JW 
 
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 PU5LI5HERS, CTHCAGO.
 
 presented to the 
 UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 SAN DIEGO 
 
 by 
 
 JUDGE J.M. CARTER
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 A STORY OF 
 
 BY JAMES B. GOODE 
 
 Author of "The Belle of Wyandotte," " The Story of a Life," 
 
 "The Union of Love," "A Trip Through Arkansaw," 
 
 "A Farmer's Daughter," "May Blossom," 
 
 "His Heart's Best Love," "Madge," 
 
 "Ola," Etc., Etc. 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 CHARLES H. KERR & COMPANY 
 56 FIFTH AVENUE 
 1896
 
 Copyright 1896, by 
 JAMES B. GOODE 
 
 Library of Progress, No. 18. Quarterly, $1.00 a Year. February, 1896. 
 Entered at the Postoffice, Chicago, as second-class mail matter.
 
 THE MODERN BANKER. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " YES, wife, our boys want to marry the Cald- 
 well girls, and have asked my permission to do 
 so. I do not like the idea of brothers marrying 
 sisters; but I know of no reason why they 
 should not do so, if they love each other. Neigh- 
 bor Caldwell is one of our oldest and best friends, 
 and his family are unequaled in their education, 
 manners and social standing in the community. 
 The girls are beautiful, well-raised and healthy. 
 I cannot see any reason why we should object. 
 What do you think of it?" 
 
 "I have loved those girls all of their lives, 
 and unless there is some law, or some rule in 
 the Bible, which forbids brothers marrying to 
 sisters, I cannot see any reason why we should 
 object." 
 
 "There is no law or rule, either human or 
 divine, which forbids brothers marrying to sis- 
 ters. I have been very careful to obtain all the 
 facts in the case. In fact, I find that it has 
 
 been allowed in all ages." 
 
 5
 
 6 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 "I think Mamie Caldwell is one of the sweet- 
 est girls alive. She seems to have every quali- 
 fication I could ask for in a wife for Arthur. 
 And they will make a loving couple, I am sure. 
 But I am not so sure about Henry and Cora. 
 They are both high-tempered and domineering. 
 They Iboth have black hair and eyes and both are 
 very ambitious. But I hope they will do well," 
 said his wife. 
 
 When Farmer Hunt, as he called himself, am 
 anything, it was always well done, so that, when 
 his boys were married to the Caldwell sisters, 
 the infair was one of the largest ever seen in the 
 county. The old farmhouse was filled with 
 neighbors and their children, and mirth and 
 merriment was given full sway. The dining- 
 table was extended the full length of the room, 
 and several times filled with the merry-makers. 
 After supper, the dance began with a hearty 
 good-will, and the good old-fashioned Missouri 
 quadrilles, reels and galops were danced until a 
 late hour. Waltzing had been frowned upon by 
 the old-fashioned mothers of the neighborhood, 
 but when it was announced that Henry wanted 
 to waltz with his new wife, no objections were 
 made and the room was cleared for the perform- 
 ance. Neither had ever waltzed much, although 
 Henry had once taken dancing lessons, while
 
 THE MODn-KN BANKER 7 
 
 at college; and Cora had managed to take a 
 few lessons while at school. However, the per- 
 formance was watched by the assembly with the 
 greatest interest, and, when it was over, the 
 parents of the children discussed it among them- 
 selves. Henry and Cora took their seats with 
 a self-satisfied air,and then turned to Arthur and 
 Mamie, while Henry said, with a covert sneer, 
 for he knew that neither of them waltzed, 
 "Come, Arthur, it is now your turn to waltz 
 with your wife." 
 
 "Please excuse us, Brother Henry, for we 
 cannot waltz," answered Arthur. 
 
 "What a shame," exclaimed Henry, in de- 
 rision, "that you would not learn, as I tried to 
 get you to do! And, if I remember correctly, 
 you did waltz a few times, with those Howard 
 girls, at school. Come now, let us see how 
 you and your wife can waltz." 
 
 "No, I know that we cannot waltz, and I do 
 not care to make a vulgar exhibition of our 
 awkwardness," answered Arthur. 
 
 "Perhaps you deem our waltzing a 'public 
 exhibition of awkwardness'," said Henry, in a 
 cold, sneering tone, while a look of intense anger 
 came into his steely eyes. 
 
 "No, brother, I mean nothing of the kind. I 
 simply think that my wife and I cannot waltz
 
 8 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 well, and that it is better that we should not at- 
 tempt to do so; especially,since I know that the 
 general opinion of all of our friends here is 
 against this mode of dancing." 
 
 The signs of general approval which followed 
 this speech made it impossible for Henry to 
 control his temper,and he rose and said : "Come, 
 wife, we will retire to our room and let this 
 saintly crowd of old fogies enjoy their innocent 
 amusements and gossip our characters away 
 from us. They are my father's guests, hence 
 you must allow me to excuse their ignorance and 
 vulgar ways. They have never been anywhere, 
 nor have they seen anything of the world. They 
 do not know that waltzing is one of the greatest 
 accomplishments in good society, and that none 
 but fanatics and prudes object to it among the 
 upper classes. You may rest assured, my dear 
 Cora, that I shall not settle among such a set. 
 I will move to the city, where we can associate 
 with people who are more congenial to our tastes. 
 Allow us to bid you good-night." Then, before 
 any one could say a word, Henry took his wife 
 by the arm and marched upstairs to their room. 
 But when they reached the secrecy of their 
 chamber, Cora clung to his arm and burst into 
 tears, as she said, "Oh, Henry, I am so sorry 
 that you have so grievously insulted all of our
 
 THK MODERN BANKER 9 
 
 friends! I feel that they will never forgive us." 
 
 "Do not be a fool, Cora! Don't you see that 
 they have wantonly insulted us, and that it was 
 my duty to resent it, if I want them to respect 
 us?" 
 
 "I am so sorry we danced that nasty waltz. 
 I did not want to do it, but you insisted, and 
 now all of my friends will desert me because of 
 it all." 
 
 "I am not sorry in the least. I am really 
 glad it has all happened as it has. I had made 
 up my mind to cut the whole lot of them and 
 move away; and this will give us a good excuse 
 for doing so, at once. We will start on our 
 wedding tour to-morrow morning and I will be- 
 gin seeking a position in the city." 
 
 The young wife was too much pained to argue 
 the matter, so they went to bed in silence. Her 
 heart was aching and her tears were falling 
 silently, as she placed her head on her pillow; 
 where, long after the surly husband had gone to 
 sleep,she lay and grieved over the destruction of 
 her friendship for all of those downstairs, whose 
 love she had enjoyed from childhood. Poor 
 woman! Her idol had been rudely shattered, 
 before she had been married two days. And 
 as the hours of night slowly passed away, all of 
 the best part of her life became as a dream. She
 
 10 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 knew that, from henceforth, she would be a 
 changed being. It seemed to her that such a 
 gratuitous insult could only emanate from one 
 who was naturally cold-hearted, and she felt 
 that she never could enjoy a real affection for 
 her husband. Her womanly intuition opened 
 up the doors of a cold life for her, and she wept 
 the night away, contemplating its horrors. 
 
 When Henry and his wife left the room, Arthur 
 arose and expressed his sorrow at the untoward 
 event which had transpired, and tried to excuse 
 his brother's insulting language to his friends, 
 as best he could. But all felt that it would be 
 best to go home, and the house was soon de- 
 serted, except by its inmates. Henry's mother 
 was heartbroken. His father, who was an old- 
 fashioned Christian, swore that Henry was no 
 longer a son of his, and the neighbors were al- 
 most universal in their feelings of resentment 
 against him. 
 
 When Arthur and Mamie reached their room, 
 she threw her arms around his neck and kissed 
 him tenderly, as she said: "Arthur, dear, you 
 cannot think how much I was relieved when 
 you so nobly refused to make me try to waltz. 
 It would have been in such bad taste to have 
 done so, in the presence of all four of our par- 
 ents and all of the neighbors, when we knew
 
 11 
 
 they were so much opposed to waltzing. It 
 would have been such a poor return for your 
 father's kindness, for you know that he was 
 hard to persuade to let us dance at all. But I 
 am sorry that Henry became so much offended." 
 
 "Yes, my love, it is all very sad; but let us 
 not talk of it. I am too happy to allow Henry's 
 hot temper to make me unhappy long. You 
 know I am used to his ways and do not worry 
 over them." 
 
 "Oh, I am so glad that you are not like him! 
 I know that I would break my heart, if you 
 were. But I do not think Cora will care so 
 very much. I am almost sure they will fight 
 before long; for Cora has had her own way all 
 of her life, and she has the most violent temper 
 I ever heard of. But at heart she is as good 
 as gold. She will have her own way, but if you 
 will allow her to do so without opposition, no 
 one can be more loving or kinder than she is." 
 
 "Let us hope they will get along all right," 
 he answered, and then they went to sleep, as 
 happy as ever any couple were, under similar 
 circumstances. 
 
 Henry and his wife took their wedding tour, 
 without being very happy over it. He succeeded 
 in getting a position as clerk in a new banking 
 house which was just starting up in the city,
 
 12 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 and he and his wife took furnished rooms and 
 board in one of those large tenement boarding 
 houses, where one never gets acquainted with 
 the inmates, which can be found in all large 
 cities. The novelt} r of the situation rather 
 amused Cora at first, but ere long she found 
 that life in a boarding house is but a dreary ex- 
 istence at best. While Henry was not abso- 
 lutely unkind to her, still, he was so completely 
 her master in everything, that she often won- 
 dered what had become of her much vaunted 
 temper of former days. 
 
 Henry Hunt was a shrewd man. Cold, cal- 
 culating and not over-burdened with conscience, 
 he had determined to make a fortune, honestly, 
 if possible; but to make a fortune at all events, 
 if it could be done without actually committing 
 any offense against the law. He was a -very 
 observant man, and, from the first day of his 
 clerkship in the bank, he had made the study 
 of the business of banking the business of his 
 life. In three months' time he had thoroughly 
 mastered all of the small details of the business, 
 and was really the best posted man in the es- 
 tablishment, with the exception of Mr. Lyman 
 himself, who was an old banker, well versed in 
 all of its tricks and intricate rules, as well as 
 being conversant with all of the theories, designs
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 13 
 
 and calculations of all of the great money-lords 
 of the world. Andrew J. Lyman was an English 
 Jew, whose ancestors had intermarried into some 
 of the families of several of the great financial 
 masters in England. He had been reared and 
 educated with the sole intention of being a 
 banker, and had spent his life in the study of all 
 of the intricacies of financial lore. He was now 
 about thirty years of age, and had come out to 
 America to establish a small bank, which, it was 
 his intention, should become the corresponding 
 bank of all of the banks under the influence of 
 his great relatives back in England, all of whom 
 had the most implicit confidence in his honesty 
 and ability to manage their interests in this 
 country. In this way he expected to control 
 vast sums of money, which he would be able to 
 handle to his own advantage, as a banker. How- 
 ever, his own capital was limited to about $10,- 
 ooo,and he felt the need of increasing it-by tak- 
 ing in a partner. It was necessary that he should 
 place his little bank on an unequivocal basis, be- 
 fore he could afford to ask his relatives for their 
 business. Yet he was a very cautious man, 
 given to be suspicious of all men and things, 
 unless he was secured against the possibility of 
 loss. It was necessary that he should take in a 
 partner, but he wanted one peculiarly fitted for
 
 14 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 his business. His partner must be a partner only 
 in results. He must be a servant in the busi- 
 ness, whose duty it must be to do the will of his 
 superior, without asking too many questions. 
 But it was necessary that this partner should be 
 really posted as to the business of banking, and 
 such men were hard to find. 
 
 Mr. Lyman had opened his banking house 
 under the firm name of Andrew J. Lyman & 
 Co., as a private savings bank, with $10,000 
 capital, which of course was all furnished by 
 him. When Henry Hunt applied to him for 
 employment, he made inquiries and found that 
 he was the son of a wealthy farmer in the in- 
 terior, and that he had married the daughter of 
 another wealthy farmer in the same locality. 
 These were points in his favor, and when, after 
 carefully questioning him, he found that he was 
 intelligent, active, versatile and ambitious, he 
 decided to employ him. Closer acquaintance 
 proved to him the wisdom of his choice. He at 
 once began educating Henry in the rules of the 
 banking business, and found him an apt scholar; 
 so, at the end of three months, he had decided 
 that Henry Hunt was the man he wanted for a 
 partner, if he could only raise enough money. 
 
 One morning, Henry was called into Mr. 
 Lyman's private office, when the following con- 
 versation was had between them:
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 15 
 
 "Henry, what do you consider the best prop- 
 erty that a man can invest his means in?" 
 
 "I can hardly say, sir, but I would like to 
 hear your ideas on that point." 
 
 "Well, you know that cash money is the only 
 kind of property that all men desire. Every 
 living man is your customer when you deal alone 
 injactual cash. Everybody wants it. They all 
 must have it. They will give you any other 
 property they may have for it, and give you a 
 margin of profit, for the exchange. Thus you 
 see that the man who invests his means in actual 
 cash money has the best property. in the world. 
 It will obtain all things. It is easily carried 
 from place to place. It has no strings tied to 
 it. It passes at par all over the world. Cash 
 money is subject to no discounts. It has no dis- 
 eases. It never dies." 
 
 "But, sir, if a man places his means in cash 
 money, and does not invest it, it will make him 
 nothing." 
 
 "Correct. But when a man has actual cash 
 at all times, it gives him a great advantage over 
 the man who has any other property; because 
 the demand for the cash is much greater than 
 for any one thing else. Everybody must have 
 cash, at times, so the dealer in cash can always 
 speculate. The demand never ceases, it is un-
 
 1 6 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 limited. This demand enables the dealer in cash 
 to name his own terms and security. If he is 
 shrewd, he takes every advantage and precau- 
 tion. A man is a fool, if he loses anything when 
 he is dealing in cash money. Then the man 
 who can control the greatest amount of cash, is 
 the surest to make a fortune. The banking busi- 
 ness not only allows a man to loan out his own 
 money; but the security of his vaults induces 
 his neighbors to leave their cash with him, free 
 of charge; and he can loan out a large percent 
 of their money and get interest on it, which he 
 can apply to his own account." 
 
 After a long conversation, on the lines laid 
 down above, Mr. Lyman made Henry Hunt the 
 offer to take him into the bank, make him cash- 
 ier at a liberal salary, and put him in a sure 
 way to make a fortune, if he could raise $10,000 
 cash to pay for a one-half interest in the bank. 
 
 "But that will be impossible, sir, for I have 
 no money, and no possible way to make any, or 
 get it." 
 
 "You have wealthy relatives. Will they not 
 aid you?" 
 
 "I fear not, sir," Henry answered, as he 
 thought of the gratuitous insult that he had 
 heaped upon them before he left home. "I 
 understand that they have helped my brother to 
 buy a fine farm; but "
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 17 
 
 "Then you are entitled to as much as your 
 brother. Go down there and demand your rights. 
 Send your wife down on a month's visit and 
 let her prepare them for your arrival. Dress 
 her out in silk. Give her some diamonds and 
 fine jewelry. I will let you have the money if 
 you need it. Go down and impress them with 
 your own importance. Prove to them that this 
 is the chance of your lifetime. When they see 
 these signs of prosperity, they will let you have 
 the money." 
 
 After following his instructions to the letter, 
 Henry sent his wife down to the old homestead 
 in grand style. She was thoroughly posted on 
 the matter at hand, and entered into all the plans 
 with a will. 
 
 Henry had but little faith in the expedition, 
 but he was very anxious to get the money. He 
 was determined to do all in his power to suc- 
 ceed, and his wife's letters gave him some hope 
 of success, when he started a month after she 
 had gone down there.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CORA HUNT was kindly received by her old 
 friends, and enjoyed her visit to her parents very 
 much. That she was sadly changed, they all 
 saw at a glance. Instead of being the careless, 
 happy girl they had known, she was now a 
 woman of fashion, a formal creature,with whom 
 very few of her old friends could get in sym- 
 pathy. That her husband had made a success, 
 was evident. Reports had often reached them 
 to that effect. But while they could not feel 
 at ease in her presence, all of her old friends 
 did all they could to make her enjoy her visit. 
 She was never an especial favorite, but she had 
 always been well received, and thus it seemed 
 that the neighbors were ready to overlook the 
 insult that had been placed on. them the night of 
 her infair, and receive her and her husband with 
 the best grace possible. 
 
 When Henry Hunt arrived he met his wife at 
 the residence of his brother Arthur, where all 
 the evidences of happiness and prosperity, which 
 abounded, caused him to feel envious of his 
 
 18
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 19 
 
 brother's good fortune. However, he carefully 
 guarded his expressions on this point. 
 
 Henry's parents received him with a studied 
 courtesy but with no cordiality, but Cora's 
 parents seemed to take considerable pride in 
 their "children from the city." 
 
 After a few days spent in visiting, Henry 
 broached the subject of the money to his father 
 and father-in-law, while all three were together 
 at the latter's home. He explained his pros- 
 pects in glowing terms, mentioning the fact that 
 he supposed they would be willing to aid him, 
 at least with as much money as they had given 
 to his brother and sister-in-law. After holding 
 a consultation, the two fathers explained that 
 they had only given Arthur and Mamie $2,500 
 each, or a total of $5,000, while he had gone in 
 debt $5,000 more on his farm. They expressed 
 a willingness to do as much for him, but both 
 declined to do more, as they did not have the 
 money and did not know where they could get 
 it. To this he replied, that, if he could get them 
 to sign notes for $2,500 each, he felt assured 
 that he could get the bank to carry these amounts, 
 until such time as it might suit them to pay them. 
 To this they were forced to reluctantly agree, 
 and Henry carried $5,000 in cash and $5,000 
 in good bankable five-year notes, back to Mr. 
 Lyman.
 
 2O THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 "Henry will take care of those notes himself, 
 don't you think, neighbor Hunt?" asked Mr. 
 Caldwell, a few days later. 
 
 "I hope so, but I am free to say that I do not 
 like the shape this matter has left me in. I had 
 just gotten out of debt, and had laid up a little 
 money for my children. I was perfectly willing 
 to divide the money between them, but I am 
 sorry I signed that note." 
 
 "So am I, since you mention it. It leaves me 
 in bad shape, for I have no money, and I begin 
 to feel that old galling feeling of debt stealing 
 over me again." 
 
 "Yet I do not see how we could have done 
 otherwise." 
 
 "Neither do I, neighbor, neither do I." 
 
 But there was a shadow of trouble on their 
 faces as they parted. 
 
 Henry's face beamed with satisfaction, when 
 Mr. Lyman accepted the notes and cash and 
 issued to him $12,500 worth of the stock in the 
 bank, which was now capitalized for $25,000, in- 
 stead of for $20,000, as Henry expected would 
 be the case. 
 
 "We can turn in the first $5,000 of our sur- 
 plus to complete our payments on stock. I pre- 
 ferred to make the capital $25,000," explained 
 Mr. Lyman. "And now, Henry, we had bet-
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 21 
 
 ter decide on our salaries. What amount would 
 you suggest as suitable remuneration for our 
 services,you as cashier and myself as president ?" 
 
 "I am willing for you to decide that point. I 
 feel assured that I could get along on my old 
 salary of $100 per month, but perhaps you 
 might need " 
 
 "I say $100 per month 1 ^As equal owner in 
 this bank, it will be necessary for you to take a 
 fine residence in the best residence portion of 
 the city. No, sir, I know that you cannot live 
 on less than $5,000 per annum. As for myself, 
 I have no inclination to try to live on less than 
 $5,000 per annum." 
 
 "But can we afford to vote ourselves a salary 
 of $10,000 per annum, while our capital stock is 
 only $20,000 I mean $25,000?" 
 
 "Well, let us calculate a little," answered Mr. 
 Lyman. "Our last statement shows average 
 deposits of $140,000, which, added to the capital 
 stock now, shows $165,000. Our loans and 
 discounts are now $125,000, at an average rate 
 of ten per cent, making the gross income $12,- 
 500. The profits on our short-time brokerage 
 more than pays our expenses, so you see that 
 when we vote ourselves a salary of $5,000 each, 
 we have $2,500 per annum left to declare as a 
 dividend just making ten per cent dividend on
 
 22 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 our capital stock. You see, everybody does 
 not stop to make this calculation. They merely 
 read in the papers that such and such a bank 
 has declared a dividend of ten per cent per 
 annum. The salaries of the officers go into the 
 expense account, and in this way the public 
 never knows what a bank is really making. In 
 our case, if we voted ourselves small salaries, 
 we would have to declare a dividend of about 
 forty per cent per annum on our capital stock. 
 This would never do in the world. It would 
 cause the people to rise and vote the banks out 
 of existence, if they knew what immense profits 
 are really made." 
 
 When Henry Hunt arrived at home that 
 evening, he was in a mood for reflection. He re- 
 membered that it had taken his father twenty- 
 five years to save up $15,000 farming, and yet 
 he was considered one of the most successful 
 farmers in the county. He also thought of all 
 the bankers he had ever known, and in every 
 case he saw those bankers rapidly rise to wealth 
 and position. And by making a careful com- 
 parison among all of his acquaintances, he saw 
 that the bankers were the only class of people 
 in America who were enjoying an era of uni- 
 versal prosperity. He recognized the fact that 
 prices had been generally declining on every
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 23 
 
 product produced by human skill and labor, 
 while money and its equivalent, bonds, mort- 
 gages, debts, etc., had been gradually rising. 
 Now, he thought, there must be a cause for all 
 this. Nothing comes by chance. He made up 
 his mind to find out these causes. Finally he 
 arose, saying: "Father is a fool! He ought 
 to quit farming and go into the banking busi- 
 ness. But then, all the farmers are fools, on 
 the subject of finance."
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE United States was now passing through 
 the bloody civil war of 1861. Its baneful influ- 
 ence had been felt on the characters in this 
 story, just as they were by almost every other 
 family in the country. Arthur Hunt, who was 
 a citizen of Missouri, took sides with the ill- 
 fated rebels, and bravely marched at the head 
 of his company, first, and at the head of his regi- 
 ment, later, during all the time it lasted. He 
 was a born leader of men, broad-shouldered, with 
 a fine, open countenance, high forehead, dark 
 curly hair, and a demeanor that would have 
 gained respectful admiration in any army; it 
 was no wonder that he rose rapidly. As colo- 
 nel of his regiment, he was loved and honored 
 by both officers and men. He was ever ready 
 for the call of duty, braving all dangers and 
 shirking nothing, as none but Nature's noble- 
 men can do in such trying times. Farmer Hunt 
 and Farmer Caldwell went out in Arthur's com- 
 pany, and as they saw the great honors that were 
 being heaped upon him, they felt a great pride 
 in their boy. Col. Arthur Hunt was a modest 
 24
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 2$ 
 
 man. He did not seem to see those honors, nor 
 did he allow them to cause him to feel one mo- 
 ment of exultation. His heart beat proudly at 
 the thought of doing his duty bravely, and he 
 never wavered from it. But his heart was sorely 
 troubled. While he was away on the field of 
 battle, things were going very badly at home. 
 His fair, sweet young wife had done all that she 
 could to keep the farm up, and had succeeded in 
 keeping the interest on the mortgage paid. But 
 now the mortgage was due and its payment had 
 been demanded of her. 
 
 More than this, came the fact that the notes 
 given by both his father and his father-in-law, 
 to aid his brother Henry to get into the banking 
 business, were now due and payment had been 
 demanded by Mr. Lyman, as agent for the En- 
 glish holders of the same. Of course, all of 
 these demands were worded in the kindest and 
 most polite terms, expressing the hope that it 
 would not be a hardship for them to pay the 
 amounts at that time, but reiterating the positive 
 demand for immediate payment. 
 
 Colonel Hunt called his father and his father- 
 in-law into his tent for a consultation, and after 
 due consideration, they decided that their only 
 hope was to apply to Henry, at New York, and 
 ask him to carry the paper for them. This was
 
 26 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 done, and in due time an answer was received, 
 stating that it was almost impossible for him to 
 obtain money to loan on property located in any 
 of the states now in rebellion, but after much 
 trouble he had finally obtained the promise of 
 the money, on the following terms: First, his 
 father's note would be carried one year, if he 
 would sign the enclosed mortgage on his entire 
 farm (well worth $10,000), to secure the pay- 
 ment of the $2,500. He could also carry his 
 father-in-law's $2, 500 note one year, if he would 
 sign the enclosed mortgage on his farm (which 
 was well worth $10,000), to secure it. In regard 
 to his brother's debt, he found that it was utterly 
 impossible for him to obtain over $4,000 on his 
 farm, but that if Arthur could manage to raise 
 $1,000 and pay on his note, and would then sign 
 the enclosed mortgage for $4,000, secured on 
 his farm (which was worth $10,000), he could 
 get it carried for one year. 
 
