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, <Jljc Cmufccn Confcfccvrttc. VOLUME II CAMDEN, SO. cX7 FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1863. NUMBER 29 ?B? ???HM????????' ljc Camiicit (Eonfrknitc, AT TllltKK DOLLARS A YKAH, payable invauiably iialf-ykaklv in advance _?? Terms ibr Acivc'rlisinjg: For one Square?fourteen lines or less?ONE DOLLAR AND TWENTY-FIVE CENTS for each insertion. OmrUAUY Xoticks. exceeding one Square, charged to at advertising rates. Transient Advertisements and Jul) WorK MI ST BE PAID FOR IN ADVANCE. No deduction made, except to our regular advertising patrons. tmss.SBSsssssrsssmmssmmmmssmssmm .T. T. HERSHMAN, Kbit or. I Foil THE CAMDEN CONFEDERATE.] Mb. Editor : If 1 did not know that it is in a Pickwickian sense you say that we are "gazing at the gigantic and thrilling drama of war," with such a stage, such horrid music, such a curtain and such a " villainous smell of saltpetre," as you ^et forth in your own high-sounding rhetoric, I should he alarmed: because 1o draw one's 44 gazing".from a drama* Sftago, curtain, Arc., of such awful dimensions, provided lie was manager of the terrible scenes, or any prime actor therein, to the petty matters of the obligation of contracts, fair dealing between man and man, the difference between honesty and knavery, Arc., Arc., would be shocking; and I am confident, that Shylock himself would not have troubled J lean regard, when he was actually 44 gazing" on the 44 sulphurous smoke," the Ttkday of April last, to attend to the ducats, or the pound of flesh ; nor have asked him to relax the grim visage of war, to to listen to the dulcet notes of even a BcllesLcttrcs swan. But with you and nic the 44 gazing" is rather metaphorical ; and the war will not be the less successful whether we gaze at it or not; nor the less so, though we should reason, and reason correctly, on the small topics I have before set forth. And now, having adjourned our points of Bclles-Lcttrcs to a time when that44 sulphurous smoke" shall have vanished into 44 thin air," (Shakespeare again) let me beg you to stick to the point?the only point worth a groat in our entire discussion. It is expressed by the following form of words : Is a creditor who lent coin, hour.d by any obligation, legal, moral, patriotic, or otber, to accept, in payment, Treasury Notes, as equal to coin, when they arc not equal to it? You will not venture to say?you have not said?that he is under any obligation, of any kind, to treat such currency as coin, except only the patriotic obligation, on you please to construe it, to-wit: if he does not, lie discredits the Treasury Xotcs. ' Let us show you that this is mere jargon. Dots anybody in the Confederate States take a $5 Treasury No'o as equal to *f> of specie? If so, how do you account for present prices of everything sold ? Does the government that issues these notes treat them as equal to specie? Never.?It pays for gold and silver when it wants them, as many of its notes as a broker does, say $5 for *1. Mark you?the . Confederate government, this hour, will net receive its own notes for tile export duty on .cotton, and so declares on the face of the note. AYLy? That duty is payable in coin, or its equivalent?and the government declares in the very breath that gives being to its note, that it is not the equivalent of coin?who can make it so? Not all the governments in creation, with Shakespeare, and all the doctors, priqsts, lawyers and editors to help fhem. As to the nicest view of moral obligation : ? I will give you a case that may set you to ruminating : Suppose I had, as my whole estate, one ne gro man, the first of January, 18G0. You had not a dollar that day?but bought my negro man at the specie price of ?800, and gave bond for it. You paid nothing mean time, because the " times were hard?cotton low," <fcc. But last week, yon found times were soft (flush is perhaps the word) cotton very high, and negros too. You sell " my man" for ?8500?and what do you modestly, morally, patriotically and religiously insist I shall do? Why merely to take eut of iho proceeds of ** my man,'5 nv own negro as it were, $800, in Treasury Notes equal only to less tlian $200 of the specie prici ?and leave you $2700 of them ! Now, i i not that a handsome result for the contctnpla i lion of the moralist, the deciplc of* Coke, or o Paul, or even the stunt]) orator, which last al ways goes for the majority of the votes? Nov if you can maintain such a result as 1 hav< I stated, then you arc the Prince of stump orators you will bring about a millcniurn for debtors | who have contrived to get other people's spe I cie, or property at specie prices in possession j and pay for it by a filth part of its own pro cecds, in a depreciated currency. If " you man'' will pay his Treasury Notes at the rati he received them, he will do an, honest thing and will find no creditor, probably, who wil , complain of him?and toll me why he shouh not so pay ? ; I prnv \ou, don't inculcate a contempt for or indifference towards, the obligation ot' con ! tracts?the Constitution of the United State: fell under just such tuition, originating with tin [ Yankee breed. It was a very solemn contract Its obligation lias been disregarded; and wha has followed? That horrid " drama," ilia j "sulphurous smoke," and all appalling inei dents, upon which you and 1 are "gazing,' ! with such " thrilling interest." But, say you, " we deprecate this discussion/ j Here we, i. e. you and 1, do not agree, as w< I almost do about Sbviock and Antonio. Win deprecate the discussion of a disputed point ! Yet I do deprecate the anise of the discussioi ! ?because it arose from a pernicious error, ven j tilated bv you, and supported by an intereste< | class. But if meant to elicit and reveal l/t i truth, and it should do so, who or wha suffers? But you charge me with throw in" the first stone. Honor bright, nr good Ylr. Editor, . how can you snv so i .