,
<Jljc Cmufccn Confcfccvrttc.
VOLUME II CAMDEN, SO. cX7 FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1863. NUMBER 29
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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.