Financial History of The United States, BY DAVIS RICH DEWEY, PH.D., LL.D., PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS, FIFTH EDITION LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. HJ241 1915 Copyright, 1902. All rights reserved. First edition, February, 1903. Reprinted, August, 1909. Fourth edition, revised, August, 1912. AMPORIAD University Press : JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A. H TO THE SEMINARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY, POLITICS, AND ECONOMICS OF JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, Of which the author was a member from 1883 to 1886. Under the guidance of Adams, Ely, and Jameson, we read and learned. The first has gone, leaving affectionate memories and organized activities of permanent usefulness; the others are still doing their work in a spirit of broad-minded sympathy and fine scholarship. Preface. THE attempt to compress into a volume of moderate size an account of Federal finance from the Colonial period down to the present time occasions perplexity. Some knowledge of politics and economics must be pre-supposed, but the exact measure it is difficult to estimate. In order to place readers as far as possible on a common basis, the reference lists which are scattered through the volume have been constructed on a generous plan. In no way, however, are these lists to be regarded as conditional to an understanding of the text; they are simply opportunities for a better preparation, or a further study of special topics. In writing this work, I have kept two things constantly in mind: first, its proportions, or the general perspective; and second, the relations of financial legislation to democracy. It is easy in the light of accumulated experience to pass judgment on the errors of the past, but historical study, in my opinion, is more fruitful if the reader endeavors to interpret the past in accordance with the experience which was available at the time the occurrences took place. Past environment is the true test of past action. With this conviction, I have endeavored to refrain, possibly not with entire consistency, from emphasizing the mistakes of previous generations. A work on "American Finance" might well |