Until the World War the public debt of the U. S. never exceeded $2,500,000,000. But by 1919 the liability side of the U. S. ledger carried a then-stupendous total of $25,000,000,000and Wall Street had a lucrative new field, trading in Government bonds. First kingpin in this field was Charles Frederick Childs, who sold his business in 1928 after flinty Andrew Mellon's slashing of the public debt by $10,000,000,000 slashed the turnover in "Governments." Although Trader Childs bought back his firm when Depression I brought a new tide of Federal financing, he is...
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