Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-05-14
NOTABLE FORTHCOMING BOOKS.
Ex-Postmaster General J imes and George
S. Coe Will Writ< Them.

Ex-Postmaster General lmes and George
S. Coe Will Writ< Them.
Especial Correspondence
NEW YORK, April 27-One of the most
interesting literary developments of recent
years is the ambition of men whose careers
have been very successful, either in the
field of business or political energy, to
write book The oil proverb that every
S,s1n ..-se IN >siarn uae materials for one
book worth publishing seems likely to be
very fully exemplified. Ex-Postmaster
General James, for instance, is seriously
considering the writing Of story of the
growth of the postal service of the United
States, enriched with anecdotes and illus
traIions, of which his experience has fur
nished him so many.
General James is a very busy man, and
has not yet been able to find the time to
devote to this work, but by and by, when
he is able to take more leisure, it is highly
probable that he Will undertake a sort of
popular history of the mighty expansion
of this service Many of the suggestions
out of which the postal car service has
been so magniicently developed are his,
and he is familiar with the inside history
OF this service for the past twenty years,
and much of it would furnish most thrill
ing and dramatic reading.
Mr.. George S. Coe, who is one of the
leading bank presidents of New York, is
even now at work upon the story of the
great financial crisis of 1861 and 1862, and of
the way in which it was met by the gov
| eminent and the great bankers of this
country. The story as he has told it to his
friends in brief has all the charm of
+I,or 10 of NTon+a Tri- +o;c
discovery of enormous wealth is more than
rivaled by the history Of the way in which
the government pleaded its poverty to the
great bankers at the beginning of the civil
war, and the manner in which these. bank
ers, opening their vaults, put at one time
$50, 600 into the hands of the govern
ment, and received as security therefor
| nothing but the promise of the government
to repay the loan. 1t was a most dramatic
meeting on the dismal evening, soon after
the war broke out, which was held at Mr..
Goes house in New York city
A dozen bankers were there. In their
vaults they held much of the gold then
available in this country, and they held
something which was even more valuable
than this gold-they had the power to en-
nance the credit Of the government or
dangerously to depreciate it. That great
man, Salmon 2. Chase, who was Lincoln S
first secretary of the treasury, sat facing
these bankers. He told them the story of
the governments needs-that its treasury
was practically banllrupt; that its credit
was so poor that foreign nations doubted
whether it would be able to raise money to
carry on the war-and he asked these bank
ers pleadingly and plaintively what the
government should do.
Then, one after another, these men of
millions, who also possessed the power to
affect the governments credit, spoke their
minds; not one of them faltered. They
proposed to do what in times of ordinary
banking might have been regarded is des-
perate and i'll advised but they said that
the credit of the government was OF more
Importance than the credit Of any bank,
and the faith of the government should be
upheld by men of millions. AS Mr.. Coe
tells the story the scene was thrilling and
pathetic. The government, represented
by its secretary of the treasury, pleading,
and yet doing SO in no seryile or undigni-
fed way; the men of millions responding
without hesitation, just rs the plain peo-
pie were responding to Lincoln's call to
arms.
A day or two after it was announced to
the world that the banks of New York
Boston and Philadelphia had loaned fifty
millions of dollars in hard cash to the gov
eminent, and were ready to back it up
with another loan of fifty millions more in
case it was needed. The effect of this an.
nouncement was electrical; it was not so
apparent demonstration as was the re-
spouse of citizens to Lincoln's call for vol
unteers, but it had a great effect in the
Of L,ay 0rl1 ind
moral influence which went far to stay
those nations which were tempted to rec
ognize the Confederacy.
This story, when it is told in the simple
and yet graphic style of which Mr.. Coe is
the master, will add very important con-
tribution to the history of the great con-
test which began in 1861. The story of the
financial operations of the government has
never been fully told, and as Mr.. Coe will
tell it it will not be mere dry reading of
statistics or a narrative full Of technical
terms of trade, but will be popular story,
and one which will be full of dramatic and
exciting incidents.
The death of Mr.. John Thompson in
New York few days ago suggests another
narrative, which will probably soon be pub
blished. This is a history Of Mr.. Thomp-
sons sixty years experience in Wall street.
He began there just after the Erie canal
was opened, nd when New York was begin
ming to take those steps which made it the
commercial emporium of America. Mr..
Thompson's life has been practically con-
temporaneous with the history OF Wall
street. He has known and dealt with all
Of the giant operators of the past, and had
g wonderful fund of "reminiscences and
anecdotes respecting these men.
Mr.. Thompson has also written some in
side history respecting the creation of the
national banking system. 1t is generally
understood that he was the first to suggest
it, although as it was adopted it differed
somewhat from his plan. He organized
the first national bank permitted under
the banking act, and was its president for
many years, and he is able to reveal much
inside information respecting the doubts
and the difficulties which had to be sur
mounted before the system was estab-
lished Such works as Mr.. Thompson
and Mr.. Goes win be valuable additions
to our historical literature.
E. J. EDWARDS