wearmanyhats

Back in the early 1900’s, the dime store novels began to glorify the events of the gunslingers.  One of the stories about Jesse and Frank James made the two outlaws heroic Robin Hoods to the common man.  The story goes that Frank and Jesse were traveling through the countryside and stopped at a farm of a widow to water their horses.  They were tired from traveling and needed rest.  Keep in mind that their faces were on wanted posters every where.  People knew what they looked like, so it was likely that the farm wife knew who these riders were.

The horses drank long, the men looked tired.  The farm wife, after a little while, asked the men if they would like some sandwiches.  They were grateful for the hospitality, and while dining, chatted about what was happening in the area.  The woman told them that the banker was coming that afternoon to foreclose on their farm because she couldn’t come up with the money needed to make the payment.

“How much do you owe?” asked the James brothers.

“Sixteen hundred,” she replied.  It was a breathtaking amount, considering how much ten dollars could buy in those days. But it was the rest of the payment on the farm; the note had been called.

The brothers put their heads together, and wrote out an agreement on a piece of paper saying that the payment meant the farm would now be hers.  “Make sure he signs this before he leaves.”  The widow nodded her ascent. “Which way is he coming from?” they asked.

She gave them the direction, they gave her the sixteen hundred dollars, and after she agreed to get the banker’s signature on the paper, the brothers rode out.  Within the hour, the banker appeared.  He was glad to have the money, though he would have rather had the farm.  Foreclosure plus all of the money she had already paid for the property would have been preferable.  But she had paid, so he willingly signed the paper declaring the farm to be hers.

Of course, the outcome of the banker’s ride back to town was predictable.  The James boys held him up, took back their money, and the farm remained with the wife.  It doesn’t really matter whether or not this tale is true.  It was perceived to be true, and that was what mattered.

The banks had a different reputation back then.  It was not common for the banks to call loans, but it happened if the banks desired the property or were in trouble.  When the economy was in a downturn, and the banks responded in a way that was not to the benefit of the debtors,  people cheered the little guy beating the bank.   Never mind the fact that the money that was taken during robberies belonged to the people in the community.  With the exception of the fight in Northfield, Minnesota, common people admired the tenacity of the robbers, wishing perhaps they could have lacked the moral turpitude to steal their way into prosperity, too.

Today the foreclosures are happening.  No Dillingers are emerging to put milk into the school lunch programs, no James boys are rescuing the people who are facing foreclosure.  There is no white horse, no gunslinger riding to the rescue.  Perhaps that is for the best.  The screwy morals of people like Bernie Madoff and those bankers so obsessed with profitability over risk management that they couldn’t read and understand derivative packages are not much different than the James brothers anyway.  Instead, we are left to tighten our belts and live within our means.  And that’s the way it should be.

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