* ' ' In your voluntary and deliberate intro duction of a certain writing, by tiie Edgefich 1 Editor, and Senator, too, I believe, you draggei f the class to which I belong, and many of whon I represent, into association, cliccck and jowl with extortioners, evil-minded persons, devour ers of widows and orphans, with Shy locks ir | fact, only because tliey would not agree to al ! low a debtor to do, what no government oi | earth can do?what truth, fact, honesty, declare i cannot l>c done, to-wit : to make a promise t( j pay a dollar, equivalent to a dollar, though thai | promise he made by Victoria, Napoleon, Lin I coin, or our own Memniinger. This is what 1 1 have aimed to prove, no more, no less?and 1 | deny through thick and thin, that any mar does nnv harm to anybody, or any government, or any cause by asserting and vindicating th< ' truth that 1 have set forth. I hope th( : Tax Act and the funding process ma} j do for the currency what all the rhetoric Belles Lettrcs lecturing, discussing or shouting ; that von and I can employ in 50 years wil " j never do; and as yon deprecate discussion, al | low mc to end by observing, that when th( currency is improved?to be done only b\ making it scarer?then the debtor will not bt so eager to pay. Let me, however, before I say "adieu," no tice very briefly in a few words of runnint ; commentary some of your positions touching the " patriotic uses'' of Confederate currency. "If good for anything, it is good for every | thing within the ra^c of patriotic uses, cspe ! cially for the payment of debts." Now, as to this point?the payment of debt: ?what is a debt? The thing promised is tJa debt. I hold B's promise to deliver me this j day, 100 bushels of corn; but lie tenders m< i in dischaygtf of. his^obligation, the promise o J.another party to deliver 100 bushels of corn "six months after the ratification of a treaty o peace," and for which f cannot now get more tlian 20 bushels of corn. Is this last #men tioncd promise " especially good" to pay the debt now due, for 100 bushels? Again ; I hold B's promise to deliver me this day $500, in South Carolina Bank Notes: i. y but lie tenders ?000 in Treasury Notes, which ?, will, now, procure me but ?2.00 for the notes c proc i^od. s But what is a debt in the general pecuniary - sense? 1 hold B's promise to pay me this day f five hundred dollars?that is five hundred pie ces of silver denominated dollars. Under the v circumstances, I demand no payment; hut B 3 impressed with the "patriotic" idea that aproi, misc he holds of another party to pay ?500 :? " six months after the ratification of a treaty of peace," is the thing it promises (though not ? convertible, in fact, into more than ?100) and - " especially good," (good for him, doubtless) r tenders it accordingly. I object.?That it is ? not the thing he owes me, no^ its equivalent in ', any sense, has no attibulcof it, and is not con. I vertible anywhere in the world into more than 1 one-fifth of its nominal amount, or of my debt. 1 tlitircfore decline it; keep it, I say, 'till you be. , come able to pay me in the currency I lent you ; - 'till then I shall not trouble you ; and as it is s within the range of "patriotic uses," lend it to ; the government?invest it in Confederate Hands; it is not the equivalent of the money duo me; t but it is the equivalent of the Bonds; the t government desires, and greatly needs it, to - carry on the.44 gigantic and thrilling drama," to ' its grand and glorious catastrophe. " Do not distrust the government before it has given you , any cause to suspect it." To so use , your currency would be just and patriotic; to . pass it to nio, as equivalent to my debt, would be selfish and dishonest. i Again you say, lo refuse it. in payment of - debts, "discredits ami depreciates it." IJow ? 1 "Would the refusal of a silver dollar discredit c or depreciate it, or divest it of any of its est sential qualities ? I refuse the Treasuary Notes - ?not because they are not "good lor certain y patriotic uses"?but because they are nothing ? but promises?most valuable promises?sub.. serving, undoubtedly, a most patriotic purpose 1 ?indispensable indeed to that purpose?but 1 not ilie thing due me?and, I repeat, I do j not demand these or anything, but will wait 5 patiently for that good time for which we arc . all lighting and praying, when T> can pay me ) according to his contract. 