CHAPTER XXVIII. " FUBLIC AFFAIRS—“ALABAMA CLAIMS FINANCIAL AFFAIRS - NATIONAL DEBT, BANKING AND " CURRENCY-SUSPENSION AND RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS-PROPOSED AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION-PACIFIC RAILWAY-INTER-OCEANIC SHIP CANAL CONSIDERED-DIFFICULTIES WITH CUBA AND SPAIN-THE VIRGINIUS AFFAIR-THE SAN DOMINGO QUESTIONSAMANA BAY COMPANY-JOINT HIGH COMMISSION-TRIBUNAL OF ARBITRATION AND ITS AWARD- -DECISION ABOUT BOUNDARY ON THE PACIFIC ELECTRO-MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH LITIGATIONS-MARINE TELEGRAPHY-APPLIANCES OF THE TELEGRAPH-WEATHER SIGNALING -REVELATIONS OF THE CENSUS-NEW APPORTIONMENT-PENSIONS. -- USPICIOUS omens of peace and prosperity appeared at the beginning of President Grant's administration. The condition of public affairs, at home and abroad, seemed to promise a bright official career for the new Chief Magistrate. The only cloud seen in the firmament of our foreign relations that betokened future difficulties, was the irritation felt concerning the depredations of the Alabama under the tacit sanction of the British government. The Government of the United States claimed. for its citizens payment for the damages inflicted upon them by that AngloConfederate cruiser. To effect a peaceful solution of the difficulty, Reverdy Johnson of Maryland was sent to England, in 1868, to negotiate a treaty for that purpose; but his mission did not have a satisfactory result. The treaty agreed to was almost universally condemned by his countrymen, and it was rejected by the Senate by a vote of fifty-four against one. Mr. Johnson was recalled, and J. Lothrop Motley, the historian, was appointed American Minister to the British court, charged with the negotiation of another treaty for the same purpose. Mr. Motley was no more successful in that particular mission than was his predecessor, and General Grant recalled him in 1870. The matter was finally settled by arbitration, as we shall observe presently. The financial aspect in the public affairs of our country, at the time of the accession of President Grant, was encouraging because of a prospect of a steady reduction of the enormous debt which the Civil War had imposed upon the nation. On the first of August, 1865, or three months after the close of the Civil War, in the field, that debt, including back-pay, bounties, over-due contracts, transportation, and a variety of other expenses incident CHAP. XXVIII. NATIONAL BANKING AND CURRENCY. 1727 to the closing of the war, was actually more than $3,000,000,000. On the first of March, 1869, it was $2,525,463,260, showing the remarkable fact that in the space of three years and eight months, the National debt had been reduced over $600,000,000. This reduction has gone on gradually ever since until, on the first of October, 1877, the debt amounted to $2,051,587,254. It was during the Civil War that a radical and most salutary change was made in the banking system of our country. In 1860, on the eve of the breaking out of that war, the number of the banks in the Union was fifteen hundred and sixty-two, with an aggregate capital of almost $422,000,000, and a circulation of about $207,000,000. At the same time they held nearly $84,000,000 in specie, and their aggregate deposits were almost $254,000,000. The necessity for a better National currency was conspicuous soon after the beginning of the war, but no provision was made for one until the 3d of June, 1864. A law was then passed providing for a separate bureau in the Treasury Department, the chief officer of which was called Comptroller of the Currency, whose office is under the general direction of the Secretary of the Treasury. It also provided for the formation of private banking associations, within defined limits, to have existence for twenty years, the stockholders to be equally liable to the extent of the stock for the debts and contracts of the bank. Every such association was required, preliminary to the commencement of banking, to transfer bonds of the United States to an amount not less than $30,000, and not less than the capital stock paid in. Then the association was entitled to receive from the Comptroller of the Currency circulating notes equal in amount to twenty per cent. of the current market value of the bonds transferred, but not exceeding ninety per cent. of the par value of such bonds. This made the Government of the United States the basis of security for the redemption of the paper currency, and that circulating medium was of equal credit in all parts of the United States. The latter feature of the system is of immense value to people in all financial transactions. The banking associations formed under this system are called National Banks; and at this time there are very few banks not included under that title. By an act of Congress passed in 1875, banking under the National system is made free, without any restriction as to the amount of circulating notes. that may be issued by the Comptroller of the Treasury to any part of the country; and the privileges attached to the National banks are open to individuals everywhere, making the proper deposit, for security, of United. States bonds. Early in the Civil War, all of the banks in the Republic suspended specie payments, and they have not yet resumed, though Congress has provided for the taking of an initial step toward resumption on the first of January, 1879, at which time the Government itself stands pledged to resumption and to the final redemption and removal from the currency of the country of the legal-tender notes as fast as they shall be presented for redemption. Resumption was really begun by the National Government in 1876, by calling in its fractional currency, and giving silver coin in exchange. The consequence is that there is, at the present time (close of 1877), an excess of silver currency in circulation. At an early period of Grant's administration, an important amendment to the National Constitution was proposed, by Mr. Julian of Indiana, for securing the ballot to women, in the following form: "The right of suffrage in the United States shall be based on citizenship, and shall be regulated by Congress; and all the citizens of the United States, whether native or naturalized, shall enjoy this right equally, without any distinction or discrimination whatever, founded on sex." As the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment declares that "all persons, born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof [without an allusion to sex] are citizens of the United States, and of the State wherein they reside," this amendment clearly gives to women the rights and privileges of citizens. No action has since been taken by Congress on the subject; but organizations for effecting that object exist, and the matter will not be allowed to slumber indefinitely, for justice demands such a fundamental law. The right to the exercise of the elective franchise is guaranteed to our colored citizens; do women less deserve the privilege? A most important event occurred in our country, in May, 1869, which has had a powerful effect already upon commerce, the arts and civilization, national and international. It was the completion of an uninterrupted railway communication, for freight and passengers, across our continent, between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, thereby opening a way for a vast trade, for our countrymen, with China, Japan, and the islands of the Sea. The ceremony of laying the last "tie" and driving the last "spikes,” took place on the 10th of May (1869), in a grassy valley near the head of the Great Salt Lake, in Utah. It was performed in the presence of many hundred people of various nationalities, including some of our dusky barbarian brethren. That "tie" was made of laurel-wood brightly polished, its ends bound with silver bands. The "spikes" were three in number. One was of solid gold, sent from California; another was of solid silver, |