The Continental Monthly, Vol. 4, No. 4, October, 1863: Devoted to Literature and National PolicyVarious
History
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 4, No. 4, October, 1863: Devoted to Literature and National Policy
Various
Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; United States -- Politics and government -- 19th century -- Periodicals
'Let it circulate throughout Europe that a member of the United
States Senate in 1849 has openly proclaimed, that at a recent
period the Governor and legislative assemblies of his own State
deliberately issued fraudulent bonds for five millions of dollars
to 'sustain the credit of a rickety bank;' that, the bonds in
question having been hypothecated abroad to innocent holders, such
holders have not only no claim against the community by whose
executive and representatives this act was committed, but that they
are to be taunted for appealing to the verdict of the civilized
world rather than to the judgment of the legal officers of the
State by whose functionaries they have been already robbed; and
that the ruin of toil-worn men, of women, of widows, and of
children, and the 'crocodile tears' which that ruin has occasioned,
is a subject of jest on the part of those by whom it has been
accomplished; and then let it be asked if any foreigner ever penned
a libel on the American character equal to that against the people
of Mississippi by their own Senator.'
Such was the opinion then expressed by the London _Times_ of Jefferson
Davis and of the repudiation advocated by him. It was denounced as
_robbery_, 'the ruin of toil-worn men, of women, of widows, and of
children.' And what is to be thought of the '_faith_' of a so-called
Government, which has chosen this repudiator as their chief, and what of
the value of the Confederate bonds now issued by him? Why, the legal
tender notes of the so-called Confederate Government, fundable in a
stock bearing eight per cent, interest, is now worth in gold at their
own capital of Richmond, less than ten cents on the dollar (2_s._, on
the pound), whilst in two thirds of their territory such notes are
utterly worthless; and it is TREASON for any citizen of the
United States, North or South, or any ALIEN resident there, to
deal in them, or in Confederate bonds, or in the cotton pledged for
their payment. No form of Confederate bonds, or notes, or stock, will
ever be recognized by the Government of the United States, and the
cotton pledged by slaveholding traitors for the payment of the
Confederate bonds is all forfeited for treason, and confiscated to the
Federal Government by act of Congress. As our armies advance, this
cotton is either burned by the retreating rebel troops, or seized by our
forces, and shipped and sold from time to time, for the benefit of the
Federal Government. By reference to the census of 1860, it will be seen
that three fourths of the whole cotton crop was raised in States (now
held by the Federal army and navy) touching the Mississippi and its
tributaries, and all the other ports are either actually held or
blockaded by the Federal forces. The traitor pledge of this cotton is,
then, wholly unavailing; the bonds are utterly worthless; they could not
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