The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1882-05-18
The Man with a Pail.
A Story in Three Chapters, Told by Petit
Fitz- Richard.
L. w. S. in Eastern Argus

Now comes certain theorist who tells us
that "under the national law banking is now
free, on equal terms to all citizens, and the peo-
pie are managing their own business IN their
own way; and that if a man wishes to turn his
capital into circulating notes, the government
insists that he shall deposit securities to en-
sure the payment of the notes." What most
astonished the theorist was the distrust of the
people to manage their own affairs, which. any
question OF the advantage and universal avail
ability of such system of enriching everybody
indicated and that it was not as well known
that Jefferson was the first author and promot-
er of such free banking, as he was of the dec
laration of independence.
When we read this benefcent theory in an
evening paper, by the light of the cleaning,
either it Or the ruddy sunset made our heart SO
glow with sympathy and good Will, that we
| felt impelled to rush out and communicate the
gospeI to our fellow men. Some laborers were
coming down the street from their days work,
with covered tin pals in their hands, and they
looked weary and detected. We stopped one
of these men, plucking him by the slack of his
over alls, aud began to explain to him the
merits of free banking under the national law.
We asked him why he did not turn his gold
bullion into coin and lend it and keep lending
it; and why he did not turn his capital into
circulating notes and keep circulating them,
In turn, he asked what amount of capital he
must have for such business, and we told
him that he could go in with $4,000, but that
now the competition was SO great, there was no
great chance of success, unless he went in with
| ten times that amount. The man with the
pail said he had not even the 1000 that he
could lay his hands on, and he thought the
number of men in this city or in this whole
State, who had lying round loose $1,000 or
even $4,000, was so SMALL compared with the
rest of the people. that they could be counted
on his fingers, and that if the advantage of
| banking was only open to that small class, it
| was not a matter that much concerned him,
| and he would have shuffled off home; but we
| held him tightly by his over-alls till we made
him own that banking was perfectly free to all
! citizens and that Jefferson approved it. The
| man with the pail seemed to think as much of
| jefferson as We did.
| Finding him so unsympathetic we went on to
| explain Mr.. Jefferson's system of free banking
| further. "You see" said we, tapping the lid
| of the pail with our forefnger to emphasize
| the remark, 'f you only had the capital or
bullion we spoke of, how easy it would be to get
| rich You swap your note not on interest, for
| another fellows note on interest, and half the
| time you manage to get little boot in the way
| of discount. OF course the fellows note is
better than yours, otherwise you would not
| swap; but you make him pay the boot every
| time and then the government come in and
| say, in consideration of your buying and hold
| ing its bonds, that your misunderstanding
| note shall be money something to pay with,
| while the other fellows interest-bearing note
! shall be debt or something to pay for You
| would not think it, but the whole advantage
| lies in that little difference between with and
| for; and there are millions in it. Not always
| money; your Misunderstanding note is only
| money when you swap it off for some other
note. 1t is good enough cash to pay all your
| debts with, but when it comes nearly gratui-
tously from the government to you, then it has
no character of money, it is only your debt
| which, poor fellow, you are asking your gen.
tie creditors to extend from day to day till the
fine day comes, when you can conveniently
| pay it" We thought the man with the pail
| looked interested, for he asked quite intelli-
| gently: "But what can I do when L have ex-
hausted my stock of demand notes, limited by
| the number of my bonds?" "Well," we re-
| piled, 'get more bonds; or stop-you need not
| be at that expense, the very notes you swap
| off for three months draft in the morning,
| come back to you as a deposit in the afternoon
| and you lend them over again. Some enter
| prising free bankers lend their capital thus
| five times over" The man seemed excited,
and the pail dropped upon the sidewalk with a
| loud bang. He picked it up. and asked ner-
| vousy If that was really contrvance OF JEFF
ferson. 81 WONDER he said, "that anybody
| ever speaks of the declaration OF independ-
| ence."
We went on to enlighten him further. We
asked him to which of the watering places he
| was going to take his family next Summer,
| and spoke of the comparative advantages OF
| Mount Desert, Long Branch and Saratoga. He
| asked if these things were free to all citizens
too. Just as free, we assured him, as banking:
| s'There is the little requisite of the $500,OO0
| capital in the one case: the only requisite in
| the other is that you shall wear good clothes,
| and eat with your fork. Or perhaps" we sug
| gested, "you prefer to go the grand tour to
| Switzerland and the Nile by an ocean steamer,
| or to Salt Lake and Yosemite in palace car.
| The White Star Line is the most comfortable
| You can wear anything but over-alls 1t is ex-
pensive, but less so than free banking. 1t has
| sprung up since Jeffersons day, but no doubt
he would approve of it.
But really, my good fellow, these are slow
| ways of doing things. Do you see how stocks,
| Western Union, Lake Shore, @. B. and Q. go
up and down in the papers, and how wheat,
| cotton and pork huctuate between high and
low. Buy when they are low and sell when
they are high, and instead of boiling your din
ner in ten minutes out of that tin pail, you
| may spend as many hours chasing its fifteen
elaborate courses down your Delighted palate
| on the glowing tide of generous wine, as you
have been spending in doing your day work. !"
asked, now fairly aroused. "Jlst as free" we
told him, 'as banking, and if Jefferson did not
in terms approve of it, it is quite in the spirit
| of Jefferson "How much capital must
| have for such an oecupation?" "You can go
| in,'' we told him, with million, but with
| only so much you must take the chances OF the
| tide up or down: the chance little against
YOU. With 500 600 900 like Gould and VAN
| derbilt and Sage you can raise or fall yonr own
! tides aud make success dead certainty"
| We released our clutch of his over-alls, and
| the man with the pail marched homeward
| nursed by sweet dreams. We did not talk pol
| itics with him. but when the time comes we
| pledge our reputation upon it, he will vote for
| Jefferson and free banking.
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