It  was  evidently  well  managed,  and  was  of
great  benefit  to  the  Government  and  the
people  at  large,  assisting  the  Government
by  loans  in  cases  of  emergency,  and  forc
ing  the  'wildcat'  banks  of  the  country
to  keep  their  issues  '  somewhere  within
reasonable  bounds.'  More  than  $100,000,-
000  of  Government  money  was  received
and  disbursed  by  it  without  the  loss  of  a
single  dollar.  It  made  semi-annual  divi
dends,  averaging  about  8}  per  cent.,  and
its  stock  rose  to  a  high  price.  The  stock
belonging  to  the  United  States  was  sold
out  at  different  times  at  a  profit,  2,220
shares  sold  in  1802  bringing  an  advance  of
45  per  cent.  The  government  subscription,
with  ten  years'  interest  amounted  to  $3,200-
000,  while  there  was  received  in  dividends
and  for  stock  sold  $3,773,580,  a  profit  of
nearly  28.7  per  cent.  In  1796  the  credit  of
the  Government  was  very  low,  as  shown  by
its  utter  failure  to  negotiate  a  loan  for  the
purpose  of  paying  a  debt  to  the  Bank  of
the  United  States  for  moneys  borrowed  and
used,  partly  to  pay  the  expenses  of  sup
pressing  the  whisky  insurrection  in  Penn
sylvania  and  to  buy  a  treaty  with  the
pirates  -of  Algiers.  On  a  loan  authorized
for  $5,000,000,  only  $80,000  could  be  ob
tained,  and  this  at  a  discount  of  12£  per
cent.;  and,  there  being  no  other  immediate
resource,  United  States  Bank  stock  to  the
amount  of  $1,304,260  was  sold  at  a  pre
mium  of  25  per  cent.