 Another consultation was held, and it was de- 
 cided that Colonel Hunt had better get a leave 
 of absence and go home and arrange the matter 
 the best he could. However, the two old men 
 signed the mortgages and gave them to him, to 
 be used if he found it necessary. 
 
 This visit home was the first he had made 
 during the two years the war had been in prog-
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 27 
 
 ress, and his heart ached when he saw the deso- 
 lation which had fallen upon the entire country. 
 Husbands and fathers were away in the war. 
 Farms were uncultivated; fences, barns, houses 
 and other improvements had been destroyed by 
 the armies of both sides, and, worse still, the 
 state was being overrun by a set of guerrillas, 
 under the facetious title of "home-guards." 
 These inhuman fiends levied tribute from the 
 poor women and outraged every feeling in the 
 breast of the honorable soldier. His own home, 
 being a little off from the main road, had not been 
 visited yet, but those of his father and father- 
 in-law had been badly used. Not a horse or farm 
 beast remained. His mother and mother-in-law 
 had taken up their homes with his wife, and the 
 three ladies were in the last stages of despair 
 when he arrived. 
 
 When Colonel Hunt learned the real situation, 
 he organized a company of boys and old men 
 and made a determined attack on the guerrillas, 
 whom he vanquished, with but little loss. He 
 then organized relief parties and sent them all 
 over the county to relieve the prevailing distress 
 of the people. Through his influence, crops 
 were planted and the county was placed on a 
 self-supporting basis. When these reforms were 
 accomplished he turned his attention to his
 
 28 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 own affairs, and finally succeeded in obtaining 
 a loan of $1,000, which enabled him to forward 
 all of the mortgages to his brother in New York, 
 who accepted them and forwarded the old notes 
 and mortgage to him, with a strict injunction to 
 be sure to be ready to take them all up when 
 they fell due, a year hence; as he felt assured 
 that it would be impossible for him to get any 
 more extensions. Henry complained bitterly 
 of the hard times, said it was almost impossible 
 for him to get this money this time, and gave 
 them all full notice that he would not undertake 
 the matter again at all. He explained that if he 
 had the money, himself, he would, take pleasure 
 in carrying the paper for all three of them, un- 
 til the war was over, etc., etc. It was a char- 
 acteristic letter and showed plainly that unless 
 these notes were paid when due, Henry would 
 desert them all and the three farms would have 
 to be sold. Thus it was, that Colonel Hunt 
 returned to his regiment with a heavy heart. 
 But he carried the blessings and respect of all 
 of his old neighbors and friends with him. Yet, 
 however grand or noble these felicitations and 
 honors may be, they will not pay mortgages. 
 
 It is necessary that we should now take up 
 the story of Henry's life, where we left off. 
 The reader will remember that he had just se-
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 29 
 
 cured a half interest in the bank of Andrew J. 
 Lyman & Co., of New York, and that the part- 
 ners had just voted themselves $5,000 salary 
 each, per annum. As before stated, Henry 
 was a shrewd man, and the reader may be 
 assured that he did not spend over $100 per 
 month. He had no idea of taking an expensive 
 establishment, nor did he give himself any airs 
 on account of his rise in the world. He drew 
 his salary regularly, but he established a pawn- 
 shop, down on the Bowery, where he employed 
 one of those conscienceless chattel-mortgage 
 fiends to extract ten per cent interest per month, 
 off the unfortunate, who were forced to pledge 
 three times as much value as they received, as 
 security for the "loan." This shop turned out 
 to be a veritable gold-mill. To illustrate the 
 methods adopted: A gentleman offered a gold 
 watch, which had cost him $100, and asked for 
 a loan of $50 on it. The watch was examined 
 carefully, and its owner was then informed that 
 it would be impossible to make a loan for over 
 $25 on such a watch. The man was compelled 
 to have the mcne}', felt assured that he could 
 easily repay the loan inside of the thirty days 
 allowed to redeem it in, and, of course, was 
 forced to accept the $25. By actual reports, 
 one-third of all such customers as this never re-
 
 30 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 turn before the time expires, and the watch is 
 sold for about $75 cash. The other two-thirds 
 of such customers come in at the end of thirty 
 days, pay $2.50 interest, one dollar for papers 
 and 50 cents for insurance, none of which cost 
 the pawnbroker anything, making a total of 
 $29 he pays for his watch. This gives the 
 pawnbroker $4 interest on $25 for 30 days' time, 
 giving him 192 per cent interest per annum. 
 Thus we see the reasons why Henry Hunt was 
 rising so rapidly in the world. Now, we do 
 not mean to say that all bankers are doing this 
 way, but many of them are. 
 
 Mr. Lyman was well pleased with his partner. 
 He had found him an active, shrewd, careful 
 man, of unusual ability as a banker. At the end 
 of one year's time, he decided that it would be 
 best to increase the capital stock of the bank to 
 $50,000, and his satisfaction knew no bounds 
 when he found that Henry came up with his 
 $12,500 cash without any trouble. Like Henry, 
 Mr. Lyman had been running a pawnshop on 
 Union Square. So he, too, was ready with his 
 $12,500, and the bank capital stood at $50,000. 
 
 Once more we see the partners in consulta- 
 tion : 
 
 "I think we had better increase our salaries 
 a little, hadn't we, Henry?" said Mr. Lyman.
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 3! 
 
 "I suppose it would be better, for the divi-> 
 dends will be very high unless we do," he an- 
 swered. 
 
 "What are our average deposits?" 
 "About $350,000." 
 
 "And our loans and discounts are ?" 
 "About $250,000, at ten per cent per annum." 
 "And the profits on our short-time brokerage ?" 
 "Will more than pay all expenses." 
 "Then we will vote ourselves $10,000 per an- 
 num each, as a salary. This will leave us $5,- 
 ooo to declare as a dividend of ten per cent per 
 annum on our stock." 
 
 To this Henry readily agreed, and the confi- 
 dential clerk was informed that his own salary 
 would be raised to $150 per month, and the 
 meeting of the stockholders was over. Mr. 
 Lyman now applied to his wealthy kinsmen in 
 England for their business, and in due time was 
 apprised that they had placed his bank on their 
 books as their correspondent at New York City, 
 and would send a deposit of $100,000, to place 
 to their credit.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE war had now been going on about a 
 year. The president of the United states had 
 called for recruits several times, and then had 
 made a general levy on all of the Union States 
 for troops. Mr. Lyman and Henry came to the 
 front, as soon as this levy was made, and patri- 
 otically sent substitutes. 
 
 A few days after this, Mr. Lyman called 
 Henry into their private office and said : u Henry, 
 my boy, my relatives in England propose to do 
 great things for us. But, as in all vast matters 
 of finance, we must use the greatest discretion 
 and secrecy. The bankers of Europe are watch- 
 ing the progress of this war with great interest. 
 President Lincoln has applied to them for a 
 large loan, and they are not ready to advance 
 the money to this government until they receive 
 certain concessions from Congress. You and I 
 have discussed the poor basis we have for real 
 banking in this country. There is a tendency 
 toward governmental money. This must be 
 checked. The banks must obtain the right to 
 32
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 33 
 
 make and control all of the money we use, ex- 
 cept gold coin and subsidiary silver. If the 
 banks can do this, the)' will be able to control 
 the flow of the money to suit their own interests. 
 In order to accomplish this, it will be necessary 
 that Congress shall pass a law, offering bonds 
 of the government for sale. These bonds must 
 be made the basis of a new banking law, giving 
 the right to make bank notes, as money, to the 
 banks. European bankers expect American 
 bankers to stand by them in this matter,and it is 
 our duty to do so. I have just received the fol- 
 lowing very important circular. Read it." 
 
 Mr. Lyman then handed the famous " Haz- 
 zard Circular" to Henry Hunt, who, after glanc- 
 ing at the head and signature, read aloud as 
 follows: 
 
 "Slavery is likely to be abolished by this 
 war, and chattel slavery destroyed. This, I, 
 and my friends, are in favor of, for slavery is 
 but the owning of labor, and carries with it the 
 care of the laborer; while the European plan, 
 led on by England, is for Capital to control 
 Labor, by controlling the Wages. This can be 
 done by controlling the money. The great debt 
 that Capitalists will see to it is made out of 
 the war, must be used as a means to control the 
 volume of money. To accomplish this, the 
 bonds must be used as a banking basis. We
 
 34 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 are now waiting for the Secretary of the Treas- 
 ury to make this recommendation to Congress. 
 It -will not do to let the Greenback, as it is 
 called, circulate, as money, any great length of 
 time, as ive CANNOT CONTROL THAT." 
 
 "What do you think of it, Henry?" 
 " It coincides with my views exactly. Where 
 did you get it?" 
 
 "I received it in my confidential mail this 
 morning, from my relatives and banker-friends in 
 England. They intimate that they may desire to 
 place a few millions in these bonds, and say that 
 they will immediately ship us one million dol- 
 lars in gold, to be held by us, subject to our check, 
 and insist on our using this money to obtain the 
 passage of such laws as their interests may de- 
 mand, from time to time. You understand that 
 this shipment was merely a donation, made by 
 all of them, to be used for 'campaign purposes.' 
 I will leave for Washington to-morrow morn- 
 ing, to begin operations. It will be necessary 
 to establish an expensive lobby there, the de- 
 tails of which I propose to settle on this trip. I 
 am satisfied that it will be useless to attempt to 
 use any money trying to gain a point with Presi- 
 dent Lincoln. But I may gain something by 
 approaching the Secretary of the Treasury. I 
 shall attempt it, at a.11 events. One thing I feel
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 35 
 
 sure of; we must succeed in getting a number 
 of Congressmen on our side. I will put my lobby- 
 workers at work securing influence at once." 
 
 "Yes, Mr. Lyman, that is the plan. You must 
 be devilish sly about all this, so that if it ever 
 gets into the papers, no shadow shall ever ap- 
 pear against us or our friends." 
 
 "To be sure. You can trust me to do that." 
 
 "I know it, sir, I know it. I have no fear 
 that you will ever make a false step, in any 
 way." 
 
 "Now that I shall have my hands so full of 
 these important matters, almost the entire man- 
 agement of the bank will fall on your shoulders, 
 Henry; but, like the prophet of old, 'I know in 
 whom I have trusted.' I have no fears of you. 
 With more than a million dollars at your own 
 absolute disposal all the time hereafter, I ex- 
 pect you to do grand things this year. We 
 ought to be able to declare a fair dividend and 
 still vote ourselves a salary of $50,000 each next 
 year." 
 
 "I shall do my best, sir. You can rest assured 
 of that." 
 
 "I know it, my boy, I know it. And, in the 
 meantime, I ought to be able to save a few 
 thousands for our benefit, out of the millions I 
 expect to spend in Washington ; and of course
 
 36 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 we divide that between us. We are partners in 
 everything, Henry; partners in everything." 
 
 "Certainly. I shall run the business here. 
 You will look after our interests in Washington. 
 We divide profits on everything. That is un- 
 derstood." 
 
 With a salary of $20,000 per annum, and 
 about as much profit from his pawn business, 
 Henry decided that it was his duty to take an 
 elegant residence and force himself and family 
 to the front among the leading financiers of 
 New York. The fact that their bank had been 
 chosen by the money-lords of England, to dis- 
 tribute the lobby funds, had already drawn con- 
 siderable comment to the owners of this bank; 
 so Henry found that he was gladly received, 
 when he demanded admittance into the charmed 
 circle. His wife had thoroughly educated her- 
 self in all of the ways of fashion. She was 
 naturally fastidious, eager for dress and the 
 pomp and vanities of the world, and she was a 
 great aid to Henry in carrying out his great 
 plans about this time. While Cora did not 
 possess the sweet, womanly beauty of her sister 
 Mamie, she was undoubtedly one of the hand- 
 somest ladies in New York. But one thing 
 marred her face, and, on studying it carefully, 
 a good observer of character would have de-
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 37 
 
 cided that her soul was asleep, that her affections 
 had been crushed, that she was a little bit dis- 
 gusted with the world, as she had found it. But 
 she had a queenly way about her that won her 
 many compliments. She had the lively gait of 
 the fast set, and was fast learning the most de- 
 voted ways of the extra-ultra-unutterables. Her 
 diamonds were not so costly as those some of 
 the ladies of New York wore, but she wore them 
 with a better grace. Her dresses did not come 
 from Worth's, but they seemed to become her 
 better than those of that celebrated milliner did 
 her friends. Thus it was, that when Cora Hunt 
 appeared in her residence on Fifth Avenue, 
 there were few ladies in New York who were 
 more eagerly sought after than she was. With 
 his usual good judgment, Henry had secured a 
 lease on a most desirable house, well located, 
 on very reasonable terms; so the reader need 
 feel no uneasiness about his not being able to 
 keep up the style that he had adopted. With 
 the utmost skill, he managed to keep up with 
 the families of millionaires, at a cost that would 
 have seemed nominal to any very wealthy man. 
 Every cent was made to count. Everything was 
 sacrificed for a brilliant show of wealth before 
 the world; while, really, a miser's hand was 
 closely guarding every expense, in private.
 
 38 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 His wife had been so completely subdued that 
 she had almost lost her own personality. In 
 public, they were the most attentive couple alive. 
 In private, Cora felt herself one of the most 
 miserable women in the world. Their home 
 relations were cold. Neither of them seemed to 
 care what the other did, except in public. Henry 
 spent most of his leisure hours at his club. Cora 
 spent hers at the theater or at other places of 
 amusement, with a coterie of friends with whom 
 she was a favorite. It is true that, at times, 
 Henry appeared at these places, and escorted 
 her home with the greatest ceremony. But 
 Cora was proud and ambitious, and there was 
 no danger of her doing anything that would 
 have compromised her position in society, in any 
 way. Henry knew this and was content. 
 
 Cora was very much surprised, therefore, 
 when Henry insisted on her going on a visit to 
 her old home, during the summer of the last 
 year of the war. He gave her no reason for 
 this request, except that he was anxious to hear 
 all of the news and did not have time to make 
 the visit himself. This being the case, he could 
 not see any reason why she should not make 
 the visit, see all of her old-time friends, and 
 have a vacation from the turmoils of fashionable 
 life, which, he assured her, he thought were be-
 
 THE MODERN CANKER 39 
 
 ginning to weary her. At first she did not like 
 the idea much. She felt that a great and almost 
 impassable gulf had come between her and her 
 old friends. She felt that it would be hard for 
 her to accommodate herself to the smallness of 
 the existence she would be compelled to endure 
 down there for three weeks. But at last a thought 
 of her old parents came to her. She remembered 
 that she had slighted them with impunity, dur- 
 ing the five years of her life in New York. 
 She remembered that it had been over a year 
 since she had heard a word from them. She 
 had never been a good correspondent, and since 
 their letters had been filled with news of the war 
 and of their troubles, she had failed to answer 
 the letters and they had ceased. With the con- 
 scious superiority of self-made people, she felt 
 herself immeasurably above the relatives and 
 friends of her childhood days. She had no 
 patience with them. They ought to have made 
 a fortune and a position in the world, as her 
 husband had done, if they wanted to retain her 
 friendship. They had not done this, and were 
 therefore unworthy of attention from her. But 
 she obeyed her husband and made the visit. Let 
 future chapters explain the results.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CORA HUNT had no idea of the trials and 
 troubles which had beset her relatives in Mis- 
 souri. She expected to see the old place look 
 about the same as usual. She thought the house 
 would look a little older, and expected to find the 
 family looking somewhat older. She had an 
 idea that she would hear the chickens cackling 
 and the cows lowing, as of old. 
 
 Her sister Mamie met her at the depot, and the 
 two drove back alone in a single one-horse buggy. 
 The road led by both of the old homesteads, and 
 the sisters discussed the situation as they drove 
 along. Cora asked no questions about the old 
 places and Mamie did not mention the condition 
 they were in until they made the turn to drive 
 up the old avenue of elms, at her father's home, 
 when Cora exclaimed: "Where is the house?" 
 
 "It was burned down two years ago, by the 
 guerrillas. The Yankees had driven off all of 
 the stock a few days before, and mother had 
 come over to stay with me. One night we saw 
 
 40
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 4! 
 
 a great fire and knew that the old house was 
 gone. It was a wonder they left the barn." 
 
 Tears stood in their eyes as they drove about 
 the old place and looked at all the desolation 
 around them. They were the first tears that 
 Cora had shed for a long time, and the emotions 
 which filled her breast were the noblest she had 
 felt for many months. Her sister told her all 
 of the story of their distress, while they wan- 
 dered among the ruins of their once happy home. 
 For the first time in her life, she felt the empti- 
 ness of the existence she had passed through 
 during the last five years. 
 
 They drove by the homestead of Farmer 
 Hunt,and while the old house was still standing, 
 it had been so badly defaced that it looked, if 
 possible, more desolate than the home of their 
 parents. Weeds had grown up around the yard, 
 doors and window-shutters were gone and the 
 out-houses had all been pulled down for wood 
 to burn while the passing armies had been 
 camped there. There was a small field of corn 
 growing on each one of the old farms, which 
 the members of the relief committees had planted 
 and worked, which was the only sign of life on 
 either place. It was a sad sight, and it gave Cora 
 the horrors to observe it all. 
 
 At last they reached the residence of Colonel
 
 42 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 Hunt, and here Cora determined to brighten up; 
 so she said: 
 
 "Ah, Mamie, I see that you are a better 
 farmer than our mothers are. Still, I see that 
 your place looks like a 'widow woman's place.'" 
 
 "Yes, we have been able to make a living, 
 with the aid of little Pompey, a little negro boy 
 that was given to Arthur last year, by an old 
 planter, whose farmhouse was saved from the 
 flames by Arthur's order. And really I do 
 not know what I should have done without the 
 little ape. You will soon see him, and you must 
 remember that he considers himself the head 
 of this family, and make due obeisance to him. 
 He is the only 'man pusson,' as he terms it, on 
 the place. He is the greatest worker I ever saw, 
 and has worked sixty acres of corn this year, 
 with what little aid mother and myself could 
 give him. Mother Hunt is in very delicate 
 health, and could not work in the field at all." 
 
 "Do you mean to say that you have actually 
 worked in the field, yourself, and allowed our 
 mothers to do so?" 
 
 "Why, certainly. Look at my hands." 
 
 "Why did you not apply to me? Didn't you 
 know that I would have aided you?" 
 
 "I preferred to work, rather than beg." 
 
 "What became of your husband's pay for 
 soldiering?"
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 43 
 
 "I had to use that to pay the interest on the 
 three mortgages, and to pay back the $1,000 
 which Arthur borrowed, in order to pay the old 
 mortgage down to $4,000, so that Henry would 
 take it up and extend it." 
 
 "Does Henry own those mortgages now?" 
 
 "Yes, his bank does. I sent him the last in- 
 terest last month, and really I thought for awhile 
 that he was going to sell all of the farms, for he 
 at first refused to extend the notes another year. 
 But at last, when all of the neighbors joined in 
 a petition to him, he agreed to extend them one 
 year longer, if I would pay up the interest in 
 advance. I was compelled to do this, and had 
 to use the money that I had intended to buy our 
 winter's clothes with, in order to do it. But I 
 suppose that we can get along some way." 
 
 At this point, they drove up to the front gate, 
 just as Pompey sprang forward to hold the 
 horse, saying: 
 
 "Be so obnoxyus as to git out, ladies. I'se 
 sorry my master ain't arriv yit, er he would er 
 be glad to er extol to yer er more illiberate wel- 
 come." 
 
 "But I am here to welcome my own sister, 
 Pompey. Let me introduce you to my sister, 
 Mrs. Cora Hunt, Pompey." 
 
 "Shore, now, Miss Mamie, you don't 'spect
 
 44 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 me to belebe dat dis here lady am yerown sister. 
 Youse foolin' me." 
 
 "Why, certainly she is my sister. Why not?" 
 
 "Because she don't look er little bit like yer. 
 
 You see, Miss Cora is all decked out like my 
 
 young missus, down Souf, only she didn't paint 
 
 and powder like dat." 
 
 Both ladies laughed at Pompey's gibes, and 
 then made their way into the house, where Cora 
 was welcomed heartily by her mother-in-jaw, 
 but with some constraint by her own mother, 
 whose heart rebelled at the sight of so much 
 "finery," as she termed it, while she was in 
 such dire distress. She made a mental compari- 
 son of her daughters, and was forced to the con- 
 clusion that the loving, free-hearted, anxious-to- 
 aid-her-parents Mamie, even in her distress and 
 poverty, was much more beautiful and noble 
 than her painted sister of fashion. She remem- 
 bered that it was signing a note to aid Henry to 
 get into the bank that had caused all of her dis- 
 tress. She felt that it was the duty of her 
 daughter to try to alleviate her position, but was 
 too proud to say so. Henry's mother, on the 
 other hand, laid all the blame on her boy, and 
 made up her mind to be kind to his wife, but 
 never to speak to Henry again. She knew that 
 it was Henry's duty to turn over the mortgage
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 45 
 
 on his father's farm at once, for she knew that 
 the original note had only been signed as a 
 favor to Henry, that he might be enabled to get 
 into the bank. She had long since been forced 
 to confess that Henry was heartless, or he would 
 never have accepted the money that was intended 
 to buy his own mother's winter clothes, as in- 
 terest on that debt which was made as a favor 
 to him. And when he continued to threaten to 
 foreclose this mortgage, she felt that he could no 
 longer be a son of hers.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 UNDER all of these circumstances, it was no 
 wonder that Cora felt that her reception ought 
 to have been different, She, the petted belle of 
 a great city, felt that she ought to have been 
 made much of in her childhood's home. She 
 saw at a glance that her own mother appeared 
 nervous, that she was not cordial in her greet- 
 ings and that it seemed to be impossible for her 
 to get in sympathy with her. Mother Caldwell 
 was hale and hearty, but she bore some marks 
 of trouble on her noble brow. She had always 
 been a woman of decided character. There was 
 never any doubt about her position on any sub- 
 ject that was near to her heart. Mother Hunt, 
 who was never very stout, had been much 
 troubled over the idea of that mortgage, and her 
 pale, delicate features bore decided marks of 
 grief, while her eyes wore a haunted look of 
 almost despair. The fact that her husband and 
 one of her sons had been away from her for 
 almost four years, exposed to all of the perils 
 and hardships of war, had been a severe blow 
 to her health and spirits. She also mourned 
 46
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 47 
 
 over the destruction of her beloved home and 
 the loss of all of her well-known farm animals. 
 But it was the fact that her boy yes, deny it as 
 much as she might, she knew that Henry was 
 still her son had deserted her in her old age 
 and poverty, and had taken a mean advantage of 
 his own father,and brought them to the brink of 
 ruin by his exacting demands for the payment 
 of a note that was made for no other purpose 
 than to aid him in his struggles to get a start in 
 life, to think that she had nursed a being who 
 would treat her in this way, seemed more than 
 she could bear. This thought was always with 
 her. 
 
 Cora had come without her maid. Henry had 
 demurred when she spoke of it, and she was 
 forced to leave her. She had been used to hav- 
 ing everything done for her. She had become 
 accustomed to having the best of everything 
 going. Above all, she loved her personal com- 
 fort. She despised personal worry and trouble, 
 so it was very natural for her to appropriate the 
 great easy chair which had been provided for 
 Mpther Hunt. She cast her eyes over the 
 threadbare carpet and the faded curtains. She 
 quietly kicked an old, well-worn shawl out of 
 her way, as she took her seat and made some 
 commonplace remark. In fact, she was still a
 
 48 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 little irritated at Pompey's remark about her 
 "paint an' varnish," and was really thinking 
 about some mode of thrashing the boy for his 
 audacity, so she did not hear Mother Hunt's 
 question, asking about "the news in town." 
 However, when it was repeated to her, she gave 
 a very lucid and exact account of her husband's 
 rapid rise in the world, and of her own conquests 
 in society. Her three listeners gave her close 
 attention until she had finished; then Pompey, 
 who had just slipped into the room, saw a ring 
 on her finger, which she had forgotten to re- 
 move, and asked: "My goodness, Miss -Cora, 
 is dat ar ring a real diermund?" 
 
 "Yes, Pompey, that is a real diamond. Henry 
 paid $2,500 for it for my birthday present, this 
 spring." 
 
 "Sholely, den, he can't be so orfully hard up." 
 
 "No, he isn't 'hard up' at all. What could 
 have given you such an idea?" 
 
 "Den all dem long letters he's been er writin' 
 to Miss Mamie is whoppers, cut clene outen de 
 hole cloff?" 
 
 "What on earth does the little ape mean, 
 Mamie?" 
 
