onsideration,' the half presently, on
condition that it should be allowed the refusal of the other half when
it should be wanted; and so a bargain was quickly struck, to the mutual
content of both parties. But, as the thunder grew louder and the storm
fiercer, it became evident that our wants would soon be doubled, at
least. The money power hung back; the 7-3/10 remained in the banks. The
representatives said they were only agents, the agents stopped payment,
and the whole circulation of gold fell to the ground at once, not only
putting a sudden check upon all business operations, but leaving the
Treasury without any sort of currency to pay out: a sad state of things
enough. The money power drew in its head, pretending not to see
anything, waiting for propositions, expecting to reap a rich harvest out
of the state's necessities, by making its own terms. How could it be
otherwise? must not the state have several hundred millions? must not
the astute Secretary sell the state's promises to pay, _secured by a
first mortgage on all Uncle Sam's vast possessions_, on their own terms?

It was not a pleasant predicament for a nervous or a faint-hearted man
to be placed in. But then Mr. Chase is neither nervous nor
faint-hearted, and when Congress came together he not only told his
wants frankly, but proposed a neat little plan for supplying them
without selling notes at fifty per cent. discount. Taking into view the
want of a sound currency for business purposes, and the want of some
currency to pay out from the Treasury instead of the gold which had
disappeared and left a vacuum, he proposed to borrow $150,000,000, by
issuing Treasury Notes, payable on demand, without interest, and making
them a _legal tender for the payment of all debts_, with a proviso that
any parties who should at any time have more on hand than they wanted
should be allowed to invest them in bonds bearing six per cent interest.
It was a very simple proposition--almost sublime for its simplicity;
there was no mystery about it; and yet it was the very turning point of
the ways and means of crushing the rebellion, without being ourselves
crushed under an unbearable burden of debt. The money power stood
aghast, and hardly recovered breath in time to oppose its passage
through Congress; but the common sense of the people hailed Mr. Chase as
a deliverer, and Congress endorsed common sense. Seriously, this
splendid invention of the Secretary has given a new face t