America 1881: Legend of the West

From 1890, when the financial crisis first appeared, to now 1895, it is already the fifth year.

More and more companies and banks are closing down, and more and more unemployed workers and craftsmen are becoming unemployed. About 100 million workers, or 20% of the labor force, have lost their jobs.

The decline in agricultural product prices has weakened the purchasing power of farmers in the west. Farmers in the west have suddenly discovered that the vast and fertile land in the west cannot support themselves.

The riots in New York are not unique.

Various vicious incidents spread across the country.

Labor unions and the Democratic Party are also taking advantage of this opportunity to grow and challenge the political landscape of the Democratic and Republican parties.

People don't starve to death all at once.

They will become sallow and thin, then malnourished, and finally, at some inadvertent moment, they will die on the roadside and become a starving corpse on the road.

The same goes for the economy.

Finally, in 1895, the U.S. economy reached its impending death.

On the morning of April 4, several well-dressed men walked into the federal Treasury building.

The person who received them was a young clerk wearing glasses.

"Sir, how can I help you?" the clerk asked very politely.

"We have some maturing federal bonds on hand that need to be paid today. Can you help us deal with them?"

The leader, a white-bearded gentleman, said politely.

He spoke with a very standard London accent, and at the same time took out a stack of bonds from his arms, and handed them to the clerk's hand along with those in the hands of several other people.

"We demand payment in gold," the gentleman emphasized.

The clerk took the bonds with both hands.

He is no stranger to this business.

Since the financial crisis, almost every day people have come to ask the government to fulfill their promise and exchange their US dollars for gold.

And many of them are from Europe.

The clerk took the bond as usual and began to verify the authenticity of the note itself.

But the more he looked, the tighter his brows became, until his heart began to beat violently.

The amounts of these bonds are very large, and they are numerous and thick.

The clerk quickly sat down, took out a piece of paper and a pen, and added up the face value on the bond.

Not long after, the results came out.

The clerk sat down on the chair and stared at the number blankly.

Twelve million dollars!

This is an astronomical number.

"What's wrong? Do you have any questions?" The old gentleman looked at the clerk and asked with concern.

"Um, sir, 1200 million US dollars, that's 72 ounces, 18 tons of gold!" The clerk finally recovered from the shock.

He looked at the British guys in front of him: "You won't be able to take them away for a while!"

"You don't have to worry about it, kid." The gentleman said with a smile, "Our carriage is right outside the door."

The clerk's mind was almost blank.

His first reaction now is to report the matter to his superior.

This matter is probably not something that a little shrimp at his level can decide.

"Gentlemen, can you wait a moment? I want to report this matter to my boss. Do you think this is okay?" the clerk stood up and asked.

"Don't worry, we have plenty of time." The old gentleman looked very considerate, "We are here waiting for your news."

Soon, the clerk told the director the news.

Five minutes later, in the office of Treasury Secretary Jacobs Light.

The two directors of the U.S. Savings Bond Division and the Treasury Department stood before the minister.

Wright was originally a very energetic old Democratic man.

The previous Treasury Secretary Carlyle resigned due to his inappropriate words and deeds and political disagreements with the Secretary of State and the President.

What Wright inherited was a mess.

And there was nothing he could do in the face of this mess.

With his ability, he can only let this broken ship sink later.

A deep sense of powerlessness made him look much older.

"1200 million US dollars? One-time gold payment?" Wright asked, staring at the director.

"Um, yes, it looks like they are from London." The director hurriedly replied, "Mr. Minister, during this time, more and more people have requested gold payment. If this continues, sooner or later we will be finished. of."

"Do we have a better choice? If we don't pay, the dollar will lose its credibility, and the consequences will be disastrous." Wright sighed.

"The U.S. dollar has long lost its credibility, Minister. In Europe, the U.S. dollar is just like waste paper. They don't even accept U.S. dollars for settlement!" The director was somewhat frank and told the truth, "Damn Silver Procurement Bill!"

The two asked and answered questions, but neither of them noticed that the most nervous person in this office was actually the director of the Treasury Management Bureau.

The director looked very uneasy. He couldn't even stand still and had the urge to walk around.

"Now is not the time to talk about this, Evans, go to the vault and take it out for them. We will discuss a way later and find a reason to suspend the exchange." The minister touched his forehead and said helplessly.

He sat on the chair and began to meditate with his eyes closed.

However, Treasury Director Evans did not move or make a sound.

Wright waited for a long time but didn't see any movement, so he opened his eyes.

"Why aren't you going? Is there something unclear about what I said?" He looked at the two people standing there.

"Uh, maybe, we, uh, can't provide so many gold bars for the time being." The director hesitated and stammered.

Old man Wright suddenly sat up from his chair:

“We don’t even have $1200 million in gold in our vault?!”

The minister was furious.

You know, the safety line of gold reserves in the U.S. treasury is 100 million US dollars.

Wright knew that the gold in the treasury had been decreasing, but he never imagined that it had reached such a low level.

"Well, yes, indeed, it's less than 1200 million US dollars, and our gold is still a little short of that." Director Evans considered his words.

"Then is there any way to transfer some from other places so that we can make up for it temporarily and get over this matter first?" The minister had already stood up and asked eagerly.

"Yes, can we borrow some from the state government? They should still have one or two million US dollars in gold." The director was also helping with suggestions.

He believed that with Minister Wright and even his own personal relationship with state government officials, it would not be a big problem to borrow some spare gold.

However, the director looked even more embarrassed.

"I'm afraid, one or two million is not enough." He whispered.

"Didn't you say it was almost?" The director was also anxious and his tone raised.

"Almost, you know, almost." Director Evans tried to find some excuse for his previous words.