Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-05-04
TYSTERY EXPLAINED.
|, Discovery Of the Secret Of
~ 4. Coufsderate Bond Craze
Lar p. Bspismin's Secret and In
tsrssting Rebuilding Scheme

*.noiive OF tue ucii4EHN
.,,,n Confederate bonds. Con-
|.8 nave been numerous, but none
q 10 a logical reason for the fact
soy,hle Confederate obligations,
lad for fifteen years filled dusty
md Trunks in Europe and In
NH suddenly commanded from
mothed spectators a price
inc several percentum of their
lac Preposterous stories as to
suse the demand have been ell
"a only to leave the public I'M
"a and curious for logical solu-
y NE probiem. There has been
olsnation of the reason for the
,inn of the demand, and the ulti-
disposltion of the bonds pur-
a and sent to London has not
W sutnoritatively announce d. After
deal of inquiry and conjecture
III, matter remains as Ii began--a
1Bllzlng mystery.
lance has Just afforded me an eX.
s. stiou OF the whole business an
snation which | can announce
ontldeuce, because IL Is complete
|Il ouical, aud ousistent with every
n OF the bond speculation, but
IIgbecause 1t comes authoritatlvely
3& one Of The few men in the United
q who hav been from the first
liant Of the facts and OF the man
Of the so-called "craze.p He
neen closely connected with the
operations, but now that they
been completed he gives me the
with the understanding that his
Il be withheld from publication
Ia P. B pjamin, secretary Of state
be CoDfedeI acy from 1852 until lite
kpse, was the originator of tbeplan
$hich demand was created for
'Ibonds, and to his shrewdness is
1butable the complete success of
s1'project.
4 begin at the beginning: Several
|.lrtments of the Confederate gov
[Shent-- such as the ordnance, quar-
j masters and medical purveyor's-
Il special funds deposited with
..opean bankers for the purchase of
piles which could only be obta ined
@EuIope. This was well known,
\ the members Of these departments
81 their agents were also known,
+ that when the United States
1krnment succeeded to the
I'd of the Confederacy the
spants OF these funds were surren-
~ to II by those who held them.
Nc We; one fund, however, which
ped surrender because of the mys-
developing II, and this was the
( el-selvlce fund OF the Confederate
artm,n Of state. at different
s the Confederate congress, in Sc
3 session, voted large sums for Sc
service, the intention being, OF
|rse, to apply this money in foreign
Entries so ss 20 aid the Con federacy
y embarrass its adversary. The
d WAS used to infiuence officials of
Ner governments in some degree to
\ the state department in it's efforts
|b1ure rec pgnition for theConfeder-
Estates, and occasionally to assist
Per departments by smoothing
4 way for purchases which were
Hlcnlt The members OF the Sc
service were not known to the
lie. | have been shown a list of
u principal ones, but am not permit.
4 10 print it. Several were very
9mlnent men identified with Con-
XeTale diplomacy and bore high
ffacters. Others / had never heard
Noelore London and Paris were the
~ points If secret-service activity.
tere was an agent at Brownsville,
|fss, on the Mexican border. The
2ncipal deposits of secret-service
&ney were in London and Paris
pss The funds were placed to the
uit OF citizens Of Great Britain and
nce who We're friendly to the South.
understanding with them was
They would assume no re-
faslbility, but would honor drafts
rue extent of the money Ia
* Al the close of the war
~ were large expended balances
scret service money to the credit OF
se parties There was one account
W,OVO, which seems to have been
,ulawn, as against IL was charged
-~o sterling. The balances of
lsrent deposits at the close Of the
y were as follows: One OF lees than
mouunds, one OF 800 900 pouude, one
p,vn pounds, and one of500 pounds.
w There mere was one OF $4,000, one OF
{%uv, one of $45S 600. and a huge
II q S,7l5,000. The total balance
me Confederate government at
VINE Of its fall was about IS, 0S0,-
|' aae men who had this money de.
,ned IN their names were honest,
IVY oid not make way with the as
soI the dead Confederacy but they
Nv puzzled to know what to do with
Mr. Benjamin, as secretary oil
'sm,o' the Confederacy, knew thes,
r and during his residence in
Is,and consulted with them as tc
opposition OF the money. 1t was
,s tnat Il should not be surren
~ w 70 me United States. The ques
was then how to disburse thu
s,asy 80 as best to benefit those en-,
INN M 20 ~ 1t WAS concluded that the
\ sg ~ VINO had given their means tC
y. SSvniederacy for its bonds were en-
IA 70 These (the Confederacy's) as
raj S gregate OF the funds was as
n lhneo, and a calculation was made
"A INV "ow Tar IL would go In paying
ma 'elest on the bonds I; because, oil
dy,i u was impracticable to declare
Al ~ snd on the principal Publicity
pnssbpe avoided; secrecy was indis.
= nns II was decided to pay of
ith ,,hhnonored coupons, beginning
nrin.n muse a. last due by the Confederscy
anon ~ 81 existence. These were the