Fifty years in Wall Street · Henry Clews

CHAPTER IX.

Chapter 7 of 136 · 1 min read

SECRETARY CHASE AND THE TREASURY.

The Depleted Condition of the Treasury when Mr. Chase 73 took Office.—Preparations for War and Great Excitement in Washington.—Chivalrous Southerners in a Ferment.—Officials Up in Arms in Defence of their Menaced Positions.—Miscalculation with Regard to the Probable Duration of the War.—A Visit to Washington and an Interview with Secretary Chase.—Disappointment about the Sale of Government Bonds.—A Panic Precipitated in Wall Street.—Millionaires Reduced to Indigence in a Few Hours.—Miraculously Saved from the Wreck.—How it Happened

CHAPTER X.

THE NATIONAL BANKS.

Secretary Chase Considers the Problem of Providing a 81 National Currency.—How E. G. Spaulding takes a Prominent Part in the Discussion of the Bank Act.—The Act Founded on the Bank Act of the State of New York.—Effect of the Act upon the Credit of the Country.—A New System of Banking Required