The Daily Dispatch: June 28, 1861., [Electronic resource]

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[communicated]
the crop Lean.

There is a very general misconception abroad, even among the press — those who ought to know better, and whose means of information leave them no excuse for such ignorance — with reference to the plan adopted by Congress, authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to accept subscriptions for the defence of the Confederacy in the shape of raw productions. It has been supposed by some that the cotton and other produce thus pledged to the Government, was to be controlled and sold by the latter, which would thus interfere with individual enterprise and the great commission business of the country, and divert itself from the legitimate purposes for which the Government was established.--It has been supposed by others that the Government desired to control the cotton crop, that it might, by withholding it from market, dictate our recognition by European Powers. A reference to the act of Congress itself will show that that body never contemplated nor authorized the Government to be ‘"launched into the business of a huge commission house,"’ nor to control the sale of the produce subscribed in any way, shape or form. The act reads as follows:

‘ "The Secretary of the Treasury may, with the assent of the President, issue $50,000,000, in bonds payable at the expiration of twenty years from their date, and bearing a rate of interest 'not exceeding eight per cent, per annum,' until they become payable, the said interest to be paid semi annually. The said bonds, after public advertisement in three newspapers within the Confederate States for six weeks, to be sold for specie, military stores, or for the proceeds of sales of row produce or manufactured articles, to be paid for in the form of specie, or with foreign bills of exchange, in such manner and under such regulations as may be proscribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, with the assent of the President."

’ It will be seen from the terms of the law, that the bonds are to be exchanged for specie, military stores, or for the proceeds of the sales of row produce or manufactured articles, to be paid in the form of specie or foreign bills of exchange; that the Government does not hold the produce subscribed, nor concern itself with its sale, further than holding a lien upon it for its proceeds; that the subscribers merely pledge the proceeds of so much of their crops, in their own hands or those of their factors, the same stipulated to be disposed of by a certain day agreed upon.

The subscription lists read as follows:

‘ "We, the subscribers, agree to 'contribute to the defence of the' Confederate States, the portion of our crops set down to our respective names; the same to be placed in war choose or in our factors' hands, and sold on or before the first day of — next; and the net proceeds of sale we direct to be paid over to the Treasurer of the Confederate States, for bonds for same amount, bearing 8 per cent interest."

’ There can be nothing more simple and clear than such a transaction, and we are surprised that there should be such a misapprehension regarding the modus operandt by which, while the Government is to be supported on the faith of the growing crops, it is to confine itself to the legitimate and simple business of exchanging its bonds for specie and military stores. We repeat it is a mere pledging of the proceeds of the crops. Thus lightening the burden to the people, and yet enabling the Government to carry on its military operations, on the faith of productions not yet gathered, but pledged for its use when gathered.

As to the plan of appealing directly to the people for money to carry on the Government, that is the very mode which has been adopted and is now in operation. We know not indeed what amount has been subscribed in the State of Virginia, but we do know that in the Cotton States a very large sum has been subscribed by the masses of the people towards the Confederate Loan, in amounts of $50 and upwards, and the door is still standing open.

In all our Southern cities and towns, the Commissioners appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury to receive subscriptions lost no time in giving the people an opportunity to invest small sums in these bonds, and it was eagerly availed of. The Richmond Commissioners have, we understand, made no report of the amount subscribed here, and we doubt if sufficient publicity has been given to the fact of their readiness to receive contributions from the class of citizens to whom we refer.

The plan now in operation of receiving subscriptions of raw produce was considered and discussed at great length, and in all points of view, by a body of intellectual men, composed of a Stephens, a Toombs, a Cobb a Hill, and a Rhett, as well as many other brilliant and judicious and practical minds and we may be very sure that the right thing was done, at the right time, and in the right manner. A. B.