=457. National Banks.=—An ingenious method of disposing of a large part of the bonds was devised. A law was enacted in February, 1863, authorizing any five persons to organize a National Bank on easy conditions. Except in very small places, such a bank was required to have a capital of at least one hundred thousand dollars and to deposit, with the Treasury at Washington, bonds to the amount of one-third of its capital. The government would then issue notes to the bank to the amount of ninety per cent of such deposit, such notes to be used by the bank for the purposes of circulating currency, and to be redeemable by the government in greenbacks. The response was at first slow; but in 1864 a new impulse was given to the movement by an act levying a tax of ten per cent on the circulation of state banks—a law designed to compel state banks to become national. By these measures, a safe and abundant currency was provided. In addition to these devices, a high internal revenue was levied, an income tax was provided, and tariff duties, as the war went on, were greatly increased. =458. Finances in the South.=—No such fertile devices were possible in the South. Bonds were issued, but, as there was little or no capital seeking investment, no market at home could be found, and foreign capitalists would not run great risks till the issue of the war could be predicted with some confidence. The government then issued notes payable six months after the close of the war. With the diminishing prospects of the South, these notes rapidly declined in value, till they became practically worthless. Then the Confederate Congress authorized the army to seize provisions and supplies wherever they could find them, and to offer in payment bonds or notes at prices to be fixed every ninety days. Under this financial régime, prices rose enormously, and the consequent suffering of those who did not occupy their own estates or were not in the army or the service of the government, was well-nigh indescribable. DESCRIPTION OF THE SEAT OF WAR. =459. General Features of the War.=—Without some knowledge of the physical characteristics of the country, it will not be easy to understand why the war progressed so slowly as it did in the East and so rapidly in the West. As the South had broken away from the Union, and the North was trying to bring the seceded states back under national authority, the North was, necessarily, the attacking party, while the South had merely to act on the defensive. Though two important efforts were made by the South to transfer the field of operations to the North, these were both unsuccessful, and therefore the war, in all its larger features, was fought in the South. This fact makes it necessary to look for a moment at the physiographic features of the field of action.