, 1863-01-03

LOUISIANA to Alabama and the East, from,
winch much Of the rebel supplies arc received,
WIN its fall the Mississippi will be rcopcned
TO commerce. which, Of course, is one great
lend to be attained, and anothcr is to cit Of
three, rebel States from all llr1nilitary inter
course with:tlic rest Of .scccssia."
|
The Three Hundred Million
Scheme.
Editors Chicago Tribune:
| Termit q novice to ask few questions In
relation to your article upon tho above cap.
ton % IN yonr issue Of this morning:
VIII or will not tic United States govern.
ment have to borrow nine hundred millions
| Of dollars more, to prosecute the war to q
successful issue and will not the debt Of the
! government have to he represented by some
| kind Of paper evidence Of Its existence! Sup.
/ pose yon Issue the whole nine hundred mil
lion In six per cent. bonds, to run twenty
| market, as fast US the national wants
/ may. require, is it probable that
said bonds would be any nearer the specie
| standard than legal tender Treasury notes
wards, into Q per cent. bonds? Again, how
can currency, at all times convertible into a
6 per cent. stock, the interest upon which il
| paid semi-annually in coin, deprccIate to forty
cents upon the dollar, when the average rate
| OF interest In the money markets Of the world
Hamburgh X to 2 per cent. I can well I'M
dcrstand why an irredeemable bank note cir
| culation may dcprcciate to 80, 90 or 10 per
cent. upon the nominal yalue, but how cur
rency based upon the whole tax paying power
Of the loyal States, aud ultimately Of the
whole Union. soon to be forty States at least,
can be Chased with such issues, is to me fal-
lucy too gross to impose upon an intelligent
| public.
Money can now be borrowed in Chicago,
and 1 presume in other cities Of the North
west, for about s per cent. per annum upon
g9od security, which rate varies but little ffom
States lcgal tender notes with coin, and by con-
| verting them into per cent. government
bonds at par. The increase ofcurrency, Of
which you complain has certainly not ad-
yanced the rate Of interest upon money, as
now demonstrate by their how1s. And were
it not for the high regard in which hold your
corps editorial, should suspect that your
financial articles might possibly have been
Written .hnt or dictated by one Of the fraternity
II the issue Of an additional $500, 900, 900 Of
legal tender notes should have the same happy
effect upon the rates Of interest which follow
ed the former Issue, ne may reasonably hope
10 see stx per cent. per annum, become the
maximum rate for well secured loans when
the advance upon United States skies would
make them par with gold.
1on are certainly right in asking tax upon
bank issues, but in your zeal you seem to hare
cassed government and people, who FAT in
terest npon their promises, with corporations,
who lend their promises for interest, and
gal tender notes, in order TINT they might lend
their credit to the government, and grow fat
upon the substance Of the people, JuyEs1s.
january 1st, 1868.
: REPLY.
Our correspondent having concurred with
our Recommendation, that bank issues should
be taxed ont Of circulation and the field be
lett clear for Uncle Sam, there is really no
question ct issue between US. He asks seye-
raj questions in regard to how the Govern
ment is going to raise nine hundred millions
on SIX per cent. bonds, but us they arc wholly
irrelevant, it is not necessary to reply to them
in order to defend the positions assumed in
our article. We will say this much gratui.
tously, however:
LIST. We do not think the Government will
have to borrow nine hundred millions to prose-
cute the war, nor the half of it. The war will
not be permitted to drug on for years. It
must be closed up successfully or otherwise
before the termination Of the present year.
"a. In addition to the immense revenue bc-
ing derived from taxes and tariff the Govern
ment cannot consume more than five hundred
millions during the year 1868. If the bank is-
sues are retired from circulation s'grcenbacks,'
to the amount Of two hundred millions can
be Issued to fill the vacuum, which will leave
but three hundred millions at most to raise by
the sale Of bonds.
sd. As to the conversion of legal tender
notes into bonds, this much can be said, that
very few have been funded, notwithstanding
the interest on the bonds is payable in gold,
semi-annually, and the greenbacks have sunk
to seventy cents on the dollar in value. Per
laps when they fall to be worth forty or fifty
CENTS the process Of conversion may 60 on
more rapidly. But even then, may not conf
dence In the pcrpetuity of the Government
sink in IN equal ratio with the decline in tho
value Of greenbacks? If so, people would |
not :" convert" into bonds, even if legal tender I
notes should go down to twenty.flv cents on |
Tue gold dollar. Military success is the only
thing that can make Federal bonds desirable; |
and If We get that, the war will not last long. !
. the Union is lost, VIC will not stop here to /
discuss the effect on Fcderal securities or
promises to pay.
AS to tue decline in the rate Of Interest,
mentioned BY our correspondent, it proceeds
rom feeling Of dread or insecurity. Per.
sons with quantity Of currency on their
lands want to convert 1t into some safe in
7estment Real estate is the favorite sccnritv