Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1868-09-16
The FiYe.Twenty bonds.

The fact that the interest of the govern
ment bonds was expressly made payable in
gold, while nothing was said about principal,
has given rise TO the inference that the latter
was not meant to be paid in coin. This fallacy
with others is effcctually disposed of by SEN
ator Fcssenden in his Portland speech, as fol-
lows
" Let me give you little history of this
bill. When it passed the House of Repre-
sentativcs it said nothing about paying in any
thing--in coin or in currency it said SO
much money simply the principal in 20 years
and the interest semi-annually. DO you sup.
pose any sensible man, any man in Congress,
any man anywhere, dreamed at that time that
twenty years afterward, when those bonds
came round to be paid, we should be dealing
in greenbacks ? Did any member of that
House dream that the principal of that
debt was to be paid twenty years after its
inception in paper and deprecated paper at
that No man dreamed any such thing.
The bill came to the Finance committee, and
the provision that the interest should be paid
in coin was there inserted. And why Sim
ply because as the interest was to be paid
during the continuance Of the war it might
be inferred that it was TO be paid in the cur
rency Of that period-that it would be paid
in greenbacks. The provision for the pay
ment Of the interest in coin was done solely
for the purpose Of preventing this inference
to be drawn, and not TO make any distinction
between the principal and interest. To car
80. ,t,Nf tf. ii
for paying this interest. The Senate also
made provision that these bonds might be
redeemed in FIVE years, and what was its rea-
son for doing so ? We supposed the war
would be over before FIVE years were out,
and that when the war was over we should be
able, if not in five years, in ten years per-
haps, or at some period within twenty years,
to adjust matters in such way as to pay of
most Of these bonds in coin. If we did not
pay them of, we thought we could reduce the
interest, for six per cent. interest is too low
for time Of war, and too high for time Of
peace"
The following also, from Mr. Fessendens
admirable summing up Of the arguments in
favor Of ultimate coin payment of the bonds,
is worthy of the widest publicity;
There is another argument. We proyid-
ed by statute for fund of coin to pay the
principal of that debt. We set aside the du-
ties on imports, in the first place to pay the
interest, and in the next to create fund out
of which the principal was to be paid. No
body ever dreamed that the princip pal of this
debt was to be paid in promises. No court,
nor any living man, to my knowledge, suppos-
ed so. The language of the second section is
precisely the language of every previous law
Of similar nature; there is no distinction
whatever. In that law we provided for a
fund from which the debt we incurred should
be paid, and gentlemen who spoke on the
subject in both houses repeatedly stated that
the principal and interest should both be paid
in coin. More than all that, your Secretary
Of the Treasury, Mr.. Chase, stated it public.
ly in letter, and that letter was circulated
in both branches of Congress, yet no member
rose in his place and said that the letter stated
the contract as it did not exist Not a word
was said against it f; nobody undertook tc
question its propriety. When | was Score.
tary of the Treasury, recommended that all
doubt should be removed by distinctly stating
that the principal should be paid in coin, but
it was not considered necessary by others the
the language of the law was such that every
body inferred from il that the principal was
to be paid in coin. 1t was so stated in the
newspapers, and our agents were instructed
so to represent matters to the people,"