The government certificates forming part of the floating debt,
were acknowledgments of indebtedness issued by the government when it
was pressed for ready money. Many bore no interest, others bore
interest as high as two per cent a month. In view of the great
uncertainty of payment the amount of indebtedness was generally either
frankly or disguisedly inflated before being expressed in the
certificate. Such certificates were sometimes admitted in part payment
of customs dues.
_Declared Claims_ Besides the admitted indebtedness, there were many
claims for indemnity and reimbursement which had not been acknowledged
by the government in contract form. Some had been formally filed with
the government for the payment of specific amounts, while others were
still general demands. The declared claims were as follows:
Internal revolutionary claims................... $ 885,258.10
American revolutionary claims................... 71,000.00
Spanish revolutionary claims.................... 40,000.00
French revolutionary claims.................
Pages:
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561