The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-03-31
currency on paper-the denominations
including so. 25. 10. and cents.
Fnther of tho Nntionnl Dnnkn.

inciuul1B bV, 20, ~. and centB.
Fnthcr of tho National Bnnks.
The outgrowth of all these financial
difficulties OF the Civil War is the mod
ern national bank. When silver coin
began to be boarded. the State banks
stopped Issuing specie. and necesslnri-
~ tho government followed suit The
country was on the verge of panic.
The State bank system had n.ver been
eininently satisfactory, because notes
Issued by each were usually only good
within each State-and sometimes not
even there. Tho trader in Maine had
difficulty in having his bank's notes
accepted in Louisiana Even II they
were accepted they were subject to
large discount and u consequent loss
to the trader.
Senator John Sherman, OF Ohio, was
the father OF tho act that at once
solved the problem. He proposed that
representative banks in towns should
Issue notes. which bore the pledge of
the United States government 20 pay
when due. in place of tho state bank
note. which had only the pledge of
tho banker himself. In return for this
governmental guarantee of payment to
the the holder of the note the State
bank vas required to deposit Unit I'd
state bonds, in sums equal to the
amount of notes issued, with the Unit
cd States Treasury. Tho government
furnished the notes, gratis.
This is tho modern national banking
system as it is to-day, and which
A noto drawn by California bank
and held by n Maine citizen is equal
ly az good In Maine It is in Calf
foraia to-day.
The frat national bank was estab-
lished in Philadelphia, on June go, 1863.
New Haven and Stamford, Conn. and
Youngstown. Ohio, received certificates
OF organization on the same day. To-
day there are over 1000 national
banks IN the United States. whose
transactions are now exceeding q half
billion dollars a day. In the clearing
house at New York alon, more than
two trillion dollars has passed under
Its supervision since it's organization
or to be exact, s2.23o.l44.2e2.o 600.
On the Verge of Financial Ruin,
II has frequently been said that, Nor
gan saved the country in the financial
panic OF 1907. II can bs much more
nation in the Civil War when II was
on the brink of financial cata4trophe.
It was he who. as financ,er. placed over
S2.000.006.00o worth OF United States
bonds with the bankers of the United
States during thu war. He was one
OF the ablest financieTs of the day, and
his services TO the government have
been called the mos. remarkable feat
of inanctsring known TO history. AT
twenty lone years of age Cooke was
the business manager and @ member
of the largest private banking house
in the United States.
The fnanciaring OF the Confederacy
is even more remarkable. II Is 1T
tie known as the records were either
lost or destroyed at the close of the
war. Its m ethods, however. were skill
full and represented the highest in
tegrity. 1t noated bonds In return for
money. and the bonds were taken up
by individuals, banking houses, and
bankers in the South and Europe Its
FIRST call was for Sl5.000,0 900, which was
readily taken up.
Its obstacles seemed overwhelming.
new currency had to be supplied in
place OF that which had come from
Washington In the antebellum days.
There were no engravers in the South.
and note paper could not be manu-
secure small quantities from the North,
and a photographer was brought to Ala
bsma. The government was transfer
rad TO Richmond, where there were
greater business convenlences and the
Cabinet officers could be located in the
new custom house building which the
United States had recently erected a
bureau of engraving and printing was
established, under the firm name of
convenient to the government build
ings. The German photographer OBJ
teined an assistant from Baltimore. and
these two men set about printing
money" for the Confederacy from a
lithographinG stone.
The first proofsheet was presented to
the Secretary of Treasury and he &C
cepted It A few years ago this proof
sheet was In possession of Chiet Clerk
Henry D. Capsrs. in Atlanta. Ga. and
held as a valuable curiosity. On tho
back are these words In the hand
writing of the Secretary Of the Treas
ury: when the money changers be-
come more familiar with the peculiar
features OF these uncanny bills, 1t Will
be as difficult TO pass q counterfeit as
IL they had been engraved on steel by
an expert-maybe more So
six Hundred Million Dollars of Paper
Money.
The Confederates' bills were printed
by hand-a slow and laborious pro-
cess-until machinery had been set up.
Before the close OF the war over 6Q0.-
900 dollars worth were In circula-
ton, or three times the amount re-
quired by the business of the South
For the first six months Il retain I'd
it's par value; but latter to gradually
depreciate. The battles of Gettysburg
and Vicksburg sent II down 1000 per
cent. until in April, 1866. 1t had no
purcha sing value at all. At times dur
ing the war 5000 in Confed sratc money
was required to buy q soldier a pair
of socks Some of the postal clerks
at Richmond found 1t necessary TO re-
sign their positions because they could
not live on salary of $4,000 in Con-
federats money. Even the standard
value of gold-a standard that seldom
varies tho world over-chargcd. but
upward Fifty cents in gold would pay
weeks board which ordinarily would
have cost $500
The Confederate government went
into the trading business. 1t pur-
chnaah nnnIs and SuuniinS dirpct from