PREFACE There is nothing mysterious or difficult about foreign exchange when it is studied in the light of domestic exchange, which is easily understood, and in this volume I have endeavored to explain the essential principles of both domestic and foreign exchange in simple language, and with suitable illustrations. In this volume practically every...
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THE four article in this volume were published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics for May 1900, February, August and November 1010. Only the first of them has been subjected to any very considerable revision. Matters which are considered more in d( tail in the subsequent papers have been omitted, corrections and additions have...
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PREFACE I earnestly invite the most serious attention, with unbiased mind, of every one especially rulers, statesmen, legislators, and economists — to this analysis of the world’s prices and foreign and colonial exchanges of intermediaries; and to the simple arithmetical demonstration to travellers, traders, and financiers of their effects upon the interchanges of things between man...
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PREFACE During the time I set myself the pleasurable task of investigating the early history of Child’s Bank, I had occasion to look through a vast quantity of old cheques, bills, and cash-notes, extending in time over close upon two centuries; when I observed that all drafts passing through the hands of a gold-smith or...
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In 1897 the Editor of the Advocate of India invited me to contribute to its columns a narrative of the rise, growth and collapse of that colossal speculation popularly known in Bombay as the ” share mania,” a mania which in its ultimate consequences was more disastrous than either the South Sea Bubble Scheme,...
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Every note presented at the Bank of England for payment must be immediately paid in gold coin ; but as it was known that the wants of the community in this country were such as to require, for the ordinary trade, from 17 to 20 million pounds of Bank of England Notes to be...
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THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF BANKING. An eminent historian observes, that ” it is a cruel mortification, in searching for what is instructive in the history of past times, to find that the exploits of conquerors who have desolated the earth, and the freaks of tyrants who have rendered nations unhappy, are recorded with...
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THERE is an increasing feeling throughout the United States that there has developed in recent years a power with which the Government is unable to cope, and which is beyond the control of the public. The steps by which this power has been centred in the hands of a few men are little known...
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PREFACE IN my ” Logic for the Million,” published in the year 1851, I advised my readers, as a means of forming a habit of reasoning, to associate their reasonings with their daily avocations. I afterwards thought I might exemplify my own instructions, by selecting from my writings on Banking such extracts as might...
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WHEN Morris took office, he had eager hopes of loans from Spain. In July, 1781, he wrote a long letter to Jay to stimulate him to apply for such loan, and to provide him with arguments by which he might persuade the Spanish Minister. He proposed that the United States should help Spain to...
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PREFACE THIS book contains a biography of ROBERT MORRIS and a financial history of the period of the American Revolution. Neither of these subjects has heretofore been made the object of thorough investigation. Early in this century, two biographies of Morris were written, one by Mease, the other by Wain; and numerous short sketches...
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PREFACE ONE phase — a very important one — of the activities of the Czechs and Slovaks in this country has been wholly overlooked. Statistics have been compiled showing the number, size and location of the settlements of this racial group; of its churches, schools, lodge halls, fraternal organizations, newspapers and libraries. Up to...
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PREFACE The man who stands before the counter screen of a bank looks at a piece of complicated yet smooth working machinery that is to him a deep mystery. He admires but does not understand it. He knows that the receiving teller takes his deposit and the paying teller cashes his check. When he...
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INTRODUCTION This little story, based on fact, represents, though feebly, the relation that exists between the producing classes and the banks of America. The courts, lawyers, and constabulary hold the same relation to the banks they do to the robbers above mentioned. The banks are the great disbursing agencies of the government, and the principal...
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THE PROBLEM For many years the country has suffered from recurring periods of severe financial stringency. During these periods interest rates have been excessively high, and business men have lost heavily through inability to obtain necessary loans and discounts from the banks. At times wide-spread panic and general suspension of payments by the banks...
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