of the men of affairs. Now
that he had control of money also, his power and influence were
multiplied many fold.

The time was one of expansion. The flood of irredeemable and heavily
depreciated paper currency which had been issued under stress of war
necessities, was producing the usual effect of inflation. It gave a
false seeming of value to every purchasable thing. It caused rapid and
great fluctuations in all markets. It lured men everywhere into
speculation. It dangerously expanded credits and prompted men to
undertake enterprises far beyond their means.

Very early in his career as a banker, Guilford Duncan discovered that
half the merchants in Cairo were young men of little capital and small
capacity, who ought to have remained salaried clerks. These had grown
ambitious, set up for themselves, and were carrying large stocks of
goods almost wholly upon credit. They were staggering under loads of
debt on which they were paying ruinous rates of interest.

It was easy enough for him to protect his bank by gradually reducing its
loans to such men as these, but the prudence thus exercised added to the
number of his enemies. He cared little for that, so long as he knew his
course to be right.

Looking further afield he saw that a like condition of things existed
all over the West, and was the inspiration of much greater undertakings
than those of the merchants and shopkeepers.

He used often to talk of these things with Hallam.

"You're quite right," said that sagacious financier. "The country has
gone on a big financial drunk, and of course the headache will come when
the spree is over. But it won't be over for a considerable time to come,
and in the meanwhile the country is getting a good deal of benefit from
it.

"Fortunately, it is taking a better course than such sprees usually do.
Ordinarily the existence of an inflated, superabundant, and depreciated
currency results in a wild orgy of stock gambling, grain gambling,
cotton gambling, and all the rest of it. There is no more of good in
that--in fact, there is far more of harm in it to the country--than
there would be if everybody went to betting at roulette or faro. It
makes the lucky gamblers rich and the unlucky ones poor, but it produces
nothing, even incidentally. This time the gambling is taking a more
productive form. Instead of betting on market fluctuations, men are
putting money into factories, mines, mills, and railroads--especially
railroads. T