Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-06-04
THE LIBERTY LOAN OF
AMERICAN REVOLUTION
.tBy Hendrix willem van Loon Of thu
vlgilantes.) 4
(Professor Of History at Cornell UNI

.(6y Hendrix Willem van Loon Of tho
Wgilantes.) 4
professor Of History at Cornell Uni
versity.)
giles Of the American REVOLUTION ala
not take place on the American con-
tinent. S'A
II was fought out between The diplo-
matte agents Of the newly Formed
commonwealth ana the bankers Of
France and Holland.
It was comparatively easy to rat
men who were willing and able to
carry arms in the fight for liberty.
But 1t was very difacult to make the
european bankers see the great future
OF 9 dozen forlorn colonies eneaged
upon h hopeless task Of defeating
the mighty British empire.
Conditions In the year 1871 were
not different from those in the year
1s17. Napoleon remarked that war
~ g question Of money. money
ana money! That was true
wnen Warrington guided his men
s = ! yorktown. 1t is still true whom
me ailied powers are trying to defeat
the Prussian idea Of world domino
lion The golden bullets Of America
VII! den1oltsh tho Hindenburg line and
Will ultimately defeat the submarine.
shrapnel and dynamite and bombs
VIII play their part, but they would
De useless without the economic driv-,
ing power which the riches and tho
Of the American nation have
at h disposal of the allies.
Money talks. And money also car
rtes trenches.
There are fve American patriots
whose lives and letters make inter-
esttnE reading these days Of the Lib
cry loan. They are Franklin. Adams,
Lee. Morris and Livingstone, who
pendence on European soil. They
were brave fighters, these FIVE. Often
they did not have enough cash in their
pockets to pay their own board bill.
But they kept fighting. And they
finally obtained the foreign loans
which carried the. American revolu-
ton to a successful end and put the
weak colonies firmly upon their feet as
an independent and sovereign nation.
1t was John Adams. in 1880. who
began the negotiations for the first
great Dutch loan. At that time CON,
gress was so hard up for ready cash
that 1t had begun to draw bills Of ex-
change for money which had not yet
been obtained. It was left to their
commissioners in Europe to find the
necessary funds. The treason Of Ar
mold and the capture of the latest
congressional missionary together
with the discovery Of all his papers
they were f1shed out Of the ocean after
he had thrown them overhoard-had
made h Dutch f1nanciers very skep-
teal about the ultimate success Of the
colonial uprising. The surrender of
in October Of the next year.
however, offset these fears Of ulti-
firms ventured to invest five
Euilders in a congressional
loan. In September Of 1882 congress
affirmed this loan and at once received
. million and three hundred thousand
guilders. nor money in actual cash
had been seen OF the American
shores since the beginning Of the rev.
oluhon. Tho interest or this loan
was dve per cent, which was very low
that France. England and
Russia were offering Dutch bankers
was still Of a highly pre-
csrious nature. for congress, being
pressed for funds, drew
against this sun with such rapidly |
that the entire five millions were spent
before the last instAllment had reach
ed the United States.
During the following years other
Dutch loans followed each other with
interruption. In 1884, when the
congress was willing to pay
any premium to maintain the
credit Of the new nation, another
loan Of two million guilders at six per
cent was placed with several Amster-
dam banking firms. In 1897 the third
loan followed. Then in rapid success
sino came the loans Of 1888, 1890,
March,, September and December Of
the year 1871. tho loans Of 1892, 1893,
and 1874. These loans. indeed, became
annual event and q greater part
OF the running expenses Of the new
and unstable congressional govern-|
ment was paid for with Dutch money.
All In all eleven such loans. averaging
between two and hve millions each.
were placed in Holland during and
Immediately after the revolution.
The garden Of American liberty was
laid out and the seed therein was
planted by the genius of Washington
and the men who co-operated with
him. including the French volunteers.
But the final growth and prosperity
Of the American commonwealth wa
in q great measure due to the steady
stream Of gold which the banking
houses Of Holland procured from the
Dutch people for the benefit Of their
sister republic across the ocean.
There Is a moral In this.
Our freedom was won by the sword,
backed by hard cash. Our freedom
can be preserved only by the sword,
I-~H. - Ill., 49, -