'Till then, 1 say, once more, let him devote his money (?) to i " patriotic" or selfish uses, as may he most j agreeable to his nature. But if, in fact, my > refusal, does in some degree further "discredit t ami depreciate" B's currency, whose fault is - that? Mine? Or his, who, from ignorance, I or prejudice, or a dishonest purpose, subjected [ it to the test, and then unpatriolically and misi ehiovonsly published the fact. i " If they are good," you say, "then the i debtor inflicts no injury on the creditor in tcni dcring them in payment of his debt." But if ' they arc not good, as I have shown, for the , purpose the debtor offers them, then he docs r, intend to inflict injury on the creditor. At all I events, the creditor inflicts no injury on him - in letting him keep and devote them to the s " patriotic use" of loaning them to the govcrn7 ment, for which they arc especially good, and i greatly desired. " Bat still the best investment a man can * make, when lie sells his "produce, is to pay his C debts.'' To "pay his debts" in the proper curf rcncy?such as he. borrowed?to pay in fact and in full, would be an honest use of his mo ncy ; but to pay as you contemplate, would - be to " keep the promise to the ear but break it to the hope."?to give a mere promise tor s the thing promised. s Finally: "Let ljs not distrust the erovern * o * ment" so I say : so gays every man who prop} crly appreciates the " patriotic uses" of. his mo* ' nev?currcn.cy?and ?o lie docs, too? show? ing his faitji hy his works; vindicating his sinf ccrity an d patriotism by his practice ; illnstra5 ting hie precept by his example?aiding the govcr nnicnt and country in the licry trial it is J now undergoing, by loans of a liberal portion of the estate it is defending?as I have done? 5 And the most clamorous of the corn and bacon ' and cotton sellers have not dour. ft V A word now to your vofurrtecr auxiliary in this discussion, whose explorations among the records of British legal tender laws and currency regulations, have brought to light the fact (doubtless, heretofore unknown to the dwellers in this dark corner of the financial world) that Parliament (omnipotent as it is) had made the notes of the banks of England a legal tender, as between debtors and creditors?not between the Bank and the holders of its notes. When, and how, are tbeso notes payable ? " Six months after tho ratifi'cation of a treaty of peace?' Not at all; but on demand in coin, making them thereby the olnolute equivalent of coinl The Parliament could constitutionally do this, and do no private wrong, because the notes are, in fact, the precise equivalents of the sovereigns thoy proraise. But Treasury notes are not payable on demand?but at an uncertain, and it inay be, a very distant Jay, and arc worth now, on change, but one-fifth their nominal value. Yet V******* declares, that to refuse these notes, as equivalent to silver dollars, would be " rnon! strous in the extreme." Would it not be more j " monstrous," that a government, limited abso; lately, to the simple function of 44 coining inoI noy," should assume?as V******* says it : must do?to compel a creditor, holding B's i promise to pay 500 silver dollars due this day, ' to receive in discharge thereof it* promises to ' pay that amount 44 six months after the ratificaj tionof a treaty of peace"?such promises being worth to-day only 100 silver dollars! ; Would not this \,?e 44 monstrous in the ex| trcmc?" And again, adverting to my fetnark, that44 Confederate Treasury Notes arc confessedly not money," says it (my declaration)44 creates alarm in the public mind." Not so, sir; I am not the author of that discovery ; it^vas patent to all the intelligent and unprejudiced world, before I made that declaration. Mr. difemminger proclaimed it when lie refused to receive it for duties payable in coin, and when lie purchased cotton with it at sav 30 cC'iits, and sold it for coin at 10 cents (sec liis Treasury warrants). It is an unsatisfactory state of things, certainly, and excites (not alarm, but) anxious thought as to.the remedy. But is the private creditor to be held responsible in any degree for this condition of , the currency, because lie simply recognizestho ! notorious fact? Is Ac to be characterized by interested, prejudiced and dishonest debtors, as u an enemy of the cause and country"? j " Shylocks," " traitors"?for refusing to receive . | it in payment from them, as equivalent to the i coin they borrowed, and at three or five times * what they look it at, for their corn, and bacon, and cotton ? Have reason and justico tied to | brute beasts ? You, too, Mr. Editor, seem to be exercised j a good deal to understand why the notes of | suspended Banks, in 18oT-58 were received in payment, and Treasury Notes now refused ? j The explanation is simple: The bank notes ! were not in excess, materially, of the healthy ? ? -? ?'i i . J : demand for currency, winch they consuiuiea, and under no discredit whatever, because the estates of the banks were known to be ample, 1 or, undoubtedly believed to be so, and they could be sued and coerced, or the penalty of 5 | per cent.#per month on the amount enforced, or their charters vacated and their estates pnt j in commission; and what ?vvas still better, the holders of those notes were their debtors, and j could any day discount with them at par?tlio i community, in the aggregate, owed the banks two or three times as much as the banks owed | the commanity. There being, then, no di&* i credit and no excess, the currency was kept at I par. even with specie, or near it, by the rcl a. tion of demand and supply. But the Confederate currency is fiv^ tjmcP more than the normal amount, and f rom inere excess, without any doubt, wha* cver? 0f its ultimate safety, must, and has jenrec\atod, to one-fifth its nominal amount 1 Tf the government no" ^ (mlUc u?v.