He said that it had been more
or less true till lately; but that now they had put fresh stained glass
windows into all the banks in the country, and repaired the buildings,
and enlarged the organs; the presidents, moreover, had taken to riding in
omnibuses and talking nicely to people in the streets, and to remembering
the ages of their children, and giving them things when they were
naughty, so that all would henceforth go smoothly.
"But haven't you done anything to the money itself?" said I, timidly.
"It is not necessary," he rejoined; "not in the least necessary, I assure
you."
And yet any one could see that the money given out at these banks was not
that with which people bought their bread, meat, and clothing. It was
like it at a first glance, and was stamped with designs that were often
of great beauty; it was not, again, a spurious coinage, made with the
intention that it should be mistaken for the money in actual use; it was
more like a toy money, or the counters used for certain games at cards;
for, notwithstanding the beauty of the designs, the material on which
they were stamped was as nearly valueless as possible. Some were covered
with tin foil, but the greater part were frankly of a cheap base metal
the exact nature of which I was not able to determine.
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