The National tribune., 1903-11-12
MONEY txxDEas vsasus rnI arvHRs.

Z
What We have frequently said before
and what everybody knows II true, Il
that the absolute essentials for any war
are men and money. The first require.
ment is men. The Government then tries
to get as much money as it can to pay,
feed, and clothe them. A Government can
get along without much money by calling
upon the devotion Of its people to make
sacrifices. But men 1t must have or it
can make no war. The so-called Southern
Confederacy. for example, got along with
comparatively little money of any value
by using an iron despotism to put men
into the ranks and keep them there. Dur
ing the rebellion the: Government relied
upon the patriotic devotion of its young
men to support it, and they responded in
| the noblest manner possible. The pay it
was able to give them was insignificant,
| and did few Of them any real good. No
person regarded it as part of his induce
ment for enlistment. Substantially every
man sacrificed great opportunities for
making money at home to enter the army.
1t was sufficient for them that the Gov
ernment needed them, and they gave un-
stintedly of what it needed-their health,
strength, and all the effort of which they
were capable.
1t is quite interesting to put In compar-
ison this unbounded liberality Of the men
of strong souls and vigorous bodies with
these who had dollars to lend. The first
appeal to the latter came In the troublous
days between the time when South Caro-
lima seeded, in December, 1860, and that
when Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated
as President, March 4, 1861. After the
secession of South Carolina, the prudent,
cautious money owners decided that the
country would probably break up, and
that it was risky business lending any
thing to ''the old United States Govern
ment," as it began to be called.
The facts we are about to state are OBJ
tanned from very valuable work entitled
''The History of the Currency of the
Country and of the Loans Of the United
States" written and compiled by Maj.
VIM. f. De Knight. veteran and valued
official in the Office of the Register, and
which is published by the Treasury as
Document No. 1913. 1t Is therefore off,
cial, and the highest source of knowledge
regarding these loans. The first stress
of the Treasury was felt in the Fall of
1860. The revenues, had fallen during
Buchanan's Administration until it had
been deemed necessary to authorize the
borrowing Of $21, ,OO0, 900 for 10 years at
5 per cent. The Treasury called for
S1O,000,0 900, and bids for the whole were
soon made, but the troubles in the South
became so alarming that the money lend
ers refused, in many instances, to take
what they had subscribed for, and forfeit
ed their deposits tc the amount of $29, 800.
Only $7,022.O 900 of the $21. 100000 au-
thorized could be obtained, but the men
who lent the money were well rewarded.
since the total interest paid them amount
ed to $3,516, ,223.4S. In other words, they
got back their principal and more than
half as much more in interest.
The partial failure Of this loan caused
an act to be passed Dec. II, 1860, autho-
rizing the Secretary of the Treasury to |
issue $4,000 900 of notes at per cent |
interest, or at such interest as he could |
obtain. The notes were to be Of the de-
nomination of $50 and upward. South |
Carolina seeded Dec. 20. 1860. and the
other States rapidly followed her. The |
Secretary Of the Treasury could find hard |
ly any one willing to lend money to the |
Government at 9 per cent. He was in the |
position of the man whose credit was very |
shaky, and he had to submit to outrageous
''shaves" in order to get tbs money-lenders
to take the notes at all. The following
make: