Rensselaer Republican, Volume 14, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 November 1881 — Confederate Money in the Bank of England. [ARTICLE]

Confederate Money in the Bank of England.

New Orleans Times. A cotemporary, In an article discussing the sudden rise In Confederate bouds recently, makes an allusion to the Confederate Government's account with the Bank of England, which, for some reason, was not withdrawn upon the collapse of the Confederacy. Our eotempotary is not quite correct in hta Statements. Op the first day of April, 1865, the Confederate Government nad £160.000 to its credit in the Bank of England. When the crash came the Confederate cotton had disappeared, and although the United States Consul General at Liverpool made diligent search, he could not find a bale, although he bad reliable Information that there was some thousand bales of Confederate cotton In Liverpool a fortnight before. Where it went, and the manner of its disappearance. Constitutes one of the nlost interesting chapters of the unwritten history of the late war. Why the money belonging to •the Confederacy was not withdrawii from the Bank of England at the time of the crash it Is not easy to say. One of the reasons given is that the officer on whose cbecSs alone Roould be obtained was out of London ill, and when he did return It was too late. Three attempts have been made by the Treasury Department to get this money. The first was in 1897. The American Minister. Mr. Reverdy Johnson, was told by her Majesty’s Government that the money would be turned over to the United States as executor, but if the American Government claimed the assets,it must be responsible for the liabilities of the Confederacy. This view of the matter was not entertained by Mr. Johnson, who advised bis Government of the condition upon which tbe. money dould be obtained. Mr. Boutwell. while Secretary of (he TreAsur3 r , made an attempt to get the coveted £160,000. He sent Hon'. Kenneth Raynor, of North Carolina, then, as now, Solicitor of the Treasury, to London, to see if some plnn could not be devise. 1 by which tbe Government tnight obtsln money without becoming responsible for the liabilities of the Con federacy. But he was as unsuccessful as Mr. Johnson had beeD. Binee Mr. Blaine hAs been In office he has also caused Inquiry to be made., but without Any results, The money will probable remain ill the Bank of Englanfi’s vaults until some mofe vigorous course than any thus far taken is adopted.