92 WALL STREET AND THE WILDS 



issue of paper money as proved by our Conti- 

 nental currency, the French assignats, or the then 

 recent issue of Confederate money. 



There was another comfort to my soul that 

 loomed large. The stock of gold in the market 

 was never great in the days of which I am writ- 

 ing, and when short sales, by lowering abnor- 

 mally the price, had driven much of it from the 

 Street the demand for it became acute. At such 

 times the bear who borrowed gold to fulfill his 

 contracts not only loaned the money put up to 

 secure its return, without charging interest there- 

 for, but paid a daily bonus for the use of the gold. 

 It was so difficult and costly to borrow gold that 

 dealers often defaulted on their deliveries, trust- 

 ing that the brokers to whom the gold was due 

 would not buy it in, under the rule, for their ac- 

 count as they had a right to do, but would accept 

 delivery the following day. As A's failure to 

 deliver to B the gold he owed him, caused B to 

 default in his own delivery to C, who in turn 

 failed on D, the confusion became great and to 

 remedy it the Exchange fixed a penalty of one 



