Evening journal., 1912-10-23
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
The Information That Per-
Suaded Lincoln to Make Sal
mon P. Chase Secretary
Of the Treasury
--=
By Holland

In the summer of 1861 the Secre-
tary of the Treasury, Salmon p.
Chase, visited New York City for the
purpose of comforting with bankers
of New York, Boston and Philadelphia
as to the best way to secure for the
Federal Government a loan of fifty
million dollars in gold.
Secretary Chase met these bankers
in the directors room of one of the
New York City banks All that he
at first said to them was that he was
20 hnancier He was responsible,
however, he said, for maintaining as
far as it lay In his power, the credit
OF the United States, and it was his
duty to procure funds by any means
which were within his power as Sec
retary of the Treasury to meet Fur
thermore, he said that the govern
ment needed fifty millions in gold and
he appealed to the bankers to show
him how that gold could be secured
"The discussion had not gone very
far before / realized-and l think
every banker who sat around that
table had the same realization-that
Governor Chase had been too modest
when he said that he was no financier
and did not understand financing" So
said the late George S. Coe, for many
years president of one of the great
banks of New York, to me in the
! spring of 1892. 81 remember that
| Governor Chase asked one question
which / was satisfied showed one OF
two things-either he had familiarity
with banking methods or else he had
been told what some of our banking
methods were by some one who was
/ familiar with them.
I'm the course of our discussion
Governor Chase made an incidental
remark to which at the time I did not
pay much attention. After our ma
tionaf banking system was organized
recalled it wildly. | do not now
remember the precise phraseology,
but the substance of the remark was
that Chase was thinking that possibly
banks might be induced to buy gov
ernment bonds, in return for which
they would have the right to issue
currency.
Once, I'm recalling that meeting az
which we decided to buy government
bonds and pay fifty million in COLO
for them. | said to one of Governor
Chases friends that it seemed incred-
ible to me that a man who had been
always a lawyer and politician could
have been so familiar with banking
methods as Governor Chase then and
afterwards showed himself to be. J
said that IL was either an inspira-
tion of true financial genius or else
the result of familiarity with bank
ing systems and methods which made
il possible for Chase to work out
the plan upon which the Greenbacks
were issued and TO perfect the de-
tails of the national banking system.
Il was told In reply that one of the
strangest misunderstanding of war
times, and especially on the part OF
American bankers. was the belief thai
Salmon p Chase was a perfect anna
teur in finance when he entered Lin
coins cabinet as Secretary of the
Treasury.
Lincoln. said this friend. would
never have appointed Governor Chase
Secretary of the Treasury if he had
not been assured that Chase had
mastered many of the details of bank
ing IT would not have done to place
a perfectly green hand at the head ol
the Treasury Department at that crit
cal time. II seems that Lincoln. wher
he was considering the makeup of his
cabinet, made inquiries about Gov
ernor Chase of people who knew hin
/ ID AnlD. LlHtOln Wdc lDlQ iittit Aldo'
when a young lawyer, had been so
licitor of the Bank of the United
States at Cincinnati and had been 81
brilliantly successful in that respon
sibility that when another bank wal
organized in Cincinnati which was
called the Lafayette bank Chase be
came a stockholder and one Of tn
leading directors, guiding that banl
very wisely and successfully for ;
long term of years. In that service h
gained a familiarity with banks ant
financing which explains the cas-
with which he administered the YER
difficult position of Secretary of tn
Treasury. and it was this qualifica
| ton which persuaded Abraham Lin
coin that he would make no mistak
II he appointed Mr.. Chase Secretar
of the Treausry.'
Copyright, 1912 by e. J. Edwards
All rights reserved.