The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1868-07-31
THAD STEVENS on THE GREENBACK CUES.
TIOy.

He "SettIeso the Gold Question-Whst the
Funding Bill Is-Tbe Five-Twessy Bonds
and Their Redemption In Gold.
Mr.. Thaddeus Stevens, OF Pennsy vania. has ad
dressed the following letter to personal friend In
1t he offers his opfSions to what Congress in pass
ing the Funding Ukl has done toward settling the
question OF paying the public debt, &er In gold:-
DEAR SIR-The gold question is settled.
should marvel at the Angular workings Of truth,
sometimes operating with provoking slovness and
sometimes with electric h'pldity put always with
mind ny the late sudden SETTLE ment or the question
IN what currency the fve-twentles were payable"
cussed In . vulgar manner aid, confess, 80 far
as was concerned, In teInpea' and style which
question hay been settled without turmoil and with
out t seeming to be understood by the public at
A funding nin was introduced By Senator Sher-
man, and having passed the Senate was sent to tho
House, where 1t received several amendments. The
senate non-concurVd, and 10 went to committee Of
conference They reported an entirely bill in
which they settled the whole question Of what the
nve-twentes should be payable IN 80 wisely to
duce the whole nations. loan TO payment in coin.
They provided bonds to the full amount OF the 1ve-
and PAYABLE ingOd In thirty and forty years.
Now II the fve-twentles nad already been payable
principal and interest in gctd, nothing need have
been said except az to the time, which the govern
ment had the right to extend, but they did provide
that the bonds to be substituted should be
the fve-twentes. 1t is provided that they
shall bear an interest OF four per centum
In gold instead OF six per centum ~ now and az
equivalent for the reuotion OF the interest the prn
cipal should be payable in gold at maturity. II tho
principal were already payable In gold therecoud
nave been no occasion to repeat 1t nor TO reduce tho
coin interest for thirty years by one-third. That
settled That the bonds bearing four per cent interest
ior forty years, and their principal andiAterest pay
aDle IN com, were just equal to- what tire committee
considered che value Of the dve-twenty bonds bear
ing one-third more interest In coin and the principal
payable IN Just what IL now iss-
Tnese provisions, / think, cannot be mlsunder-
STOOD by any gentleman. II the bondholdcr chooses
TO deal let him exchange one OF these fourlorty
bonds, bearing four per cent interest," for Of the
same value called hvetwenties bearing six per cent
interest In gold and the principal in moLey.
ms proposition, containing 80 just ana Convenient
an arrangement so as to reduce the national loan to
uniformity and settle the vexed question in what 1t
should be paid" was submitted to both houses
passed at once by the Senate, and passed by the
house OF Representatives, almost every republican
member voting for 1t. If it is not now q law 1t is
because the President has not signed il.
ms compromise bin was n happy thought settling
an irritating question and informing every bond
holder what and how much he is to receive for his
bond 1t does not do to exult, but 1t must be graft
Tying to those who held that there was difference
IN value between the ive-twenties and what they
would be II they were payable in com. Respectfully,
&c, TuADDEUS STEVENS.