of the expenses which the war would
be likely to bring upon us, and to raise the bal
ance by going into the market with his bonds
from year to year, or from month to
month, as his necessities might demand
long as the war lasted We had twenty millions
of patriotic people who were willing to assume
the burden; we had untold wealth, manufactures,
productions Of the soil and commerce ready
for the tax gatherers' summons which would
have produced the necessary amount of income
without becoming onerous upon any class of the
community. If Mr.. Chase had adopted this plan
at the start there would have been no necessity
for stoppage of specie payments, the banks
could have furnished sufficient amount of circu.
lation, the paper issues would have retained their
par value, and prices of commodities would not
have devated materially from those ruling pre-
vious to the breaking out Of the rebellion.
system similar to theone We proposed was adopted
by the English government during its war with
the French republic and for the time it proved
successful; while France inaugurated the financial
principles that Mr.. Memminger copied, and she
broke down, bringing ruin and disgrace upon the
nation. The Secretary did not adopt our sugges.
tons; but be chose rather to follow the advice Of
q few Wall street brokers, who had themselves no
practical ideas of finance beyond what they had
gathered from daily speculations in fancy stocks;
and now he begins TO discover that we we're right.
The system Of taxation he now finds must be resort
ed to in order TO preserve the integrity of the
try. IL he had commenced upon that principle. as
advised him 70 do instead OF now having inter-
est TO pay sixteen hundred millions OF debt, he
would not haye had half that amount, and the ma.
tons credit would have been on foundation far
more stable than it is at present.
The following table will show the prices OF stocks
at the close OF the past Eve weeks:-
Nor III.