Secretary af the Treasury, Washington, D. C.
New York, June 18, 1861.
My Dear Sir,—I have the pleasure of handing you inclosed copies of the decrees of the Emperor Napoleon, and of the report of his Minister of Finance, relative to the last national loan of five hundred millions of francs, issued during the last Crimean war.
You will see, thereby, that the subscription was open in all the departments of France for a fortnight at 92 per cent. for 4½ per cent. stock, and 65 25/100 
per cent. for 3 per cent. stock, which was about one to one and three-quarters per cent. lower than the stock was quoted on that day in Paris, say 93 per cent. for the 4½ per cent., and 67 25/100 
per cent. for the three per cent. Rentes.
The subscription amounted to two billion one hundred and seventyfive million francs, that is to say, more than four times as much as was required; and the amount required was more than filled up by subscriptions of under five hundred francs, Rentes, say about twelve to fifteen thousand francs capital, so that the large subscribers got nothing.
This loan was issued in the midst of the Crimean war, and nine months only after a similar loan of two hundred and fifty millions, which had been taken in the same proportions. You will also see that a sinking fund is attached to this loan.
If our brave army is, as I trust and hope, victorious in its engagements with the rebels in Virginia, there will be no difficulty in negotiating large amounts of Federal stock here and in Europe.
The elastic-energy of the American people makes them desirous to get quickly through their troubles, and I have no doubt that a vigorous prosecution of the war, and a consequent demand for larger appropriations, will be well received by the people.
My last letter from Paris states : “All uneasiness of hostilities in Europe during the present year appear to have disappeared. Our bank is amply supplied with bullion, and the subscription, which has just closed, to an issue of two hundred and forty million francs railway bonds, has so enormously exceeded the amount as to prove to excess that there is plenty of money here which seeks suitable investments.”