 "And dat arr $2,500 would er just er paid 
 dat mortgage offer Massa Hunt's farm, too!" 
 
 "Come here, Pompey, and get me some wood
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 49 
 
 to get dinner with," exclaimed Mamie, just at 
 this moment, as she left the room to hide her 
 laughter and her tears, which seemed to be get- 
 ting mixed. Pompey sprang after his mistress 
 with great alacrity, but he left this parting solil- 
 oquy in Cora's ears, as he crossed the room: 
 
 "Dat arr man ain't no human at all. He ain't 
 eben er beast. He am worser dan de old debbil 
 hisself." 
 
 When Pompey entered the kitchen, he saw 
 the tears in Mamie's eyes, and said: "Miss 
 Mamie, I ain't said nussing to hurt yore feelin's, 
 now, has I?" 
 
 "Yes, Pompey. You must not talk this way 
 to my sister again. Please remember that." 
 
 " Yessum. I won't say anudder word to her, 
 if you says not ter. You knows I allus minds 
 you." 
 
 "That is right. Now take this and go after 
 your wood and water;" and she gave him a bun, 
 which he began to demolish as he went to the 
 wood-pile. After chopping away for a few 
 moments, he stopped and soliloquized as follows: 
 "She needn't ter think that she and herhursben- 
 debbil is er gwyen to spile all uv de happiness 
 of all uv my white fokes, lessen I make it hot 
 fur hur when I gits de chance." 
 
 By dint of great patience, the first meal was
 
 50 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 gotten over without further trouble, and by this 
 time the position had become less strained, and 
 everybody was feeling more at ease again. 
 
 But Cora and Pompey were sworn enemies 
 ever afterwards. 
 
 Cora retired early that night. She was tired, 
 and the knowledge of her husband's duplicity, 
 in regard to those mortgages, had made her feel 
 most desolate. She was naturally kind-hearted. 
 She had once loved her parents very dearly, 
 and now that she really understood their situa- 
 tion, she made up her mind to use her best efforts 
 to get Henry to cancel the mortgages. With 
 this in mind, she seated herself and wrote him 
 a long letter, in which she told him the condi- 
 tion of all three of the families. She also gave 
 him an exact description of the condition of the 
 three properties. She wound up this letter with 
 an urgent appeal to him to at once cancel the 
 two mortgages on their parents' farm and return 
 them to her, that she might have the satisfaction 
 of giving them to her parents before she left for 
 New York, which, she announced, would be as 
 soon as she could hear from him on this point. 
 
 In due time his reply reached her. He said 
 that it would be impossible for him to comply 
 with her request as to the mortgages until he 
 had conferred with his partner, who was in
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 51 
 
 Washington ; but from the tone of his letter, she 
 decided that Henry would attend to this matter 
 as soon as possible. She showed this letter to 
 her sister and to her mother and mother-in-law, 
 who, believing that Henry's heart had been 
 touched by his wife's appeal, took her to their 
 hearts and blessed the day of her coming to 
 them. Cora then gave them all of the spare 
 money she had with her, which was enough to 
 supply their present needs, and returned home. 
 The good news was written to the poor fathers, 
 who once more felt the rising of hope in their 
 breasts. They also blessed the dear girl, to 
 whom they thought they owed their deliverance. 
 It is now necessary that the reader should 
 know something about the happenings in the 
 part of the war in which our characters partici- 
 pated. They went out into the Army of Vir- 
 ginia, and had been in many of the hardest- 
 fought battles there, where the greatest battles 
 mankind ever fought were of almost daily oc- 
 currence. But while thousands of their comrades 
 had fallen all around them, they had all escaped 
 unharmed. The Confederacy was now doomed. 
 All of its leaders saw this. It was now a matter 
 of the best possible terms of surrender, when 
 General Grant earned the name that must go 
 down the pages of time, forever unique, always
 
 52 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 revered, and yet comically accurate the name 
 suggested by the general's well-known initials, 
 U. S., which were then said to stand for Un- 
 conditional Surrender Grant. Colonel Hunt's 
 regiment had been with Stonewall Jackson in 
 all of his hardest fights. His men were bare- 
 footed, almost naked, poorly fed, and received 
 their pay in Confederate money, which was now 
 worthless. Such was their condition when they 
 surrendered at Appomatox, but with little money 
 and no chance of transportation, these unsung 
 heroes of a lost cause started on their long tramp 
 home, with light hearts and bright hopes. Like 
 old jaded horses, these men marched slowly 
 homeward, in groups and in single file, scatter- 
 ing far and wide on the way. They had to de- 
 pend upon the charity of the people along their 
 route for something to eat, so that they could 
 not go in large bodies; but Colonel Hunt and 
 his father and father-in-law kept together and 
 walked for many weeks before they reached 
 home. At last they reached home, one night 
 about ten o'clock, and they were worn out, in 
 tatters and half-starved. They almost forgot all 
 of their privations, as they strained their loved 
 ones to their hearts. Supper was soon prepared 
 and "all the news" was discussed, while it was 
 partaken of. No, not all the news, quite. There
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 53 
 
 was one sad item that was carefully passed over, 
 until after the tired soldiers had one good night's 
 sleep. 
 
 Next morning, after breakfast, Mamie said to 
 the entire family, now so happily reassembled: 
 
 "There is one piece of sad intelligence that 
 we have kept from you until now. But the time 
 has come when we must tell you all. I would 
 have written to you, but I saw it would be too 
 late to reach you, so I have waited until I could 
 tell you in person. We are all homeless." 
 
 "Homeless!" exclaimed the three men, rising 
 to their feet simultaneously. "What do you 
 mean?" 
 
 "Henry has foreclosed all three of the mort- 
 gages." 
 
 "Foreclosed the mortgages! Impossible!" 
 exclaimed Father Hunt. 
 
 "Husband, it is all too true. Our son Henry 
 has foreclosed the mortgage on our old home, 
 and we are homeless in our old age," said 
 Mother Hunt, as she fell on her husband's neck 
 and wept. 
 
 "No son of mine has done this accursed busi- 
 ness! Henceforth and forevermore, let his name 
 be a curse. For myself and mine, we shall never 
 again speak the name of such an accursed mon- 
 ster!" and the tall, white-haired old man stag 
 gered out of the door, followed by his wife.
 
 54 T HE MODERN BANKER 
 
 
 "My God! and can this be true?" exclaimed 
 
 Father Caldwell, as he, too, staggered under 
 this last blow to his hopes. "I thought that 
 Cora had prevailed upon him to cancel the 
 mortgages?" 
 
 "So we all thought," answered Mother Cald- 
 well, "but the first thing we knew the farms 
 were all advertised for sale, just a month ago 
 yesterday, when they were sold for considerably 
 less than the mortgage on each of them, and bid 
 in by Henry's agent. We had no money to pay 
 the interest this year, and the farms were adver- 
 tised the next day after the interest fell due. 
 You all were gone, so we could not consult you, 
 and we went to a lawyer in town, who told us 
 that he saw no way to help us, unless we could 
 pay the mortgages. We then went to the bankers 
 and tried to get them to let us have the money 
 on the farms, but they refused. I do believe that 
 Henry had written to those bankers not to let us 
 have the money ; for they did not seem to be 
 surprised at what we told them, and were very 
 curt with their refusal to aid us. In fact, I feel 
 assured that I saw them give a knowing wink 
 at one another, as soon as we entered the bank." 
 
 Colonel Hunt had not said a word until now, 
 when he took his wife in his arms, as he said: 
 "For us, my darling, I care but little about this
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 55 
 
 matter. I can make a living for you anywhere. 
 But because of the outrageous injustice done our 
 parents in this matter, I hereby register, before 
 high Heaven, a vow that I will spend my life to 
 gain revenge. Not only shall Henry feel the 
 power of my vengeance, but those in his accursed 
 profession of banking shall answer to me for 
 this high-handed fraud on my parents!" 
 
 Here they were called to the door by some 
 one knocking, and when the door opened, the 
 County Sheriff, without ceremony, entered and 
 proceeded as follows: 
 
 "I have a very unpleasant duty to perform 
 this morning, ladies and gentlemen, but under 
 an execution from the honorable circuit court of 
 this county, I am instructed to take charge of 
 all the crops, stock, household goods and other 
 property now on this farm, and on the Caldwell 
 farm and on the old Hunt farm, all of which 
 property belongs to you three families; said 
 property to be sold to satisfy a balance still due 
 on certain notes signed by you all and your 
 wives. And I am also instructed to demand im- 
 mediate possession of all three of those farms, 
 which have been foreclosed under those mort- 
 gages." 
 
 "Will you allow me to see your papers, sir?" 
 asked Colonel Hunt, as he grasped the full 
 meaning of all the sheriff had said.
 
 56 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 "Certainly. Here they are." 
 
 After looking over these papers carefully, 
 Colonel Hunt handed them back, saying that 
 he would like to have time to consult an attor- 
 ney. This was readily granted, but with the 
 understanding that the sheriff was to retain pos- 
 session of everything during the delay. Here 
 Pompey was ordered to hitch up the buggy, 
 that Colonel Hunt might drive to town to see an 
 attorney. 
 
 "I am very sorry, sir, but my orders are very 
 strict, and I cannot allow you to use anything 
 belonging to the place, in any way. It is my in- 
 tention to lock all the doors at once, and place 
 deputies at each place." 
 
 u Do you mean to say that you are going to 
 lock my family out of doors, immediately?" 
 
 "My orders are very strict, sir. I am afaird 
 that I will be compelled to insist on absolute 
 possession of everything, at once." 
 
 "I suppose that our wearing apparel will not 
 be wanted?" 
 
 "I cannot allow you to move one cent's worth 
 of anything. These are my positive orders." 
 
 "From whom did you get such inhuman in- 
 structions?" 
 
 "From the plaintiff's attorney, who has posi- 
 tive written instructions from New York. I saw
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 57 
 
 the letter written in Henry Hunt's own hand- 
 writing, and signed by him." 
 
 "Then we have nothing to do but submit. I 
 will take my family to a neighbor's house, while 
 I go to town to see what can be done." And 
 then they all prepared to leave the house, which 
 they did in a few minutes, all talking the matter 
 over in subdued tones. 
 
 For the honor of Missouri, be it known that 
 this sheriff was a reconstruction sheriff, and did 
 not belong to the state, in any way. 
 
 As our fugitives started away,Pompey begged 
 Colonel Hunt to allow him to stay there, " jist 
 to watch er round a little, yer see." After a 
 moment's reflection, he decided to allow Pom- 
 pey to stay there to help the sheriff to look after 
 the stock, etc., to which the sheriff readily agreed. 
 
 Pompey looked after the retreating figures as 
 long as they were in sight, then he turned to the 
 sheriff and said: "Mister Sherruff, dem's de 
 bestest fokes yer ever seed in yer life." 
 
 "Damned rebels, every one of them!" the 
 sheriff answered, more to himself than to the 
 boy. 
 
 "Is yer ergin 'em?" 
 
 "Who, the rebels? Of course I am." 
 
 "Den I specks I knose sumhum yer ort tew 
 know."
 
 58 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 "And what is that, my boy?" 
 u Yer won't giv me erway." 
 "Of course not. I will protect you if you tell 
 me." 
 
 "I knose wharr dar arr a lott uv munney ber- 
 ried." 
 
 "Money that belongs to these people?" 
 "Certain, an' I kin show yer de berry place." 
 "Then I will pay you well to point it out." 
 "How much yer gwyen ter giv me?" 
 "Well, say a third of it. How will that do?" 
 "An' yer er a-gwyen to keep de rest uv it?" 
 "Oh, you can trust me to take care of the 
 rest." 
 
 "Den it's er go. You jist foller me." 
 The sheriff followed with alacrity, while 
 Pompey led him into the back yard, near where 
 the smoke-house was standing. He pointed to 
 the farther side of a pile of old rubbish and said: 
 "You ken dig it up rite darr." 
 
 The sheriff walked up on top of the pile of 
 rubbish and stooped down and began pulling 
 the brush away with his hand, when, almost be- 
 fore he could think, he found himself falling to 
 the bottom of an old dry well. Pompey had 
 pushed one of the cross-beams, which held the 
 rubbish up, out of place, precipitating the sheriff 
 and the whole pile down fully thirty feet below
 
 MODERN BANKER 59 
 
 the surface of the ground. The soft rubbish 
 broke the force of the fall, but the sheriff was 
 badly bruised, when consciousness returned to 
 him, in time to see Pompey's grinning counte- 
 nance, as he looked down and shouted: "You 
 ken jist dig on threw to Chinar, ole man. De 
 munney what I tole yer about is on de udder 
 side uv de yearth. Yer don't like de rebels, duz 
 yer? Bye-bye!"
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 WHEN Colonel Hunt arrived in town, he went 
 directly to the office of Judge Hanna, a famous 
 old attorney, whose upright character and love 
 of justice had long since made him one of the 
 leading attorneys of the state. The judge 
 listened carefully, while the entire matter was 
 laid before him. Then, after consulting a num- 
 ber of law-books,he gave the following opinion: 
 
 "In the case of your land, Colonel Hunt, I 
 have but little hope of accomplishing much. We 
 may be able to force them to release the personal 
 property, by giving bond and waiting until our 
 state laws are in force again and then setting up 
 your exemptions, under the statutes. We can do 
 this, at all events; by giving the necessary bonds, 
 we can gain time and put you in possession of 
 your personal property. Your brother's eager- 
 ness has caused him to make one mistake, how- 
 ever, in regard to foreclosing all of these mort- 
 gages, for this has been done under a Missouri 
 State law, when it should have been done under 
 the instructions of the United States court. 
 
 60
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 6 I 
 
 Therefore we have good grounds to set aside 
 the foreclosure on. 
 
 "In the case of your father and father-in-law's 
 land we have several good grounds. In the first 
 place, there was really no consideration received 
 for the notes given originally to your brother. 
 In the hands of an innocent party, they would 
 be valid, but in the hands of the man who has 
 profited by this palpable fraud, I feel assured 
 that there is not a jury in the county that would 
 force payment in this summary manner." 
 
 Thus it was decided to commence proceedings 
 at once. 
 
 In order to get possession of the property im- 
 mediately, it was necessary that Colonel Hunt 
 should give bonds amounting to about $20,000, 
 but he noticed that when Judge Hannahad com- 
 pleted writing them out, he had signed each one 
 of them himself, unasked. The colonel then 
 placed his own name on each one of them, and 
 taking them in his hand, he started down the 
 street to get more names on them. It was Satur- 
 day, and on inquiring, he found that about two 
 hundred of his old army associates were gathered 
 at a hall in some kind of a convention. He 
 made his way into the hall and was greatly sur- 
 prised to see the entire assembly rise to their 
 feet and give three cheers for Colonel Hunt. He
 
 O2 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 was then borne on the shoulders of four lusty 
 veterans to the platform, where he made a speech 
 which was cheered to the echo. When the con- 
 vention dismissed, he called two or three of his 
 friends to one side and requested them to sign 
 the bonds for him. One of them took the bonds 
 in his hand, sprang upon the platform and an- 
 nounced that Colonel Hunt wanted to give bonds 
 amounting to $20,000, to gain possession of his 
 own and his father's and his father-in-law's 
 farms again. He called for volunteer signers, 
 and the entire assembly insisted on signing those 
 bonds. And when they were all through, it was 
 found that both the backs and the faces of all. 
 three of the bonds were covered with signa- 
 tures. 
 
 The bonds were at once approved, and a dep- 
 uty marshal was detailed to go with Colonel 
 Hunt to his home, to deliver to the sheriff the 
 order to turn over all of the property to its right- 
 ful owners at once. 
 
 On arrival at home, Colonel Hunt and the 
 deputy dismounted and went into the house, 
 which they found unlocked. They looked all 
 around for the sheriff, but he was not to be 
 found. Then they went to the barn, but he was 
 not there. Returning to the house, they called 
 loudly for Pompey, who finally answered them,
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 63 
 
 as he was seen coming out of a strip of timber 
 near by. He came sidling along until he was 
 near enough to speak, when he grinned and 
 said: "Golly, Massa Arthur, how you fellers 
 did skeer me!" 
 
 "What were you afraid of?" 
 
 "I sorter thort dat yer mite be sum more 
 sherruffs." 
 
 "What are you afraid of sheriffs for?" 
 
 "I was afeard dey mite git me dis time." 
 
 "Get you for what?" 
 
 "I wuz afeard dey mite hang me." 
 
 Colonel Hunt decided that it was merely a 
 childish fear that caused the boy to run away 
 and hide himself, so he changed the subject,and 
 asked: "Where is the sheriff that we left here 
 this morning?" 
 
 "He's er diggin' arter sum munney dat I tole 
 him erbout." 
 
 "What money do you mean?" 
 
 "Sum munney what I tole him you all had 
 berried." 
 
 "What did he say when you told him this?" 
 
 "He promised to give me er third uv it, ef I'd 
 tell." 
 
 "And what was he going to do with the rest 
 of it?" 
 
 " He said I could trust him to take care of the 
 rest."
 
 64 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 "Where is he now?" 
 
 "Oh, Fs got him safe ernuff. He can't git 
 erway." 
 
 "You've got him? Got him where?" 
 
 "Down in de hole, er diggin' erway, I guess." 
 
 "Down in what hole? Take me to this 
 hole." 
 
 "Come dis way, sir. When I fed de horses, 
 I carried him a cold bisket and tole him not ter 
 hurt hisself er diggin', cause de munney what I 
 told him erbout wuz on de udder side uv de 
 yearth, in Chinar." 
 
 "What on earth have you been doing?" 
 
 "When you all left dis mornin' I tole him you 
 all wuz de bestest fokes alive. He said yer wuz 
 all damned rebels. Den I axed him ef he wuz 
 ergin yer, and he said he wuz. Den I tole him 
 erbout de munney, and put him ter diggin' fur 
 it." 
 
 By this time they had reached the edge of the 
 old well, and Pompey stuck his head over it and 
 shouted: "Hows yer likin' de rebels by dis 
 time, Mister Sherruff?" 
 
 "Get away from here, you little black devil! 
 Or go and get a rope to get me out of here!" 
 shouted the sheriff, when he heard Pompey 's 
 voice. 
 
 "Here's sum friends what want ter see yer. 
 Shall I send um down?"
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 65 
 
 "No, tell them to get me out of here, you 
 devil." 
 
 "Is yer found enny munney yit?" 
 
 "Get out! Get out! I intend to break every 
 bone in your body, as soon as I get out of here." 
 
 "Not ez long ez my legs can pack me erway, 
 you won't." 
 
 Colonel Hunt and the deputy marshal had 
 been convulsed with laughter, until this moment; 
 but now they interfered, and set about getting 
 the sheriff out, which they finally accomplished, 
 after considerable trouble. 
 
 "Where is that little devil? Let me at him." 
 
 "You don't like rebels, does yer, Mister 
 Sheriff?" shouted Pompey, as he disappeared 
 in the woods. 
 
 We must now go back a few years in order to 
 bring up the history of our characters in New 
 York. The reader will remember that Cora 
 Hunt had just returned from her visit to see her 
 parents, declaring that she would do all in her 
 power to get Henry to cancel the mortgages on 
 their parents' farm. She complied with her 
 promise, as far as she was able, but she could 
 not induce Henry to cancel these mortgages. 
 She found that he had but one god, and that it 
 was Gold. But it was to her influence the two
 
 66 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 extensions were due. She also sent home many 
 presents to her parents and sister, during the 
 trying times of the last two years of the war. 
 
 On his return, after spending one year in 
 Washington, Mr. Lyman held the following 
 conversation with Henry: 
 
 "We have accomplished a great deal this 
 year; but it has been very difficult, and very 
 expensive. We succeeded in getting the Secre- 
 tary of the Treasury to recommend the issuance 
 of the bonds, and finally secured the passage of 
 the necessar}' law ; but not until the President 
 had issued his famous Treasury Notes. These 
 are going to worry us a great deal. We cannot 
 corner them, nor can we control them. The 
 people are glad to get them, are anxious to keep 
 them, and I fear they will be hard to destroy. 
 However, I succeeded in getting in the clause, 
 making them money for all purposes except for 
 the payment of duties on imports and interest on 
 the public debt. This will finally have a tend- 
 ency to depreciate them. Now, if we can only 
 succeed in getting in one more clause, making 
 them payable in gold, or even in coin, it will 
 be a great point gained." 
 
 "Yes," answered Henry, "you have done 
 well. I feel assured that if we can get a clause 
 in, making these Treasury Notes payable in
 
 THE MODERN BANKER j 
 
 coin, that will answer; for we bankers will have 
 but little trouble to convince the Secretary of the 
 Treasury that, if he pays them in silver, gold will 
 immediately go to a premium. And if he does, 
 we can easily carry gold up to a premium, for 
 we have an almost certain corner on gold, any 
 time we want to use it. That much is certain." 
 "Yes, certainly, we are safe on that proposi- 
 tion. Now, Henry, I want to make my report. 
 My account shows that I have saved just $125,- 
 
 000 for us, out of the lobby funds. I have 
 carried every point I was expected to carry, and 
 my relatives in England are so well pleased with 
 my work that they have written me to pass the 
 rest of their funds to my credit, to pay me for 
 my own time and trouble in this matter. Here 
 is a check for your half of it. Now let me hear 
 what you have done." 
 
 "You have done exceedingly well, Mr. Ly- 
 man, exceedingly well. Still, I do not feel that 
 
 1 should be ashamed of my year's work, either." 
 "Well, what are our average deposits?" 
 "About $1,350,000." 
 
 "And our average loans and discounts?" 
 "A little over one million dollars, at ten per 
 cent." 
 
 "Then, the short-time brokerage?" 
 "Shows a net profit of $23,000, over all ex- 
 penses."
 
 68 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 "Hadn't we better increase our capital stock 
 to, say, $250,000?" 
 
 "I think so, decidedly." 
 
 "And what about our salaries?" 
 
 "Well, let me see. Profits on loans and dis- 
 counts, $100,000; on short-time brokerage, $25,- 
 ooo; total, $125,000. Then $25,000 will pay 
 us ten per cent dividends on $250,000 capi- 
 tal stock, leaving just $100,000 for salaries. I 
 see that our salaries will need to be $50,000 per 
 annum, sir, unless we want to run our dividends 
 up too high for comfort. Let me see, $50,000 
 salary each, per annum, is as much as the presi- 
 dent of the United States receives, and the pretty 
 part of it is, that ours comes to us entirely clear 
 of all expenses, while the president of the United 
 States has to spend most of his salary on ex- 
 pensive state dinners, and the like, and be at the 
 beck and call of every Tom, Dick and Harry 
 who happens to want a favor, at the same time." 
 
 "Yes," answered Mr. Lyman, complacently, 
 "this beats being president of the United States, 
 even though he does get $50,000 per annum. 
 You see, every year will increase our income, 
 while the position of the president will become 
 more irksome every year, with additional cost, 
 while the longer we run our bank, the better 
 able to run it will our help become. Yes,Henry,
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 69 
 
 this beats being president all hollow. Let me 
 congratulate you, my boy." 
 
 "It is I who should congratulate you, and 
 thank you for all of your goodness to me, Mr. 
 Lyman ; for it has been your guiding hand that 
 has enabled me to be what I am. Let me con- 
 gratulate you." 
 
 "This is the proudest homage that you could 
 render me, Henry. It proves that I have made 
 a success in life, in my chosen calling. It proves 
 to me that my head was level when I chose you 
 for a partner. I hope that we may live long to 
 enjoy each other's friendship."
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ONE year later, when Mr. Lyman and Henry 
 met in their "annual stockholders' meeting," 
 the former rubbed his hands together gleefully, as 
 he exclaimed: "Henry, you must go down to 
 Washington with me to-morrow. I want to in- 
 troduce you to our Queen of the Lobby. Ah! 
 that was a happy thought of mine. Few men 
 can resist a really smart, pretty woman's influ- 
 ence. Knowing this, I employed the Countess 
 Ilman, who has been engaged in this lobby 
 work in Europe, to come to my aid. And the 
 result has been most satisfactory, in every way. 
 You would laugh yourself to death if you could 
 see how she handles our Congressmen especi- 
 ally those just arrived from the green country 
 districts. We are maintaining a magnificent 
 establishment for her, where she receives and is 
 received by all of the best families in Congress. 
 When one of our new Congressmen arrives, we 
 secure an introduction for her and she takes him 
 in charge. Of course, he has come to Washing- 
 ton full of great reforms for the benefit of the 
 
 people. He is just bubbling over with patriotism, 
 
 70
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 7 I 
 
 with the 'Give me liberty, or give me death' 
 idea in it. In a few visits, the Countess succeeds 
 in finding out how he stands on all of our 
 schemes, and reports to us. If he is really a 
 dangerous man to us, of course we are forced 
 to buy him off. And this is done in a hundred 
 different ways. Some of these old country 
 greenhorns are absolutely unpurchasable, but we 
 find that most of the Congressmen from the 
 large cities are easily handled. They are in for 
 the money. They have obtained their offices by 
 fraud, or by the use of money, and they expect 
 to make money out of them. 
 
