The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1879-04-16
The Last Of the rive-rwcnue..

A paragraph In the Washington
dispatches a few days ago
ed that all the outstanding 6ve-twen-
" bonds have been called in for re-
demplion. Most newspaper readers
no doubt passed II over with a glance,
aad perhaps a little feeling of salts
faction that the finances OF the Gov
ernment are in such an excellent con-
dItion, which VAS speedily forgotten
IN the p%eras1i gilmore exci lag uess.
And yet there must have oee1 maay
10 whom II brought a urain Of memD
rIes u The terrible ulme of uriai aud
suffering. OF hope AID disappolnL-
ment, Of alternate victory aud defeat,
when these bOuds were FIRST Issued
aud an appeal vas mado t. the patri-
o,lsm OF he people TO turkish The
Government with money Tor carrying
Oh the war. Ii was Ia 1852 All
talk Of settling the contest 10 q 80
day campaign had ceased, and wise
men TAD come reluctantly TO the con
clusion thar the rebellion was tar tOD
formidable to be overtbrown by a few
bard blows, aud must be worn our
Ii was d grave question whether the
patience and patriotism OF The North
would not wear out first The fnan-
clal m~ake-shitts of ls6l-the lcaus
from banks and the issues Of Treas
dry notes-were 40 longer adequate
to supply the needs of The Govern
ment, aud the courageous step was
taken OF appealing directly TO The peo
pie to supply the money. as they had
furnished the men, to preserve the
Union. A new lean was authorized,
~redeemable after five years and paya-
bic 10 twenty, with interest at 6 per
cent. in gold, and the bonds were in
denominations of from fifty dollars
upward, SO as to place them within
the reach of all classes. Sagacious
and effective efforts were made to
pnpularize the loan by the banking
no use of Jay Cooke & Co, which
was given the contract for placing it
Subscriptions were urged as a patri-
otic duty Men who could not enlist
10 the Army were asked to help the
great cause by giving of their means,
whether the amount were great or
small. The people made 0 noble re-
spouse to the appeal. Wealthy CHI
zrns bought the bVDds by thousands
and ten Of thousands; mea of moder-
ate means By hundreds, and poor
farmers and mechanics pnt their lit
tie savings in the f~fty-dollar bonds,
proud and glad that they could do a
little toward helping their country.
The younger generation. who were
children in 1862, and who since com
ing TO years Of understanding have
been accustomed TO hearing bond
holders denounced as sharks ADD
Shylocks, can scarcely realize the pa.
trioIic fervor which prevailed in those
dsys, ana which led men to pour out
their offerings to supply the Nations
necessities. To buy a bond was the
next thing to enlisting. Every $50
was q CERT icate of the patriotism Of
It's owner. No one knew that be
W ould ever get a dollar back. The
enemies OF the Union "copperheads"
and "butternuls" they were called
thea-declared that the bonds would
no, be worth the paper on which they
were printed. More than opco. in
the osrkness and doubt of the long
stru ggie, it looked as if their proph-
ecy would come true. Nothing kept
it from coming true but the steady
loyalty and devotion shown by the
masses OF the Northern people in ia
king this loan, for the heroism of the
scldi ers could have accomplished
nothing without money to clothe,
arm and feed them.
The frst issue of f~ve-twenty bonds
d oes not tall due until 1882, bat they
have all been redeemed, and SO have
the subsequent issues of 1868. 1864
and lS65-partly with the surplus
EtCheSS vi tuc OOstIulntEt EOui
year to year and partly with the pro-
ceeds OF the sales Of the new four per
cents. The promise ths Govern
ment made when they were issued
has been fulfilled to the letter. Ev-
cry one of them has been redeemed,
principal and interest, in gold. 1t is
not out of place o. this time, now
that the great wal loan has been
repaid to the last dollar, to recall the
fact that its issue was an act of Re-
~publicsn craftsmanship, its popular
ity the outgrowth of Republican hon.
esty. The Democratic party tried to
discredit it at the start and has has
ever since encouraged projects for de-
preciating its value or repu1iating it
altogether. The loan is now 9 thing
Of the past, like the gallant deeds of
the soldiers and the sacrifices Of the
citizens which made the four years of
our Var heroic, bat we should not
forget that its history is Republican
history aud is one ct tke brightest
chapters 10 the annals of the great
party which saved the rnion.-E.
]. Tribune.
Dumfeuaded Democrats.