The Cadiz sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1864-1911, 1864-08-17
To the People OF the United
kfateS.
TREASURY DEPARTMENT,
July 25, 1864.


ing two hundred millions Of dollars in Treas
ury notes, bearing interest at q rate not ex-
ceeding seven and three-tenths per centum,
redeemable after three years from date, and
to exchange the same for lawful money
The Secretary is further authorized to con-
vert the same into bonds, bearing interest at
a rate not exceeding six per centum, payable
in coin. In pursuance of the authority thus
conferred, now offer to the people of the
United States Treasury notes as described
in my advertisement dated July 25, 1864.
The circumstances under which this loan
is asked for, and your aid invoked, though
differing widely from the existing state of
affairs three years ago, are such as to afford
equal encouragement and security. Time,
while proving that the struggle for national
unity was to exceed in duration and severity
our worst anticipations, has tested the ma
tional strength, and developed the national
resources, to an extent alike unexpected and
remarkable, exciting equal astonishment at
home and abroad Three years of war have
burdened you with debt which, but three
years since, would have seemed beyond
your ability to meet Yet the accumulated
wealth and productive energies of the ma
ton have proved to be so vast that it has
been borne with comparative case, and
peaceful future would hardly feel its weight.
AS a price paid for national existence, and
the preservation of free institutions it does
not deserve moment $ consideration.
Thus far the war has been supported and
carried on, as it only could have been, by
people resolved, at whatever cost of blood
and treasure, to transmit, unimpaired to
postcrity, the system of free government
bequeathed TO them by the great men who
framed it. This deliberate and patriotic re-
solve has developed a power surprising
even to themselves 1t has shown that in
less than a century nation has risen un-
surpassed in vigor, and exhaustlcss in re-
resources, able to conduct, though a series
of years, war on its most gigantic scale, and
finding itself, when near its close almost
unimpaired in all the material elements Of
power 1t has, at the present moment,
great armies in the field, facing an enemy
apparently approaching n period of utter
exhaustion. but still struggling with force
the greater and more desperate as it sees,
and because it sees, the near approach Of a
final and fatal consummation. Such, in my
deliberate Judgment, is the present condi
ton of the great contest for civil liberty in
which you are now engaged,
Upt the present moment you have read-
ly and choerfully afforded the means neces-
sary to support your government IN this
protracted struggle. 1t is yoor war You
proclaim it, and you have sustained 1t a
gainst traitors everywhere, with patriotic
devotion unsurpassed in the world histo-
ry.
The securities offered are such RS should
command your ready confidence. Much eff
fort has been made to shake public faith in
our national credit, both at home and abroad,
AS yet we have asked no fareign aid. Calm
and self-rellant, our own means have thus
far proved adequate to our wants. They
arc yet ample to meet those Of the present
and the future. 1t still remains for a patrl-
otic people to furnish the needful snpply-
The brave men who are fighting our battles
by lands and sea must be fed and clothed,
munitions of war Of all kinds must be fur
nished, or the war must end III defeat and
disgrace. This is not the time for any lover
Of his country to inquire as to state OF the
money market, or ask whether he can so in
vest his surplus capital as to yield him a
larger return. No return, and no profit
can be desirable, if followed by national dis
solution, or national disgrace. Present
profit, thus acquired, is but the precursor of
future and speedy destruction. No invest
ment can be so surely profitable as that
which tends to insure the national eXis-
tence.
| am encouraged in the belief that by the
recent legislation of Congress our finances
may soon be placed upon a sounder and
more stable footing The present deranged
condition of the currency is imputable, in a
great degree, to disturbance arising from
the withdrawal of necessary checks, often
inevitable in time of war, when expendi-
lures must largely exceed any possible sup
ply Of coin. The opportunities thus. pre-
scnted to acquire sudden wealth have led to
vicious speculation, consequent increase
in prices, and violent tluctuation. The
remedy is to be found only in controlling the
necessity which begets the evil. Hitherto
we have felt the need Of more extensive and
vigorous taxation. Severe comment has
been made upon what seemed to many an un-
due timidity and tardiness of action, on the
part Of Congress- in this regard. | deem
it but just to say that very great miSappre-
hension has existed, and perhaps still exists,
upon this point. Legislators, like all
Others, have much to learn in new condi-
ton Of affairs. An entirely new system
must necessarily be the growth of time and
experience 1t Is not strange that first et-
forts should have proved imperfect and in-
adequate. TO lay heavy burdens on great
and patriotic people in such a manner as to
be equal and as to occasion the least a.
mount of suffering or annoyance, requires
time and caution, and vast labor; and, with
all these, experience is needful to test the
value Of the system, and correct its errors.
Such has been the work which Congress
was called upon to perform. | am happy
to say that daily results are proving the In
telnal Revenue Act to exceed III efficiency
the most sangulne expectations OF It's au-
thors. In the month OF June, 1863, it
yielded about four and one-half millions of
dollars, while the corresponding month Of
this year returned about fifteen millions, I'M
der the same law. Under the new law,
which went into operation on the first day Of
the present month, the Treasury not unfre
quently receives one million in day As
time and experience enable the officers en-
ployed in collecting the revenue to enforce
the stringent provisions of the new law,
trust that million per day will be found
the rule and not the exception. Still, much
space is undoubtedly left for improvement
in the law, and in its administration, as a
greater amount OF necessary information is
acquired The proper sources Of revenue,
and the most effective modes Of obtaining it,
are hest developed in the execution Of exist
ing laws. And | have caused measures to
be initiated which will, it is believed, enable
Congress so to improve and enlarge the sys-
tenn as, when taken in connectlon with the
revenue from customs, and other sources, to
afford an ample and secure basis for the ma
tiona credit. Only on such a basis, and in
stead and vigorous restraint upon curren-
cy, can remedy be found for existing evils.
Such restraint can only be exercised when
the government is furnished with means to
provide for its necessities. But without the
aid Of a patriotic people, any government is
powerless, for this or any other desirable
an1