Omaha daily bee., 1909-02-07

was TIE huNnoE Vi boIHe VI W
A boidest measures Of finance
~ ever undertaken by a national
- administration in a time Of
war. The principal ones were four in num-
Der; the establishment OF an incontrovert-
ibie currency which would not ruinously
depreciste; the successful floating OF nearly
S2,0Oo,OOo.0O Of loans: the creation Of a new
and untried national banking system in
place Of a long established state banking
system and the maintenance during four
years OF the greatest armies and the most
desperate war which the world has ever
witnessed.
These measures were described to me by
the author himself. II was as a financial
editor that 1 first came to know Mr..
Chase; 1t was as a financial officer of the
government that 1 again met him. when he
lived In e street, and 1t was as a financial
author that, after he had been appointed
to the chief Justiceship. I discussed with
him at his new residence in H street,
Washington, the fiscal. measures OF the
Lincoln Administration These conversa-
tons, therefore. nearly always turned upon
the finances. They took place Of evenings,
in his study, when the strain of the days
work had given place to postprandial re-
Taxation.
2 1 recall them with the pleasure afforded
by personal contract with this illustrious
statesman; 1 cannot revert to them with
out also remembering his strange vicis-
STUDIES OF fortune and the insratitude Of
neglect Of his country in not ameliorating
them. Mr.. Chase, after handling billions
of the public money and securities, dice
poor and in debt. He frequently complained
in private that his salary scarcely suf-
feed to pay hts household expenses.
His UnaIlOyed Patriotism.
The society Of Mr.. Chase had long be-
fore changed my original attitude of crit
icism toward him into one Of respect,
generation and affection. Notwithstanding
his III timed yearnings for the presidency,
1t was impossible not to be impressed with
his greatness of soul, his unalloyed pat
riotism, and his supreme confidence, which
had manifested itself from the beginning
OF the civil war to the end Of the recon-
struction period. that the union would
emerge from all it's trials stronger and
more glorious than ever.
Within a month or six weeks after the
election of Mr.. Lincoln, Howell Cobb, then
secretary OF the treasury, resigned his high
office and cast his lot with the south,
whereupon President Buchanan appointed
General John A. Dix Of New York TO fill
the vacant post. After Mr.. Lincoln was
inaugurated as president he sent the names
OF his proposed cabinet to the senate, who
confirmed them ali, including that Of
Salmon p. Chase for secretary Of the
treasury. Mr.. Chase had served the coun-
try in many ways, latterly as a United
States senator and as governor Of Ohio.
He was a candidate for the presidency in
the republican national convention Of 1860,
and when Lincoln's nomination became
imminent he threw his half a hundred
votes to the winner.
The condition of the treasury at the out
set of tho civil war was most deplorable. l
have heard Mr.. Hartley and Mr.. West,
both OF whom had been leading officers of
the treasury for some twenty-five or thirty
years, describe II almost with tears. The
receipts from customs duties. almost the
only source OF revenue at that period. had
fallen to sSs.Ooo,0D a year. This was less
than 1t had been ten years previously.
The entire receipts, Independent OF loans,
were 81, 50o,0Oo just one-fourth OF the pres
ent annual expenditures OF New York City
alone. Neither. Mr. Cobb, nor General
Dix, nor Governor Chase could float a few
millions Of United States 6 per cent bonds
~ pau ~ DalhCh6 uHAllauulIlB - ~, anu
even IL per cent, with the privilege at their
own option to terminate the loan at any
time by paying the bonds into the treasury
as cash for customs duties.
bankers Exported Gold.
They were not like the Doge Mocenigo,
who, when Venice was threatened with
war, placed his entire fortune at the SER
vice OF the state, saying that II Venice fell
his wealth would be no more worth to
him. on the contrary. the moment trouble
commenced, the metropolitan bankers made
haste to expor their gold. so that when
Governor Chase screwed S5o.OOO.OO0 out OF
them they all with one honorable excep-
tom went bankrupt and their ''suspen-
sion" was followed by that of nearly every
bank in the United States. They hac
openly exported $l20,000.O 900. and as theIt
was no penalty for emitting to report ex.
ports OF specie, they, had coyertly ex
ported almost as much again. 1t is a fail
estimate to assume that their apprehen
slons had depleted the country Of nearl,
$2o. 100000 of coins and bullion. Mr.. Lin
coin and his faithful minister battled will
these conditions until the situation came t.
mean either defeat OF greenbseks. AS W,
shall presently see, g~reehbacks won tn,
day.
1t Is evident, both from his speeches II
the senate, the fiscal measures concerned
with Mr.. Lincoln. and his own earlier pub
lie consideration OF the financial situation
that Mr.. Chase went into the treasury witt
the determination to put an end to tn
monetary issues Of private banks incor
porated by the individual states. So earl.
as midsummer. 1861. in a letter to Vic
President Hamlin. he proposed a tax Of
state" bank notes. AtNa later date in tn
same year he proposed the organization
OF banking associations whose circulation
should consist only OF notes uniform Il
character, furnished by the government an,
secured. as to convertibility into coin b.
United States bonds deposited In the treas
ury." This plain intimation OF the COMM
national bank system was issued befor
the New York banks suspended. VIVA
occurred after suspension is best relate,
in Mr.. Chase's own words;
Bankers Refused Bonds.
'"rhe government even at that early tim
In the war was liable for over a million an
q quarter a day, while the revenues di
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