The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-12-04

%|r in 1n,o wh nsa , ahs'1 st
that time which was perhaps of more i'm
portance to the federal cause just then than
that great army was.
When Roscoe Conkling, then a young
man only a little past sc, delivered a speech
in the house of representatives soon after
the fall of Fort Sumter, he astonished
men who were even older than himself by
declaring that war in these times WIS with
out romance, was a cruel and humdrum
proceeding. and that it was determined not
so much by men as by the power of money.
Other things being equal. Mr.. ConklinR de-
olared, that side which has the most wealth,
tue greatest resources, will win in modern
time wars, and he asserted that it was of
more Importance to she federal government
that gold be secured just then than that
armies be raised.
MI. ConklinR knew what the country did
not; that President Lincoln and his cabinet
were very anxious at that time because the
government had no money to speak of. and
it was not very clear how money could be
raised for the immediate and extraordinary
expenses. The credit of the government
was not as good then as it ia now. and il
was known that it would be very difficult to
borrow gold.
Salmon p. Chase was secretary Of the
treasury, and many an anxious night did
he spend in trying to devise some plan to
raise money for the immediate AND unex-
pected ex expenses which the outbreak of the
war was causing. There was a ttoubied
look upon MIR. Lincoln's face at that time,
which was believed by those who saw it, and
did not know the reason, to be entirely
caused by the great responsibility which
the coming of the war and the placing of
the army in the field had put upon him.
But that was not what gave MIR. Lincoln
his greatest anxiety. He knew that volun-
teers would be plenty, but he wondered
where the government was going to raise on
the instant the gold which it needed. One
day Il gentleman called upon the president
and said to him that it was inspiring to see
men come from the farms and the shops in
response to his call for volunteers. and this
man added that suoh a spectacle ought to
convince anyone that the war would be of
short duration.
All" replied the president. lit is not
men that we need now SO much as it Is
gold. We want gold Immediately, and l
confess that it is a greater problem how to
get it than it was how to secure volun-
teers."
A day or two later this gentleman WAS
riding on q street car in New York city with
a banker, now living, to whom this CONVEX
sstion with Lincoln was narrated. 1t was
an accidental meeting and a chance conver-
sation. but it proved to be a fortunate aooi-
dent. The banker thought a good deal
about this apecdote, and some days later
he went among his banking friends and he
said to them: Now, 1t seems to me that
we have Il very important interest in this
matter aside from any national feeling. Ii
this war should prove a failure for the
north our property would be Deprecated,
and very likely many of our banks de-
stroyed. Therefore,, l think we ought to
take some risks. l think 80 outside of any
other consideration ns a purely business
proposition" and he found that nearly all
the bankers with whom he talked were of
the same opinion.
= So they agreed TO send indirectly n hint
to the secretary of the treasury that 1T
might be we'll if he paid a visit to New York
and chatted with some of the bankers. Mr..
Chase was very glad of this hint. He hur-
. ried to New York and on a certain evening
he met in tho luxurious parlors of a banker
, on Fifth avenue eight or ten bank presi-
! dents. These men controlled many mil
lions of capital and of gold. With Nj.
\ Chase they talked the matter over until
/ dawn. They agreed with him that
they ought to take some risks, perhaps
j; great ones, to aid the government.
even from purely selfish motives if for no
- other reason. And before the meeting nd
journed these men had agreed to raise $780,
900, COZ in gold and to loan this wealth to
' the government immediately, taking in re-
81 turn therefor the oDllSatlouS OF the govern
ment to pay it back with interest.
- Now, that was a great risk. If tho war
4 failed, nobody could tell what the obliga-
a tions of the government would be worth, or
. how soon il would be able TO pay them otf.
i A few DAYS later the newspapers published
"a report that some of the banks of New
> York, Philadeif hia aud Boston had sent to
the treasury the enormous sum of SOC. Q0O,-
600 in gold. To the public this paragraph
!, was of little interest because popular ex-
n citement was at fever heat on account of
the assembling of the soldiers and their de-
!, partuge Tor the seat of the war. Yet really
n this news was of far more consequence
j than the story of the gathering of the ar
mics was. 1t revealed to the business
y world that the great bankers OF the nation
had decided to give their support TO tho
federal cause. and in Europe the great men
SAID; "Ah. If the bankers are willing to
put up their gold to support tho govern
meut, then MIR. Lincoln has Il greater pow
or than even his armies can give him."
And this proved to be the case. Within IA
It year the banks had loaned 800, 00H, 900
more in gold. the credit of the government
A was established. and it was evident that, AZ
n Conkling had predicted, tho greater re-
~ sources of the north would DO likely TO pfe-
vail in the end,
So it may be said that perhaps the result
IN of that colossal war was determined on that
night when the bankers met iii II parior of
!. the secretary and promised to loan tho gov
"A eminent 500, DOC. 900; and may be but for
the ohance meeting of the banker @ith a
gentleman who had chatted with President
Lincoln. the course of affairs MT that eriti-
cal time would have been different.