Period from 1850-1862

For the supply of capital there was recourse 8 I7o HISTORY OF AMERICAN CURRENCY. naturally to the older countries. The injury clone to American credit in 1837-40 had hardly yet been healed, but in 1854 it was estimated by the Secretary of the Treasury, on reports called for by him, that there were 200,000,000 dollars worth of State, railway, and other bonds and bank-stock held abroad.* In 1857 the amount of English capital invested here was estimated at 400,000,000. While naturally turning-to the older countries for supplies of capital, there has always been a certain prejudice here against foreign investors. Our "foreign indebtedness" has been a cause of serious and sincere anxiety to many, but the more we can borrow, so long as we know how to invest it productively, the better, and our credit—our power to borrow abroad—is the possession which it is most essential for us to preserve intact.