 "It is very amusing to see how she manages 
 some of those patriots. Many of them change 
 their views because she has laughed at them as 
 foolish; some, because she asks it as a personal 
 favor; others, because she has made love to them 
 and influences them in that way; quite a number 
 change because she convinces them that their 
 scheme is impracticable, and will make them the 
 laughing-stock of the entire country ah, that 
 is a great dodge! a few, the wily old politicians 
 from the cities, demand so much money, which 
 we pay promptly, if the measure is of sufficient 
 importance. There is now a very strong rail- 
 road lobby at Washington, so we have joined 
 hands with them that we may absolutely control
 
 72 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 all legislation that we desire to control. Their 
 interests and ours are practically identical. They 
 want cheap labor \ we want dear money , which 
 amounts to the same in effect. And for the 
 first time I feel secure. We have proven that 
 we can defeat any measure that we desire to de- 
 feat. I shall soon demonstrate the fact that I can 
 carry any measure that I want to pass. The 
 bankers of the United States are at last becom- 
 ing thoroughly organized. They are working 
 together like beavers. Every bank on our lists 
 has paid every assessment made, this year. I 
 am educating them. It will not be long before 
 every banker in the land will know more about 
 the real secrets of banking than the president of 
 the United States does. By the bye, it would 
 be a good idea to put a banker into the White 
 House and another in as Secretary of the Treas- 
 ury. I will start that ball to rolling, anyway. 
 And now, to business. Here is a check for your 
 part of my wages, which have been increased 
 again this year." 
 
 "Do you mean to say that my part of your 
 wages is $125,000?" asked Henry, in astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 "Certainly. You see the check." 
 "Then let me congratulate you on your suc- 
 cess."
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 73 
 
 "And how about your progress?" 
 
 "Oh, I have done fairly well, myself." 
 
 "What have been our average deposits this 
 year?" 
 
 "About $2,750,000." 
 
 "Loans and discounts?" 
 
 "About $2,500,000, at ten per cent per an- 
 num." 
 
 "Short-time brokerage?" 
 
 "About $50,000 above all expenses." 
 
 "Ah, ha, Henry, I see you have beaten me 
 this year!" 
 
 "Yes, but then, you see, I had the entire bank 
 to operate on, while you were single-handed." 
 
 "Quite right, in one sense; but you must re- 
 member that I have handled a great deal more 
 money than you have. I must raise my assess- 
 ments. It will never do to allow you to beat me 
 in this way. Let me congratulate you on your 
 wonderful success." 
 
 "Yes, sir, I consider that $300,000 profit, on 
 a capital of only $250,000, is pretty good results 
 in one year's time. It is good banking, at all 
 events." 
 
 "So it is, my boy, so it is. And now, what 
 have our private enterprises done? You know 
 that I turned mine over to you, last year." 
 
 "They seem to have stopped at the old figures 
 again."
 
 74 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 ''What, only $50,000 each again, this yearl" 
 
 "That is all, sir." 
 
 "Then we must turn them into diamond bro- 
 kerage establishments. I have a cousin who 
 thoroughly understands diamond brokerage, so 
 I will write to England for him to come at once. 
 We cannot afford to waste our time on a slow 
 business, like the pawn business seems to have 
 turned out to be. We must have results. Now, 
 about the bank capital. Hadn't we better in- 
 crease it to $500,000?" 
 
 "I think so, decidedly." 
 
 "So let it be. What about salaries, Henry?" 
 
 "We will have to make our salaries $150,000 
 each per annum, in order to keep the dividends 
 down." 
 
 "Certainly. That is right. And now, Henry, 
 what about being president of the United States? 
 Do you feel like you want to change places with 
 him?" 
 
 "A man would be a fool if he resigned such 
 positions as we now hold, to be president of the 
 United States. No sensible man would give up 
 a position that was paying him. $150,000 per 
 annum, all clear profit, with the chance of 
 doubling this salary in the future, to take a 
 measly president's chair, at $50,000 salary per 
 annum, and have to pay his living expenses out 
 of that."
 
 THE MOt)fiRN BANKER ^5 
 
 "In my opinion, a man would be a fool if he 
 did not make millions out of one term of the 
 presidency. I stand ready to pay the money to 
 the first president who will do as I dictate to him. 
 Yes, sir, millions!" 
 
 "Then, sir, you will soon find your man. 
 Never fear." 
 
 "Oh, I know that. We have matters just as 
 we want them. The game is coming our way. 
 All that we need to do now, is to catch it as it 
 comes. There is only one more hard knot to 
 unravel, and that is the question of those Treas- 
 ury Notes, which we must destroy. We must 
 get rid of that greenback money. It is absolutely 
 necessary that it should be called in and de- 
 stroyed. The people cling onto it with peculiar 
 pertinacity. They actually prefer it to gold. 
 I am just now starting in on a general crusade 
 against it, and here is the first gun of the cam- 
 paign. Read it." 
 
 Mr. Lyman then handed a circular to Henry, 
 who read: 
 
 "DEAR SIR: It is advisable to do all in your 
 power to sustain such prominent daily and 
 weekly papers, especially the agricultural and 
 religious press, as will offlose the issuing of 
 greenback -pa-per money ^ and that you also with- 
 hold patronage of favors from all applicants who 
 are not willing to oppose the governmental issue
 
 76 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 of money. Let the government issue the coin 
 and the banks issue the paper money, for then 
 ive can better protect each other. To repeal the 
 law creating National Bank Notes, or to restore 
 to circulation the governmental issue of money, 
 -will be to provide the -people -with money, and 
 will, therefore, seriously affect your individual 
 profit AS BANKERS AND LENDERS. See your con- 
 gressman at once, and engage him to support 
 our interests, that ive may control legislation." 
 
 "I propose," said Mr. Lyman, when Henry 
 had finished reading the circular, "to have this 
 circular signed by our American Bankers' Asso- 
 ciation, and then send it to every bank on our 
 lists." 
 
 "But is it not very dangerous? If the public 
 should happen to get hold of one of these circu- 
 lars, would there not be a great roar against the 
 banks?" 
 
 "There certainly would. But we would be 
 able to deny out of it. We could have every 
 banker in the land deny any knowledge of such 
 a circular, or even of such an association. Be- 
 sides, there is very little chance of its getting 
 out. It will be sent out confidentially, to none 
 but our own tried and true friends, whose in- 
 terests will make them ver}' careful.' Then, it 
 is one of the main objects of this circular to put 
 a muzzle on the press. The managers of the
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 77 
 
 great dailies could not be persuaded to publish 
 that circular. They know that they cannot exist 
 without the banker's influence. They know that 
 it would be financial suicide for them to attempt 
 to oppose the banker's influence. I tell you, we 
 are getting a pretty firm hold on the people of 
 this government already, and in ten years more 
 we expect to make it a perfect sinch. Do you 
 know that all the governments of Europe belong 
 to the bankers, now ; that no country can afford 
 to go to war without the consent of the money- 
 kings, who always insist on getting some great 
 concession before they will agree to the war? 
 Such is the fact, and we are fast getting this 
 government in the same shape. 
 
 "The great secret of the bankers' success 
 seems to have escaped the sages and savants of 
 all countries. These so-called patriots have never 
 had sense enough to know that the people are 
 entitled to the use of their own money, made by 
 their own governments, without interest or 
 charge of any kind; and that the bankers have 
 so manipulated matters that really all of the 
 money belonging to the people, except a small 
 margin kept on hand by the banker for safety, is 
 now drawing interest all the time; which inter- 
 est goes directly into the bankers' vaults, as 
 clear profit, while it ought to be turned into the
 
 78 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 credit of each and every depositor of the bank, 
 according to the amount he has on deposit in 
 the bank at the time. Thus, you see, the peo- 
 ple are forced to pay the banker interest on their 
 own money; for all men are borrowers, as well 
 as depositors, and all are caught in our net." 
 
 "You are right, sir,-' answered Henry, "we 
 have a 'sure thing' game, with all the world as 
 our victims. Our only danger lies in bad loans." 
 
 "A banker is a fool if he lets out one dollar 
 where there is a shadow of a show of losing it. 
 Now, just for our own satisfaction, tell me how 
 much we have lost since you have been with 
 this bank?" 
 
 "There have been no absolute losses, but we 
 have several thousand dollars' worth of unfin- 
 ished business." 
 
 "What does it consist of?" 
 
 "I am sorry to say that most of it is charged 
 up to my own relatives. I have done my best 
 to collect those notes, but have never been able 
 to do so, without foreclosing the mortgages. 
 This would have been unpleasant to my wife 
 and I, because there would have been a great 
 howl over it. But I have decided to do it, let 
 the result be what it may. I did not take charge 
 of this bank to allow it to be beat out of its 
 money, especially by my own relatives. I shall
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 79 
 
 forward all of the papers in these three cases to 
 an attorney this evening, with strict instructions 
 to foreclose." 
 
 : 'What is the total amount, and what is it for?" 
 
 "Why, you remember that my father gave 
 his note for $2,500, and my father-in-law gave 
 his note for $2,500, when I first went into the 
 bank. Then, in order to get these notes secured 
 on each of their farms, which were well worth 
 $10,000 each, I was forced to carry a $4,000 
 mortgage on my brother's farm, which was also 
 well worth $10,000. This gives me an invest- 
 ment of $9,006 well secured on $30,000 worth 
 of choice Missouri farms." 
 
 "Have they paid the interest promptly?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, I would have foreclosed them long 
 since, if they had not done so. You can bet I 
 looked after that! I even made them pa}' the 
 last interest in advance before I would make the 
 extension, which was applied for by a lot of the 
 neighbors, who seem to think that it is their 
 duty to meddle with my affairs." 
 
 "The two old men really received nothing 
 when they signed those notes, did they?" 
 
 "N-no, but they signed them as part of my 
 part of their estates, and they should have paid 
 them." 
 
 "I believe I would cancel the mortgages on
 
 8o THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 the two old homesteads, if I were you, Henry, 
 and send them to your own and your wife's 
 parents, to celebrate the fact of our wonderful 
 success. You can mark the amounts up to'profit 
 and loss.'' 
 
 "But, my dear friend, do you think I would 
 permit you to lose one cent through my rela- 
 tives? If there is to be a loss, then it is mine. 
 But there is really no reason why I should al- 
 low them to beat me out of a lot of money, and 
 cause me to break one of the strongest rules of 
 my life, through my sympathies. A banker has 
 no business with sympathies. I do not care for 
 the money. It is the principle at stake. I in- 
 tend to force them to pay every cent of those 
 debts at once, and will write out the instructions 
 this very evening." 
 
 "Have your own way, my boy, have your 
 own way." 
 
 But Mr. Lyman found himself thinking about 
 it when he reached his own rooms. "It was a 
 heartless thing to do," he soliloquized, "but I 
 suppose that Henry is right about not having 
 any sympathies, as a banker. Such things are 
 well enough for common people. Still, I have 
 half a mind to send a check to pay it off, my- 
 self, but I suppose I had better not do so."
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 COLONEL HUNT and his father and father-in- 
 law went to work with a will. It was not long be- 
 fore they had all of their farms blossoming like a 
 rose. It was very hard work, but each of them 
 felt that their only salvation depended on getting 
 a big crop during the delay in the trial of their 
 cases, and they worked like beavers. It is true 
 that they were short of even the necessities of 
 life; but they drank "potato coffee," without 
 sugar, had meat once a day, and ate vegetables, 
 bread, milk and butter,and throve upon it. Their 
 good wives took their places behind the old- 
 fashioned looms, and long ere the winter days 
 arrived, had plenty of clothing for all of the 
 family. It was too late to plant a crop of corn, 
 but every acre of their land was sown in wheat 
 that fall, and thanks to a merciful Providence, 
 they gathered a bountiful harvest in the spring. 
 Prices of wheat were very high the next fall, 
 and when the cases were finally brought up for 
 trial, each one of them had about $1,000 cash in 
 hand to apply on the debts. This was duly re- 
 
 81
 
 82 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 ported to Henry, who at once instructed his 
 agent to accept these amounts and extend the 
 rest one year, provided all the expenses were 
 paid by the defendants. Accordingly this was 
 done, and the farms were once more planted in 
 wheat. 
 
 Henry's name was never mentioned among 
 them. No communications of any kind were 
 had with him or his wife, except through the 
 attorneys. They had all made up their minds to 
 pay off the mortgages, as fast as possible, and 
 they were doing so with a will. 
 
 However,hard as Colonel Hunt was working, 
 he was reading and studying still harder. 
 He had managed to get a vast lot of information 
 in regard to the plans and policies of the national 
 banks. He reviewed the actions of both of the 
 great parties regarding our banking laws, and 
 found that neither of them had ever been, in 
 practice, opposed to anything the bankers de- 
 manded. He saw that not only Congress, but 
 even the state legislatures, passed all laws that 
 were favored by the banks. He noted the fact 
 that very few of the great papers had the temerity 
 to oppose any measure that was being vigorously 
 advocated by the banks. He then examined 
 the details of banking, and very soon ran up on 
 a query that staggered him: "Why on earth
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 83 
 
 do all of the people give the banks the use of all 
 of their money all the time, free of charge, and 
 then so readily agree to pay the banks an 
 exorbitant interest, if they happen to want to 
 borrow a little money from the banks?" 
 
 This query was with him all the time. He 
 could not get rid of the idea. What in the world 
 did the people mean? Were they all fools? He 
 thought of the billions of dollars that were de- 
 posited in the banks all the time. "No wonder 
 the bankers are getting rich," he exclaimed to 
 himself, "when the people give them the use of 
 all of their own money free of charge, and then 
 pay the banks for every cent they happen to 
 need themselves! Wh} T , the bankers are really 
 getting interest on all of the money in the coun- 
 try, nearly, while most of it belongs to the very 
 people who are, at various times, borrowing it! 
 In effect, this amounts to the people borrowing 
 from themselves, and paying the banker the in- 
 terest! My God! What folly! It will bank- 
 rupt every man in the country, except the bank- 
 ers, who are bound to grow immensely rich!" 
 
 Thus he reasoned, as he plowed his wheat 
 land. In this way his mind was employed as 
 he gathered in his harvest. During his leisure 
 hours he read every book he could obtain on 
 finance and banking. So it was that he learned,
 
 04 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 that from time immemorial, the money-lord 
 tries to keep the poor producer in ignorance of 
 the manner in which he is being robbed, that 
 the robber might continue his rascalit}'. And 
 yet it is such a simple matter. "Why," he so- 
 liloquized, "do the business men submit to such 
 an outrage? Why don't they combine, start a 
 bank of their own, elect one of their number 
 manager, loan their own deposits and get the 
 interest themselves? The bankers are no wiser 
 than the business men, except on this point. 
 Any good sensible man can run a bank, after 
 he studies it a little. Why, look at the men right 
 here among us, who have become bankers. 
 They are no smarter than hundreds of their 
 neighbors. And yet they go on and get rich, 
 and no one seems to ask the reason of it. They 
 get rich, while the poor business man and farmer 
 gets poorer and poorer, or else struggles along 
 to hold his own, and still nobody tries to inquire 
 the reason why it is so!" 
 
 Colonel Hunt was not very reticent with open 
 expressions of these thoughts, and they soon had 
 others thinking a little on their own account. 
 These expressions soon gave him the reputation 
 of being a far-seeing man. His neighbors spoke 
 of him as a coming man. They all looked upon 
 him as an honest, fearless patriot.
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 85 
 
 Mr. Lyman produced a check for $200,000 as 
 Henry's share in his next year's work, at the 
 next stockholders' meeting, and then asked, as 
 usual: 
 
 "What are our average deposits, Henry?" 
 
 "About $4,000,000." 
 
 "Loans and discounts?" 
 
 "About $3,650,000, at 9 per cent per annum." 
 
 "Short-time brokerage?" 
 
 "About $75,000 above all expenses." 
 
 "Ah, Henry, I see we are about even this 
 time. We have each added about $400,000 to 
 our capital this year." 
 
 "But there is the diamond brokerage, sir." 
 
 "So there is. I will be bound that you will 
 beat me again. How has my cousin turned.out?" 
 
 "Very well, I suppose, although he declares 
 that he is just getting the business under head- 
 way." 
 
 "What are his profits, so far?" 
 
 "A little over $100,000 at each place, $200,- 
 ooo in all." 
 
 "Ah!" exclaimed Mr. Lyman, "that makes 
 a little over a million dollars clear profits this 
 year. Pretty good, my dear boy. Allow me 
 to congratulate you." 
 
 "Allow me to return the congratulations, with 
 my best wishes for your continued good health
 
 86 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 and happiness." And they shook hands heartily. 
 
 "But I have two points for congratulations 
 yet." 
 
 "Name them, my dear boy, name them," said 
 Mr. Lyman. 
 
 "First,! have collected$i,5ooon my brother's 
 mortgage, and $1,000 each from my father and 
 father-in-law. This makes these investments 
 absolutely safe, and as they are pa}*ing me ten 
 per cent interest, while I find that it is hard to 
 average nine per cent here, I have offered to 
 extend them indefinitely. ThisVelieves me from 
 the stain of my relatives disgracing themselves, 
 and the bank from the stain of losing any thing." 
 
 "Never mind about telling me this I mean, 
 that it is all right you know best, at all events," 
 said Mr. Lyman, rising to leave the room. 
 
 "But, wait!" exclaimed Henry, at a loss to 
 account for the strange conduct of his partner, 
 "you have not heard my best news yet." 
 
 "Well, what is it?" rather gruffly. 
 
 "I have a son and heir," blushing like a boy. 
 
 "Glad to know it, sir, glad to know it. But 
 I must really be going now." He then retired 
 to the corridor, where he said to himself : "I 
 wish he would never mention those accursed 
 mortgages to me again. It was a beastly thing 
 to do, and I cannot help but shudder, while he 
 is continually calling my attention to them I"
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 87 
 
 Henry was puzzled. After studying about 
 the matter for some time, he said: "I have it. 
 He told me to cancel those two mortgages on 
 the old homesteads of my father and father-in- 
 law, last year, and I did not do it. This has 
 offended him. I will cancel them and send them 
 to the old people this very evening. Yes, I will 
 send Arthur his, too, with a letter, telling about 
 the little one." 
 
 An hour later he mailed his letter, with the 
 first glow of real human feeling that he had felt 
 in years. He had become a machine, which was 
 incapable of enjoying any emotions save the 
 greed of gain. But the coming of his little son 
 opened up his heart a little. And he kissed his 
 wife when he reached home. And she was very 
 much surprised, and wept. 
 
 That night, Cora surprised Henry by asking 
 him to let her "go home" for a month or two. 
 At first he would not listen to the idea, but she 
 insisted, and finally he gave his consent. Baby 
 was now six weeks old, and Henry could not 
 make this an excuse to keep her, so he sent her 
 away, with a strange feeling at his heart. 
 
 Cora drove up to her mother's door in a hired 
 vehicle, unannounced. She was alone, so she 
 hitched the horse, took baby in her arms and 
 walked into her mother's room, which she found
 
 08 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 unoccupied. She heard a noise in a back room, 
 so she laid baby on the bed and went quietly 
 into this room, where she found her mother 
 weaving lustily. Almost before Mother Cald- 
 well could utter a word, Cora had her arms 
 around her neck and was weeping, as she 
 pleaded: "Mother, my heart is broken! Won't 
 you love me again? Oh, how my heart hungers 
 for love ! I have been loveless for ten long years. 
 I cannot stand it any longer. What care I for 
 all the pomp and vanities of the world, if I can- 
 not have some one to love? Oh, mother! Please 
 don't look at me that way! Scold me! Beat 
 me, if you will, but, oh, love me again! Take 
 me to your heart again. I know what you feel. 
 I cannot excuse my conduct, but, oh, let me 
 love you again." 
 
 Mother Caldwell's face was a study. Pride, 
 outraged love, resentment and bitterness were all 
 striving for the master} 7 . Her arms had dropped 
 down by her sides, and were encircled by those 
 of Cora, whose streaming eyes and disheveled 
 hair were directly in front of her. 
 
 But unluckily for poor Cora, a discussion had 
 been held over the receipt of those canceled 
 mortgages by all interested parties, only the 
 night before, and it had been agreed, unani- 
 mously, that they should be returned to Henry,
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 89 
 
 with the haughty intelligence that they would be 
 paid in full. They had been demanded at a 
 time when payment was impossible, but now 
 that it would be possible to pay them so soon, it 
 would not be possible for them to allow of any 
 discount being taken off. They would be paid 
 to the last cent. During this consultation, 
 Mother Caldwell had sworn that no daughter of 
 hers would live with a man who had made his 
 money by such methods. She remembered all 
 this as Cora was pleading, and when she had 
 ceased, her mother rose, pushed her back from 
 her and said: "You are no longer my daughter! 
 Why have you come here to mock me in this 
 way ? You are a pretty daughter, dressed up in 
 your finery, wearing your diamonds, while your 
 old gray-haired mother is running a loom for a 
 living!" With this, Mother Caldwell started to 
 go into her own room, dragging her weeping 
 daughter with her. The unusual noise had 
 awakened the baby, and he began to cry. In 
 one moment Cora had the child in her arms, her 
 own tears streaming into his face, as she ex- 
 claimed: "Mother, can't you see that it is baby 
 who has done it? Baby has changed my heart! 
 Baby's coming has shown me how mean I 
 have been to you! Mother, can't you forgive 
 me for baby's sake?"
 
 9O THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 "My God! This is more than I can bearl" 
 she exclaimed, as she fell back into her easy 
 chair. 
 
 Cora laid the child in her mother's lap, as she 
 knelt at her knees. Baby seemed to think that 
 it was all right again, so he began looking at his 
 grandmother with eyes wide open with astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 "God bless the child! It has done one good 
 deed already, if it has put you to thinking!" ex- 
 claimed Mother Caldwell, as she pressed the 
 little one to her heart. This seemed to break 
 the ice, and she poured into Cora's ears a stream 
 of heart-longings, heart-aches and unhappiness, 
 for an hour or more, while Cora wept on her 
 knee. She wound up the proceeding by giving 
 her daughter a good kissing, a hearty hugging, 
 and thanking her Creator for restoring her long- 
 lost daughter to her arms again. Then she sud- 
 denly remembered that it was getting late and 
 that she had to get some supper and that she 
 "didn't know what on earth she would cook for 
 that baby to eat." 
 
 "Why, mother, baby can't eat anything. He 
 nurses." 
 
 "Of course he does, bless his little heart. But 
 I don't know what your father will say, and I 
 don't know what everybody will say, but I don't
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 9! 
 
 Care. If you are going to treat me as a daughter 
 should, then I ain't the mother to keep you from 
 doing your duty." 
 
 "Now, that's my darling old mother, herself 
 again," exclaimed Cora, as the kissing scene 
 began again. 
 
 Cora had on an old apron and was busy help- 
 ing her mother in the kitchen, when her father 
 came in from work. When he had been told 
 all that had taken place, he said: "I knew your 
 mother couldn't hold out long, when she saw 
 that baby. By the bye, where is the young 
 man? I would like to see my first grandson 
 once, myself." 
 
 And so baby was exhibited to his delighted 
 grandfather, and all four were happier than they 
 had been for many a day. 
 
 Cora's visit was uneventful after this. Her 
 father and mother took her to their hearts again, 
 but she did not expect to be very well received 
 by Colonel Hunt, or his family or friends. They 
 treated her kindly, but she could see there was 
 little real cordiality in their manner. Mamie 
 seemed to be much the prouder of the two sisters. 
 She had condemned the heartlessness of Henry 
 so bitterly that she could not overcome her re- 
 pugnance at seeing Henry's wife and child. 
 However, Mother and Father Hunt received her
 
 very cordially. They knew Henry, and blamed 
 him for his heartlessness to them, but they did not 
 have the heart to condemn his wife and innocent 
 baby, on his account. Yet there was one point 
 that all parties drew the line at. Not one of them 
 all would accept a single present from Cora. 
 Mother Caldwell took the lead in this, when 
 Cora wanted to get her some better furniture and 
 carpets. "No, Cora," she had said, "I cannot 
 accept anything from your husband. It would 
 seem to me like blood money, for I know that 
 he has cheated some poor mortal out of it." 
 
 "Oh, mother, don't talk that way," said Cora. 
 
