, 1865-02-25
TEE 8O.CALLED con EEDE-
RATE DOLLAR.
1t Is Worth Just Two Cents In Specie.

From the Richmond Enquirer, Feb. I'll
The Tax bill in the House Of Representa-.
t.vcs has been referred to select committee
Of one from each State, and thus taken away
and Means. The reason Of this was an ire
conci1ablc difference between the House and
the committee on the subject ol taxation.
The bill Of the Committee of Ways and
Means provided system Of taxation utterly
impossible, In our opinion, for any people to
have met not that there ia any unwilling
ness tQ pay any amount Of taxes, but the
ability TO pay any heavier taxes than sre d.
ready imposed does not exist. Our people
are ready and willing to pay taxes, but there
is limit, beyond which, no matter how viii
ling, they are not able to 20.
Why fttenpt 10 carry the immense bufthen
of two or three thousand million Of dollars of
$50 called" dollars? Why not recognize the
fact that this pe0le are selEdeceiyed, aud
that the Confederate dollars are mere cents!
Why not stop quoting gold at fifty for one,
and cay instead that two cents is the value
recognize the so-calleddollar as two cents:
To this We must come before there can be
any finances IN the Confederacy, and the
sooner Congress acts upon this matter and
provides Tor the scaling. Of the bonds, GER
lIdcates and notes down to the average specie
yalue. and for the interest payable in specie
Of new bonds into which the old ehall be con-
improve.
iir. Lyon, chairman of the Committee Of
Ways and Means, quotes the report Of the
Secretary OF the Treasury Of 7th Of Novem-
ber, 1866, to show that there will be required
for the expenditures Of the government for
r. Ills amount hs adds ioi tie redenp:
And ID &C. &c '.sss asset,iaed s
hRieft e f. s%oant tol reasied for s Gso
this bc raised BY taxation! No; and Mr..
Lyon does not propose to raise one half It
by taxation but only s460, ,0oo, ,000, leaving
$3.50, ,000, 900 to be raised BY kittng.
In specie this one thousand and odd mil
I which gold WIS sold yesterday on govern
| ment account. Every man can comprehend
nineteen millions as payable By the .s.,,,'u vi
+! these States but one thousand millions
who .au carry that amount-who cau under
stand it, an1 what people can pay It In one
years The deluaiod Of big figures Is very
grave matter for the fntufc. os well "a pres.
ent, Of the people, Of these States The debt
Representa- sham dollars, and shams Of every
kind should be avoided in the earnest work
which the people Of these States have to do.
Let the Congress come up boldly to the
work Of reducing the public debt, the bonds,
the certificates and the notes down to their
average specie value, and the early return On
the part Of the government, not to specie
payments, but to pay ments IN notes fundable
Ii bands whose interest sha1l be payable In
specie. There can be no very great difficulty
in this matter; there may be required some
courage, but DO very great difficulty is in the
way. Let every man be required
to bring forward his bonds, certificates
and notes, and receive IN exchange
for them new bonds, at the rate Of one Of the
new 10 five of the old, the interest Of 1heneW
10 be payable in specie. II fire aor one Il not
the fair specie average, let that be aacertained
from the amounts Of guartermasteI's, COM
missary and ordnance stores purchased st
the average price for 1860. Ascertain what
the specie value of the public debt Is, and re-
duce 1t down to that value, and when we say
Confederate dollars, let our words be no lies,
and our notts no slam. 4 new currency can
be easily provided If made fundable In spo-
cie-paying bonds, 1t will never depreciate at
the present has, but always maintain Just
and proper relation to gold, for which 1t can
be invested.
The wisest and best thing TINT the Con
gress can do is to consolidate both the army
and the fsance departments. Abolish the
sham paper army and the sham paper money,
bring them both to fact and reality, and pro-
vide for keeping them At fact and truth, and
not permitting either again to eink back into
falsehood and sham. There ls no sham in tale
hard knocks this people have already given
md taken, aud which the future has ret in
store for them and their enemy; and the
means Of giving those hard knocks should be
real means, not false shams Of army and
money