Friday, December 11, 2020

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: February 19, 1864

Cold and clear. Congress adjourned yesterday, having passed the bill suspending the writ of habeas corpus for six months at least. Now the President is clothed with DICTATORIAL POWERs, to all intents and purposes, so far as the war is concerned.

The first effect of the Currency bill is to inflate prices yet more. But as the volume of Treasury notes flows into the Treasury, we shall see prices fall. And soon there will be a great rush to fund the notes, for fear the holders may be too late, and have to submit to a discount of 33% per cent.

Dispatches from Gen. Polk state that Sherman has paused at Meridian.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 2p. 152-3

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