The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-03-12
CBoston Transcript,

tSoSton IranSCr1pt.)
Confederate money is still a favorite
dealings with the raw immigrant.
though it is hardly a currency to de-
ceive II mar acquainted with the
country's history or wen with the ne
gotiable paper money of today. 1t is
not surprising that confederate money
is so plentiful after half a century ms
to make 1t more valuable to the con
tidencc man than to the collector
when one realizes the immense
amount turned out by the industrious
presses of the confederacy.
HI confederate treasury kept OH
printing paper money almost up to the
fall of Richmond. a note dated
Richmond. February. II, 1864" de-
clares upon it's face: THE Confederate
States Of America. will pay ten dol
lars to bearer two years after the ratj-
f%cation OF a treaty of peace between
the Confederate States and the Unit
cd States OF America" When the
confederate treasury began business
there was a. clear enough perception
among the public men of the confed-
eracy that cheap one would be one
OF their governments perils. They
had been brought up in the old Demo-
cratic monetary theory of a currency
composed of gold and silver at a fix
WI IhNto IIlltIlucu W N POI1u Will
their relative bullion value, and paper
money based upon such currency.
Thomas II. Benton had turned back
his months pay in paper Of the treas
ury Of the United States with the
characteristic threat. The hard or a
protest" From the first. however.
gold was extremely scarce in the o n
federacy. and some form of paper
money was almost as essential to the
h,sct,,oc- .f xho 1n~I 80 nr<,,n 1N,,,
modities themselves. Such issues were
therefore promptly authorized. AL
most exactly fifty Years & he issue
Of $1,000. 900 in interest-bearing notes
was authorized. This was the earliest
confederate paper ssued. By July of
that year the treasury had exceeded
the authorized amount and an issue
of double the original issue was then
sanctioned by law. The smallest de-
nomination OF these early issues was
$50. for the treasury hoped hat
means might be found for using silver
and gold in minor transactions. Be-
fore the end of the year the authoriZ-
ed issue n again been exceeded. and
in spite of o~ft-renewcd good resolu-
tions the confcdcracy by July, 1863,
had $1,000. 00O, 900 in notes outstand-
ing. For Il few months devoted o II
federate patriots permitted their gold
NOPOGltS ~ SeI lulo StIcIdt SllNuld
ton. but soon everybody who had
bold boarded it or sent 1t out Of the
country to Il place of safety.
Tho twists and turns OF the con-
federacy in dealing with the currency
problem have been cited ever since
by advocates OF hard money and the
single gold standard in support of
their cause. while their opponents
have insisted that the desperate plight
/ rf n w z,t -,-s,l
for war and p~reoccupied with mill
tary problems is not to be brought in
as an argument for the financial pol
icy of a we'll established government
in time of peace. They point to the
significant engraving of n battery
rushing into action as shown upon
the confederate ten-dollar bill of Feb
ruary, 1864, by way of illustrative
clincher to their contention. Painful
of the confedcracy with This none
tary problem. Almost every scheme
known to financial history was re-
sorted to with the hope of stemming
the resistless tide of paper money.
The people wanted a convenient me-
dium for daily transactions, and have
it they would, although it soon fell
to n twenty-fifth of its a value,
and eventually to almost nothing.
| SltNlIldl LUIS ucIIldIlNtu currency lSslSs
lation for the promotion of their own
schemes. Two notable funding plans
We're tried. One. a virtual confession
of bankruptcy upon the part of the
treasury. was intended to force hold
ers of notes to give new notes at the
rate of 50 of the new for So of the
old. Perhaps the idea prepared the
way for Nirginia's REIMBURSEMENT" of
her debt, and the political power of
Malone.
Almost at the very end of the o n
federacy Jefferson Davis vetoed a bill
for the issue OF $40. 00O. 900 in paper,
and congress passed the measure over
his veto. The funding plans resulted
in a temporary contraction Of the cur.
rency and a fall in prices, with the
consequent enrichment of some Of
the desperate gamblers that hung
about Richmond and fattened upon
the hardships Of the co%nfederacy. Aft
or each contraction OF the currency
the convenient presses we're set GO
ing again. and instead of a circulating
medium of sl75. 900. 900 as the treas
ury once planned, or Of 100000 900
as it planned at another time. the
outstanding paper money swelled and
swelled until it. had exceeded the ST..
600. 000. 900 of midsummer. 1863.
The banks Of Virginia tried to pro-
tcct themselves and the treasury by
refusing fo rcceiye fh, 6Cnreciafcd