HIS LIFE AND WORK 



the public in general, no men cared less than 

 McCormick. But he always stood well with 

 the farmers. "I have never yet sued a farmer 

 for the price of a Reaper," he said in 1848. This 

 heroic policy he pursued as long as possible, 

 knowing the fear that all farmers have of con- 

 tracts that may lead them into litigation. More 

 than this, he freely gave them credit, without 

 being safeguarded by any Dun or Bradstreet. 

 He allowed them to pay with the money that 

 was saved during the harvest. "It is better 

 that I should wait for the money," he said, 

 "than that you should wait for the machine 

 that you need/' So he borrowed money in 

 Chicago to build the Reapers, borrowed more 

 money to pay the freight, and then sold them 

 on time to the farmers. 



In some cases he lost heavily, as in Kansas 

 and North Dakota, where the first settlers were 

 driven off by drought. But as a rule he lost little 

 by bad debts. Immigrants of twenty nationali- 

 ties swarmed westward upon the free land offered 

 to them by the United States Government, and 

 usually each man found waiting for him at the 



[85] 



