126 WALL STREET AND THE WILDS 



and gold were already tumbling while money 

 was not to be had. Later it loaned largely at 

 one per cent and even as high as three per cent 

 a day, or about a thousand per cent per annum. 

 Every purpose I had in view had been accom- 

 plished, yet not a greenback had been drawn nor 

 a dollar taken from the banks. Yet I had cre- 

 ated a panic and the extent of the distress it occa- 

 sioned amazed me. The president of one of our 

 banks who knew of my purpose to accumulate 

 greenbacks and to whom I had confided its ex- 

 tent, assured me that the banks could not re- 

 spond to such a demand and that persistence in 

 my plan would compel suspension all around. I 

 notified the loaners of money that the loans would 

 be paid the next day and no greenbacks drawn, 

 but though I offered to pay interest on my en- 

 gagements of money for the following day, 

 which I had decided not to use, there was none 

 who would accept it, since one and all were glad 

 to withdraw. 



On the morning after the sudden panic there 

 was raving in the editorial and financial columns 



