Chase and Blair were neither of them at the Cabinet-meeting to-day, nor
was Stanton. Seward takes upon himself the French tobacco question. He wishes
me to procure some one to investigate and report on the facts of the case of
the Sir William Peel. I told him I thought Charles Eames as good a counsellor
on prize matters as any lawyer whom I knew, and if referred to me I should give
the case to Eames.
The gold panic has subsided, or rather abated. Chase is in New York. It
is curious to see the speculator's conjectures and remarks on the expedients
and subterfuges that are resorted to. Gold is truth. Its paper substitute is a
fiction, sustained by public confidence in part because there is a belief that
it will ultimately bring gold, but it has no intrinsic value and the great
increase in quantity is undermining confidence.
The House passed a resolution of censure on Long for his weak and
reprehensible speech. It is a pity the subject was taken up at all. No good has
come of it, but I hope no harm. Lurking treason may feel a little strengthened
by the failure to expel.
SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles,
Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 —
December 31, 1866, p. 12
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