142 THE FARMER AS A BUSINESS MAN. 



iiess in buying them and sending them home. No prosperous 

 nation ever had so bad a currency. 



The passage of tlie National Bank Act was a great blessing. 

 The people, for the first time in their history, had a stable and 

 perfectly secure bank circulation, for whose redemption, on 

 demand, the faith of the country was pledged, and which cir- 

 culated at par with United States notes in all parts of the 

 countr}^ The government got large sums of money, of which 

 it was greatly in need, and the banks made money very 

 rapidly. There was an active demand for loans at good rates 

 of interest, so that the bank issues were kept constantly earn- 

 ing money, and there was interest, paid in gold, on the bonds 

 deposited as security. It has been thought that the banks 

 made too much money. Doubtless they did, but without the 

 prospect of great profits the bonds could not have been sold to 

 the banks, and the government would not have got the money 

 which it needed so badly. The nation was in distress and had 

 to pay roundly for loans, just as an individual in distress has 

 to do to-day. A money lender will show no more considera- 

 tion than a tradesman or a farmer. All will get the highest 

 price possible for wliat they have to sell. Even at the rate of 

 profit which the banks were making, public sentiment regarded 

 their bond subscriptions as acts of lofty patriotism. It was a 

 common feeling at the time that the government could get 

 men easier than it could get money, and the citizen who 

 invested in government bonds was regarded as only less patri- 

 otic than he who shouldered a musket and went to the field. 

 It was recognized that there was some risk in taking govern- 

 ment bonds at that time. We were not then the rich and 

 united people wiiich w^e have since become. We were a dis- 

 tracted nation, struggling in the throes of what at times seenied 

 to be dissolution. That tlie bonds would be paid sometime 

 was believed. Except for tliat belief they could not liave 

 been sold at all; but when they would be paid, or in what kiml 

 of currency, there was grave doubt in the minds of many, 

 regardless of the covenant to pay in " coin." The magnificent 

 recuperative power shown by our united country could not be 

 foreseen, nor was it anticipated by any one. As a result of it, 



