, 1865-09-21
r. 4 DISMAL MEETING. >,
The Confederate Bonlholders in
" Council.


trrcrn The London Daily Scws, Sept 81
a meeting Of the holders Of tho seyen per
cent cotton loan bonds OF tho Confederate
States WAS held yesterday, at the London
Tavern, 'to consider their altered position
now that the government Of the United sta:es
has become tbs de Jnete government ot the
Confederate States, and, II deemed e1pedient,
to appoint q committee to protect thel. rights
and interests, and generally to take such steps
as may he thought advisable.
Admiral Sir F. Wallace was voted to the
chair, md having opened tho business,
Chamberlain It Rlakc, who, as solicitors 10
seye1al Of the bondholdczs, has called the
meeting, stated ttat he was not In position
ut that moment to lay before the bondholders
the result Of any Investigation which had bcen
instituted as to the legal r1ehts Of the bond
holders, that being question which tho COM
mittcc, appointed, wonld have to consider
md determine, It Was, however, 4 question
for The mectinEto say whether it was worth
wllile considering or not. The real question
ior e1telr consideration vas whether she oonds
they held were worth the paper they were
written on, or tho price they had giTon for
them, or their nominal amount. or any other
amount. Hear, hear ANY one who looked
at the matter fn purely legal and intetna-
tiona1 point Of view would see that there
the gravest character Involved in this loan.
First, they had to ascertain whether
the contractors, Mcssrs. Emile E,langcr 4
Co., Of Paris, or their agents here. Mcssrs.
Schroeder, had money in hand to pay tic cou-.
pon5 nov due; tAsa1 heaF} he t1a had ir2,of n9 q
but lie Tad heard that there WIS sum Of
money in land which, If the parties holding
It could be properly Unidentified, might be
mnde applicable to the payment Of
tho interest Of the loan to some ax-
ts9t, bu, what ths hs, amount ns,r was "a. he he
Of the points to be inquired Into If the COM
1nittees were appointed. The conduct Of the
contractors by whom the lonn was originally
Issued WAS another grave question, to, which
It might be found advisable Tor the bond
holders to ascertain what were the arrange
mcnts made with the contractors BY the par
ties by whose benefit the money WAS ru3sed,
for bringing out the loan the price at whichit
! was issued, and what arrangements were made
to protect the interests Of the Subscribers
whether The Confederate states had any
properly whatever On which tho bondbolders
might be considered to have preferential
| lien as against the Federal Government, which
| had taleu possession Of the whole Of The
properly Of The lutte Confederate Government
and the Confederate States. This was very
important question, and one that would re-
qufre careful investigation, for there might ba
| property in England or on The contincntuppn
which tie bondholders might be legally held
| to lnye the first claim Upon this point hc
might Just allude 10 tue decision Of Vice
| Chancellor Wood in Tho case Of the Sunltcd
held the right Of Messrs. Priolf to a lien Of
~, 900 upon certain cotton that lad been
consigned 10 this country from the confeder..
| ate Slaiea against tic attempt Of the federal
S'icc-C Chancellor Wood was, he believed, uni
| ycssally admitted to be good law. Another
| question was as to the liability Of each Stale
| forming the Confederate States to
| Its lair proportion of the liability;
| md then as to The liability Of the federal
! go' e,rment, which hud taken possession Of
| tic property otthose Confederate States md
10 discharge tllc debts which attached to the
| Property. liz hud huped TO lay before Tho
i lattllng tue opinion Of ono Of the mast able
Queens counsel upon this point, but, u1-
though owing to The absence o: that learned
| gentleman from town, mud other clrcuu-
stances, he had not received l,is written
Opinion, hc was authorized to state that Aar-
ing given the matter lie graycst consider
:ti,n. The learned cnEnccl to WHOM he al
lEtfed veg prepared to nuyisc that the several
! States which formed the late Confederate gov
crnn,ent were all of them sovereign and intti-
for Its proportionatc alare of The loan. [IIear,
Ac1r.) And furtlttr, that looking ut the
Federal Constitution Of tho United States,
the Confedetatea had not forfeited, nor could
they forfeit, their individual and sovereign
ti.lts-that tlley could not be considered 10
hare teeE In such ii state Of rebellion rs
to make tho loan void, and that the
F.desal Government as a dc .facto govern
mcn:, having taken possession Of another d:
.furto government, was morally, and accord
inE to al! international law, l'saily bound to
take tl'is loan upon Itself. lie talr. Chamber
Taft, r$f
tiou, or to give LIS own Impressions upon 1t
one way Or the oiher. He was not bond
holder, aud therefore not personally inter-
cstcd. He was merely the agent Of number
ofsentlc1nen who we're bondholders to con-
siderable extent, and who considered that
these questions onght 10 be looked into, aod
tley thought it might be we'll to appoint. 9
committee to Investigate and consider them.
lie ought to add tLat he Lad received several
letters from bonlholdcrs 10 q large amount,
connection with this loan, urging the appoint
ment Of such a committee, and With ibis cx-
rlanntion hc begged to 1earc tho matter In
tile hands of the meeting.
