New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-07-31
AMERICAN CREDIT.

LETTER FROM EX-SECL3TARY MCCULLOUGH.
..v,ox coxrrprycE IN THE UNITED STATES
u,xns kxPREssgD 10 BE PAID In CoiS-IHk
orvs1IoN OF REP pIATiON-How CONGRESS
MEANT no PAY THF B0NDS-DUTY or CITIZENS
IN THIS RESPECT.
% the Edftor OF The Trfowne
srs. No matter what resolutions may he adopted
nv potical conventions for party purposes 1t rs I'M
ouestionably true that the bonds OF the uh'eu
States iSsred during and Immediately after tue ia"
civil war; most of which are known a. r"e-'we"-
ties were offered and sold with the express uuer-
standing that they were TO DO paid, principal and IN
terest in COIN They subscribed for by our citi-
yens aud taken from them by foreigners with tins I'M
derstanding Had it been otherwise. the rebellion
wouId in all human probability. have been success
fnI for il must be borne in mind that the contest be
tween the Government and the Confederate states
depended in its results "a mnch upon money ana
credit as upon arms II may be said without detract
ing from the skill and gaantry of the officers ana
soldiers of the Union armies who won Tor themselves
and their Government inperlshable renown that the
suppression OF the rebellion attributabe u" less
In the superior financial strength than to the supe-
nor numerical strength Of the North. IL victory.
other things being equal must side with the heaviest
battalions. it is money that keeps these bat.aons
in the field The remark has been attributed to
Napoleon that in wars between nations the
nation that can command the last dollar must at
last be the victor.
OBLIGATIONS TO GERMANY AND HOLLAND.
1t may not be too much TO say that the Union was
"sayed by fsith"-ty tho confidence which was
placed BY our own people and by foreigners III the
Assurances and pledges of the Government speaking
through its authorized representatives. Although
no foreign loan was directly made, the ability Of
our citizens to subscribe and pay for the bonds which
~ 4 Al rl~.Ax htpt.
opened for them in EurOpe-cheily in Germany and
Holland The people of the United States owe
debt of gratitude to the Germans and Holanders
for the confidence they had in securities, while,
with rare exceptions the investors in all the other
European markets regarded them with distrus. The
dealers in United States bonds in Newf and other
sraboard cities know how important the German
and Holland markets were to us, in the days of our
greatest financial troubles. The German and Ho-
land purchasers of our bonds saw that they were in
the usual form Of national obgations-that they
were PAYABLE in dollars-not like the compound in
terest on the SO notes. in lawful money bat in
dollars and they took il for granted that Secretary
Chase, his immediate and their agents.
spoke by authority when they stated. with the full
wledge Of tho Executive and the law-Inaking
branches of the Government, that by dollars WINS
meant not irredeemable promises but gold In
deed. without such assurances they would not have
supposed that bonds intended to he sold in other
countries as we'll as in the Unitoi States could be
payable IN anything else than coin, the only inter
national currency Of the world.
WHAT BONDS WERE EXPRESSLY PAYABLE IN COIN.
Fortunately it was not until the necessity for Dor
rowing had ceased that the statutes were examined
for the purpose Of ascertaning whether or not the
Government could violate its faith without violating
the law. BY this examination it was discovered that
t.anD L. nnl
Of six per cent bonds-a part of those known as
bonds of ashland the act of March 3. 1864. under
which the Teu-forty five per cents were issued were
the only ones which stated expressly that the bonds
sued under them should be paid In coin. and that al
the other acts under which bonds issuel during
the war. while they provided that the interest
shOud be paid in coin, silent in regard TO the
currency in which the principal should be paid.
Hence the position taken by some well-meanng
persons, and other not well meaning persons, that
the Government might under the sweeping prOvis-
ions of the acts lawfully call in the Five
twenty bonds at any time after I'VE years from their
date and pay them in legal-tender notes. matter
how deprecated these notes might be. Indeed there
are some prominent men among politicians for
tunatey the number is very small and daily becOn-
ing less who are brave enough to assert the moral
a. well as legal night Of Congress to repeal the
act of 1869. which pledges the faith of the nation
TO the payment of all of its bonds in CON- to call in
the bonds, which by their tenor subject TO be
called in. and pay them in legal-tender notes,
although such payment might DeCossitate such fur
Their issue of these notes as would make the entire
issue well nigh worthless. This would be REPUDIA-
TON. and c0wardly Reputation at tha-repudiation
which would not only make the American name
rcproach among the nations, but which would rob
the people for the purpose of robbing the boudhod
IN has hpen upfOrtuuate for the credit of the
Government and consequently for the matured in
terests Of the Taxpayers in the United States that
this question has been raised. 1t wOlld not, l
apprehend. have been raised by any fair-mnded
persons if the facts and circumstances un6er which
tho bonds were ISSUED had been carefully examined
for such an examination would have shown them.
TIE BONDS TO BE PAID IN GOLD.
First: That in the exhaustive discussions in the
House and the Senate. of the acts authorizing the
issue o. these bonds they spoken of by all who
participated In the debate being payable i'll gold.
II ANYTHING else had been intended, would Mr. Thad
deus Stevens. the Chairman Of the Committee of
Ways and Means, have uttered the following Ian
guagef
dollar in a miser's safe a disturbance Where
could they invest in In United states loans at per
cent reenable in gold 20 ycarsthe best aud most
permanent nveseuont that could be desired Eut widows
should he badly invested. pity who has money
lvescd the United States bonds payable III gold IN 20
years. with interest semi annually.
defy any man to point out a single intLmatIon, by
any member of Congress, while these acts were I'M
der consideration, or by any journal in which they
were discussed. that the bonds to lie issued under
them were TO be paid might be paid in legaltender
notes.
PURPOSES o. THE ACT or FEBRUARY 1S62.
Second Such IN examination would have shown
that the act of Fhr1,arv 40 the frsf of the legal