 "I must do it, child. Every mortgage that 
 he has foreclosed has robbed some poor family 
 out of a home. He has not earned a single 
 dollar of all that vast fortune that he has gained. 
 By some hook or crook in the law, he has 
 wrenched it out of the shriveled hand of labor; 
 has gathered it in away from some deserving per- 
 son. See what wretchedness he tried to bring 
 upon his own parents! Would an honorable 
 man have done that? Would an honest man take 
 such a mean advantage of any one, as to get them 
 to" sign a note for his own accommodation, and 
 then take that same note and sell his friend out 
 of house and home? No, Cora, if you ever need 
 a friend, or a home, or anything that we can do
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 93 
 
 for you, come to us; but do not expect us to 
 receive your husband, or any of his ill-gotten 
 gains." 
 
 And with this decision Cora was forced to be 
 content, and after a month's visit she returned 
 to New York, feeling that she was leaving all 
 that was worth living for behind her. 
 
 The wheat crop was a failure this year, so it 
 was found that it would be impossible for them 
 to pay anything on the principal of the mort- 
 gages, but interest in full was mailed to Henry 
 by the attorney, and was promptly thrown into 
 the fire by him, no answer being vouchsafed. 
 When the mortgages were returned to him, he 
 had treated them in the same way, swearing that 
 he would never write them another line, as he did 
 so. He had burned up the mortgages, but he could 
 not eradicate the words of his brother's manly 
 letter from his memory. They were burned 
 into living letters of fire on his heart, and he 
 could not forget them. He saw them yet; he 
 could read them now: 
 
 "At the request of our parents, I herewith re- 
 turn to you the mortgages that your greed for 
 gain has wrenched from their aged, trembling 
 hands, with the assurance that they will pay 
 them just as soon as possible. After accepting 
 the pitiful earnings of your own mother, of your 
 own mother-in-law and of your sister-in-law,
 
 94 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 during all of the four years of our civil war, as 
 interest on those accursed mortgages, while their 
 husbands were away in the war, you cannot now 
 refuse to accept both principal and interest from 
 those husbands, who insist on paying every cent 
 covered in your unholy demand. 
 
 "But this is not all. After persuading your 
 father and father-in-law to sign two accommo- 
 dation notes to enable you to get into business, 
 which has made you the real owner, or half- 
 owner of these notes, and then insisting on a 
 mortgage on their homesteads to secure these 
 notes, on which mortgages you absolutely at- 
 tempted to foreclose those homesteads, when 
 you knew that their owners were away and that 
 their wives were widows, at the time, you can- 
 not now refuse to accept payment in full, when 
 it is tendered to you. In the hope that all of 
 these facts may enter your heart as a blade of 
 steel, and that they may produce suitable effects, 
 I am, etc." 
 
 "Confound that accursed letter! I wish I 
 could get it out of my mind. I wish I had sent 
 them those mortgages when Lyman told me that 
 I had better send them, for then, perhaps, they 
 would have accepted them. Now I shall never 
 hear the last of them. Damn that interest money 
 that they have just sent me I I wouldn't touch 
 a cent of it for a kingdom. I'll burn the whole 
 thing up!" So saying, he threw the letter, 
 check and all, into the fire and watched them 
 burn up into ashes.
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 95 
 
 "I wonder what is coming over me, anyway!" 
 he soliloquized. "I am getting as nervous as a 
 rat. It seems to me that people are avoiding 
 me. Even my wife shivers, if I happen to touch 
 her, just as though she had been touched by a 
 viper. God! It's fearful!" 
 
 Once more the annual stockholders' meeting 
 is in session. "My profits have been $500,000," 
 said Lyman. 
 
 "I have an anomalous state of affairs," said 
 Henry. "In the first place, we forgot to vote 
 ourselves any salary at the last meeting. In the 
 next place, we neglected to make any arrange- 
 ments about our profits at that meeting, so that 
 I have been carrying $1,000,000 as a surplus, 
 with only $500,000 capital stock, this year." 
 
 "You have not advertised this surplus, have 
 you?" 
 
 "No, I have not." 
 
 "Then it is easily settled. What are our aver- 
 age deposits?" 
 
 "About $6,500,000." 
 
 "Loans and discounts?" 
 
 "About $6, 250, ooo, at 8 per cent per annum." 
 
 "Short-time brokerage?" 
 
 "About $300,000, above all expenses." 
 
 "Diamond brokerage?" 
 
 "About $300,000 clear profits."
 
 96 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 "That is $1,600,000 clear profits, $800,000 
 each. How does that compare with the salary 
 of the president of the United States, eh, Henry ?" 
 
 "Eight hundred thousand dollars each, clear 
 profits, in one year! It seems almost incredible!" 
 said Henry. 
 
 "But there are the figures to prove it,Henr}'." 
 
 "I know it, sir; there is no doubt about it." 
 
 "I guess we had better increase the capital 
 stock of the bank to $3,000,000, hadn't we, 
 Henry?" 
 
 "I think so, decidedly." 
 
 "And our salaries?" 
 
 "The bank cleared over $800,000 clear prof- 
 its." 
 
 "And will beat that badly next year." 
 
 "Then I think we might vote ourselves a sal- 
 ary of $500,000 each, this next year, to make up 
 for not getting any salary this year, don't you?" 
 
 "I think so, decidedly, sir." 
 
 "But we must remember that we will have to 
 declare a dividend on $3,000,000 capital stock 
 next year, instead of on a measly $500,000 of 
 this year." 
 
 "That is so. Quite a rise, isn't it? But then, 
 I think there will be plenty of money, even for 
 that." 
 
 "There is no doubt of it, sir."
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 97 
 
 "Henry, I have a scheme." 
 
 "What is it, sir?" 
 
 "I am compelled to keep more or less money 
 in Washington all the time, anyway. Why not 
 take, say about $100,000 down there and start a 
 branch bank?" 
 
 "That is a capital idea." 
 
 "Then I will do that, when I return." 
 
 "You can take down some of the boys from 
 here to aid." 
 
 "So I was thinking. They understand our 
 methods." 
 
 "Certainly, and can train others to help them." 
 
 "This has been rather a quiet year for the 
 lobby. We killed several bills and passed two 
 or three. But our best work has been done on 
 the press. Yes, sir, we have accomplished great 
 results on the papers. You could not get a 
 corporal's guard out of all of the great dailies, 
 that would oppose any measure that we advo- 
 cate. I have reports from allof our banks, and I 
 am glad to see that they are taking such a prom- 
 inent stand in politics. And they are electing 
 our men, everywhere. In a few years we will 
 be able to call in the greenbacks and demone- 
 tize silver. Yes, sir, everything is coming our 
 way, and easily, at that."
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE reconstruction of Missouri had been com- 
 pleted and it had once more taken its place 
 under the Stars and Stripes. Candidates were 
 being announced for the various offices, and 
 politicians had begun engineering their various 
 schemes. With one accord, his old soldiers 
 turned to Colonel Hunt to make the race for 
 Congress. He was the unanimous choice of the 
 Democratic party, and his nomination was ac- 
 complished with a whoop. His great personal 
 popularity, his unswerving honesty, his well- 
 known integrity and his unsurpassed eloquence 
 made him a strong candidate, but he found that 
 the opposition was very strong. Money was be- 
 ing used freely in the attempt to elect a young 
 banker,who had been chosen by the Republican 
 party, as their candidate to Congress. This 
 banker had applied to Mr. Lyman for aid, and 
 that gentleman, remembering Henry's cruelty 
 to his family, had promptly refused to advance 
 a single cent. He was rather rejoiced to see 
 Henry's brother rising to be of some conse- 
 
 98
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 99 
 
 quence in his district, and would have gladly 
 donated something to aid him and his cause, had 
 the chance of doing so appeared to him. Mr. 
 Lyman had no politics. He was all things to 
 all men. But perhaps the only circumstance 
 that had ever worked on his sympathies was 
 Henry's cruelty to his relatives. He felt so safe 
 in his position, as leader of the lobby for the 
 bankers, that he decided that one congressman 
 could not do him much harm, and therefore he 
 was anxious to see Colonel Hunt elected. These 
 were the circumstances, when Mr. Lyman went 
 to New York to attend the next "annual stock- 
 holders' meeting" of the two banks. 
 
 "Well, how does the new bank flourish?" 
 asked Henry. 
 
 "Oh, I guess we are doing very well." 
 
 "What are your average deposits?" 
 
 "About $350,000?" 
 
 "Pretty good for the first year. And loans?" 
 
 "About $300,000, at 8 per cent per annum." 
 
 "Short-time brokerage?" 
 
 "Paid all expenses." 
 
 "Lobby profits?" 
 
 "About $500,000." 
 
 "That makes about $525,000 clear profits." 
 
 "Yes. What are our average deposits in New 
 York?"
 
 IOO THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 "About $10,000,000." 
 
 "Loans and discounts?" 
 
 "About $9,750,000, at 8 per cent per annum." 
 
 "Short-time brokerage?" 
 
 "Paid $400,000 above all expenses of the 
 bank." 
 
 "Diamond brokerage?" 
 
 "About $400,000 clear profits, this year." 
 
 "Ah, then your total profits are $1,580,000 
 this year." 
 
 "Which, added to your profits, makes over 
 $2,000,000." 
 
 "Yes, Henry, we have made over $1,000,000 
 apiece." 
 
 "A pretty good year's work, I should sayl" 
 
 "Especially when we only work six hours 
 per day!" 
 
 "And not very hard work at that," laughing. 
 
 "Ah, Henry, how does that compare with be- 
 ing president?" 
 
 "Pshaw! That beats being king of England!" 
 
 "Yes, for we have no worries whatever." 
 
 "You are right, sir, you are right." 
 
 After increasing the capital stock of the New 
 York bank to $5,000,000, agreeing on a salary 
 of $750,000 each for that bank, and of $10,000 
 each for the bank at Washington, Mr. Lyman 
 said: "Oh, yes, I wanted to tell you some good
 
 THE MODERN BANKER IO1 
 
 news, myself. I am to be married to the Countess 
 Ilman, during the holidays of Congress, and 
 would like to have you bring your family down." 
 
 "Certainly. Allow me to congratulate you." 
 
 "And I expect you will meet your brother 
 there." 
 
 "Meet my brother at your wedding! What 
 do you mean ?" 
 
 "He will be elected to Congress next month, 
 and I expect to invite him to come to my wed- 
 ding. I want to get acquainted with him. He 
 has quite taken my fancy, and as the lobby will 
 have such a large majority in the next Congress, 
 I have not opposed your brother's election, al- 
 though they tell me he is one of the strongest 
 'Anti-bankers' in the country." 
 
 Henry was bewildered, and for an hour or 
 more he remained in his seat studying the mat- 
 ter over. "Arthur in Congress!" he soliloquized. 
 "What on earth does he want to go to Congress 
 for? Who on earth is sending him? Oh, I know 
 him! He hates me and wants a chance to work 
 against me at Washington! He intends to try 
 to pass a law against the bankers, just because 
 I am one of them! There is no turning him, and 
 he will soon be popular. He always was pop- 
 ular. Everybody always likes him. What shall 
 I do? I know. I will defeat him. I will go
 
 102 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 down there in person and help defeat him. 
 Money will do anything. I'm off to-morrow." 
 
 It was still three weeks to the election, when 
 Henry arrived, but he was soon closeted with 
 the Republican leaders, who had out their bands 
 and were marching the streets that very night. 
 Henry stopped at a hotel in town, and did not 
 attempt to see any of his relatives. He had busi- 
 ness on hand and he was attending to it. He 
 used money freely and carried everything before 
 him. The managers of his party were enthusi- 
 astic and his strikers were hard at work. Every 
 man who could make a speech in public, favor- 
 ing the Republicans, found himself with a brass 
 band at his command, and plenty of shouters to 
 cheer him at every point. 
 
 Colonel Hunt was depressed. Not so much 
 at the idea of defeat, as at the methods that were 
 at work to defeat him. He said nothing about 
 his brother, in his speeches, but he exposed the 
 methods of the opposition mercilessly. He 
 found that he had gathered about him all of the 
 prominent men in his district, but it looked very 
 much as though the rabble would be able to 
 outvote his friends. The real animus of the fight 
 was soon discovered. The people understood 
 the reason why Henry was making such a des- 
 perate fight against his own brother, and many
 
 THE MODERN BANKER I 03 
 
 of the leading Republicans at once advocated 
 Colonel Hunt's election. Every speech he made 
 won him friends. Every attack on him by 
 Henry caused some thinking man to come over 
 to his side. But Henry was spending money 
 freely. He was a consummate manager, and 
 everything possible was done and well done. 
 Election day and its fights, broils and bitterness 
 came and passed at last, and it was found that 
 Colonel Hunt had been elected by a small ma- 
 jority. 
 
 Henry had spent $100,000 and was defeated, 
 and he left town for New York, while the guns 
 were celebrating his brother's victory. 
 
 Colonel Hunt's entrance into Congress was 
 uneventful. He began studying the situation he 
 found himself in with great interest. Here he 
 found the hardest problem he had yet met with. 
 It was a stupendous affair. He was certain of 
 that. It seemed to him that every action of 
 Congress was wrapped in such a cloak of rules 
 and regulations, as to utterly befuddle the brain 
 of ordinary people. He saw members fighting 
 over minor rules and precedents, instead of 
 really trying to pass any legislation of any kind. 
 He found that here the game of politics became 
 a science. Here, men consulted the interest of 
 their political party, instead of the interests of
 
 104 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 the whole people. To him it seemed that Con- 
 gress was being used to further the interest of 
 its members, rather than the interests of the peo- 
 ple who had to pay the bills. He saw measures 
 passed with a wink and a nod. He soon saw 
 that there was an outside influence at work. He 
 made up his mind to ferret this influence out 
 and see who and what was at the back of it. 
 He said but little, but took note of everything 
 that was done. After a time he became aware 
 of the fact that every measure that was really 
 passed, almost, was one that favored the money- 
 lords, the bankers or the railroads. 
 
 Colonel Hunt was surprised to find his name 
 mentioned as one of the members of the Com- 
 mittee on Finance and Banking, and he won- 
 dered who, or what influence had placed it there. 
 It was the one committee that he really desired 
 to get on, and he felt very much gratified to find 
 that he had secured the place so easily. At the 
 first meeting of the committee, he made the ac- 
 quaintance of all the members and began a care- 
 ful study of their characters. He readily decided 
 that there were part of them open, fair, honest 
 men, but he was not so sure about the rest. In 
 fact, he felt sure that some of them were the paid 
 instruments of the banks. He found that a rec- 
 ommendation from a banker was more respected
 
 THE MODERN BANKER I 05 
 
 than one from the president. He found that a 
 letter from a banker was given more attention 
 than a petition singed by a thousand good citi- 
 zens. It had appeared to him that it would be a 
 good idea for him to go slow and be careful that 
 he understood the situation before he took a 
 stand in any way, so he acted on this idea, and 
 found it a good one. He soon found that he 
 was respected by the members of his committee, 
 because he seldom took a wrong stand, and 
 readily changed his views if he found that he 
 was wrong. But this committee soon found 
 that he was as firm as a rock, once he became as- 
 sured that he was right. 
 
 The first two weeks of Congress had passed 
 and he was beginning to feel at home in his new 
 position, when one evening, just as he and an- 
 other member of the committee were leaving the 
 committee room, he was introduced to Mr. Ly- 
 man, whom he found to be a gentleman of the 
 most pleasing manners he had yet met. He had 
 no idea that this was his brother's partner, nor 
 did he dream that he was the manager of the 
 lobby. The two men looked each other over, 
 talked a few minutes and parted with the ex- 
 pression that they might meet again. And on 
 the next day they did meet again, and having 
 some time at their disposal, they engaged in an
 
 IO6 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 animated conversation about some pending legis- 
 lation. 
 
 Colonel Hunt had insisted on bringing his 
 wife to Washington with him. They had rented 
 a quiet little furnished house, well-located and 
 at a reasonable rent, where they were living 
 very quietly, but very happily. Mamie was 
 rather enjoying her new situation and had formed 
 many pleasant acquaintances, among them being 
 the famous Countess Ilman, whom Mamie at 
 once decided to be one of the most pleasant ladies 
 she had met. Countess Ilman was one of those 
 ladies who have the power to charm at will. No 
 one could withstand the power of her blandish- 
 ments, when she chose to exert them. Mamie 
 fell an easy conquest, and Henry looked on with 
 a smile. Countess Ilman was received in the 
 best houses in Washington; she was pleasant, 
 accomplished, vivacious, amusing and very 
 pretty. Her father chaperoned her everywhere, 
 and she seemed to be the life of the circle she 
 moved in. And almost before she knew it, she 
 and Mamie were confidential friends. In fact, 
 it was the Countess Ilman who readily chose 
 most of her friends for Mamie, and was her 
 most valued instructor and adviser, in all of the 
 hundreds of little things on which Mamie needed 
 experience in entertaining and in all society
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 1<>7 
 
 customs. Mr. Lyman and the Countess Ilman 
 had both met at the residence of Colonel Hunt, 
 and then it was that the Countess had confided 
 to Mamie that she and Mr. Lyman were going 
 to be married during the holidays of Congress, 
 which were now only two weeks away. This 
 news received due congratulations from both the 
 Colonel and his wife, and they readily accepted 
 an invitation to be present when the ceremony 
 was performed.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 / 
 
 THE first month of Congress never amounts to 
 much. The president's message is read, dis- 
 cussed and forgotten. Reports of the cabinet 
 officers, ditto. The offices in both houses are 
 filled, after a wrangle. The members are sworn 
 in, seats are drawn for and swapped off. The 
 new congressmen get acquainted and learn how 
 to ride the congressional goat. A war or two 
 is threatened and peace is restored. People 
 wander around the galleries and wonder what 
 on earth it all means. The hotels are all crowded 
 and some greenhorn is continually getting into 
 the wrong room, or blows out the gas, or rings 
 the fire alarm in on all the guests, until finally 
 the machine has ground out the committees and 
 all the members kick up a row because they did 
 not get on all of the committees. Then Con- 
 gress adjourns for the holidays. A month has 
 been used to do not over three days' work, but 
 it's the program and it is always carried out, to 
 the letter. 
 
 Henry kept himself posted about all of his 
 108
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 109 
 
 brother's movements, and his continued success, 
 both in Congress and in society, was as worm- 
 wood and gall in Henry's heart. Poor fellow! 
 He was beginning to find out that there are some 
 things in this world that money cannot buy, and 
 that happiness was one of them. He knew that 
 Mr. Lyman did not approve' of his conduct to- 
 wards his brother, and he felt that there was a 
 coldness springing up between him and his 
 partner, but he felt that he could not help it. 
 He had forgotten that it was Mr.Lyman's hand 
 and head that had landed him in his present 
 position in life. Perhaps he did not know that 
 it was L}'man's name that gave his bank its sta- 
 bility and reputation in the business world, but 
 this was true. The reader must remember that 
 the world knew nothing of Mr. Lyman's con- 
 nection with the lobby at Washington. It must 
 also be remembered that he made frequent visits 
 to New York, where he was regarded as one 
 of the shrewdest financiers in the metropolis. 
 
 Every man who perpetrates one outrageous 
 wrong will have to prop it up with other 
 wrongs, unless he has the moral courage to retrace 
 his steps, acknowledge his error and correct it. 
 Henry did not have this courage, so he had at- 
 tempted to prop up his first outrage against his 
 parents and his brother, by committing other
 
 IIO THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 outrages against them. He had done this so long 
 now, that he felt that it was a personal injury to 
 him for any one else to be kind to them. Mr. 
 Lyman 's sympathies were with his partner's re- 
 lations from the day that Henry refused to can- 
 cel the mortgages, as he had suggested, and the 
 breach was gradually widening between them. 
 On meeting Colonel Hunt and his wife, Mr. 
 Lyman was really charmed with them. So was 
 the Countess Ilman. A strong friendship sprang 
 up between these parties at once, and subsequent 
 acquaintance had ripened this into a lasting re- 
 spect for each other. Without knowing it, 
 Colonel Hunt and his wife were exerting a great 
 
 O O 
 
 influence for good over Mr.Lyman and his future 
 wife. The purity of the one was shaming the 
 baseness of the other. This friendship had 
 awakened in the breast of Mr. Lyman and his 
 fiancee a desire to be really better and a feeling 
 that it was their duty to lead better lives. Not 
 that either of them had ever been outrageously 
 wicked in any way, outside of the methods that 
 their business in life had caused them to adopt. 
 While the Countess Ilman had turned the 
 head of many a green legislator by her blandish- 
 ments, it had all been done for a purpose; it was 
 part of her business to do this. But in her private 
 life she had been as chaste as an angel. In her
 
 THE MODERN BANKER III 
 
 breast was a heart that beat as unselfishly and 
 as purely as that of a babe unborn. Mr.Lyman 
 had found out her sterling qualities and had 
 fallen in love with her. She had returned his 
 affection and they were soon to be married. 
 Colonel Hunt and his wife had won their entire 
 confidence and respect from the first, and no 
 thought of attempting to influence him, as lob- 
 byists, had ever entered their heads. It was a 
 friendship of the purest sort, springing from the 
 b'est of motives. And it was a strange thing, 
 too, that the king and queen of the Washington 
 congressional lobby should feel such a great 
 friendship for the man and woman who were by 
 both inclination and position bound to be the 
 greatest enemies of that lobby. It was one of 
 the anomalies to be met with in politics every- 
 where. But as yet neither side of the contest 
 acknowledged the other as an opponent. Both 
 were on terms of neutrality at present, but each 
 of them was destined to feel the prowess of the 
 other, sooner or later. 
 
 Henry now did one more outrageous thing, 
 and made one more mistake. He wrote Mr. 
 Lyman a letter, saying that if it was his inten- 
 tion to invite his brother and his brother's wife 
 to the wedding, it would be impossible for him 
 to attend. This practically forced Mr. Lyman
 
 112 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 to choose between his partner and his friend, 
 and their families, as guests at his marriage; 
 but the decision was prompt and effective. He 
 wrote Henry a long letter, telling him that his 
 brother had been invited and had accepted the 
 invitation, so that it would be impossible to call 
 the invitation off. He mentioned the fact that 
 he had personally told Henry that he expected 
 to invite Colonel Hunt and family, when he had 
 invited Henry, and that no objection had then 
 been raised. He regretted the unpleasant posi- 
 tion that matters were in, and finished his letter 
 with an invitation to Henry to drop the old feud 
 and be reconciled to his brother. It was a manly 
 letter to write, full of respect and careful of the 
 feelings of the receiver, but it stung Henry to 
 the quick and he resented it bitterly. He wrote 
 a gruff note to Mr. Lyman, informing him that 
 it would be impossible for him to attend the wed- 
 ding, and extending congratulations in a formal 
 fashion. 
 
 The wedding was a grand affair, but of a quiet 
 order. They were married by a Chief Justice, 
 in one of the leading churches, which was elab- 
 orately decorated. All of the leading members 
 of Congress who had remained in the city, and 
 a number of notables, were there. Colonel Hunt, 
 although a married man, was pressed into the
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 113 
 
 services of best man, because the Countess in- 
 sisted on having Mamie act as chief bridesmaid. 
 As a whole, the affair was a success, although 
 Henry and his wife refused to be present. How- 
 ever, as but little was known of them in Wash- 
 ington, this created very little talk. During all 
 this time Colonel Hunt and his wife had no idea 
 that Mr. Lyman was Henry's partner, and as it 
 was March before the wedding tour ended, they 
 remained in ignorance of this important fact 
 until that time. 
 
 Mr. Lyman left another man in charge of the 
 lobby while he was gone on his wedding tour, 
 and as soon as Congress reassembled, this man 
 began work on the herculean task of "destroy- 
 ing the greenbacks." He was not so astute as 
 Mr. Lyman had been, nor was he so able in his 
 management of affairs. It so happened that the 
 lobbyists had secured exactly one-half of the 
 Committee on Finance and Banking to favor a 
 report asking Congress to call in the green- 
 backs. The other half stood out against the 
 measure, and it required the vote of Colonel Hunt 
 to get the measure before the House. Mr. 
 Green, the present manager of the lobby, was 
 in a sore perplexity. He had met Colonel Hunt 
 several times, and he felt a little afraid to ap- 
 proach him on the subject of a bribe, but it so
 
 114 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 happened that he knew Henry Hunt, in New 
 York, so he said to himself: "Henry Hunt 
 would sell his chance of Heaven for money. 
 This is his brother. I will risk it. I must have 
 his vote. I will bid so high that none but a fool 
 would refuse." 
 
 Accordingly, he called on Colonel Hunt and 
 asked him to support the measure, saying, at 
 the same time, that it would be worth $100,000 
 to him if he would vote for the measure and 
 help him to pass it through the House. For a 
 moment, Colonel Hunt felt like knocking the 
 man down, then, on second thoughts, he an- 
 swered: "If you desire my aid in this matter, 
 you must first give me a full outline of your 
 plans. I cannot afford to undertake to aid you 
 unless I know all the grounds I am expected to 
 travel over. Nor can I afford to go into it un- 
 less I know who will aid me to carry it through." 
 
