Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury.
G. A. Trenholm, the new Minister of Finance of the Confederacy, has written a letter in reply to one from Governor Bonham, of South Carolina, which will be read with interest by the people. We copy it in full:
Treasury Department, Confederate States of America,
Your very kind and encouraging letter of the 30th ultimo was received yesterday. If it shall prove to be my happy fortune, through the Divine blessing, to contribute in any degree to the welfare of my country, I shall be more than compensated for all the labors and anxieties to which I have been appointed. Expressions of confidence and good will on the part of my fellow- citizens, such as you have been good enough to convey to me, are most grateful and encouraging. I regard the Treasury of the Confederate States as most peculiarly the treasury of the people, and there is nothing in the power of man that would so soon restore it to a condition of ease and prosperity as the universal and generous support of our people. There is nothing in its present circumstances to inspire alarm; but, on the contrary, every motive for confidence. An all-pervading cause of embarrassment and distress has been the character of our legislation. However patriotically intended, it is not to be denied that the measures adopted by Congress for the reform of the currency had the unhappy effect of inspiring the public mind with feelings of fear and distrust as to the course that would ultimately be pursued in relation to that part of the public debt that is represented by the Treasury notes. Apprehensions of ultimate repudiation crept, like an all pervading poison, into the minds of the people, and greatly circumscribed and diminished the purchasing power of the notes.There were many distinguished and patriotic men in Congress who earnestly believed that the great, if not the sole, evil of the currency was to be found in its redundancy alone. And reasoning from this premise, they interred that a corresponding reduction of this large volume of the purchasing medium would produce an immediate reduction in the price of all saleable commodities. Others entertained a different opinion, and believing that the purchasing power and value of these notes had a critical, and sensitive dependence upon the confidence and good will of those who were called upon to exchange their substance for them, insisted that a reduction of the quantity, by any measure that disturbed the confidence of the people in the good faith of the Government, would lead to universal distrust and still greater depreciation.
The majority was, unhappily, found to be of the first opinion; and it must now be universally admitted, I think, that the policy that prevailed was erroneous, and the consequences precisely such as had been predicted by those who opposed it. The immense reduction effected by the tax of thirty-three and one-third per cent, levied upon the currency, and by the process of compulsory funding, produced very little effect upon the prices of commodities. Everybody regarded with distrust a new issue of notes of the same character as the last, and resting for their support as a circulating medium upon the same pledges which had ended in disappointment before.
That this is the true difficulty we have to encounter, I think every candid person must now allow, and I cannot refrain from indulging the hope that a new and sounder policy will govern our future legislation. The patriotism of Congress is not to be called in question, nor are we at liberty to doubt their willingness to renounce any policy that may be proven, by experience, to be erroneous and mischievous. Our people, at the same time, should not be silent, and in this respect the patriotic citizens of the great and suffering Commonwealth of Virginia have set a noble example.
On my arrival in Richmond, I found that the commissioners of prices had fixed the schedule rates for wheat and corn at thirty dollars and twenty-four dollars per bushel, respectively, for the months of August and September. The feeling of disappointment and alarm with which I was inspired by this circumstance you can easily imagine. This painful feeling was, however, soon changed for one of renewed confidence and hope by the farmers of Virginia. Public meetings were held in the agricultural counties and resolutions adopted, boldly avowing the impossibility of maintaining the public faith if the Government were forced by the people to pay such prices for supplies, and patriotically insisted upon a reduction of the standard rates and their establishment upon a basis sufficiently low to inspire confidence in the currency. The result was, that the commissioners re-assembled and reduced the schedule prices to seven dollars and a half for wheat for the month of August, and five dollars for September. A wiser and more patriotic course was never pursued by any people, and I would respectfully appeal to you, as Chief Magistrate of our gallant and patriotic State, to suggest and encourage similar meetings and resolutions on the part of our own people. I have an abiding confidence that a general and well-established belief in the intention of Congress, under no circumstances of temptation or trial, to shrink from the observance of the most rigid good faith in the money dealings of the Government, will enable us to overcome all our financial difficulties. That such is their real intention, I cannot doubt; but this determination should be encouraged and supported by the public declarations of our people, expressive of their own resolute will to foster the credit of the Government by the establishment of low prices and by the patriotic support of its treasury. Whatever differences of opinion may have existed in the past, or whatever errors may be supposed to have been committed, may now be buried in a common grave. We are making a new start in our finances, and under circumstances by no means unfavorable or discouraging.
The expenditures of the Government are of two classes; those incurred abroad and those incurred at home. In respect of the first, there has hitherto been little embarrassment, nor is there any reason to expect greater difficulty in the future. Our foreign supplies will probably be procured without making any addition to the public debt. The malice of our foes having raised the price of cotton to 30d. per pound in European markets, while the depreciation of our currency enables us at the same time to buy at home at less actually than 4d., it is plainly seen that it can be no difficult task to draw from our enemies, and from the complacent spectators of this atrocious war, the means of supplying all our foreign wants. This would leave us, then, only our domestic debt to deal with; and when it is considered that all that is asked of our people, and all that the Government is called upon to pay for, is simply their surplus productions, and their services in transportation and mechanical and other labors, who can doubt the ability of the people to bear this burthen? If they gave all that is asked without compensation, they would give at best no more than their surplus, and would be no poorer for the gift. How, then, can their condition be made worse by receiving the money and the bonds of the Government in place of receiving nothing?
I hope, my dear sir, that you may agree with me in the opinions and sentiments I have expressed, and may join with me in the effort to give a new and generous impulse to the public sentiment upon this great topic of our national affairs. I do not think that planters and farmers should alone be called upon to declare in favor of lower prices; manufacturers, railroad companies, and every great interest of the country, should contribute to this reform. --Let us content ourselves with more moderate prices and keep down the public debt; and not by extorting the highest prices, swell the public burthen and disturb our confidence in the virtue and the resources of the Government.
