Title Page
A
SHORT HISTORY
OF
PAPER MONEY AND BANKING
IN THE UNITED STATES
TO WHICH IS PREFIXED
AN INQUIRY
INTO THE
PRINCIPLES OF THE SYSTEM
BY
WILLIAM M. GOUGE
[1833]
With An Introductory Essay
“William M. Gouge and the Formation of Orthodox American Monetary Policy”
By JOSEPH DORFMAN
Copyright Page
First Edition 1833
(Philadelphia: Printed by T. W. Ustick; and for Sale by Grigg & Elliott, No. 8 N. Fourth St., Uriah Hunt, No. 19 N. Third St., Hogan & Thompson, No. 139½ Market St., 1833)
Reprinted 1968 by
AUGUSTUS M. KELLEY • PUBLISHERS
New York New York 10010
Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 65-26366
ABP
Gift
Publisher
Copy
William M. Gouge and the Formation of Orthodox American Monetary Policy
William M. Gouge and the Formation of Orthodox American Monetary Policy
Dedication
A
A
SHORT HISTORY
OF
PAPER MONEY AND BANKING
IN THE
UNITED STATES,
INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF
PROVINCIAL AND CONTINENTAL PAPER MONEY.
TO WHICH IS PREFIXED
AN INQUIRY
INTO THE
PRINCIPLES OF THE SYSTEM,
WITH
CONSIDERATIONS OF ITS EFFECTS
ON
MORALS AND HAPPINESS.
Dedication 1
[Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1833, by WILLIAM M. GOUGE, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.]
Preface
———
A brief exposition of the principles of Banking, wag all that the writer originally intended to give. In the first draft of the work, the historical sketch was part of a chapter. It has been extended to its present length, from a belief that a tolerably full account of incidents in the History of American Banking would be acceptable to the reader.
Part I. An Inquiry into the Principles of the American Banking System, with considerations of its Effects on Morals and Happiness.
INTO THE PRINCIPLES
OF THE
AMERICAN BANKING SYSTEM.______________
CHAPTER I. Importance of the Subject.In an address to the stockholders of the United States Bank, at their meeting in 1828, Mr. N. Biddle, the President of that institution, stated, that, of five hundred and forty-four Banks in the United States, one hundred and forty-four had been openly declared bankrupt, and about fifty more had suspended business.
Chapter II. Of Real Money
Paper money is the foundation of the American Banking System. But, as, without a knowledge of what is genuine, it is impossible to have a clear conception of what is spurious, it will be necessary to give a statement of the qualities and functions of real money.
Chapter III. Of Barter, Leger Entries, Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes
It is not necessary for carrying on business honestly, to introduce gold or silver money into every transaction. After we have measured a scantling by a foot rule, we may use that scantling to measure another, and that again to measure a third. We can, after having measured several scantlings in this way, make a tolerably correct estimate of the length of others by the eye.
