The life and public services of Abraham Lincoln ... together with his state papers, including his speeches, addresses, messages, letters, and proclamations, and the closing scenes connected with his life and death. By Henry J. Raymond. To which are added anecdotes and personal reminiscences of President Lincoln, by Frank B. Carpenter.

STATE PAPERS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

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shall at once be null and void, in whosesoever hands they may be, and such
State shall refund to the United States all interest which may lhave been
paid on such bonds.
The bill was referred to a committee, but no action was
taken upon it in Congress, nor did any of the Border
States respond to the President's invitation. The, proposition, however, served a most excellent purpose, in testing the sentiment of both sections of the country, and in
preparing the way for the more vigorous treatment of the
subject of slavery which the blind and stubborn prejudices of the slaveholding communities were rapidly rendering inevitable.
Two other subjects of importance engaged the attention and received the action of Congress during this session: the provision of a currency, and the amendment of
the law to confiscate the property of rebels. A bill authorizing the issue of Treasury notes to the amount of
$150,000,000, and making them a legal tender in all business transactions, was reported in the House, by the Finance Committee, of which Hon. E. G. Spaulding, of New
York, was Chairman, and taken up for discussion on the
17th of June. It was advocated mainly on the sc:ore of
necessity, and was opposed on the ground (of its alleged
unconstitutionality. The division of sentiment on the
subject was not a party one, some of the warmest friends
and supporters of the Administration doubting whether
Congress had the power to make any thing but silver and
gold a legal tender in the payment of debts. The same
bill provided for a direct tiax, involving stamp duties,
taxes upon incomes, etc., sufficient with the duties upon
imports to raise $150,000,000 per annum, and also for the
establishment of a system of free banking, by which banknotes to be circulated as currency might be issued upon
the basis of stocks of the United States deposited as security. The bill was discussed at length, and was finally
adopted by a vote of ninety-three to fifty-nine. In the
Senate it encountered a similar opposition, but passed by
a vote of thirty to seven, a motion to strike out the legaltender clause having been previously rejected-seven