58 WILD CAT BANKS. 



would have to incur a certain amount of charge in sending it 

 to the distant place of issue ! 



But there is a still more questionable kind of banking 

 adopted by some smart men in this western world, though I did 

 not meet with any instances of it in Illinois. It is denominated 

 the " Shin Plaster" or "Wild Cat" banking system. This 

 is the description given to me by a man, who spoke from ex- 

 perience, of the way to get up such a bank. You go into a 

 State where the stock is below par, say at 70 or 80. You buy 

 50,000 dollars of that stock, lodge it with the State auditor, and 

 obtain his counter-signature to your bank notes. This paper 

 money you take into the wilderness, knock up a shanty, write 

 " Bank " over it, and date your paper money there. The more 

 inaccessible the place is the better, as your paper is demanda- 

 ble in coin only at the place of issue. Having performed these 

 necessary rites, you bring your notes to some centre of business : 

 they receive currency at once from the State auditor's signature, 

 and as you are a sharp business man you lend them readily on 

 mortgage of real estate at 1^ to 2 per cent, per month. There 

 is little fear of your notes coming back on you for payment, as 

 the place of issue is undiscoverable. Every man into whose 

 hands they come is interested in keeping them afloat. By de- 

 grees they are worn out, and thus with ordinary luck you se- 

 cure your own deposit with the State, and its representative, 

 which, in the hands of the public, has gradually disappeared ! 

 However improbable it may seem, I was assured that such prac- 

 tices are to this moment followed ; but of course they are ut- 

 terly discountenanced by all bankers of standing and respec- 

 tability. 



