The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-04-30
The Confederate Bend sTystery.

tive Inducing the demand In England fol
certain Confederate bonds. Conjecture.
have been numerous, but none pointed
to q logical reason for the fact that worth.
less Confederate obligations, which had
for fifteen years filled dusty chests and
trunks in Europe and in the South, sud.
denly commanded from close. mouthed
speculators q prico equalting several pei
centum of their par value.
Chance has just afforded me an expla.
nation Of the whole business--an expla,
nation which can announce With con.
fidence, because IL Is complete and logi.
cal and consistent with every phase oI
the bond speculation, but chiefly because
it comes aush0ritatirely from one Of the
few men in the United States who have
been from the arst cogui2ant of the facts
and of the meaning of the so.called
"crazc." He has been closely connected
with the bond operations, but now thu,
they nave been completed he gives me
the facts, with the understanding that his
name be withheld from publication.
Judah p. Benjamin, Secretary of State
Of the Confederacy from 1862 until liz
collapse, was the originator of the plan
BY which demand was created for the
bonds. and to his shrewdness is attribu.
table the complete success of III = project,
Several departments CT the Confeder.
ate government-such as the ordnance.
quartermasters and medical purveyor's
had special funds deposited with Euro.
pean bankers for the purchase of sup.
plies which could only be obtained In
Europe. This was we'll known, and the
members Of these departments aud their
agents were also known, 80 that when the
United States government succeeded to
the assets of the Confederacy the rem.
nants OF funds were surrendered to IL by
those who held them. There was one
fund, however, which escaped surrender
because OF the mystery enyelopinR 1t,
and this was the secret service fund Of
the Confederate department of State.
AZ different times the Confederate Con.
greas, in secret session, voted large sums
for the secret service, the intention be.
is5, of oouBe. 10 apply this money in
foreign securities SO as to aid the Con.
fed1,esracy and cmbarraes its adversary.
The members of the secret service
been shown a list Of the principal ones,
but am not permitted to print 1t. Sew.
erst were very prominent men identified
with Confederate diplomacy, and bore
high characters. Others I had never
heard of before. London and Paris were
the chief points of secret service activity.
There was an agent at Brownsville, Texas,
on the Mexican border. The principal
deposits of secret service money were in
London aud Paris bankB. The funds
we're placed to the credit of citizens OF
Great Britain and France, who were
friendly to the South. The understand.
ing with them was that they would
assume no responsibility, but would
honor drafts to the extent Of the money
In bank. At the close of the war there
were large unezpended balances Of
secret service money to the credit Of these
parties. The total balanLe due the Con.
federate government at the time of It's
fall was about five million and eighty
thousand dollars.
The men who had this money deposi-
ted in their names were honest. They
did not make way with the, assets of the
dead Confederacy, but they were puzzled
to know what to do with them. Mr.
BENJAMIN, as Secretary of State of the
Confederacy, knew these agents, and
during his residence in England consult.
ed with them as to the disposition of the
money. It was agreed that It ahould not
be surrendered to the United States.
The question was then, how to disburse
the money SO as best TO benefit those en-.
titled to 1t. II WIGS concluded that the
people who had given their means to the
Confederacy fol It's bonds were entitled
to these 1.-THE Confederacy's) assets.
The aggregate of the funds was ascer.
tanned, and calculation was made as to
how far it would go in paying the inter.
est on the bonds, because, of course, 1t
was impracHcable to declare n dividend
ON the principal. Publicity was TO be
avoided. Secrecy was Indispensable. ! It
was decided to pay of the uuhonored
coupons, beginning with those last due
BY the Confederacy during its exiotence.
These were the coupons falling due Jan.
lat, 1866. Then thu balance was to be
applied to the payment Of the next cou-
,poDs falling due. The bonds were ad.
vertieed for. To cover the Toal object Of
the movement 1t was hinted that the
bonds were to be held by SPECTATORS, and
that suit was;to be instituted against the
United States:fori their payment. This
amusing idea gained great prevalence.
The bonds were readily obtained, and
sll Of the: January, 1866, eonpons were
paid, simply: by the purchase Of the bonds
for The amount Of these coupons and
nbainder of the fund was absorbed by
due, in che order Of their 'psesentation.
bonds knew what was the object Of che
purchase. b The circle Managing the
scheme was quito small, Mr.. q Benis-
fofa n, oufar t,Is d !, n a s,af.,n1 tss cr,a