Los Angeles herald., 1891-05-14
NOTABLE FORTHCOMING BOOKS.
rx-Postmaster General James and George
q. Coe VIII Write Them.


,p..tmaster General james and George
8. Coe VIII Write Them.
Especial Correspondence
Nxw YORK. April 27.-One of the most
,,tsr.stine literary developments of recent
,,sars ;s the ambition of men whose careers
have been very successful, either in the
aa,d of business or political energy, to
,vr;te book. The old proverb that every
,.an has in him the materials for one
h,ot worth publishing seems likely to be
vsrv fully exemplifed. Ex-Postmaster
General James, for instance, is seriously
considering the writing of story Oh the
growth of the postal service of the United
States, enriched with anecdotes ana Illus
trations. of which his experience has tur-
nished him so many.
General James is very busy man, ana
has not yet been able to find the time 10
devote to this work, but by and by, wnen
he is able to take more leisure, 1t Is hlghly
probable that he will undertake 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 magnificently 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 TINS
country. The story as he has told 1t to ms
friends in brief has all the charm Oh
romance. Even the tale of Monte Cr1sto's S
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 oO0, 900 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 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-
hance the credit of the government or
dangerously to depreciate it. That great
man, Salmon P. 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 bankrupt; 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 as 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 it's secretary of the treasury, pleading,
and yet doing SO in no servile or undigni-
fed way; the men of millions responding
without hesitation, just as the plain peo-
pie were responding to Lincoln's call to
arms.
A day or two after it was announced tx
the world that the banks of New York
Boston and Philadelphia had loaned fifty
millions of dollars in hard cash to the gov
ernment, and were ready to back it uI
with another loan of fifty millions more in
case it was needed. The effect of this an
nouncement was electrical; it was not sc
apparent demonstration as was the re-
sponse of citizens to Lincoln's call for vol
unteers, but it had a great effect in the
money centers of the world, and created d
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 a popular story
and one which will be full of dramatic and
exciting incidents.
The death of Mr.. John Thompson in
New York few days agosuggests another
narrative which will probably soon be pub
blished. This is history of Mr.. Thomp
sons sixty years. experience in Wall street
He began there just after the Erie canal
wasopened, and 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
a wonderful fund of "reminiscences and
anecdotes respecting these men.
Mr. Thompson has also written some.i 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 fol-
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
ished. Such works as Mr.. Thompson's
and Mr.. Goes will be valuable additions
to our historical literature.
E. j. EDWARDS.