SALMON P. CHASE,
Secretary of the U. S. Treasury during the war period.
CHAPTER VI.
WALL STREET DURING THE WAR.
The Financiers of Wall Street Assist the Government in the Hour of the Country’s Peril.—The Issue of the Treasury Notes.—Jay Cooke’s Northern Pacific Scheme Precipitates the Panic of 1873.—Wall Street Has Played a Prominent Part in the Great Evolution and Progress of the Present Age.
Wall Street came to the rescue of the country when the war broke out. The Government then did not have money enough to pay the interest on the debt, and was sorely embarrassed for a time. The Hon. S. P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, sent word to Mr. Cisco, the Sub-Treasurer in New York, to do everything in his power to raise the money required to sustain the nation’s credit.
Mr. Cisco apprised the “Street” of the instructions he had received from Washington concerning the empty condition of the Treasury. He showed a number of the leading operators and financiers that within a few days the interest on the accruing obligations would have to be paid, or the Government paper should go to protest. It was clearly demonstrated that if funds could not be raised the Government should be placed in a perplexing position, that would, in all probability, greatly complicate and prolong the struggle for national existence. It was one of the most critical moments in the whole history of the Republic, and the emergency required clear, decisive judgment, and promptitude of action.
Wall Street men perceived the gravity of the situation at a glance. If the Government’s credit should collapse, it was feared that the whole framework of our political system would be endangered.
The foundation of all securities was threatened with a destructive upheaval, and most serious consequences were likely to ensue, menacing a contraction of all values. The prospect was very dark. Not a ray of hope shone through the sombre clouds that hung dismally over the Union. The internal dissensions of our people, and the apparent destruction of our national life, were watched with the deepest interest by European friends and foes—the latter being then largely in the majority, and only waiting a favorable opportunity to pounce upon what they considered their destined prey.
Manifest destiny seemed to have leagued all her forces in opposition to us. The stoutest hearts quailed at the prospect of our dissolution as a nation.