An instance of immediate aid to the government’s foreign diplomats is related in the biography of the late J. Pierpont Morgan. Morgan was in London on business for his house at a time when Charles Francis Adams was endeavoring to prove to the English government that certain vessels fitting in British ports were intended for Confederate privateers. The officials were slow to accept Adams’ proofs, and he was much alarmed lest the commerce-destroyers should get to sea before he had succeeded in having an embargo placed on their departure. The British authorities finally agreed to detain the ships on condition that Adams should deposit £1,000,000 guarantee to indemnify the government should the owners not prove to be Confederates. Adams was in a dilemma: he could not well refuse such a proposition, but long before he could receive the money from America the cruisers would be at sea. He tried to borrow on his personal credit from London bankers, only to be rebuffed. Young Morgan heard of the situation, sought the ambassador, and promised to deliver $5,000,000 in gold into his hands in two days, asking only his personal receipt in return, while stipulating absolute secrecy concerning his patriotic action. In this wise two of the commerce-destroyers were detained in port, and the integrity of the American ambassador was vindicated.
_Secured, or long-time, loans to states._ Upon the news of the firing on Fort Sumter and the subsequent call for troops every northern legislature then in session appropriated a fund for war purposes. Indiana, for example, voted $500,000 for arms and equipment, and $100,000 for a contingent fund. Connecticut made an issue of $800,000 of war bonds. These funds were raised in various ways. In Massachusetts and Connecticut they were offered for popular subscription and sold at par. The western states placed their bonds on the New York stock market, where in many cases they sold at a considerable discount. Where the state’s credit was poor, and its banking-system insecure, the bonds could not be placed, and were recalled after being offered. Such was the case with Iowa and Wisconsin. Ohio recalled its bonds, after they had been advertised in New York, when it was learned that the federal government assumed all war expenses, and would refund these to the states.