told on me, by Dana and his 'Sun,' and shall be disappointed if
the libels are not continued, especially if I do right. Really
you have a white elephant on your hands. You can neither take the
back pay, nor leave it where it is, nor draw it and redeposit it,
without subjecting yourself to the yelping of the damned curs, that
bark at the heels of every honest man.

"If you will turn to the proviso in Section 5, of the General
Appropriation Bill, approved July 12, 1870, at page 251, volume
16, of the Statutes at Large, you will, I think, be satisfied that
your back pay would never lapse to the treasury. Should you leave
it, as it now is, I think it would at all times be subject to your
order, and to the order of your heirs afterwards. The department
has decided that the appropriations for the pay of Members of
Congress is _permanent_. The papers say that the Comptroller has
decided that the back pay would lapse in two years. I called on
him to-day, and he furnished me with a copy of his opinion, which
is herewith inclosed you, and wrote me a note, a copy of which is
also inclosed, in which he says--'it could not be carried back
until after two years; whether it can be carried back is another
question, which I do not intend to decide.' There are two ways
that the amount can be carried back into the treasury: First, by
drawing out the amount, and redepositing it; and second, by directing
the secretary of the senate, by written order, to turn the amount
into the treasury. I, of course, can't advise you what to do.

"Very respectfully yours,
"F. E. Spinner, Tr., U. S.
"Hon. John Sherman, Mansfield, Ohio."

In the spring of 1863, the financial operations of the government
were eminently successful. In the fall of 1862, Secretary Chase
endeavored to sell the $500,000,000 5-20 six per cent. bonds,
authorized by the act of February 25, 1862, through experienced
officers in New York, and could not get par for them. He then
employed Jay Cooke, of Philadelphia, to take charge of this loan,
and within a year it was sold by him, to parties all over the
country, at par. The entire cost of placing the loan was less than
three-eighths of one per cent. It furnished the greater part of
the means necessary to conduct the war during 1863.

The early victories of Grant and Forts Henry and Donelson had
rescued Kentucky, and opened up the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers
to the heart of the south. The battle of Shiloh, t