The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-10-11
OUR NATIONAL FINANCES.
Letter from General Butler.
To the Editor of the Tribune.

OF your weekly, containing the Irt-
bune's reply to my letter on the subject
of national fna noes. q g1Fwss
My high respect for the editor, the
paper and its readers, prompts me to
rejoinder, which may contain little
more clearly the exact statement OF
the question at Issue between US. 80
My most earnest desire is, that the
government shall fully, honestly and
exactly meet every one of its obliga--
tons, according to- the, exact and
equitable condition Of every contract
it has made with its creditors. L
would advocate nothing short of this, /
and justice and good faith require
nothing more. SO - -
[ asserted that the $50 bonds were
payable as to their principal in cur
rency, and not in gold. This the Tn
bune denies, and insists that they are
payable IN gold. 10 20 20 =
The whole question is, what was the
contract between the Government and
its creditors? Li- so ! I5,5.i4 iii
The first $50, 900, 900, loan of Au-
gust, 1861, was issued at 7-30 Interest,"
principal and interest payablein gold
was so taken and so paid. When the
$40 loan was passed, it established
the interest at six per cent, payable
in gold, but said nothing as to the
currency in which the principal was
to be paid! Y tfidc5t 't&GJlG
When the $40 loan was before
Congress, Judge Spalding, Of Ohio,
asked Mr.. Stevens, Chairman of the
Committee on Appropriations, who
reported it, if the principal of these
bonds was payable in gold, as well as
the interest? To which Mr.. Stevens
replied that the prime pal was not
payable in gold.
At the same session, when the first
500 loan bill was passed, the legal
tender act was also passed, providing
for the issue of what are now known
asI' gresnbacks. ~ It was therein pro-
vided, and so printed on the back of
every note, that it is legal tender for
every debt public or private, except
duties on imports and the interest on
the public debt. If it was not to be
received for principal of the public
debt, why except the interest?
Besides, the act made it receivable
by the United States for all its loans
and especially convertible into .5-20
bonds. ac 4-.Ee1 afaal9 oillsqI
Again, in the following Congress,
while portion of the $40 loan was
yet untaken, another 1910 loan was
authorized, at 5 per cent. interest;
both principal and interest of which,
by the terms of the act were made
payable in gold. <l} -os sdl
Now, if it was the contract of the
Government that the 6 per cent 500.
bonds were, interest and principal,
payable in gold, although directly the
contrary was stated on their face, why
was it that the Government offered a
1910 loan at 5 per cent, interest and
principal both payable in gold?
I'm other words, how could the Cow
eminent expect the 5 per cent. gold
payable and gold bearing loan to be
taken up, when it had the per cent.
gold payable and gold-bearing loan
still before the country? *
You say that the Tribune was
largely, zealously instrumental, at
, the request of the Government,
through its agents, in pursuading the
people to let the Government have
their money for these bonds. We as
sured them, day after day, that'every
one. would be paid in full in coin,
principal and interest, { b()$I
Now, the 10 40 loan was put upon
the market by Jay Cooke, as the agent
of the Treasury, and if you will con
suit the files Of the Tribune contain
ing the advertisement of that loan.
you will find that Jay Cooke adyer-
tised the 1910 loan as the, only loan
of the Government, the principal and
interest of which was payable gold
j have not seen that advertisement
In the Tribune, but it was so aGver-
tised; and I'assume Jay Cooke took
advantage of so valuable a medium of
advertising as your paper, to make
known that important fact of the de-
stability of the 10 40 loan. as he Ger
tainly aid SO advertise in other papers.
You further say. 50 eneral Butler
uttered no word of dissent then" I. e.,
when the loan was upon the market
True, because there wassno occasion.
And still another, and perhaps
equally available answer-General
Butler at that time had other public
interests In another branch of the
service contemplate aud Il try to
serve.
Again-You do not deny that this
,l5-20 loan, In whatever tits payableyyis
now due at the option of the United
States. That is, the five years have
passed at the end of which. by their
terms, the United States government
has the right to pay them to- day. in
whatever currency the contract ca lis
for, whether gold or paper. a -
Ifthese bonds are payable in gold
why are they selling at from los to
112 in currency, when gold is worth
from 143 to 145?