Evening journal., 1911-10-24
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
A Bit Of Unwritten Civil
War History
By Holland.

of the late George S. Coe. who in his
day, and during the Civil-~War es-
pecially. was one of the foremost bank
ers of the United States, the story o.
the manner in which Secretary of the
Treasury Salmon P. Chase, at the time
of the Civil War very successfully
fioated what was called the seven
thirties, or bonds bearing interest at
the rate of seven dollars and thirty
cents on a hundred dollars each year.
The suggestion of an issue OF that
kind, which was the most popular Of
government loans in war days, was
made by the late John Murray Forbes
of Boston, who was a trusted adviser
of the Lincoln administration and one
of the ablest men of affairs OF his time
tho creator of the Chicago, Burling-
ton and Quincy Railroad, and at ons
time the head of the American mer-
chants engaged in the China trade
Il think" said Mr. Coe, who knew
Mr.. Forbes we'll, that the swittest
transaction involving a large amount
of money that occurred in the United
States during war days was one IN
which John Forbes was participant
Il was one, too, which did great deal
TO prevent the sailing from the
ports of Great Britain Of privateers
built for the Confederate navy. ought
TO say by way of preface that Mr.
Forbes and Salmon P. Chase, who was
Lincoln's first Secretary Of the Treas
ury. we're intimate personal friends
for years before the outbreak of the
war and Mr.. Chase, when governor or
Ohio, had intimate knowledge OF the
manner in which Mr. Forbes develop
ed what Is now the Chicago, Burllng-
ton and Quincy Railroad out of little
unfinished railroad in Michigan. Chase
had great respect for and confidence IN
the judgment and ability OF Mr. FORBES
as a financier on large lines. He sent
many times 70 Mr. Forbes to visit him
at Washington in the first months OF
the Civil War, and advised with him as
to the best method of raising money
for the conduct of the war.
"I think it was in the spring of 1862,
although IL may have been the late
summer that Secretary Chase visited
New York and called upon me-
telling me conhdentially thai
Forbes OF Boston that evening. He
had sent a brief telegram 70 Boston
requesting Mr.. Forbes to come ove~
that afternoon and call upon him at
the Fifth Avenue Hotel. The only reply
the Secretary got was the single word
Yes
Long afterwards learned from Mr.
Forbes what took place at that meet
!
within an instant after they haC
shaken hands, were engaged in a mo
mentous conversation. The Secretary
said 10 Forbes that he wanted him L
sail Immediately for England, to ar
range for a credit of i've million dol
lars with a banking house in Londol
and to offer TO give as security for II
loan ten millions of government bonds
Furthermore, the Secretary said tha
he wanted Mr. Forbes to use thi
money for the purpose of buying tn
rams which were then under con
struction in the British shipyard 70
the Confederate navy. These ram
we're expected to destroy our woode
vessels which were blockading tn
Southern ports.
I told Secretary Chase, Mr. Forbe
said. that If he would give me tn
credentials, authorizing me TO max
the loan, l would sail by the steame
which departed from Boston a fey
days later for England. Thereupon,
draft of the credentials was prepared
/ had then the official authority of tn
United States government to make
loan of five million dollars in London
Next, I asked Secretary Chas
about the ten millions in government
bonds which we're to be used as &c
curity for the loan. The secretary tot
me that the bonds would be taken Il
England as soon as they could b.
countersigned by a gentleman whit
would sail from New York and wh'
should be in London within a weel
after / arrived there
within an hour after Mr.. Forbe
called on the London bankers desig
mated by Secretary Chase, the negoti
atoms were completed and Mr.. FOrbe
received a book showing that he hal
established a credit for the loan wit
those bankers for the amount name
therein which he could draw upon q
sight. A week later the ten millions i
government bonds had been deposite
with the bankers in London. In III
meantime, these bankers actual
made an unsecured loan for at leas
week of FIVE million dollars TO MI
Forbes.
with that money Mr.. Forbes wa
able to enter into negotiations wit
the British government which led
the restraint upon the Confederat
rams. so that they never sailed froI
English ports. This is a bit of III
written history, and the financia
transaction connected with 1t ----
think, up to that time the bigges
single financial transaction involvin
foreign bankers which our govern
ment had entered into"
Copyright, 1911. by r. ]. Edwards. A
Rights Reserved)
Tomorrow Mr.. Edwards win tell {
'sThe Origin of the Greatest Debate |
Amorsfoau Hfgfor-Vw