 "Ah!" thought Mr. Green, "he is just like 
 his brother. Wants to know all the ins and outs 
 and chances of danger, but ready enough if it 
 pays well and there is but little danger of detec- 
 tion!" With this idea in his mind, Mr. Green 
 gave Colonel Hunt a detailed account of all of 
 the lobby's plans, telling him that a majority of 
 the members of the House owed their election 
 to a promise made to the bankers in their home
 
 THE MODERN BANKER I 15 
 
 districts, that they would vote for the recall of 
 the greenbacks, and a substitution of national 
 bank notes in their place. 
 
 "Give me a list of the names of these men, 
 that I may consult them before I decide," finally 
 said Colonel Hunt. 
 
 "Very well, sir; I suppose that I can trust you 
 to be very particular in this matter." 
 
 "Certainly." 
 
 With that a full list of the names and all par- 
 ticulars were handed to him; after which Mr. 
 Green asked him when he could see him again, 
 ready to pay the money, if Colonel Hunt was 
 satisfied to act. 
 
 "Two days hence, at this hour and at this 
 place." 
 
 "Very well, sir; I will be here, with the 
 money." 
 
 "God forgive me for this treachery, even to a 
 lobbyist, which I believe my duty demands!" 
 was the prayer of this noble-minded man, as he 
 retired that night, after thinking over the matter 
 in all of its phases, and deciding on his line of 
 conduct for the morrow. 
 
 Next day he called on every member named 
 in the list Mr. Green had furnished him, and 
 after giving the countersign and password, 
 found that they were all very willing to talk of
 
 Il6 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 the matter, expressing themselves as ready to 
 comply with their part of the program and vote 
 for the measure, as soon as he should report it 
 favorably to the House. They all seemed most 
 anxious to get the matter attended to as quickly 
 and as quietly as possible. And when Colonel 
 Hunt asked them if they were not afraid that 
 their constituents would hear of the measure 
 and repudiate them at the next election, they 
 all replied, as one man: "What do the common 
 people know about such things? They cannot 
 tell a bank note from a treasur}' note to save their 
 lives. And what if they do hear of it. A bank 
 note is just as good as a treasury note any- 
 way!" 
 
 "But will it not give the banks the power to 
 corner the currency, as well as the gold, at any 
 time?" 
 
 "Oh, as to that, the banks will let us have all 
 the money we can give them security for, any- 
 way." 
 
 One big-hearted country greenhorn, whom 
 the banks, out in some backwoods district, had 
 elected to Congress, offered to loan the colonel 
 his "book uv instrucshuns de banks give me 
 afore they elected me," which was thankfully 
 accepted by Colonel Hunt. 
 
 Colonel Hunt met Mr. Green at the appointed
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 117 
 
 place, and the following conversation took place- 
 "Are you satisfied, Colonel Hunt?" 
 " I am, most assuredly. Everything you told 
 me is absolutely true." 
 
 "Then here is your money, sir. You will find 
 one hundred one-thousand-dollar bills in that 
 package." 
 
 "I do not doubt it, sir. Many thanks." 
 "Oh, not at all. When will you present the 
 bill?" 
 
 "To-morrow afternoon at two o'clock. Have 
 all of your men on hand. I will present the 
 bill myself, and expect to make a speech on it." 
 Around the memory of that famous day in 
 February, all patriotic Americans ought to hang 
 the emblem of Liberty, arising out of the Morass 
 of Corruption, for then and there it was that one 
 of the grandest fights for America, ever waged, 
 was won by Col. Arthur Hunt. Every member 
 on the lobby list was in his seat, and all the galler- 
 ies were crowded to suffocation by their friends. 
 The silence of death fell on the house as Colonel 
 Hunt arose in his seat and addressed the speaker. 
 "Mr. Speaker: I arise to a question of per- 
 sonal privilege. It is my painful duty to expose 
 a plot against the rights of our people, which, in 
 its awful effects on mankind, if carried out, 
 makes me tremble even in contemplation of it.
 
 Il8 THE MODERN BANKEft 
 
 Sir, I am in possession of incontrovertible evi- 
 dence that will convict the bankers of the United 
 States of electing a majority of the members of 
 this present House of Representatives, for the 
 express purpose, and on a regular contract, that 
 they shall pass a law withdrawing all of our 
 United States Notes, commonly call Greenbacks, 
 from circulation, arid substituting therefor, Na- 
 tional Bank Notes. Yes, sir, and more than 
 this! I hold in my hand a bribe of $100,000, 
 which was given to me, as chairman of your 
 Committee of Finance and Banking, to induce 
 me to report favorably the bill which has been 
 agreed upon by the conspirators, to accomplish 
 this accursed result. 
 
 "And what is worse still, I stand prepared to 
 prove that this present House of Representatives 
 is honeycombed with corruption. It stands 
 here as the servants of the bankers and the rail- 
 roads, ready to do the bidding of their masters, 
 as commanded to do by a lobby so bold and so 
 grasping that it is now demanding that we shall 
 turn over our last vestige of governmental 
 money and allow the banks to issue a money 
 that they can control for their own benefit and 
 against the best interests of the people. I assert, 
 sir, that it is impossible to get this present House 
 of Representatives to pass one single law that is 
 not dictated by the banks or the railroads.
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 119 
 
 "When our forefathers formed our Constitu- 
 tion, they expressly withheld the right to make 
 money from all parties and corporations, and 
 relegated to this Congress the power and the 
 duty to make and maintain the money of the 
 people. Preceding sessions of Congress have 
 farmed out this sacred right to a certain class of 
 our citizens, called bankers, who have grown 
 fat off the misfortunes of our people, which 
 their own accursed methods have fostered and 
 created. Not content with this, they have bribed 
 over one-half of the members of this present 
 House of Representatives, by electing them to 
 their seats on a promise that they will vote away 
 the only part of our currency that these bankers 
 cannot corner and control, for their own inter- 
 ests.. 
 
 "We Americans have prided ourselves on our 
 'free and independent press' heretofore, but I 
 stand here to-day and denounce the great ma- 
 jority of our leading newspapers, as being under 
 the influence of those bankers so far that they 
 will not dare give this speech of mine, even as 
 a news item, to-morrow morning. I hold in my 
 hand a circular issued by the American Bankers' 
 Association of Wall Street, New York, which ' 
 gives instructions to all of the bankers of the 
 United States to patronize only such papers as
 
 I2O THE MODERN JJANKER 
 
 will advocate the withdrawal of all of the Green- 
 back money from circulation, and to withhold 
 patronage from all papers that will not advocate 
 this measure. God knows that I do not blame 
 the poor papers, for they cannot live without the 
 patronage of the bankers, especially if the bank- 
 ers should use their influence against them. We 
 must do away with the bankers, before we can 
 ever have a 'free and untrammeled press' again. 
 That much is certain. 
 
 "And this same circular goes still further,sir. 
 It instructs the bankers of the United States as 
 follows: 
 
 '"Let the Government issue the Coin and the 
 Banks issue the Paper Money of this country, 
 for then we can better protect each other. To re- 
 peal the law creating National Bank Notes, or 
 to restore to circulation the governmental issue 
 of money, will be to -provide the people with 
 money, and will, therefore, seriously affect your 
 individual profits, as bankers and lenders. SEE 
 YOUR CONGRESSMAN at once, AND ENGAGE HIM 
 TO SUPPORT OUR INTERESTS, THAT WE MAY 
 CONTROL LEGISLATION!' 
 
 "My God, gentlemen! These are facts! Here 
 are the original documents. I stand here and 
 wave them in their faces. I here have a list 
 of the Congressmen of this present House of 
 Representatives, who, no longer than yesterday
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 121 
 
 and the day before, acknowledged to me that 
 they had promised the banks in each of their 
 districts that they would vote for the recall of 
 the Greenbacks, and for the substitution of Na- 
 tional Bank Notes in their place, before the 
 bankers would agree to give their influence in 
 favor of their election, and these men are pre- 
 pared to carry out their part of this unholy con- 
 tract, and expected me to report this atrocious 
 measure favorably to them in this speech. If 
 any gentlemen in this House doubt my state- 
 ments, I will read the list of names in order to 
 convince them. No one answers, so I will pass 
 the list to any committee that may be appointed 
 to investigate these charges, when called upon. 
 
 "No, gentlemen! I cannot report this meas- 
 ure favorably. I accepted your bribe-money 
 only because it was necessary to do so, so as to 
 complete my evidence against you, and shall 
 hold it subject to the instructions of this House, 
 as evidence. As for me and mine, I want 
 nothing to do with it. I thank my God that I 
 have never made a dollar that did not come to 
 me honestly! It is my daily prayer that I shall 
 never allow myself to be guilty of accepting one 
 cent that I have not justly earned. I thank you, 
 gentlemen, for your kind attention." 
 
 The Speaker, as is usual in such cases, ap-
 
 122 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 pointed a committee, naming those who would 
 have been criminated had these charges been 
 properly investigated, to investigate the charges 
 made by Colonel Hunt, and to report to the 
 House their findings, at their convenience. And 
 although Colonel Hunt watched the records of 
 Congress carefully for many years, he never 
 knew what that committee ever did do with 
 those charges. However, he had the satisfac- 
 tion of hearing one report that they made a few 
 weeks later. They found "one J. W. Green, 
 whereabouts unknown, guilty of offering a bribe 
 of $100,000 to Col. Arthur Hunt, for reporting 
 a measure favorably from the Committee of 
 Finance and Banking, which bribe was deliv- 
 ered by him to the House of Representatives, 
 with a forcible denouncement of said Green, and 
 others, and which money is hereby recommended 
 to be used, by this House, for the purpose of 
 founding an Asylum for Indigent and Debilitated 
 Ex-Congressmen, in Washington City." Which 
 said asj'lum has never since been heard of by 
 any one. 
 
 The morning papers next morning gave a 
 short description of the way in which Col. Ar- 
 thur Hunt denounced one J.W. Green for offer- 
 ing him a bribe to induce him to report a measure 
 favorably, which he refused to do.
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 123 
 
 Now, for the benefit of those youthful states- 
 men who expect to some day set the walls of 
 Congress on fire by their eloquence in behalf of 
 the rights of the people, the author is compelled 
 to state that this was the last ever heard of one of 
 the grandest speeches ever made within the walls 
 of Congress, in behalf of the rights of the peo- 
 ple. I have no doubt that this is the first mention 
 of it that the reader ever heard. No, my dear 
 boys, it will not pay you to waste your breath on 
 such noble sentiments as these, before the mem- 
 bers of any Congress assembled in the United 
 States in recent years. It will be time and 
 trouble lost, The place to make such speeches 
 as this was, is at home, before the people, who 
 are honest, and who believe that you will make 
 them in their favor in Washington. But it is 
 never done any more. Not since the days of dear 
 old Patrick Henry and Col. Arthur Hunt.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 IF Bob Ingersoll will carefully consider the 
 promise that God made to Abraham of old, and 
 then trace its perfect and complete fulfillment 
 up to the present time, it will surely stagger his 
 agnosticism, even though it does not make him 
 a complete convert to Abraham's God. It will 
 be remembered that when Abraham had offered 
 up his only son, Isaac, as a burnt offering, and 
 had actually tied the boy to the bundle of fagots, 
 and was stretching out his hand to slay the child, 
 an angel of the Lord called to Abraham, "out 
 of Heaven, "and said : " By myself have I sworn, 
 sayeth the Lord, for because thou hast done this 
 thing, and has not withheld thy son, thine only 
 son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in 
 multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars 
 of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon 
 the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate 
 of his enemies." 
 
 To-day the Jews are scattered over every na- 
 tion on earth. They are, indeed, a "peculiar 
 people," in that, although they have been min- 
 124
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 125 
 
 gling with all other races of people, they remain 
 Jews, retain their personality, as a people, and 
 all of their forms and customs, both religiously 
 and socially, almost without a sign of a change. 
 You may travel to the furthermost parts of the 
 earth: you may sail over all the seas; you may 
 enter the largest cities; you may stop in the 
 smaller towns of every nation and tribe, and 
 there you will find the Jews, busily engaged in 
 their promised "possession of the gates of their 
 enemies." And now a thinking man is bound 
 to believe that they have carried all of the better 
 portion of the goods of all other people out of 
 those "gates;" for to-day we see a Jew at the 
 head of the banks of England, France, Ger- 
 many, Russia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and almost 
 all other nations; while here in the United States, 
 our President has been forced to apply to the 
 Jews to uphold our tottering treasury and stand 
 guard over it, in order to allow it to continue 
 in business at all. Not only do we find them at 
 the head of the banks of all nations, but, more 
 than this, we find them at the head of almost all 
 of our banks, of all kinds, and in all nations. 
 
 And, what is more serious, we find that it is 
 the cunning brain of the Jew which has created 
 and fostered the present banking systems of all 
 nations, so artfully arranged, and so consum-
 
 126 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 mately carried out, that all the people of the 
 world are paying heavy tribute to those same 
 Jews, in interest and exchange, without know- 
 ing that they are doing so. 
 
 The stupidity of the people, on this point, is 
 so great that even Bob Ingersoll must admit 
 that nothing short of the will of an all-powerful 
 God could manage to keep the great masses of 
 our people from awakening from the sleep that 
 has fallen over them, financially, and throwing 
 off the yoke of this servitude. 
 
 Two words alone are needed to explain this 
 extraordinary condition of affairs, and the}' are 
 ''Interest" and "Usury." By a concerted cun- 
 ning, peculiar to themselves, the Jews have con- 
 trived to get all the people of the world to adopt 
 a banking system that allows the Jews to receive 
 the money of the world as deposits, and then 
 loan it out to the world at a good interest, on 
 their own account, which interest goes into the 
 Jews' vaults, as clear profits. Every man who 
 deposits money in a bank regularly, is sure to 
 want to borrow some from the bank at times, 
 and here is where the Jew catches his victim. 
 While the Jew has had the use of the money of 
 the depositor free of charge all along, as soon 
 as the depositor happens to need a little money 
 he is forced to pay the Jew a full round interest,
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 127 
 
 and give him ample security, in order to get it. 
 In this way, all men who handle much money 
 are forced into this net of the wily Jews, and 
 are compelled to pay tribute to the cunning and 
 cupidity of "God's peculiar people." This 
 banking system was not created in a day, nor 
 in a year. It was created by the Jew a little at 
 a time, and has been fostered by him during 
 many years. The people have been played 
 upon, and taught that the theories of finance 
 are very intricate, and that it takes a lifetime to 
 understand them, while, really, nothing could 
 be simpler than this plan of the Jews to gain 
 tribute from the people of the world. A Jew 
 opens up a vault and offers to take care of his 
 neighbors' money free of charge. His unthink- 
 ing neighbors have no really safe place to keep 
 it, so they gladly turn it over to the Jew, who, 
 in turn, loans out a large part of it to some 
 others of his neighbors, who happen to want to 
 borrow. He always keeps a safe percentage of 
 it on hand, so that he can deliver any amount 
 called for by any depositor, at any time. He 
 soon ascertains what his "average deposits" are, 
 and then he learns how much his "average 
 withdrawals" are, so he soon knows just how 
 much of his neighbors' money he can keep 
 loaned out all the time. If he can secure ten
 
 128 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 per cent interest per annum, in ten years he will 
 have a total equaling the amount he has used, 
 to say nothing of compound interest. His un- 
 thinking neighbor has received his money from 
 time to time, as he needed it, and he sees no 
 reason why he should complain, so the Jew 
 grows wealthy and is credited with being a 
 "great financier." But this continual drain on 
 every country on earth, has now been going on 
 so long that the Jew now finds himself the 
 owner of more solid cash than all the rest of the 
 world together. Not satisfied with all this, the 
 Jews have organized, are buying up legislators, 
 passing laws and creating conditions all favora- 
 ble to themselves. They see that as the}' create 
 a scarcity of money, men will give more of the 
 products of human skill and labor for it. They 
 are now the practical owners of most of the 
 money in the world, so they are making "dear 
 money" and "cheap labor," at an astonishing 
 rate. 
 
 Gold and silver have been the only money, of 
 final redemption, for man}' ages. The Jews 
 saw that by demonetizing silver they would 
 double the value of gold. So they have been 
 hoarding gold for many years, and have, within 
 the last half century or so, succeeded in the 
 complete demonetization of silver in all of the
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 1 29 
 
 leading nations of the world. The consequences 
 have been that the Jew's gold has doubled in 
 value, and he can now buy twice as much hu- 
 man comforts and human power with his gold, 
 as he could have done before. 
 
 And the most astonishing fact of all is, that 
 the people have always had it in their power 
 to defeat the schemes of the Jews in this matter, 
 by voting down his schemes, but they have 
 never done so. In fact, they have never taken 
 the trouble to inform themselves as to what the 
 Jew was really up to. A few have, but it was 
 such a sly trick that they have kept their mouths 
 shut, and have gone into the banking business 
 on their own account. It seemed to them that 
 it was a much more desirable thing to take ad- 
 vantage of the Jew's shrewdness, and make 
 some money themselves, than it was to expose 
 the trick to their fellow men, and have the Jew 
 kicked out. Of course that was not a very 
 patriotic way to look at the matter but then, 
 no one has ever accused our bankers of being 
 overly patriotic. They have patterned after the 
 Jews, in more ways than one. 
 
 And it has come to pass that those bankers, 
 who have sprung from our own people, are now 
 joining hands with the Jews in their efforts to 
 completely subjugate the rest of the world.
 
 I3O THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 They have identified their interests with those of 
 the Jews, and we now find them working, neck 
 and neck, with "God's peculiar people," all 
 trying to reduce the supply of real money more, 
 and increase the amount of labor and skill that 
 it takes to get it, except through the banking 
 channel. In fact, we see those of our own flesh 
 and blood for the Jew remains a Jew forever 
 now going to the Jew for their instructions 
 as to the best way to accomplish their purposes. 
 To all intents and purposes, we might just as 
 well concede that all bankers are Jews in this 
 respect, for they all work on Jewish methods 
 now.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 AT the next stockholders' meeting of the 
 banks, Henry reported the following results: 
 Deposits, $17, 000,000; loans and discounts, $17,- 
 500,000 at 7 per cent; short-time brokerage, 
 $500,000 clear profits, above all expenses of the 
 bank; diamond brokerage, $500,000 clear, or 
 a total profit of $2,225,000 clear, in one year. 
 
 Mr. Lyman reported: Deposits, $1,800,000; 
 loans and discounts, $1,450,000 at 7 per cent; 
 short-time brokerage, $50,000 above all ex- 
 penses of the bank; profits from the lobby 
 fund only $350,000, or a total of about $500,000, 
 making a total profit for the partnership of $2,- 
 725,000 clear in one year. They then increased 
 the capital stock of the New York bank to $7,- 
 500,000, voted themselves a salary of $600,000 
 each for the next year, for the old bank, and 
 $50,000 each, for the new one. It was evident 
 that Mr. Lyman was feeling blue. But he felt 
 that it was incumbent on him to explain why 
 his profits from the lobby fund had fallen so far 
 short of his expectations, so he said: "Green 
 
 131
 
 132 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 proved to be a very expensive blunder. It was 
 entirely his fault that your brother was enabled 
 to expose our methods and ruin the business for 
 a time. As soon as the batiks heard of this ex- 
 posure, we lost over half of our membership of 
 the lobby, and the rest of the banks became 
 very cautious. It is like pulling eye-teeth to 
 get any funds out of them now, and I have been 
 compelled to call off the fight against the green- 
 backs, for a time." 
 
 So Colonel Hunt's speech had had some effect, 
 anyway. 
 
 At every session of Congress since that time 
 this unholy fight of the bankers on the people's 
 money has been renewed. John Sherman led it, 
 while the Republicans were in power, and every 
 hair on his hoary head could be counted with 
 a service for the money-lords. He started out 
 "poor but honest," and by untiring efforts he is 
 now a millionaire the owner of millions that 
 were paid to him for fighting the greenbacks. 
 
 When Cleveland was elected, Sherman's 
 mantle fell on his broad shoulders and no man 
 has ever been more untiring in the service of 
 his masters. The entire time of the present ad- 
 ministration has thus been employed. Every 
 message, every letter,every appointment, every 
 bond-issue, every act of Congress which has
 
 BANKER 133 
 
 touched financial questions, has been in the inter- 
 ests of the bankers and money-lords and against 
 the best interests of the masses. No man can 
 point out a single act to the contrary. A very 
 few years ago the ex-sheriff of Buffalo was a poor 
 man. To-day he is the possessor of millions,and 
 it is now in order for some of his friends to ex- 
 plain where he got them. If Morgan is not his 
 New York partner, it is time the fact was pro- 
 claimed. It is said that the laborer is worthy of 
 his hire; so, if Grover Cleveland has not been 
 well paid for his services in behalf of the bankers 
 and money-lords, then he is the biggest fool 
 mentioned in all the annals of mankind. 
 
 But with all of this great opposition, the green- 
 backs are still in existence the last vestige of 
 the people's money the only money in exis- 
 tence to-day which the Shylocks cannot corner 
 and control in their own interests. And woe 
 be unto this fair land of ours if the people suf- 
 fer themselves to be robbed of it! 
 
 In the course of the passing years, Colonel 
 Hunt found himself the father of an interesting 
 family, which had had the happy effect of draw- 
 ing him and his wife closer together in every 
 way. Two lovely boys, each named after their 
 grandfathers, with two sweet little girls, each 
 bearing the name of one of their grandmothers,
 
 134 THI5 MODERN BANKER 
 
 were the pride and delight of their parents' 
 hearts. 
 
 Colonel Hunt had been re-elected to his seat 
 in Congress so many times that it seemed to him 
 that Washington was almost home although he 
 never saw the time that the old homestead in 
 Missouri, for which he had such a struggle 
 with his brother in his earlier life, was not the 
 dearest spot on earth to him. He and his wife 
 prided themselves on this farm, and lavished 
 every care and attention that was necessary to 
 keep it in first-class condition in every way. 
 Fine blooded stock of all kinds were bred here 
 under the management of an excellent tenant 
 who had charge of it while its owners were 
 away in Washington, and they spent the happiest 
 days of their lives on the farm, each year, 
 watching their children gamboling on the green, 
 under the careful inspection of Pompey whose 
 chief delight lay in looking after them. 
 
 Pompey had become quite a character during 
 those years, for he had been with the family at 
 Washington, where he was not only a faithful 
 servant, but where he had proven himself to be 
 a valuable watch-dog, in regard to the actions 
 of the other servants. He had listened and 
 "took notes" all along, and now the man who 
 bought Pompey for a fool, would have lost his 
 money.
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 135 
 
 The old people were jogging along content- 
 edly, for after they succeeded in paying off the 
 notes given to Henry, they had been able to 
 make a living by renting their lands and raising 
 stock, without much worry. They were getting 
 a little feeble, but their kind old eyes always 
 had a welcome for Colonel Hunt and his family 
 which seemed to be very delightful to all parties. 
 
 Henry's name was seldom mentioned between 
 them. The old wound was healing, slowly, 
 under the effects of passing years, but it had 
 left an aching void in their hearts, which was 
 still sore; so the subject had been tabooed and 
 was seldom mentioned. Once in a while it 
 was impossible to keep Pompey from expressing 
 his feelings on this subject, but, usually, the 
 matter was never mentioned, even for months 
 at a time. 
 
 Henry Hunt had spent a life of wealth, but 
 his family had never been allowed the pleas- 
 ures of luxury. He had always dealt out the 
 necessities of life to them with a miser's hand, 
 although his pride had caused him to spend 
 enough to keep up appearances, at least. Cora 
 was now the mother of three children, two boys, 
 who were named after two English lords which 
 class was greatly honored by Henry and one 
 girl, Victoria, named, of course, for the queen 
 of England.
 
 136 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 With all of his miserly ideas, Henry had sev- 
 eral hobbies, all tending towards a monarchical 
 form of government for the United States, under 
 which he hoped to purchase a title and be ac- 
 cepted as one of the nobility. This being the 
 case, it is easy to understand why he named his 
 children after the English nobility. 
 
