74 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS As early as August, 1863, he had written a letter to Elihu B. Washburne, member of congress, in which he said: "It became patent to my mind early in the rebellion that the north and south could never live at peace with each other except as one nation, and that without slavery. As anxious as I am to see peace established, I would not, therefore, be willing to see any settlement until this question is forever settled." In his inaugural address he de clared that the government bonds should be paid in gold, advocated a speedy return to specie pay ments, and made many important recommendations in reference to public affairs. Regarding the good faith of the nation he said: "To protect the national honor, every dollar of government indebtedness should be paid in gold, unless otherwise expressly stipulated in the contract. . . . Let it be under stood that no repudiator of one farthing of our public debt will be trusted in public place, and it will go far toward strengthening a credit which ought to be the best in the world, and will ultimately enable us to replace the debt with bonds bearing less interest than we now pay." Congress acted promptly upon his recommendation, and on March 18, 1869, an act was passed entitled "An act to strengthen the public credit." Its language gave a pledge to the world that the debts of the country would be paid in coin unless there were in the obli gations express stipulations to the contrary. Both
