Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1872-02-09
The Syndicate Settled.

The Syndicate Settled.
THE report of the Ways and Means
Committee of the Congressional House,
to whom was referred the resolution of
Mr.. Sunset Cox, concerning Secretary
Boutwelrs Syndicate transaction, is
finally published in fun. The meager sum-
mary sent by telegraph conveyed infor-
nation enough to show the finding, viz,
that the Secretary had neither increased
the public debt, nor incurred Illegal eX-
penditure, but did not convey satisfactory
information as to the means whereby the
committee attained this conclusion.
CoX's resolution made these two charges
in very emphatic manner; and the first
was based upon the section of the act au-
thorizing the Five-percent loan. A clause
in this section reads "But nothing in
this act, or in any other law now in force,
shall be construed to authorize any in
crease whatever of the bonded debt of
the United States." The same section au-
thorizes the Secretary to negotiate the
new bonds for the sole purpose of re-
deeming the five twentes. To obtain
money on the new bonds, it was necessa-
ry to negotiate them To negotiate them
il was plainly necessary, during the pro-
cess of negotiation, as the report says,
"to increase the public debt to
the amount of the bonds the Sec
retary first sells, in order to obtain
proceeds with which to take up old
bonds.n The committee adds that which
anybody but a willful portisan already
knows, viz that under the law there was
no other way to obtain the money where
with to do that which the law itself de-
manded.
1t was obviously the intention of the
law not to cripple the Secretary in his eff
forts to obtain the money on the new
bonds but to limit him to certain
specific use of the money thus obtained.
He was not free to apply it to general
purposes The entire amount was to be
devoted 10 the redemption of the five
twenties. The same section had still an
other object. In stating that the public
debt was not in any manncrto be increased,
the obvious intention of the trainers of the
act was not to prevent the Secretary from
obtaining the money upon the five per
cents, but to draw the attention of the
world to the fact that, although we were
in the emarhet asking new loan our object
in asking it was the rcdVct1On Of the debt,
and not, by any possibility, its standing or
permanent increase. This construction
ofthe section is in accordance with plain
common sense. The purpose of the five
percent. act was to indicate our intention
of frefunding the debt atamuch lower rate
of interest
Concerning the second part of the reso-
luton, that the Secretary incurred an eX-
pense of one-half of one per cent. in plac-
ing the loan, the committee report that the
tGtns upon which he negotiated, as ascer-
tained IL the investigation, are the same
as those submitted in his annual report
The expense of the negotiation has not,
thus far, exceeded one-haR of one pei
cent. SO far as the banks are concerned,
they were authorized to retain, as United
States repositories, the proceeds of the
| bonds taken by themselves for ninety
days, the period which must elapse be
tween the conversion of the new bonds
| into coin and the redemption of the 0ld
| bonds with the coin. 1t is evident that
whatever profit the banks may have thus
derived is not to be charged as expense in
the original placing of the loan. This ben
! eft to the banks is awarded them by the
| law by which they are constituted United
| States repositories, and over which neither
| the Five-per-cent act nor the Secretary
can have any control.
! AS to what the Secretary might have
| done, the committee says
| ''H the Secretary had received INTO the lrcasuF,
| and lrcked ub IN its vaults large amount of cotr
derived from the sale Of these bonds it would hay
| resulted in disastrous consequences to the com
| mercal world Nothing could have accrued to til,
Treasury of the United States by the use of MONEY
Id 'Bs meantime, for the law prohibited rs use D!
| the SeCtetRfy FOR sny other purposes, wmle II au
thorized him a. isaye II on deposit with these bank
upon the conditions stated. If such deposit wa
| of any advantage TO the bank it resulted from tn
provisions of the law, and canndt be said TO be IL
| isaql. The National Banking laws authorized MN
| to have !, on deposit
The COMMITTEES might have added thai
| in locking up the aifiOunt of coin in
volved, Secretary Boutwell, would have
been doing precisely what Bismark ha'
| done with the gold of the French indem
nitV lie locked that up to the uttel
misfortune and peril of France, and thu
embarrassment and hardship of the entire
European market.
The committee conclude their report by
declaring that not only has the Secretary
violated no law in his placing of the five
per cents, but that he accomplished it il
the manner which would least disturb thu
money market and the interests of bust
ness. The plain people, who arc no
versed in the intricacies of finance, vii
have very decided opinion of that will
full and ignorant partisanship which, TO
selfish and malicious motives, would at
tempt to make the country believe that
to be within the law, Secretary Boutwel
should have accomplished an impossible
ty, viz. that he should have redeemed tn
old bonds without first selling the ney
bonds in order to obtain the money; tha
he should pay debt with an empty purse
To these rather eXacting critics, states
manship, in Republican office-holdeI
means nothing less than the performanc
of a miracle. Chicdgo Post.