The Waynesburg Republican. [volume] (Waynesburg, Pa.) 1867-18??, 1868-04-01
OUR NATIONAL BONDS.
letter from Jay Cooke q Co.. on their LII
guidafion-Wh0 are the Holders of the
National Debt.

guidationaWho are the Holders ofthr
The CorEiEg; JHee JHeepr,ai publishes the
following reply of Messrs. Jay Cooke
& Co., to a letter addressed to them
by I. B. Howell, who inclosed tc
them a copy of the resolutions offered
in the Assembly by Judge Balloon
and his published 'reasons" for the
payment of United States bonds in
new taxable coin bonds or greenbacks
in case the holders refuse to convert
them into the proposed new issue:
BANKING HOUSE OF JAY Cooke & Coz
CORNER OF WALL AND NASSAU SITS,
NEw YoRK, Feb, 2G, 1868.
5. 70. HoVeh Esq, Painted Post, ". y
DEAR SIR We have your letter
Of the 18th inclosing Mr.. Balcom's
resolutions. The sale of the first
Five-Twenty loan was undertaken by
our Mr.. Jay Cooke, at time when
the Government had utterly failed to
find a market for the bonds through
tho ordinary channels, and the neces-
sites ofthe Treasury were immediate
and pressing. The bonds were offered
directly to the people, and sold to
them at prices which could not pos
sibly have been obtained but for the
distinct understand that they were
payably, principal and interest, IN
coin.
That thiswas the spirit and intent of
the authorizing act, it is only necessary
to refer to the sinking fund clause
(Sec. 5, Act Feb. 25, 1862, which
specifically appropriates the coin du-
ties on imports to-frst, payment of
interest on public debt second, to a
sinking fund for the payment of prin-
cipai. All the funded debt Of the
United States that has heretofore ma
tured has been paid in coin, notwith-
standing the fact that tne authorizing
acts did not so specify in words, and
three such loans have matured and
been paid in coin since the issues of
the 5-20S of 1862.
These bonds, then, were advertised
and sold in good faith as gold bonds {;
and that they were so payable see the
letter of Secretaries Chase, Fesscnden,
and McCulloch, all of whom have re-
peatedly affirmed it.
The tive-twenties of1S62, will not
mature until 1892, when they will be
due, and payable in coin. The Gov
ernment's option only has matured,
but the Government is not now ready
to pay.
II, as Mr.. Balcom urges, the Gov
ernment should pay in greenbacks,
what is gcenback but promise to
pay dollar and if 300,000,00O of
grccnbacks should be issued to pay the
tive-twentics, must, we not aferward
pay them and, if so, in what but gold?
Such an issue of paper money every
thinking man knows would totally
unscttle values, and indefinitely re-
move the resumption Of specie pay
ment. But, on the other hand, with
out any increase of currency, in
reasonable time specie payment will be
resumed, gold and grccnbacks will be
in equal value, and to pay the bonds
in gold will be no hardship.
Without entering into any labored
to meet Mr.. Balcom's "rea-
SONS" for taxing bonds it is enough
to say, in answer to the idea of
"bondholding aristocracy," that it is in
the power of any man to become
bondholdcr by purchase in the market
if he regarded exemption from taxa
ton as sufficient inducemcnt to sell
taxable property and invest the pro-
ceeds. If bondholder5 are a fav0rite
class, no man possessing any property
is excluded from that class except of
his own choice, and no such idea can
be made justification for violation of
the Government of a contract which
at the time it was made was indispen-
sable to the supply of the treasury,
1t is not generally known how
large a proportion Of the securities by
the United States are held by the
people of moderate means for the in
vestment Of their savings. We have
not on hand the precise figures of the
denominations in which the several Sc
ries of Five-twenties were issued but
the following statement shows the
of notes of each denomination
embraced in the issue of the Seven
thirty Treasury notes, which are now
being converted by the Treasury into
Five-twenty bonds. In these conver-
sions the Treasury has never been able
to supply enough small bonds to ade-
luately meet the demand:
9bZ,1oO JUs............".........S ~, I29, 600
| ,474 $40 00s.......,............ l47, ,I9i, 900
1856, ,792 00s.."................... 2l9, 1896, 900