Evening journal., 1915-02-27
New News Of Yesterday
The Statesman Who
Changed His Opinion
By Holland.

81 don't think / was ever more as
tonished by the action Of any man
who held an important public Office
than was when a report was brought
to me, in my office i'm Washington.
that the Supreme Court had in a de-
cision handed down that morning de-
clared that the legal-tender act was
unconstitutional" said the late George
). COe-who i'm his day was one Of
the most influential bankers of New
fOrk-to me at a time when he was
speaking reminiscently of his asso-
citation with Salmon p. Chase. when
Chase was Secretary of the Treasury
in Lincoln's administration.
THAT decision was a majority one
by the vote of Gov. Chase, who was at
the time the decision was made Chief
Justice Of the Supreme Court at
Washington. II seemed to me that
/ Chase's opinion completely stultifed
( the record which he had made when
serving as Secretary of the Treasury
with respect to the legal-tender bills
which are commonly known as green
backs.
Il saw a great deal of Secretary
Chase in the first two years of the
civil war II was in my Office, that
he met the bankers of New York. in
1861, and urged them to lend the gov
ernment S50.000,0O0 in gold. He was
a man of majestic presence. We were
all greatly impressed by his earnest
ness. He had the gift of making a
statement appear very plausible. He
/ told us that unless the government
I got the gold, President Lincoln would
/ be greatly embarrassed, not knowing
which way to turn in order to secure
/ the financial resources which were
needed for carrying on the war He
got the gold and in all we lent $780,
| 100000
"A year or two later. Secretary
Chase told me that il was impossible
TO carry on the war on a Specie basis
He said that he purposed issuing gov
ernment notes and he presumed that
he would have to get authority from
Congress to give these notes legal
tender quality SO that they would be
forced into circulation
I Il suppose there were few bank.
ers and not many members of Con.
gress who did not feel the greatest
/ reluctance about promising their sup.
port to measure of this kind. Sec
/ retary Chase, however, said that il
was vital necessity and pre-.
sumo everybody else felt as | did
that If il were vitality necessary in
this way TO secure funds in which
TO carry on the war then the measure
would be approved.
Gov. Morgan, of New York. after.
ward Senator, told me that Secretar,
Chase went to the Capitol a number
of times to have interviews will
members of the Senate and the
House so that he might persuade then
to support the bill which would Civ,
the legal-tender quality TO these gov
ernment notes. He used only onG
argument and that was that legal
tender paper money was the only re
source upon which the government
could rely, aside from loans, will
which 10 meet the expenses of tn,
war. He insisted that the vital neces
sity Of the measure was sufficient tI
make the bill constitutional.
Congress took Secretary Chase a
his word, so that he was able TO is
sue greenbacks with legal-tende
quality. There is no doubt that tn,
tide of the war changed after thos,
notes were issued and the govern
ment was never again in fnancia
peril.
Some years after Secretary Chas
became Chief Justice of the Suprem
Court, the question was brought he
fore the court for Interpretation al
to the constititionality of the legal
tender issue. ] presume without ex
ception, every public man and ever,
banker in the United States expectc,
that Chase would in his opinion sus
tain the action which he took as Sec
retary of the Treasury. Instead O
that. he reversed il and went so ia
as to say that there had been m
demonstration that the issue OF legal
tender notes was necessary.
Il never could find out what in
duced Chase to change his mind bu
at last came TO the conclusion tha
as the llance minister OF the gov
ernment he felt that he was author
lied to do a certain thing which AT
terward as a lawyer and eXpoundo
of the Constitution he believed wa
not justified"
Copyright. 1915. by L. J. Edwards
All rights reserved)
-~~~~~-~--~~~-~~~>>~-~~~~-~~-