Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1864-07-29
The New Loan ; Secretary F~e.-enden's
Circular.

new Government loan for an amount not ex-
ceeding 5000, OOO, 600, which can be subscrib-
ed for in sums of $50 or any multiple
Of $50, up to sums of $4,000, for which
thrce-year Treasury Notes dated Aug. l5,will
be given bearing interest at the rate Of
seven and three-tenths per cent. per annum,
with semi-annual coupons attached, payable
in lawful money. These notes will be con-
vertible at the option of the holder, at matu-
rity. into six per cent. gold-bearing bonds,
redeemable after five and payable twenty
years from August IS, 1867. Subscriptions
are receivable by the [. S. Treasurer. the
several Assistant Treasurers and designated
depositaries, and by the National Banks de-
signated and qualified as depositaries, and
financial agents.
For subscriptions made before August Is
the date of the notes-interest will he al
lowed and paid to that date, and if made
after Aug. Is, the interest on the notes must
also be deposited. The character Of this in
vcstment makes it one peculiarly valuable to
people of all conditions who have either small
or large sums to put out for either short or
long terms, and in the most convenient and
available way possible, the interest OH a $50
note being exactly one cent a day, thus en-
abling the note-holder to ascertain the exact
value of the note at any day, if he wishes to
make use of it. The loan Is eminently a
popular one in its character, and the people,
for whom the Government exists, and who
wish to secure for themselves and their pos
terity the blessings of a free government for
the entire Union, ought to be prompt to re-
spOnd to the call. Accompanying the notice
is an appeal from Secretary Fessenden to the
people, which, for its sound sense and hearty
patriotism, merits a careful perusal. lie says;
The circumstances under which this loan is
asked for and your aid invoked. though differ
ing widely from the existing state Of affairs three
years ago, are such as afford equal encourage
ment and security. Time, while proving that
the struggle for national unity was to exceed in
duration and severity our worst anticipations,
has tested the national strength and national re-
sources to an extent alike unexpected and re-
markable, exciting equal establishment at home
and abroad. Three years Of war have burdened
you with a debt which hut three years since
would have seemed beyond your ability TO meet.
Yet the accumulated wealth and productive en-
ergies Of the nation have proved TO be so vast
that it has been borne with comparative ease,
and a peaceful future would hardly feel its weight
as 4 price paid for national existence and the
preservation Of free institutions. Ii does not
deserve a moments consideration. Thus far
the war has been supported and carried on, Ms
it only could have been, by a people resolved, Mt
whatever cost Of blood and treasure. to transmit
unimpairsd to posterity the system Of free gov
eminent bequelthed 10 them by the great men
who framed 1t. This deliberate and patriotic
resolve has developed a power surprising even to
themselves. 1t has shown that in less than CEN
fury a nation has arisen unsurpassed in vigor
and cxhaustless in resources. able 10 conduct
through a series Of years war on its most gigan-
tic scale, and finding itself when near its close
almost unimpaired in all its material elements
Of power. Ii has at the present moment great ar
mics in the field, facing an enemy apparently
approaching a period Of utter exhaustion, but
still struggling with a force the greater and
more desperate as IT sees, and because il sees,
the near approach Of a final and fatal CONSUME
nation. Such, in my deliberate judgment, is
the present condition of the great contest for
civil liberty in which you are now engaged. Tn
to the present moment you have readily and
choerfully afforded the means necessary to sup
port your government in this protracted strug-
gle. 1t is your war. You proclaimed 1t. and
you have sustained it against traitors every
where with patriotic devotion, unsurpassed 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 al home and abroad.
As yet we have asked no foreign aid. Calm
and self reliant, our means thus far have proved
adequate to our wants. They are yet ample to
meet those Of the present and future. 1t still
remains for a patriotic people TO furnish the
needful supply. The brave men who are fight
ing our battles by land and sea must be fed and
clothed. Munitions of war of all kinds 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 into the state of the money
market, or ask whether he can so invest his sur
plus capital as to yield him a larger return
No return and no profit can be desirable if fol-
lowed by national dissolution or national dis
grace. Present profit thus acquired is but the
precursor Of future and speedy destruction. No
investment can be so surely profitable as that
which tends to ensure the national existence. |
an 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 disturbances
arising from the withdrawal of necessary checks,
often inevitable in time of war, when the ex-
penditures must largely exceed any possible sup
ply Of coin. The opportunities thus presented
TO acquire sudden wealth have led to vicious
speculation, a consequent increase of prices and
violent fluctuations.
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 undue tim
idity and hardness of action on the part of Con-
gress in this regard deem 1t but just to say
that very great Misrepresentation has existed and
perhaps still exists, upon this point. Legisla-
tors, like all others, have much to learn in a
new condition of affairs. An entirely new sys-
TEN was to be devised, and that system must
necessarily be the growth of time and expert
ence. 1t is not strange that the first efforts :
should have proved imperfect and inadequate. I
To lay heavy burdens on a great and patriotic
people in such a manner as to be equal, and so :
as to occasion the least amount of suffering or
requires time and caution and vast {
labor and with all these experience is needful |
to test the value Of the system and correct its q
errors. Such has been the work that Congress
was called upon to perform. / am happy to say l
that daily results are proving the internal Rev
enue act to exceed in efficiency the most san q
guine expectations Of its authors. For the
month of June, 1868, it yielded about four and
q half millions Of dollars, while the correspon- Q
ding month of this year returned about fifteen .
millions under the same law. Under the new
law, which went into operation on the first day q
Of the present month, the Treasury frequently {
receives one million in a day. As time and ex- .
enable the officers employed in collect
lng the revenue TO enforce the strength of the
provisions Of the new law | trust that a million
per day will be found the rule, and not the ex-
cepton. Still, much space is undoubtedly left
for improvement in the law and in its admins
As a greater amount of necessary in S
formation is acquired the proper sources of rev.
enue and the most effective mode of obtaining it
are best developed in the execution Of the exist
ing laws and / have cuased measures to be in Il
tiated, which will, it is believed, enable Con- .
yress so to improve and enlarge the system as, "
when taken in connection with the revenue from