Morning journal and courier., 1881-06-06
Monday Morning, June 6, 1881.
A PREPosTEROUs SCHEME.


In the early part of the war of the rebel
| England. Their purchase was encouraged
| by the London Times and other influential
| journals. A good many Englishmen believed
| that the time had come when the Union they
hated was to be dissolved. and they were not
| unwilling to aid in its dissolution and at the
| same time turn an honest penny by buying
the alluring promises to pay of the rebels
But they made an enormous mistake in their
calculations. Their aid of the Confederacy
did not count, and they have now the rebel
trash instead of the solid bonds of the Uni
ted States which they might have had by the
exercise of different faith and more sagaci-
ty.
It seems, however, that these disappointed
and disguised Englishmen still cling to the
hope that they may yet in some way get at
least few pennies back for the solid pounds
they so literally and heartily invested in
rebel bonds. And they are now moving for
their payment either by the Southern States
or by the government of the United States.
Of course they are not ignorant of the pro-
vision of the constitution which prohibits
their payment by the federal government,
but they argue in this wise: First, it is
hoped that the southern States will attempt
to borrow money in the London market,
which they cannot do, so long as they are in
default on their bonds. Should they want
money enough, and badly enough, some ad-
iustment of these bonds might, it is thought,
be made. The Times, in its financial article,
while it looks upon this as very slender
ground of hope, yet admits that five per
cent. has been paid lately for some
of those bonds, and three per
cent. for others, while a very influential
committee" has been appointed by the bond
holders to prosecute these claims. The Pail
Mall Gazette takes further step. It recites
the incurring of these debts by the South
their reputation upon the suppression of the
rebellion; the provision of the constitution
prohibiting their payment, and then goes on
to say: ''Still it is well known that the South
has not at all given up the hope of obtaining
their recognition conclusive mark of re-
covered equality with the North. The altera-
ton of constitutional law on which this meas
ure is conditional will not be easily obtained
under ex1Stlng circumstances but 1t Is I'M
possible to say that, if there were large
permanent federal surplus, incapable of en-
ployment, some Encouragement of parties
might not lead to the purchase at this price
of undivided Southern support"
The Gazette, it should be understood, was
discussing the effects of the American public
debt upon the American public policy, with
especial reference to the questions of tariff
and free trade; and it argues that the North
ern States, as of to-day, would prefer de.
creased customs duties to the danger of having
to pay the southern war debts; but it sees,
or thinks it sees, that the West being at some
future time largely in favor of free trade, will
unite with the South in obtaining free trade
legislation and the payment in whole or in |
part of the Southern Confederate indebted
ness. Strange things happen, but that the |
West will ever unite with the South in
plan to have the federal government pay the |
Engishmen for the rebel bonds they hold
seems highly preposterous in the present |
light.