168 Hadden—Early Banking in Wisconsin. 
comb Counties are not worth over 66f cents on the dollar in 
New York. Now he estimates the loss in this way: 
“In our county $43,500 in New York bank notes have been 
paid out by the government agents to farmers for their pro¬ 
duce, to Indians as annuities, to soldiers, traders and men em¬ 
ployed on the public works in the community. This good 
money is turned over in exchange for goods to the merchants, 
who send it back to New York; but since it takes $3 to pay 
for every $2 worth of goods, and since Wisconsin notes are in¬ 
terchangeable with gold and New York notes, the merchants 
will give only $29,000 worth of goods for the $43,500; in other 
words,” says Plowshare, “we have given $14,500 for the privil¬ 
ege of using a depreciated currency, and we have paid to the 
merchants the difference in the value of the money as a bonus 
for having a bank established in this town. ” 
The loss from counterfeiting was also consideralble. Nearly 
every Wisconsin paper of the period contains a warning notice 
like the following: “Look out for counterfeit $3 notes of the 
Weybosset Bank at Providence,” or “of the Farmers’ Bank at 
Catskill,” etc. Banks collapsed with such alarming and yet 
amusing rapidity that at length witticisms like the following 
were heard on every hand: 
“Have you heard that the Boston banks have broke?” 
“How can that be; they suspended last May!” 
“Yes, but they broke again.” 
“How?” 
“Why, you fool, they run out of paper. ” 
The Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Company. 
Legislative Controversy . 
At the December session of the Legislature of 1838, the “Wis¬ 
consin Marine and Fire Insurance Company” of Milwaukee was 
incorporated and the act of incorporation was approved the 28th 
of February, 1839. 
The charter contained this provision: “ This corporation may 
likewise receive money on deposit and loan the same on bottomry, 