 However much it may have been gilded be- 
 fore company, life in the New York mansion 
 had never been pleasant to contemplate, in pri- 
 vate. Cora had become a querulous, quick- 
 tempered, hasty, exacting woman, and Henry 
 had positively refused to gratify many of her 
 whims. She seemed to have but little Jove for 
 her children, who were kept under the guard of 
 a governess, a nurse or a private, tutor, in order 
 to keep them out of her way. In spite of her 
 wealth, she had never been able to enter the best 
 society of New York, and it had always rankled 
 in her heart that her sister Mamie had been ac- 
 cepted as one of the undisputed leaders in 
 Washington society. It is true that Cora had 
 been welcomed by many of the millionaire fami- 
 lies of the city, but her own good sense had 
 proved to her that she was only received by the 
 wealthy Jews and speculators of Wall Street, 
 simply because it was the interests of those peo- 
 ple to receive the wife of a great banker that
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 137 
 
 had caused them to open their doors to her. 
 She had long since become disgusted with the 
 shallowness and fickleness of that society. She 
 had found that it was all vanity and the vanity 
 of vanities. She knew that it was an article that 
 was purchasable, and controlled alone by the size 
 of the applicant's purse, and she often found her- 
 self longing for some little real human sympathy 
 and love, all of which seemed to have been de- 
 nied to her. Of course she could read novels 
 and go to the theater and to entertainments of 
 various kinds, many of which she did attend, 
 but these things grew monotonous after a time. 
 She had a proud spirit, a good conception of 
 things in general, and was by no means a stupid 
 woman. She had accepted the painful parting 
 with her parents and sister, simply because she 
 found that it was impossible for her to live in 
 amicable relations with them, without very 
 severe censure from Henry. Taken all in all, 
 she had been a very suitable wife for Henry. 
 She had not loved him enough to demand much 
 attention from him and he had been too busy to 
 expect much attention from her. 
 
 Henry Hunt had had two very severe trials 
 on his faith and worship of the English nobility. 
 First a certain : 'Lord Houghton" had honored 
 him with several visits while in New York, at
 
 138 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 all of which Henry had spared no expense in 
 lavish entertainment, and the two had become 
 fast friends. After a time my lord succeeded 
 in borrowing some $10,000 from Henry, on his 
 mere note of hand, and after my lord had left for 
 parts unknown, Henry found that no less than 
 seven rich "suckers" had been taken in by the 
 same game. Thus we see that an English 
 "nobleman" need not go hungry in New York. 
 There are plenty of people there who will honor 
 him, if he will condescend to rob them. Such 
 is life. Then, when my lord, the Duke of Marl- 
 borough, came over after the Vanderbilt millions 
 and girl, Henry was very much astonished 
 to find that my lord did not care to call on a 
 mere banker at all. This was a great shock to 
 him, but it gave Henry the idea of advocating 
 a monarchical form of government for this coun- 
 try, under which he would be able to buy a title 
 that would admit him to the homes of all the 
 nobles of Europe. Hence his opposition to every 
 act of this people under a republican rule. 
 
 Without going into minute details, we must 
 attend the next five annual meetings of the 
 stockholders of our two banks. The first one 
 showed the following: Deposits, $22,500,000 
 in the New York bank, with loans of $22,500,- 
 ooo at seven per cent; short-time brokerage,
 
 TMR MODERN BANKER 139 
 
 $750,000 above all expenses of the bank; dia- 
 mond brokerage, $750,000 clear profits, making 
 a total of $3,000,000 as clear profits for this 
 bank, for this year. 
 
 The Washington bank reported: Deposits, 
 $2,500,000; loans, $2,000,000 at 7 per cent; 
 short time brokerage (which means money 
 loaned on less than 30 days' time, at an exceed- 
 ingly high rate of interest), $100,000; lobby 
 profits, $260,000, or a total of $500,000 in profits. 
 The capital of the New York bank was then 
 raised to $10,000,000, while that at Washington 
 was increased to $500,000. The salaries were 
 raised to $1,000,000 for the New York bank and 
 $100,000 each for the other. 
 
 The next report showed the following results: 
 
 New York: Deposits, $35,000,000; loans$33,- 
 750,000 at 7 per cent ; short-time brokerage, 
 $1,000,000 clear; diamond brokerage, $1,000,- 
 ooo clear; total profits for the year, $4,360,000. 
 Salaries voted, $1,250,000 each. 
 
 Washington: Deposits, $4,000,000; loans, 
 $3,750,000 at 7 per cent; brokerage, $150,000 
 clear; lobby, $120,000, making a total of $500,- 
 ooo clear profits this year. 
 
 Total profits for the partnership, $4,860,000. 
 The stock of the New York bank was made 
 $15,000,000.
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 The next year gives this result: 
 
 New York: Profits on $45, 000,000 equal $2,- 
 750,000 at 6 per cent, and the two brokerages 
 paid $1,250,000 each, making a total of $5,250,- 
 ooo, as clear profits this year. 
 
 Washington : Deposits,$5, 500,000; loans, $5,- 
 110,000 at 6 per cent; brokerage, $200,000 clear; 
 lobby, $250,000, making a total of $750,000 
 profits this year. 
 
 Total profits of the partnership this year, $6,- 
 000,000. 
 
 The stock of the New York bank was made 
 $20,000,000 and that of the Washington bank 
 was raised to $1,000,000, and there was money 
 left to throw at the birds. 
 
 Friend, go on and make the calculation. I 
 cannot do it, for it makes my heart ache. But 
 do not take my word for it; make the figures 
 for yourself. Let Mr. Lyman resign from the 
 Washington lobby and burn the pawnshops up, 
 and then make some more figures. The result 
 will surprise you. Take the published statements 
 of your little banks around you, and figure on 
 them. This will explain to you why the banker 
 comes smilingly down at nine o'clock, and walks 
 leisurely back at three o'clock, and still lives on 
 the fat of the land; while you are forced to toil 
 from daylight until dark for a mere living and
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 14! 
 
 getting in debt at that, if you are not particular. 
 
 Take the wheels out of your head, my dear old 
 business man, machinist, carpenter, laboring 
 man, or farmer. Cut the string } 7 our banker is 
 pulling on your thinking machine, and make a 
 few figures for your own benefit. Get a barber 
 to cut the wool out of your eyes, so that you can 
 see and think a little bit about your own condi- 
 tion. Wake up! The banker has a mortgage 
 on you and your prosperity, and it behooves 
 you to get to work. He has already made slaves 
 and serfs out of millions of your fellowmen, 
 and he is working the same game on you. 
 
 Reader, this picture is not overdrawn. 
 There are hundreds of banks in these United 
 States, whose rapid rise ought to put you to 
 seriously thinking about this matter. Look at 
 the men who, twenty years ago, were running 
 small banks in our larger cities! To-day they 
 are millionaires, many times over. The little 
 one-story bank building has turned into a sky- 
 scraper, and the little $100,000 capital stock of 
 the bank has risen to the mighty $100,000,000. 
 Some one owns this money for every dollar 
 of it is as good as cash, almost, for the banker 
 is not taking many chances. Some one has lost 
 all of this money. There is a trick, somewhere. 
 We have been turned into a nation of borrowers,
 
 142 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 by the turn of some card that we have not un- 
 derstood. 
 
 America ! That name has ever been a synonym 
 of great prosperity, and all of its citizens ought 
 to be able to shout out its glories to all comers 
 now. 
 
 But stop! What is that roar that we hear? 
 Oh, God! It is the mutterings of discontent. It 
 is the angry roar of disappointment. It is the 
 pleadings of the poor for work. It is the beg- 
 ging of the hungry for food. It is the sighing 
 of the wretched for relief. 
 
 Millions of your fellowmen are anxiously in- 
 quiring why all of these things should come to 
 pass, in the midst of the greatest crops, the most 
 astonishing inventions and the most unheard-of 
 production the world ever saw. Want sitting 
 in Plenty's lap. Riot nestling on the bosom of 
 Peace. Poverty pleading with Wealth. Reader, 
 what on earth does it all mean? It is time that 
 you were putting on your studying cap.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 TEN years have passed away. The capital 
 stock of the bank of Andrew J. Lyman & Co., 
 of New York, is now $50,000,000, while that 
 of their branch bank at Washington is $10,000,- 
 ooo. Their average deposits are now about 
 $225,000,000, while their loans average about 
 $200,000,000 at 4 per cent interest per annum. 
 Their short-time brokerage pays them about 
 $6,000,000 per annum, clear, above all expenses 
 of the bank, while their diamond brokerage 
 pays about $6,000,000 clear profits. This gives 
 each of the partners an annual income of about 
 $10,000,000 each, and Henry actually smiles 
 as he thinks of that annual joke about being 
 president of these United States, at the insignifi- 
 cant salary of $50,000 per annum. It is the first 
 real smile that he has enjoyed for many months. 
 Usually his brows are contracted over some 
 question involving millions. This has become 
 such a habit with him that the skin on his fore- 
 head has turned into a complete set of deep 
 wrinkles, which he has the habit of changing, 
 143
 
 144 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 first up and down and then crossways, accord- 
 ing to the news that he has received. He is a 
 terror to his help in the bank, and his wife and 
 boy are as afraid of him as they would be of the 
 evil one himself. He has gotten into the habit 
 of scolding every one he comes in contact with, 
 and the mere mention of the name of one of his 
 relatives is enough to throw him into such a 
 rage that it will take him half an hour to get 
 out of it. 
 
 Mr. Lyman is in Europe, figuring on a big 
 war loan to one of two belligerent nations, whose 
 rulers have some little grievance or other against 
 each other. He has just cabled Henry that he 
 has agreed to carry some $50,000,000 in five- 
 per-cents, fifty years, and Henry is unusually 
 happy over it. The dogs of war will now be 
 turned loose, and thousands will be slain, simply 
 because a banker has seen a chance to make a 
 profit out of the awful slaughter, and some little 
 ruler has been snubbed by some other little ruler, 
 both of whom would be afraid to attempt to set- 
 tle the matter as men usually do. And when 
 thousands have been slain, and the war has 
 ceased, then millions of serfs will have to work 
 for the interest on these same bonds, while their 
 hearts are sore over the loss of many dear ones, 
 who were murdered that this banker might
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 145 
 
 make his unholy gains. But why complain? 
 Such is life. 
 
 When Mr. Lyman returned, he was feeling 
 jubilant. He felt ready to commence his war 
 on the people of the United States again, now 
 that he had so successfully engineered a war in 
 Europe. "Well, Henry," he said, "what do 
 you say to going after those greenbacks again ? 
 We have a new Democratic Congress, with a 
 President that is with us, teeth and toe-nails." 
 "It is now or never, sir, in my opinion." 
 "So I think. In order to accomplish our pur- 
 pose, we must make hard times, take a lot of 
 these greenbacks, withdraw a lot of that 'gold 
 reserve' and force the government to issue 
 bonds, with which to redeem the greenbacks, 
 in order to get them out of the way and save the 
 gold that is now in the treasury. I have seen the 
 new President and his Secretary, and feel assured 
 they will never offer silver for these notes, for, if 
 they did, then our game would be blocked. This 
 would throw the country on a silver basis and 
 kill all of our schemes at once. But since I suc- 
 ceeded in demonetizing silver so easily, I have 
 no doubt that I shall be able to force the Govern- 
 ment to call in the greenbacks, and let us issue 
 bank-notes in their place. I know that a panic 
 is a bad thing for banks, if it goes too far, but I
 
 146 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 will be sure to be able to stop it before it reaches 
 New York. I do not care if I do burst a few of 
 the smaller banks, in the interior. There are 
 too many of that class of banks anyway. Let 
 the people learn to come here for their money, 
 and make their deposits here. I have prepared 
 a circular, which I wish to submit to you. Read 
 it." 
 
 "DEAR SIR: The interests of National Bank- 
 ers require immediate financial legislation by 
 Congress. Silver,SilverCertificatesand Treasury 
 Notes must be retired and National Bank Notes, 
 upon a Gold basis, made the ONLY MONEY. 
 This will require the authorization of from $500,- 
 000,000 to $1,000,000,000 of new bonds, as a 
 basis of circulation. You will at once retire 
 one-third of your circulation and call in one-half 
 of your loans. Be careful to make a money- 
 stringency felt among your patrons, especially 
 among influential business men. Advocate an 
 extra session of Congress for the repeal of the 
 purchase clause of the Sherman law, and act 
 with other banks of your city in securing a large 
 petition to Congress for its unconditional repeal, 
 per accompanying form. Use personal influence 
 with your Congressman ; particularly, let your 
 wishes be known to your Senator. The future 
 life of National Banks, as fixed and safe invest- 
 ments, depends upon your immediate action, as 
 there is an increasing sentiment in favor of 
 Governmental legal-tender notes and Free Sil- 
 ver Coinage.' 1 ' 1
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 147 
 
 "I intend to have our American Bankers' As- 
 sociation sign this circular, and I will mail it 
 to every National Bank on our lists at once." 
 
 The reader doubtless remembers the effect of 
 this famous circular, for it caused the panic of 
 1893. The bankers were so eager to obey these 
 instructions that they really overdid the matter 
 of making "a money-stringency felt," for they 
 caused millions to make a rush on the banks, 
 which came very near breaking every bank in 
 the country. Mr. Lyman was compelled to 
 work every scheme known to his consummate 
 ability, to keep his own banks from failing; 
 but at last he struck the happy idea of issuing 
 millions of dollars' worth of notes, signed by the 
 clearing house of New York City, which is com- 
 posed of all of its leading banks, and in this way, 
 he succeeded in staying the curse of devasta- 
 tion that he had started going. Of course the 
 people lost many billions of dollars of their hard 
 earnings but the purchase clause of the Sher- 
 man law was repealed. However, there was 
 still enough manhood in that Congress to re- 
 fuse to destroy the greenbacks, which are now 
 the last vestige of our money that the banker 
 cannot control. Onslaught after onslaught was 
 repulsed, and at last the lobbyists were forced 
 to retire defeated.
 
 140 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 It cost this nation the greatest panic the world 
 ever saw to repeal the purchase clause of the 
 Sherman law, which every thinking man in the 
 country, outside of those influenced by the 
 banks, wanted to change into a law for the ab- 
 solute free coinage of silver, which had been 
 stabbed in 1853, and murdered, without the 
 knowledge of its friends, in 1873. 
 
 When the author of this little book published 
 this circular, soon after the panic had ceased, it 
 was denied by the bankers of New York, but he 
 stands ready to prove that this circular was is- 
 sued, as stated, in exactly the words given 
 above. No mere flippant denial of it will be 
 received, when the above words were copied 
 from one of the original circulars, with this 
 writer's own hand, and he stands ready to testify 
 to all of the facts, giving all of the details ex- 
 cept the name of the banker who kindly let him 
 see it, which the author is under a solemn prom- 
 ise to keep sacred. 
 
 But to any thinking man, does this circular 
 need further proof than merely to point out the 
 immediate results of it the panic? 
 
 It is true that this country was running on 
 declining prices, caused by the demonetization 
 of silver in 1873, but it was in a tolerably pros- 
 perous condition in 1892. Its wonderful resour-
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 149 
 
 ces had been able to keep it out of serious finan- 
 cial storms before that time, although the bank- 
 ers had drawn billions of dollars from the life- 
 blood of its commerce. But there was no 
 outward visible reason why this panic should 
 have come, just when it did. No sensible man 
 can be convinced that it was not caused by the 
 above circular, once he thinks of the matter in 
 all of its bearings. 
 
 The calling in of the funds, as indicated in 
 this circular, caused the panic, even before the 
 purchase clause repeal could have effected it. 
 It is true this repeal caused the people to awake 
 to the fact that silver had been demonetized, and 
 this aggravated the causes of the panic, but the 
 panic itself was started b} r this circular, as Mr. 
 Lyman desired that it should be started, when 
 he sent it out.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 AFTER the famous battle that Colonel Hunt led 
 in the House of Representatives, in behalf of 
 the greenbacks, in 1893, he was honored as few 
 men in his position ever were honored before. 
 Almost the entire country, outside of the banker 
 and his influence, rose up, regardless of political 
 lines, to do him honor. His name was mentioned 
 freely as a possible candidate for the presidency, 
 and there could have been no man selected who 
 would have been as universally popular with 
 the masses; but he was too well posted to enter- 
 tain the matter for a moment. He knew that it 
 was impossible for any man to be elected presi- 
 dent of the United States, who opposed the 
 banks. He knew their power and influence 
 better than the people did, and he would not al- 
 low himself to lead a forlorn hope. The truth 
 of the matter was that he was sadly disappointed, 
 not at his own career, but at the results of it. 
 He had unselfishly and honestly applied himself 
 to his work. He had done all that he could to 
 stay the hand of the destroyer. He had fought 
 the powers of oppression with all of his might for 
 
 150
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 15! 
 
 twenty-six years, while in Congress. He had 
 never seen the time when he would not have 
 given his life, freely, if by so doing he could 
 have saved the people from the awful destruction 
 the bankers were preparing to deal out to them. 
 
 But he had been defeated. He saw that he 
 was too weak to withstand their onslaughts much 
 longer. He saw the time was near at hand when 
 the people would be compelled to arouse them- 
 selves, or else be slaves. 
 
 Colonel Hunt offered a bill for the re-establish- 
 ment of the banking business of the United 
 States, on the following lines, during the last 
 session of Congress: After repealing all con 
 flicting laws, it gave the land-owners of every 
 county, town, district, city ward, or other sub- 
 division of any city, containing 5,000 inhabit- 
 ants, the right to vote for a Governmental Bank 
 of Deposit, which shall be established by the 
 Government of the United States, when one 
 hundred or more of the land-owners in the com 
 munity named shall subscribe their names to the 
 stock of said bank, which shall vary, according 
 to the desire of the subscribers, from $10,000 up 
 to $500,000, which stock shall not amount to 
 more than one-tenth of the actual cash value of 
 the property of the subscribing stockholders, 
 all of which must be free and clear from all en-
 
 152 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 cumbrances of any nature at the time of the sub- 
 scription, the Government to have a first lien on 
 all of the property named to the amount of the 
 subscription made by its owner, to secure it from 
 all loss on account of the bank. When all of 
 this has been approved by bonded examiners of 
 the Government, then the Secretary of the 
 Treasury of the United States shall issue to said 
 bank the amount of its stock, in either Gold or 
 Silver or Treasury notes receivable for all debts, 
 dues and demands in the United Sates, but 
 which shall not draw interest, and shall issue a 
 charter for same and turn it over to the managers 
 of said bank, which will then be ready to begin 
 business. The stock of said bank shall be duly 
 recorded in the mortgage records of the count}', 
 and then held by the United States as a lien on 
 each piece of property mentioned for the amount 
 named against it, and shall not be released until 
 this amount, together with all expenses of this 
 transaction, shall have been paid, in exactly the 
 same kind of money that the bank has received 
 from the Government, when a full release may 
 be issued. 
 
 This bank, when so chartered, shall have the 
 right to receive deposits, loan money on ap- 
 proved bankable paper and do a general bank- 
 ing business; but after paying all expenses of
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 153 
 
 running the business, including reasonable sal- 
 aries to competent managers, clerks, etc., to- 
 gether with four per cent per annum interest to 
 all of the land-owners interested, according to 
 the amount of stock which they own, then the 
 remainder of all profits shall be divided between 
 all of the depositors, according to the amounts 
 of their average deposits during the year, on the 
 basis of monthly exhibits, as follows: A deposi- 
 tor who has an average of $100 in the bank all 
 of the time, of every month in one year, shall 
 be entitled to the same share as a depositor who 
 has had $1,200 in the bank all the time for 
 one month, etc. 
 
 The Government assumes no responsibility 
 for any action of an}' officer of the bank, nor 
 does it guarantee any depositor against loss, 
 but every depositor shall have a second lien on 
 the land which is covered by the first lien of the 
 Government's, to secure him against loss if the 
 bank fails, said second lien to be subject only to 
 the lien of the Government; said land to be ap- 
 praised by Governmental bonded inspectors, 
 who shall require sworn valuations from its owner 
 and three of his adjoining neighbors, when ap- 
 praised. 
 
 Then followed clauses to prevent fraud and 
 punish offenders, to elect officers by a majority of
 
 154 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 all of the stock-owners, to assess all of the banks 
 an annual tax sufficiently large to pa)' the Gov- 
 ernment for all expenses incurred in looking 
 after the banks, etc., but which was in no case 
 to exceed one per cent per annum of the amount 
 advanced by the Government to the bank. 
 
 Then followed a clause opening the mints of 
 the United States to the free and unlimited 
 coinage of both gold and silver,at such a ratio as 
 may from time to time be required, to keep the 
 international, intrinsic value exactly with the 
 coinage value. Subsidiary silver coins to be on 
 equal proportionate weight and fineness with 
 other silver coins. The government to immedi- 
 ately coin all of the silver in the treasury, and 
 begin recoining all silver coins, as fast as they 
 are received, into coins of the proper weight 
 and fineness to keep the intrinsic value of the 
 two metals the same as the coinage value, as 
 nearly as possible. All holders of our present 
 silver coins to have the right to send them to 
 the mints and get the same number of new coins 
 the Government to stand all loss, if any. 
 
 Then followed a clause ordering the Govern- 
 ment to issue an amount of treasury notes equal- 
 ing the whole amount of the public debt, requir- 
 ing the banks to buy enough of those notes, all 
 along, to pay off the public debt as fast as it
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 155 
 
 falls due ; if gold be needed, then in gold ; if silver 
 be needed, then in silver, or, if treasury notes be 
 needed, requiring the holders of the bonds to 
 accept treasury notes from the Government. 
 
 Then followed a clause giving to the debtor 
 the right to pay all debts, dues and demands he 
 owes or may owe, in either one of the kinds of 
 money mentioned above, unless the original 
 note or bond calls for one special kind of money. 
 This privilege was also given to the Government, 
 as well as to all other debtors. 
 
 Then 'followed a clause forbidding the Gov- 
 ernment to issue more than an amount of treas- 
 ury notes equaling all of the gold and silver 
 together, now in circulation, or thereafter to be 
 placed in circulation. 
 
 Next came a clause making it the duty of all 
 officers inspecting goods for export, to collect 
 five per cent export duties on all money shipped 
 out of the United States to any foreign nation. 
 
 Next came a clause making it high treason 
 against the Government to be guilty of trying to 
 increase or decrease the value of the Govern- 
 ment's money, by any device, trick, scheme, 
 trust, combination or condition whatsoever, 
 punishable all the way from a small fine, in 
 small cases, to expulsion from the country in 
 larger cases. Very severe punishment was to
 
 156 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 be meted out to all bankers who defalcated, or 
 caused any depositor or the Government any 
 loss through any trick, scheme, trust, combina- 
 tion or condition, whatsoever. 
 
 The old banks were given a reasonable time 
 to wind up their business and retire although 
 this was unnecessary, for they would find them- 
 selves without depositors as soon as the new 
 banks could get started going. 
 
 Every possible precaution was taken to prevent 
 fraud. All possible safeguards were thrown 
 around it. This bill was the careful thought of 
 one who had spent a lifetime in studying the 
 matter, and it will certainly pay the reader to 
 study it over carefully. Some bill, like this, 
 must be passed soon to save our country from 
 the clutches of our present grasping bankers' 
 greed. 
 
 Colonel Hunt's speech in advocacy of this bill 
 was the master-work of his life, and it was sent 
 to the uttermost parts of the country and used as 
 one of the strongest arguments of the times. 
 Of course it created a great sensation, and no 
 wonder, for here are a few excerpts from it: 
 
 "Mr. Speaker: The political events of the 
 last few years have opened the eyes of this 
 people to the fact that they have been mer- 
 cilessly robbed, through the acts of this
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 157 
 
 Congress. Yes, sir, I repeat it! Robbed in 
 cold blood, by those they have trusted and 
 whose duty it was to protect them. Look, 
 sir, at the Senator from Ohio (Sherman) and 
 those of his financial clique every one of them 
 millionaires. They demonetized silver and have 
 received their reward.- They have sold their 
 constituents for a price, and now have the blood 
 money in their possession. Their price was 
 high, but the money-lords could well afford to 
 pay it. And then, sir, look at the fact that those 
 same money-lords have made the common peo- 
 ple believe that Sherman was a statesman by 
 using the columns of a partisan press, which was 
 forced to laud him up to the skies, to keep the 
 people from learning the real facts and crushing 
 both him and his press supporters, for their 
 treachery. But now a day of reckoning is at 
 hand. 
 
