Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1864-07-26
An Appeal to the People Of the United
states from the Secretary of the Treas


accompanying the I'D advertisement of the new
issue OF I'3O Treasury Notes, in a circular
iorm, Is secretary Fessenden's appeal to the
people OF tne United States, in which he says:
The circumstances under which this loan IN
asked for and your aid invoked thonrh diSer-
ing widely from the existing state or amairs
three years ago, are such as affords equal en-.
couragement and security. Time, while nroy
ing that the struggle for national unity wss Z,
exceed in duration an severity eur worst an
ticipations, has tested the national strength
and deyeloped the national resources to an ev
equal establishment at home and abroad.
Three years Of war have burdened you with
a debt which but three years since would have
seemed beye your ability TO meet. Yet the
accumulated We alth and productive energies
OF the natien have proved to be, sc vast tnat it
has been borne with comparative ease, and q
peaceful future would hardly feel its weight
As a price paid for national existence and the
preservation of free institutions, il does not
deserve moments 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 posterity the system
great men who framed it. This deliberate and
patriotic resolve has de yeloped power sur
prising even to themselves.
Ithas shown that in less than a century q
nation has arisen, unsurpassed in vigor and
exhaustless in resources, able to conduct,
through a series OF years, war on its most
gigantic scale, and finding itself when near its
close, almost unimpaired In all the material
element OF power. 1t has, at the present mo-
ment, great armies in the field facing an enemy
apparently approaching q period of utter ex-
haustion, and still struggling with force, the
greater and more desperate as it sees, and and
because It sees the near approach of flnai and
fatal cons umrhation. l'Et
Such, in my deliberate judgment, is the
present condition Of the great contest for civil
liberty in which you are now engaged Up 70
the present moment you have readily and
cheerfullv afforded the means necessary TO
support your Government in the protRcted
struggle. 1t is your war. You proclaiu1ed it,
and you have sustained 1t against traitors
every here with patriotic devotion unsur-
passed in the worlds history.
The securities offered are such as should
command your ready confidence Much effort
has been made TO shake public faith in our
national credit both at home and abroad. As
yet we have asked no foreign aid. Calm and
self reliant, our own means have thus far
proved adequate to our wants. They are yet
ample to meet those of the present and the
future. 1t still remains for patriotic people to
furnish the needful supply. The brave men
who are fighting our battles by land and sea
must be fed and clothed. Munitions OF war Of
all kind must be furnished, or the war must
end in defeat and disgrace. This is not the
time for any lover OF his country to inquire as
to the state of the money market or ask
whether he can so invest his surplus capital as
to weld him q larger return. No return and
no profit can be desirable Ii followed by ma
tional dissolution or national disgrace Present
profit, thus acquired, is but the precursor Of
future and speedy destruction. No invest
ment can be as surely profitable as that which
tends to insure the national existence.
l am encouraged in the belief that by the re-
cent legislation of Congress our finances may
soon be upon a sound and more stable footing.
|, The present dropping condition of the cur
rency is imputable, In great degree to disturb
ances arising from the withdrawal of the ne
! cessary checks, often inevitable in time of war,
/ when expenditures must largely exceed any
possible supply of coin.
The opportunities thus presented to acquire
sudden wealth have led to serious speculation,
a consequent ineIsz Sc OF prices, and violent
fluctuauon. 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 rigorous taxation. Severe COM
Inent has been made upon what seemed to
many an undue timidlty and tardiness OF ac-
tion on the part of Congress in this regard. l
deem it but Justice to say that very great mis-
apprehension has existed, and perhaps still
exists, upon this point Legislators, like all
others, have much to learn in q new condition
of affairs. An entirely new system was to be
Z devised, and that system must necessarily be
the growth OF time and experience.
- II is not strange that first efforts should have
proved imperfect and inadequate. To Law
heavy burdens on great and patriotic people
in such manner as TO be equal and as to occa-
sion the least amount of sutterance and annoy
ance, requires time and caution and vast labor
And with all these experience is Eeedful to test
the value of the system and correct it's errors
Such has been the work which Congress was
L
that daily results are proving the Internaf
Revenue act to exceed in efficiency the most
sanguine expectations OF it's authors. In the
month of june 1868, it yielded about four and
half millions of dollars, while the corres-
pending month of this year returned about
fifteen millions under the same law. Under the
new law, which went into operation ON the
first day of the present month, the Treasury
not unfrequently received one million in a day.
AS time and experience enable the officers
employed in collecting the revenue to enforce
the stringent provisions of the new loan, I
trust that a 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 q greater
amount of necessary Information is acq quired.
The proper sources of revenue, and the most
effective modes of obtaining 1t, are best de vel
oped in the execution Of existing laws, and
have caused measures to be initiated which
will, it is believed. enable Congress so to i'm
prove and enlarge the system as, when taken
in connection with the revenue from customs
and other sources, to afford an ample and Sc
cure basis for the national credit.
Only on such basis, and in a steady and
vigorous restraint upon currency, can a REM
edy be found for existing evils. Such restraint
can only be exercised when the Government is
furnished with means to provide for its neces-
sites. But without the aid Of patriotic peo-
pie any Government is powerless for this or
any other desirable end.
The denominations of the notes proposed to
be issued ranging from fifty to five thousand
dollars, place these securities within the reach
VI Ill WHO are ulspOseu W dIu tuei CountTy.
For their redemption the faith and honor and
property of the country are solemniy pledged.
successful issue to this contest, now be eleved
to be near at hand, will largely enhance their
value to the holder; and peace restored, all
burdens can be lightly borne. He who sell
fishly withholds his aid in the hope Of turn
ing his available means to greater inmedi ate
profit is specuIating upon his country's mis-
fortunes, and may ind that what seems to be
present gain leads only to future loss
1 appeal, therefore, with confidence to a
loyal and patriotic people, and invoke tho
efforts of ali who love their country and desire
for 1t glorious future, to aid their Govern
ment in sustaining its credit and placing that
credit upon stable foundation
(Signed) W. p. FRssENDEN,
Secretary of the Treasury.
Large Fire at Syracuse.