It was a forced loan, but
in an exigency a government has as good a right to force capital into
the public service as to force men. If in 1862 Mr. Chase had acted
upon the doctrine set forth in his judicial opinion in the Hepburn
and Griswold case, the probability is that the government of Mr.
Lincoln would have been reduced financially to an equality with the
government of the Confederate States. The ultimate reversal of that
opinion is the most important act of the Supreme Court. It gives to
the political department of the Government, the power to convert all
the resources of the country into the means of defence in time of war,
foreign or domestic.
While I held the office of commissioner of internal revenue, I had
occasion to consult Mr. Bates, the Attorney-General. He was a kind
hearted gentleman, but lacking in vigor and official independence.
There was no provision in the statute for a cashier. The law
contemplated that the money would be paid to the commissioner. As it
was impossible for me to perform that duty personally, I asked Mr.
Chase for authority to appoint Mr. Marshall Conant, who had been and
perhaps then was principal of the Normal School, at Bridgewater, Mass.,
a clerk in the office, and assign him to duty as cashier. He was
appointed to a twelve hundred dollar clerkship, from which he was
advanced to fourteen and then to sixteen hundred dollars.
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