 "Then cast your eyes on the ex-sheriff from 
 Buffalo! Unknown, unnoted and unsung, he 
 sprang from obscurity into prominence, simply 
 because he espoused the cause of Wall Street, 
 against the people, and has had the backbone 
 to deliver the goods. Yes, sir, I repeat it! 
 Cleveland has delivered us over to our enemies 
 and is to-day a millionaire, beloved of all the 
 gold-bugs, and a saint and an angel in the eyes
 
 158 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 of the Shylocks. Private bond-contracts in a 
 public office! Ye gods! A self-acknowledged 
 traitor, who accepted the nomination on a bi- 
 metallic platform and then ran our government 
 on a gold basis obtaining a large amount of 
 the yellow metal as his part of the vicarious sac- 
 rifice. Cleveland, the man who has insisted on 
 paying out gold for silver certificates and issuing 
 more bonds for more gold to pay out for other 
 silver certificates, all positively against all law 
 and all equity, simply because the bankers have 
 demanded a billion dollars 1 worth of bonds, to 
 be used as a banking basis. Ah! what a servant 
 is this! Ever ready to obey the behests of his 
 masters, even though he has to perjure his soul 
 by turning traitor to his oath of" high office 
 supposed to be the most sacred oath known to 
 our language. And had we a Congress of Wash- 
 ingtons, Jeffersons, Henrys, Jacksons, Calhouns, 
 Clays and Lincolns, he would be impeached 
 and in prison before the sun sets this day. 
 
 "It is with a feeling of horror that I refer to 
 the present Secretary of the Treasury. A sad- 
 ness comes creeping over me, as 1 consider his 
 poor predicament his conscience a seething 
 mass of the flames of torment, his poor trembling 
 soul shuddering on the brink of the inevitable 
 chasm of public condemnation, after a long life
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 159 
 
 in the honorable service of his state, he is doomed 
 to die in the slough of despond, penniless, 
 friendless and accursed and all because he 
 obeyed his master too well! 
 
 " History is now about to repeat itself. Re- 
 member the fate of Babylonia, of Assyria, of Per- 
 sia, of Greece, of Rome and of Carthage. As long 
 as they were well governed by honest officials they 
 prospered, but after the Shylocks had bought up 
 their legislators and had grown wealthy off 
 the spoils of the people, they all withered and 
 died in their own wickedness, while the hordes 
 of hardy men from the hills and the frontiers 
 formed themselves into armies and overthrew 
 them. Their ill-gotten gains were scattered to 
 the four winds of the earth, and history gives us 
 their names as a warning. And well will it be, 
 sir, if we take warning from the present breeze, 
 which but now indicates the rising of the awful 
 storm of death and destruction. If we do not, 
 then look out for the hardy men of the hills, who 
 are even now practicing with their weapons in 
 contemplation of coming events. Poor, foolish 
 Coxey had the idea in a modified form, but the 
 Tamerlane of the hills will be a very much 
 more determined person, one who will not only 
 step on the grass, but who will also boot the 
 members of this Government out of their offices
 
 l6o THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 and loot the strong-boxes of the Shylocks, as 
 his predecessors did the Greeks and the Romans 
 of old. Ah! you smile, but let me tell you mil- 
 lionaires that, unless you loose your hold on the 
 throats of the people, my words will return to 
 you, when it is too late, with all the force of a 
 prophecy in them. Think not, ye Shylocks, 
 that the day will not come when the aggressive- 
 ness of an outraged people will dethrone you 
 from the high seats you have stolen and obtained 
 by bribery and corruption. And ma}' God have 
 mercy on you, when it comes. 
 
 "The political parties all lead to the Shylock's 
 office. They all get the money from the money- 
 lords to carry on the campaign with and the 
 misers always obtain a good interest on their 
 money. The politicians are compelled to serve 
 their masters, because their living depends upon 
 it. Personally, these politicians had rather serve 
 the people, if the pay was as good, so we must 
 make it our business to see that those who stand 
 up for our rights are paid for it, and that those 
 who have sold out their constituents are pun- 
 ished. All men serve a good paymaster, and 
 as long as the Shylocks pay the politicians, just 
 so long will they dictate our laws and rob us by 
 rote. Just so long will we find it impossible to 
 change our present iniquitous banking laws and
 
 THE MODERN BANKER l6l 
 
 stop the immense interest now going to the 
 banker, made by the money of the depositors, 
 none of which goes into the pocket of its owner. 
 "To illustrate, let us take, for example, the 
 National Bank of Commerce, of Kansas City, 
 which has a capial of $1,000,000, with a sur- 
 plus of $200,000 and deposits amounting to $4,- 
 500,000, giving its officers absolute control of 
 $5,700,000 in cash, all the time. Of this they 
 loan about $4,250,000 at an average rate of 
 well, say eight per cent, but those who borrow 
 it will swear that it averages twice that rate or 
 more. This gives this bank $340,000 income 
 per annum. Let us then assume that the legit- 
 imate expenses, not including salaries of offi- 
 cers, are $40,000 per annum.. This leaves us 
 $300,000, as interest on capital and official 
 wages. $1,200,000 at eight per cent makes 
 $96,ooo,which gives an ample interest on all the 
 capital invested in this bank, which, taken from 
 the $300,000, leaves us the enormous amount of 
 $204,000 clean, clear cash which these half- 
 dozen men are receiving every year, as official 
 wages from this bank. I cannot help wondering 
 how the}' divide it up. Let us see; there is Dr. 
 W.S. Woods, who is president. He owns a con- 
 trolling interest in the bank, that is evident, and 
 as we know he is a greedy cuss, we will give
 
 1 62 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 him, say half of it, or an annual salary of $100,- 
 ooo, or just twice as much as this United States 
 is paying the President. W. A. Rule is cashier. 
 He is a mighty handy little man, and although 
 he does not own a great deal of stock, still we 
 feel that he ought to be paid as much as the 
 United States is paying its Secretary of the 
 Treasurj 7 , which is $8,000 per annum. To the 
 first and second vice-presidents we will pay 
 the same, $8,000 per annum each. This will 
 enable us to pay to the other twelve directors 
 exactly the same wages that the United States 
 is paying to its Congressmen, and after paying 
 all of these munificent salaries, we will have 
 plenty of money left to pa}' a large assessment 
 from the lobby at Washington 'and for other 
 purposes.' 
 
 "My God, gentlemen! does this seem like 
 hard-times wages? Would you have me believe 
 that times are hard when such ordinary, average 
 men as these gentlemen are, can make such 
 wages as these are? No, sirs, the times are 
 
 o ' * 
 
 flourishing in the National Bank of Commerce 
 at Kansas City. They are in clover, They are 
 dressing in fine linen and living off the fat of 
 the land, these gentlemen bankers are. They 
 toil not, neither do they spin, but the world is 
 theirs and they have a down-hill pull on it, at
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 163 
 
 that. But this is not all. There are thousands 
 of other similar institutions in this country and 
 they are all faring sumptuously. This illustra- 
 tion fits them all, except in details. They do not 
 know that we are having hard times in this 
 country. If you will go with them to their man- 
 sions you will find that their wives and daughters 
 are the proud peeresses of our land. They spend 
 their days trying to invent some new, ingenious 
 and untried way to spend their surplus wealth. 
 They eat their meals off solid silver and dec- 
 orate themselves with solid gold. Well trained 
 servants glide over their marble halls, ready to 
 do the bidding of the masters who pay them a 
 pittance for it. And I ask you, gentlemen, to 
 remember that this is the case in those pampered 
 homes in this year of our Lord, 1896, when the 
 farmer's corn is only worth 15 cents per bushel. 
 This is the way our bankers and money-lords 
 are living, while the poor old farmer is trying 
 to sell a good horse for $10 to pay his taxes with, 
 and can scarcely find a purchaser at that price. 
 Gentlemen, this is the condition of our Shy- 
 locks, while millions of our populace are tramp- 
 ing the sidewalks of our cities begging for work 
 at any price, and tens of thousands of honest men 
 are trudging over our muddy highways, beg- 
 ging for bread. Thus are the money-changers
 
 164 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 faring, while rhillions of our defenseless women 
 and children are huddled together in the hovels 
 of the poor, not knowing where the next meal 
 is to come from. 
 
 "But, 3'ou say, where is the remedy for all of 
 these evils? I will tell you in a nutshell. Listen: 
 ist. Give us absolute Governmental money, free 
 coinage of both gold and silver at the proper 
 ratio, whatever that may be, and Government 
 legal-tender greenbacks, in sufficient volume to 
 do all of the business of the nation and of the 
 people on a cash basis. Burn every bank-note 
 in existence and make it high treason for any 
 person or corporation to attempt to issue any- 
 thing in the shape of money, in any way. Place 
 heavy penalties on all persons found guilty of 
 attempting to increase or decrease the money of 
 this nation in any way, and fix a heavy export 
 duty on gold and silver to be shipped out of this 
 country. 2nd. Establish banks on the basis of 
 the bill I have presented here, thus giving each 
 depositor the interest on his own money, when 
 loaned out by the bank, and also placing the 
 banking basis on the solid values of well located 
 real estate at such a vast per cent discount of its 
 real value that it will be impossible for tricksters 
 to cause loss to the Government or to depositors, 
 
 "The cause of all the trouble has been in
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 165 
 
 three evils which can be easily remedied: ist. 
 The great appreciation of primary money, gold. 
 Remedy, both gold and silver,as absolute money 
 for all purposes. 2nd. Our present system of 
 banking was made by the money-lords and is 
 being run in their interests altogether, and 
 against the interests of the masses. Remedy, 
 the bill I have presented and which I have 
 heretofore explained fully. 3rd. This Govern- 
 ment has farmed out its own inalienable rights 
 to make and maintain the money of its people, 
 a medium of exchange that shall be unchange- 
 able in value at all times, to a set of men who 
 have manipulated the money of this country in 
 such a way that we now have 4,000 millionaires 
 who own more than one-half of all the total 
 values of all kinds in this country, while some 
 65,000,000 of our people are now on the verge 
 of bankruptcy, ruin and starvation. Remedy: 
 Take back this, the most sacred power of our 
 Government and let the United States make and 
 maintain all of its own money, both coin and 
 paper, and throw such safeguards around it as 
 will forever destroy the power of our oppressors. 
 Sweep the national banks out of existence, and 
 thus, at one fell swoop, destroy the most power- 
 ful monopoly that ever existed on the face of 
 the earth. Do these things, gentlemen, and you
 
 I 66 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 have solved the problem of our prosperity as a 
 nation and a people. Refuse, and you will have 
 to answer for it ere long, when the hosts of the 
 Commune, the hordes of Attilaand the bands of 
 the Tamerlane of the hills have swooped down 
 upon you and have drenched your fair land in 
 blood and destruction. Oh, ye pampered aris- 
 tocrats of the East, ye lenders of money and ye 
 speculators in the rights of the masses, listen 
 now to the notes of this warning; for when an 
 outraged people once finally decide that they 
 cannot get their rights by peaceable means, then 
 will the worm turn on you with the cry of 
 Vengeance! And the beast of burden will fall 
 upon you and destroy you, and your palaces 
 shall be made waste places and your millions 
 shall vanish into thin airl"
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE total values of every kind of property in 
 the United States, that is, the total value of all 
 property of every kind and nature, is estimated 
 at $40,000,000,000 (forty billion dollars), and 
 now we have about 4,000 men who own about 
 $25,000,000,000 (twenty-five billion dollars') 
 worth of it. Query: How long will it take 
 these four thousand men to get all the rest of the 
 property in the United States? 
 
 Let us figure on this proposition a little. Say 
 they get four per cent interest on their money 
 per year, then we find that twenty-five billion 
 dollars will bring them just one billion dollars 
 interest at four per cent; so, as the other 65,- 
 000,000 people of this country now only own 
 fifteen billion dollars' worth of property in this 
 country, it will only take these four thousand 
 men fifteen years to get all of it, to say nothing 
 of compound interest. 
 
 In fifteen years, then, four thousand men will 
 own every dollar's worth of property in this 
 
 United States. 
 
 167
 
 1 68 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 You do not believe that, do you? 
 
 No, kind reader, that is not true; but here is 
 the reason of its apparent falsity. If all of the 
 workers of the United States could stop work 
 for fifteen years, then these four thousand men 
 would, undoubtedly, own every dollar's worth 
 of property in the United States within the term 
 of fifteen years, provided they could collect the 
 interest on their investments. 
 
 But these four thousand men have about 65, 
 000,000 slaves at work for them. These slaves 
 ought to produce, we will say, a profit of say 
 $10 per head each year. This means $650,000,- 
 ooo per annum to be taken out of the billion 
 dollars our masters are demanding from us each 
 year, which leaves only $350,000,000 per annum 
 which will have to be taken out of our property 
 to pay to the Shylocks, after they have taken all 
 of the profits of all of our labor. 
 
 If they get $350,000,000 worth of our prop- 
 erty every year, how long will it take them to 
 get all of the rest of our fifteen billion dollars' 
 worth still left to us? 
 
 About forty-three years. 
 
 Is that all? 
 
 Yes, that is all. They will own every dollar's 
 worth of property in the United States in forty- 
 three years, provided values rise fast enough to
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 169 
 
 pay the compound interest; if not, then in much 
 less time; unless we have a change in our pres- 
 ent financial policies. 
 
 Yes, I know you cannot believe this, but then, 
 you know, u figures cannot lie." 
 
 Prepare your necks for the yoke, for the bur- 
 den is falling on you; nay, it is already firmly 
 fastened on you and your children. 
 
 And still ye are Democrats! Yaller-dog 
 Democrats! 
 
 Or perhaps ye are Republicans! "Wah- 
 hosses," eh? 
 
 "Daddy carried his pumpkins to the house 
 with a pumpkin in one end of the sack and a 
 rock in the other, and I guess he knew what he 
 was doing." 
 
 Certainly. Your father was a very wise man, 
 when compared with the son he has raised. No 
 doubt about that. 
 
 What is interest? 
 
 It is the penalty we have to pay for being 
 poor. 
 
 But the really poor cannot borrow, without 
 security. 
 
 No, but they are better off than the man who 
 is just rich enough to be able to borrow, and
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 poor enough to be forced to do so; for interest 
 is but the knife of the cold-blooded Shylock, 
 with which he cuts out his pound of flesh. 
 There is no poison so deadly to prosperity as 
 the poison of interest. It withers up and dies 
 as soon as the Shylock's knife is laid at its 
 roots. Debt is the death-dealing quagmire that 
 has sunk millions in the slough of despond, after 
 the Shylock's knife, interest, has cut away all 
 of the arteries of life. Friends, flee from debt, 
 as you would from the demon of destruction. It 
 is the only way you can beat the Shylocks. 
 
 We are a nation of borrowers. 
 
 Our law-makers have made us such. 
 
 Every law that has been passed within the 
 last twenty years, touching finance, has been 
 dictated by the bankers and money-lords. 
 
 They demonetized silver. 
 
 They planned the present system of banking. 
 
 They are demanding bonds and they are 
 getting them. 
 
 They have a patent-right on legislation of this 
 kind. 
 
 They own the Democratic party. 
 
 They own the Republican party. 
 
 They own the executive. 
 
 They own Congress. 
 
 Friends, think you they will deliver up all of
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 17! 
 
 these goods and chattels without a fight? No, 
 never. 
 
 Then let us fight them. 
 
 Ah, there's the rub. Will we do it? 
 
 We must, or else be slaves. 
 
 What is $1,000? 
 
 The price of two able-bodied men. 
 
 How so? 
 
 It will make as much deaf profit as they can. 
 It is even better than the men, for it will not 
 wear out and it never gets sick. It works every 
 hour, wet or shine. 
 
 What has caused this to be so? 
 
 The great appreciation of our money, which 
 has been manipulated by the money sharks, 
 while honest men were at work. We have been 
 robbed while asleep. 
 
 How was this done? 
 
 By demonetizing silver and cornering gold. 
 By having the Government call in all of its own 
 money and getting the right to substitute bank- 
 notes for it. 
 
 What is money? 
 
 Gold and silver coins and legal-tender green- 
 backs. It is simply a medium of exchange,
 
 172 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 manufactured by the Government, to expedite 
 exchanges of values among its people. 
 
 What are bank-notes? 
 
 They are substitutes for money. They are 
 notes given by banks, which agree to pay you the 
 money for them on demand. The banks give 
 the government security that they will pay them 
 promptly, when presented, and then loan them 
 out to the people, at big interest. 
 
 Are bank-notes as good as legal-tender green- 
 backs? 
 
 Certainly not. When a bank issues its notes 
 it is going in debt for every dollar it issues. Say 
 it has $50,000 capital and issues $45,000 worth 
 of these notes, as is the case under our present 
 law, you see it only leaves a margin of $5,000 
 above its debts, in case it should get into trouble. 
 Would you not rather have the real money, is- 
 sued directly from the Government, which is 
 made a legal-tender for all debts, dues and de- 
 mands in the United States, both public and 
 private, than to accept the notes of a concern 
 that owes within ten per cent of all that it is 
 worth ? Of course you would. 
 
 But the government's bonds are behind these 
 bank-notes. Does that not make them good? 
 
 Certainly. But why is it necessary to have 
 the bank-note at all. If the Government must
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 173 
 
 secure the issue of the bank-notes, by selling 
 the banker its bonds, and then pay him four per 
 cent interest on the bonds, beside allowing him 
 to loan the bank-notes out to the people at in- 
 terest, why not have the Government issue the 
 non-interest-bearing legal-tender notes itself, 
 thus saving all interest and extra trouble? 
 
 Oh, you love the banker, do you? You want 
 to force the Government to pay him interest and 
 give him a nice soft snap all free of charge to 
 him, do you? 
 
 Did you ever borrow money from a banker 
 and find out just how much he loves you? Did 
 you? Did he offer to pay you interest if you 
 would agree to carry his notes for him? Ah, 
 no. He demanded interest from you for the 
 loan of his own promises to pay you the money 
 on demand, now, didn't he? Yes, sir; he wanted 
 you to pay him interest on his own debts, on his 
 own notes, before he would let you have them. 
 And then, about the security; did you ever have 
 a banker stand up and tell you that your own 
 credit was not worth a cent and that you must 
 give him gilt-edged security before he would 
 loan you some of his own debt-bank-notes? The 
 very proposition is an insult to our American 
 manhood and Government, which declares that 
 all men are equal, and yet, here we have one
 
 174 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 rnan stand up and proclaim his own greatness 
 and financial glory, while he is humbling that of 
 his neighbor in the dust, by his demands for se- 
 curity. And yet our Government is actually pay- 
 ing this man four per cent interest to do this. 
 It has given him a monopoly of our money and 
 forces us to bow down our heads and beg for 
 favors. 
 
 And all this makes you love the banker, does 
 it? 
 
 Ah, surely you are with me on this proposi- 
 tion, my friends. You have never thought of it 
 before, but now, since I have called your atten- 
 tion to it, I know that you will join me in this 
 matter. 
 
 We must wipe these national banks from off 
 the face of the earth. They are a menace to 
 our very existence. They have all joined hands 
 and now form the greatest monopoly on earth. 
 By concerted action, they have demonetized 
 silver, thus destroying one-half of our money at 
 one fell swoop, and doubling the value of every 
 dollar and debt that was due to them. They 
 have cornered the gold and are now clamoring 
 for the withdrawal of the greenbacks, because 
 they cannot control and corner them, and now, 
 every few months, we see them bleeding our 
 Government for hundreds of millions of dollars'
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 175 
 
 worth of bonds, under the efficient management 
 of Mr. Cleveland and his cohorts. No stage 
 robber ever held up a stage and demanded the 
 money of the passengers more deliberately than 
 the Shylocks are holding up our government and 
 robbing it during these troublous times. 
 
 And still you love the banker, do you? 
 Surely not. 
 
 What is a banker? 
 
 These are a set of men to whom the govern- 
 ment of the United States pays four per cent in- 
 terest and gives them a monopoly of handling 
 its money, and the money of the people, because 
 the people love them so well. 
 ^ But do they not pay the Government some- 
 thing for all of these great and special favors? 
 
 No, nothing except a very small tax, about 
 the same as other people pay. 
 
 What is their business? 
 
 They are schemers and monopolists. They 
 spend their time scheming out some new method 
 of robbing the people who love them so well. 
 They have combined and now have a complete 
 monopoly of all of the money of this country, 
 which they are now using to bleed this Govern- 
 ment, by forcing it to issue hundreds of millions
 
 176 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 of dollars' worth of interest-bearing bonds, which 
 they expect to use in forcing this nation to per- 
 petuate their own existence, as the only purvey- 
 ors of our money. 
 
 Why do the people love these bankers so 
 well? . 
 
 Because they are bankers and are rich and 
 smart. The people of this country think so 
 much of them that they are now depositing all 
 of their money in their banks, all the time, free 
 of charge, and are then borrowing this money 
 back from the bankers and paying them the 
 munificent sum of $360,000,000 per annum as 
 interest on it. Not only that, but the people are 
 insisting that the Government shall pay these 
 bankers four per cent interest, per annum, on 
 all of their capital, as interest on the bonds 
 which the Government issues to secure their 
 bank-notes with. Yes, and more than this, this 
 Government is now giving these bankers an ab- 
 solute monopoly on handling all the money used 
 in this country, absolutely free, when this privi- 
 lege would bring hundreds of millions of dollars, 
 if offered to the highest bidder, as other Govern- 
 mental contracts are let. 
 
 The bankers are the special favorites of the 
 Government and the people of this United States. 
 They have a very nice, soft snap and they are 
 using it for all it is worth, while it lasts.
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 177 
 
 Is there no way to stop them from committing 
 all of these outrages on the people? 
 
 Certainly. The people could vote them out 
 of existence in two years' time, if they wanted 
 to do so. 
 
 Why do they not do so? 
 
 Because they love the bankers so well. This 
 is the only reason why they do not do so, that I 
 can see. 
 
 Friends, I do not love the bankers so well, 
 do you? If not, then we must get together and 
 vote them out of existence. Will you help me? 
 Ah, that's the question. 
 
 You must decide it for yourselves. God help 
 you. 
 
 My story is told. Henry and Cora are still 
 in New York, living in splendid misery. With 
 all of their millions I extend to them my sympa- 
 thies. They were not naturally bad. The busi- 
 ness of their lives may have warped their 
 dispositions. I believe it did. At all events, 
 I am sorry for them. Their children are beauti- 
 ful to look at, but under the circumstances sur- 
 rounding them, we cannot expect them to be 
 other than vain, frivolous and empty-hearted. 
 Let us hope that they will not turn out to be 
 vicious, from the same causes.
 
 178 THE MODERN BANKER 
 
 Colonel Hunt and his family are now in 
 Washington, where he is still championing the 
 great bill that he introduced, which has been 
 fully explained heretofore. I do not know a 
 happier family. The sweet bonds of sympathy 
 and pure love bind them together with bonds 
 that nothing but death can sever. The children, 
 living in this heaven on earth, being reared by 
 such a mother and father, are like the brightest 
 and most beautiful blossoms on the Tree of 
 Promise; and in after life will take their places 
 in the world as worth}' representatives of their 
 parents. 
 
 The old grandparents are all still alive, happy 
 and contented. They have thousands of bushels 
 of this Democratic corn at 15 cents a bushel, 
 plenty of three-cent pork and two-cent beef,and 
 other edibles in abundance, and while they are 
 not selling anything at present prices, they are 
 living in the hope that Colonel Hunt may get 
 his great bill passed and made into a law; when 
 they confidently expect much better prices. 
 
 Mr. Lyman is still at the head of the lobby 
 at Washington, which he reports as being in a 
 very thriving condition, on account of the unu- 
 sual activity that it has influenced Mr. Cleveland 
 to make in the interests of the banks, in issuing 
 the bonds so promptly when called upon. He
 
 THE MODERN BANKER 179 
 
 is still fighting those legal-tender greenbacks, 
 and says that he considers his efforts to have 
 them withdrawn from circulation, as the only 
 failure he has made in a long and eventful life. 
 Still he does not despair of success yet. He and 
 Mr.Cleveland stand very close together and are 
 firm friends. In fact, I might say, I believe that 
 he is acting as the President's Privy Counselor 
 on Finance at this time. At all events, Mr. 
 Lyman declares that Cleveland is the greatest 
 statesman who has ever filled the White House, 
 and all of the bankers, Shylocks and money- 
 lords are echoing the sentiment in enthusiastic 
 tones. There is one point that is a certainty 
 Wall Street stands up firmly and forever for the 
 firm of Lyman and Cleveland. And so do 
 England and the Shylocks of Europe. 
 
 "You Shelbina! You better keep outen dem 
 jelly and cakes, er I'll tell Miss Mamie on yer. 
 Dey weren't made fer sich niggers as you is ter 
 ete. Deys made fur de white fokes, and " 
 
 "Now, Pompey, you wouldn't tell on me, 
 now wud yer?" 
 
 "Git erway from here gal, git erway, I tell 
 yer! I ain't none uv yer hired servants, what 
 yer kin buy off wid er smile an' er nudge. I'se 
 one uv de family, I is, an' I don't 'pose to have
 
 TilB MODERN 
 
 yer wastin' de vittels dat way. I'se one uv de 
 family, I tell yer. Git erway!" 
 
 And Pompey was the happiest darky in 
 Washington. 
 
 THE END.
 
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