Mr. Wells inqubcd L any representative Of
}Alcs.rs. Etlangcr, OF Messrs. Schroeder, their
aEcuts, who issued the bonds, wa1 presents
Air. Chamberlain WIS not aware. lie had
applied to 3iessrs. Schroeder to allow him to
stc the contract, but lc had not yet succeed
Cd. lie bud also applied to Messra. Erlanger,
tue contractors ut Iafls, but Us sc: ae had not
Lad the facilities afforded him which he 1c-
t.Eircd. lIo Ind, however, no reason to sup
pose that If committee were appointed
Mc5ess. Erlanlc7 or stessrs. Schroeder would
Withhold from them the fullest inforIua-
ton. 3,
Mr. Green thought good ground had been
shown for the appointment Of a committee,
tut suggested that representation should be
made to the President Of tho United States
alid 10 Ar. Scwusd OF the position Of the bonl-
hulders md Of tue justice and policy of the
Ieds1sl toye;ncaeai.s 'aklas t1s dsb: ., uRon
any money In tie hands Of the agents, 1t
ought 10 be divided amongst tho bondholders
In payment, 80 fur as would GO, ofthc inter-
Mir. s. 1lerarath observed that tic only
claim, they could have uron the Federal Gov:
csnmcnt wns In respect Of the property seized
By them which was hypothecaied to the pay
nltlit of this loan, To that extent, no doubt,
they Ind an equitable claim, hut It was not
reasonable TO suppozc that the Federal Gov
crnrnent would hold Itself liable for more.
Their claim was against the States for whose
Nfc the money had bcen ralsed, and upon tho
property belonging to those Stntes which had
fallen into the bands Of the Federal Govern!
ment+ 49,.
Nr. Joseph thought they ought to have tn-
the parties to the contract, and the parties to
whom the money to meet the dividends had
been paid. These things could be asccrtaned
more readily By committee than by large
body of. shareholders, aud therefore he Ike
wise supported sfr. Chnmhcr1ain's suggestion.
which would test tho feeling Of tho meeting
upon the subteet. II was to the effect that,
considering the position In Which the subscr1b-
ers to the seven per cent cotton loan Of tho
1atc Confedcratc States were pioccd, It was
advisable thai a committee should be formed
- f-4 b. Afr$u orfik kI11
bandh, ldeFs, md take such steps to protect
aud enforce the same o. might be deemed eS-
peili,nt. Ills own opinion was that the Fed
cyal Government must be looked upon as m
independent State conquering; another indie
pendent Stnte, and therefore internationally
and morally bound to take upon Itself the
liabilities Of the conquered State. According
to the Constitution Of the United States, there
were means Of trying the question as to the
lien Of the bondholders upon the property
bypotlccated. to the payment Of the debt,
and which bad been since seized Dy the Fcdc-
wonld hare chance Of establishing his claim
In United States court Of Law, lie was not
prepared to say. This, however, would be q
question for the committee to consider,
4 bondholder expressed regret that tho
contractors, Or the agents, AessFs, Schroeder,
lad not volunteered Information and nssis-
lance, but he trusted that they would aid the
committee when it was formed as far as they
could. He agreed with Mr. Herapath that
they must look to the Confederate states
rather than to the Federal Goyernmeat. 1lc
over The Federal Governmcnt. These South
ern States would want money at some future
lime, and they would find 1t to their interest
10 pay This debt, which, spread over them oil,
amounted to mere nothing.
Other bnndholders commended for the !ta-
bility Of the Federal Goycrnncnt to the debt,
on tile ground that they had conquered con-
federation Of independent md sovereign
States, not a number OF dependent States
fighting in rebellion, 1t Was urged that the
bondhofders had at least IN equitable lieu
upon oil tue cotton which had been seized by
flIf Eedcrala and 70 lar dE Tint would n0 tla