The Belding banner-news., 1922-03-15

remember back that for the days
when the Red Dog and the Blue Pup
were pretty popular animals in Mich
igan, for after the war conditions
over across the pond have resulted
| in the depreciation OF paper money
to that extent that it requires car
load of paper money in some OF the
countries to buy a box of sardines
And yet if some of the folks over
there who are bemoaning the low val
ue of the mark and the kroner and
the ruble could have been over in
the Wolverine state along in the
early days they might now be own
| ing the site of Detroit in exchange
| for the fancy handbills called money
by some of the European countries.
For in the early days of Michigan,
valuable land was purchased with
bills no more valuable than wallpa-
per.
In the state historical museum at
Lansing and in many of the munich
pal museums about Michigan are
specimens of paper money issued in
Michigan in the days Immediately
following it's accession as state in
1897, and these bills have no value
other than as curiosties, although
everyone of them is a promise to
pay.
"Wild cat money" is the name
given this sort of currency, although
the term is enormously used to gen.
orally denote these bills. "Wild cat",
properly used, designated only those
bills on which the name of the issu-
ing bank and the location of the bank
were printed in the same kind of
ink If the place of business had
been left blank and the location had
been stamped in with red ink the bill
was known as "red dog. If the
name was stamped in with blue ink
it was "biue pup.
In the days of the old northwest
territory there was very little mon
ey in Michigan and folks used to be
well versed in the art of "dickering"
that is the farmer would trade his
potatoes for shoes for his family, he
would pay his bills at the store with
wheat and settle with his blacksmith
in hay.
But along about the time Stevens
T. Mason was governor the down
east Yankees-the fellows made fa
nous through the yarn about the
peddler selling wooden shoe pegs for
oats-got their eyes on ;ais territory
and its magnificent forests.
And it wasn't long before they
I learned that money-any old kind of
money-was just as attractive over
in this neck of the woods as glass
beads are on the cannibal isles.
1t is related truthfully that in these
times young man was sent to
Michigan by number of persons in
Amherst, Mass, to get the lay of
the land and see what prospects lay
around the peninsula for piling up
competence He found business was
/ booming over here and that money
was welcome. And he also learned
that folks were not any too particu-
Lar as to the kind of money they took
either. He went back ito Amherst
and made his report anp then some
thing happened.
1t seems there had been bank at
Belchertown, Mass, near Amherst
and said institution had gone up the
| flue. But in Belchertown and AM
herst there were oodles and oodles of
bills issued by the bank or Belcher-
town.
So what did the folks at Amherst
of the Belchertown bills and ship
them over here.
They went like hot cakes, too, for
they were pretty bills, printed with
red ink on a fine grade-for those
days-of transparent paper.
The Amherst people got title to
quite bit of land with their phoney
money, but they weren't the only
ones in the game as many eastern
bills were being circulated in the
new country and banks were being
established with only printing press
and paper as resources, and quite a
lot of government land was purchas-
ed with this sort Of money.
1t is told that representative Of
1t is told that a representative of
one of the eastern banks came to
Michigan with large bundle of
bills and that, when buying land, he
would sit down upon stump and
! sign enough bills to make the pur-
chase he desired. No one ever called
for specie for the bills and they were
/ circulated at face value.
Matters finally came to such pass
that President Andrew Jackson had
to call halt on taking this sort of
money for land. The United States
bank was wobbly and the bill print
ing banks of the east were worse
than wobbly, and along in 1884 and
1885 the eastern bills lost out in pop
ularity.
After Michigan was admitted as
state in 1897 the state legislature
fixed up a little financial scheme
which lost a lot of money for some
! folks and gained lot for others. A
law was passed to the effect that
any number of persons might get
together and form a bank providing
enough real estate were pledged by
the organizers. But the legislature
failed to take into consideration that
real estate wouldn't prove the proper
sort of asset, if there were no other
assets, should there be a demand to
make good on the bills.
Then came the wild cat bill, the
red dog bill and the blue pup bill. All
that was needed to start bank was
charter and supply of paper, and
banks sprang up about the state like
mushrooms.
There xyac tho hopk nf Capdctnna