pillage and plunder, which still exists; many revolutionary chiefs have issued currency without restraint and little thought of redemption; Mexico's currency now is confusion worse confounded; Mexico and many of her states and cities are largely indebted to Europe, as well as to the United States, and her brightest hope now is that some foreign government or governments will intervene and see to it that a stable government exists that can and will honor Mexico's obligations to the outside world and afford protection to property and life at home. Mexico is rich in natural resources and only needs a strong and stable government to render the country prosperous and happy.1 1 Hon. George E. Roberts, former Director of the United States Mint, now with the National City Bank of New York, compiled "The Monetary Systems of the Principal Countries of the World," in 1913. This work is authoritative, full, explicit, and is recommended to any one desiring to pursue the subject in greater detail. CHAPTER XXVII BIBLIOGRAPHY It is proposed in this chapter to present a list of books and other publications to guide the reader who may desire to consult original records and study the discussions of the several questions at greater length. The arrangement of the list will enable the reader to determine, without research and additional examination, which of the volumes are requisite for the pursuit of the specific subject upon which further information is desired. The history of the Colonial and Continental periods is not voluminous, and the official records are not only scant but in many particulars fragmentary; nevertheless, much may be gleaned from the publications named below. On the subject of COINAGE, the extracts from the Journals and manuscript reports of the Continental Congress appear in : International Monetary Conference, 1878, Senate Ex. Doc., No. 58, 45th Cong., 3d Sess. (Washington, 1879). This also contains Robert Morris's plan for a coinage system, Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the same, the Reports of the Board of Treasury and the Ordinance on Coinage of the Continental Congress, which established the dollar unit. Unofficial publications are: History of American Coinage, David K. Watson, 1899. The Early Coins of America, Crosby. United States Mint and Coinage, A. M. Smith. Financial History of the United States, Albert S. Bolles, 1896, 3 vols. Consult also the numbers of Sound Currency, semimonthly (later quarterly), published by the Reform Club, New York, 1895-1903. PAPER CURRENCY legislation prior to 1789, from the Journals of Congress, is covered by the books mentioned below, and the data are compiled in the official Treasury publications: History of the Currency of the Country, etc., William F. DeKnight, The Funding System of the United States, Jonathan Elliot, House Unofficial publications are: Historical Account of Massachusetts Currency, J. B. Felt, 1839. Currency and Banking in Massachusetts, A. McF. Davis, 2 vols., 1900. History of American Currency, William G. Sumner, 1874; revised The Financier and the Finances of the American Revolution, William Brief Account of Paper Money of the Revolution, J. W. Schuckers, Short accounts will be found in: United States Notes, John Jay Knox, 1888 (3d edition, 1894). Money and Banking, Horace White, 1902. Money, Francis A. Walker, 1891. Continental Currency, Byron W. Holt, Sound Currency, Vol. V., Statistics of the issue of Continental and State currency, during the Revolution, and of its fluctuation, are compiled from various sources in the DeKnight publication, in Phillips's and in Schuckers's mentioned above. BANKING during the earliest period is discussed in: History of Banking in the United States, William G. Sumner (being Vol. I. of the New York Journal of Commerce publication, History of Banking in all Nations, in 4 vols.), 1896. History of Banking in the United States, John Jay Knox, 1900. Also the volumes of W. M. Gouge and Horace White noted above, and the Sound Currency publications. The charter of the Bank of North America, the first incorporated bank, may be found in Clarke and Hall, Legislative and Documentary History of Bank of the United States, 1832. The period from the adoption of the Constitution (1789) to the opening of the Civil War (1861) is in many respects the most important, covering as it does the formative era of the nation; and respecting the monetary system, the experiments which the people tried and repeated, notwithstanding the many sad experiences, serve as instructive guides to the proper understanding of the subject. The constitutional provisions will be better understood by consult Elliot's Debates of the Constitutional Convention. A Plea for the Constitution, etc., George Bancroft, 1884. The laws will be found in the Statutes at Large, but the principal ones have been reprinted, laws of U. S. concerning money and banking 17781909, Doc. 580, National Monetary Comm. Report. The general subject of MONEY is covered in: Finance Reports, being the reports of the Secretaries of the Treasury, including some special reports (many of the latter are, however, to be found elsewhere). These reports are, for the period 1789 to 1849, published in 6 volumes; thereafter in separate annual volumes, which also contain the reports of subordinate officers of the Treasury. Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Vols. I. to V., covering this period. In the earlier messages little material is found; Madison, Jackson, and later presidents devote considerable space to the subject. Congressional action is recorded officially in Annals of Congress (17891824), Register of Debates (1824-1837), and Congressional Globe (18381860); but for the period from 1789 to 1856 the material is digested in Abridgment of Debates, 6 vols., Thomas H. Benton. Furthermore, Public Documents of Congress, embracing Executive and Miscellaneous Papers, Committee Reports, etc. Executive action is also recorded in American State Papers, 5 vols. American Statesmen, Andrew W. Young, 1857. Money in Politics, J. K. Upton, 1884. Money and Banking, Horace White, 1902. Niles's Register, a weekly publication, 1811-1848. Hunt's Merchant's Magazine, a monthly, 1840-1860. Consideration on the Currency and Banking System of the United Suggestions on Banks and Currency, Albert Gallatin, 1841. COINAGE is especially considered in Hamilton's Report on the Establishment of a Mint, found in Finance Reports; Crawford's in 1820, Ingham's in 1830, and Gallatin's paper included in the latter. These and other important documents are reprinted in International Monetary Conference, 1878, already referred to. Secretary Corwin's Treasury Reports also contain valuable material. A concise review of the coinage history also appears in the Report of the Director of the Mint for 1895. Congressional action is recorded in the Annals and Debates and in reports by: Sanford, Nathan, Senate Report No. 3, 21st Cong., 2d Sess., 1830. Hunter, R. M. T., Senate Report No. 104, 32d Cong., 1st Sess. Benton's Abridgment of Debates. Statistics of the composition of the coins and the volume of coinage from 1792 to date are annually printed in the Reports of Directors of the Mint. Unofficial publications are: History of Bimetallism in the United States, J. Laurence Laughlin, 4th edition, 1897. Thirty Years' View, Thomas H. Benton, 2 vols., 1854-1856. Watson's History of Coinage, and White's Money and Banking, already referred to. On CURRENCY AND BANKING generally the official data for the early portion of the period are exceedingly meagre. Gallatin's and Crawford's Treasury Reports and the latter's correspondence with State Banks, printed in American State Papers; Crawford's special report of 1820, and Elliot's Funding System, contain almost all the information prior to 1833, when Congress directed the Treasury to collect data on State Banks and their Currency. Knox in Report Comptroller of Currency, 1876, compiled the data from the earliest days to 1863, in fairly satisfactory form. This was in large part reprinted in Senate Ex. Doc., No. 38, 52d Cong., 2d Sess. Hepburn in the same Bureau's Report for 1892 materially enlarged the scope of the information, adding much valuable statistical material in the appendix. After 1833 the Finance Reports contain much important material and the separate annual Treasury Report on Condition of Banks gives all the data obtainable at this time. Special mention should be made of the historical compendium on banking embraced in the appendix |