97
PAPERS OF MIRABEAU BuoNAPARTE LAMAR
must be to cause the money of the Treasury to appreciate- That the loan will be effected on some terms I have little doubt, but I very murh • fear the corns ;vill make a prntracted discussion of it endeavoring to "beat down" the brokers- for the cheaper the. vote of interest, the greater will be their perquisites- and there may be policy in this too- for the people cannot be made to understand that they are now actually paying from -65 to 75 pr ct for every dollar they use in New Orleans or any of the States- In fact for every paper dollar that is issued by the 'l'reasury- and not understanding this they would think the Country irretrievably ruined if we give 15 or even 12 pr ct- It strikes me that a series of short popular articles (long ones are never read) on this subject might be made of eventual service in preparing the minds of the people for a higher rate of interest than it was at first thought we should have to give-The Bank of England is now taking 5% pr ct.- higher than it has been for forty years, and as we are new customers we may expect to pay for the first endorsement Cant you take up this subject- The argument simply is that the Treasury issued is a commodity with which we buy money pledging our- selves to redeem it for three times as much as we ask or get for it when we pl;lt it in market-Thus we borrow from abroad at the rah• of what- ever is the discount, & instead [of] lodging the bonds of the Govt as security we lodge what is equally sacred the Treasurs [Treasurer's] "promise to pay"- To make it popular you may use popular illus- trations and exemplifications- Do take hold- Some one must write for Genl L- and this may be of vast service-A Loan at almost any rate is better than the present state of affairs and this is demonstrable- again I say do take it up-you can do it justice & I know do not lack the disposition- Genl L. friends dont work as they ought-Why on earth, when truth, justice, patriotism & talent too are all in his favour why I ask are there not more able and lucid articles in the papers- He seems to me to drag the whole load without even a friendly "god speed .re" to encourage him- It's well for him he has so much constitu- tional fir [m] ness I am glad to hear we are likely [to l get patents for our land soon- It is [said] here that the City of Lamar is abandoned enti[rely.] Can his be so?- After all, I should, & do pref[er] property at Galveston nd am really anxious to have some there-Cant you manage this for me in some way?- How is Baker- politically-& Williams & l\I c- Gnney- Tell me as near as you can get at it the relative strength f parties in the next Congress If I remain here in a different station I want Laura to come & live with me- I forgot to say to sister O I would attend to securing Dolph a place in :Mr Harts school- I can ma[na]ge to get six months credit :for the first payment-this I prornise her & she may rely on-if this be the only obstacle in the way tell her to send him on at once to me I will open her letter to say so myself so that she may be >1ure to hear it- Should circurnstances render if necessary I authorise you to tenner my resignation I know not what Genl Dunlap will do when he gets back,-I look for him any day He is very sensative on the subject of rejection & once told me if he thought there was danger of it he would
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