The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1869-09-30
A Relic Of the Confederacy.


The San Francisco Bulletin; the Stub of
draft.book used by the Secretary OF the
Confcderacy, which shows in brief the
larger part of the original transactions
during the existence of the rebel power.
1t was found after the fall of Richmond,
and is preserved as curious relic of the
past.
The first entry is dated 29th of May,
1861, and is for the modest sum of Slo,-
900 on the Canal Bank of New Orleans.
The next is dated June 7, 1861, and is a
draft for $50, 900 on the Louisiana State
Bank, payable to the order of A. j. Gar
riot, Assistant Treasurer. By this time
the financial system had. been brought
fully into operation. These drafts OK
tend over period from the date above
mentioned to August, 1864 the last regu-
lar draft having been made on the third
of that month. There is memorandum
of draft drawn as late as October 3,
1864. This draft is drawn payable to N.
J. Hall, Dep, at Marshal, Texas. 1t is
addressed to E. Z. Elmore, Jr., Richmond,
Va, and is supposed to have been drawn
for .post-ofice purposes. A mote in the
same handwriting reads as follows: eau
thority indorsed on the draft to pay r. A.
Matthews, to effect the transfer. under
contract of Matthews and Ewcll with the
Treasury Department., but'at the risk end
expense Of the Post Office Department"
Without footing up all the marginal
sums we should Judge that s2OO,O00,OO0
werc represented in this book. Many of
the drafts are as large as 81 100000, and
some of them even reach the amount of
Sl0,OO0O00. There are many small drafts
for coin, but these rarely exceed $4,000,
and most of them were under 81 900. As
specimen of Confederate bookkeeping,
we should not rank this account book
very high. The original entries are fire.
quenty defaced, and written over with
new Endorsement, so that it is not easy to
make out the exact character of the origi-
nal transaction. In some places there are,
memoranda showing either that the draft
had been sold for gold, or that it had been
drawn on repositories in localities where
there was Rebel Custom House, and
whore bIockade.runnels had paid duties
in gold. Nearly all the specie mentioned
in these drafts appear to have been dcriv-
ed from these sources. Tho right arm of
the Contederacy was the blockade run
ners.
In the Inter days of the Confedcracy.
Frazer Trenholm & 20. figured as bankers
and depositaries at Liverpool. Most of the
late drafts on this house are for small
amounts, payable in gold, and appear TO
have been used to pay diplomatic salaries.
The latest of these were drawn in August,
1864, when it was all up with the Confed-
eracy. 1t is not a little significant that
when it was evident that the cause was
lost there was desperate raid upon this
draft bank AS late rs Julyr 1864, we
find draft No. s03, drawn for s6,OO0,OOO
on w. Y. Leach, Assistant Treasurer at
Columbia, S. c., payable to the order OF
E. c. Elmore, Confederate Treasurer, al
though there is nothing 10 indicate where
that official might be found at that partcu-
lar time.
On draft No. 234, drawn by the Con-
federate Treasurer for 100000 on John
Boston, Deputy at Savannah, Ga, is the
Endorsement, "Payablc in bonds secured
on the seeuestration account" This sort
of paper, no doubt, command premium.
The security was the confscatcd property
of Northern men who, refusing to be reb-
els, were forced to leave the country.
Frazer, Trenholm & Co., Liverpool,
figure in the draft book as early as Dec.
20, 1861. In one place they are tlesigna-
ted as "Hon. Dep" If those ffnanciers
did not make any money out of the rebel
concern, let them not forget tho honor Of
having figured so largely in this conncc-
ton. They did their best, no doubt, and
if they are stuck with pile Confederate
notes and bonds, the paper mills of Eng
land can readily convert them into toler-
able paper stock again.
Some of the sums expressed in these
drafts were, no doubt, used to pay for the
Confederate cruiser Alabama. Laird does
not figure by name in this book, all the
financial transactions abroad being cover
ed by the first names Of Frazer, Trenholm
& Co.. who first and last, paid out several
millions. Ono draft payable to the order
OF this firm, dated Sept. II, 1862, is for
35O,O0O,O0O francs; another, Dec. lG, Of
the same year, and payable 20 the same
order, is for 100000 francs. Evidently
these bankers were to pay French ac-
count against the Confederacy, probably
for supplies, or for an outfit for one or
more rebel cruisers.
The book from which VIC have drawn
the foregoing data is a curiosity in its
way, and lets in CLEAN OF light, here and
there, upon the history of those cvcntful
times.
= The young ladies of Dover, Ohio,
have formed society for the redemption
of young men whose habits do not sait
them-plcdging themselves not to receive