When the Price Conventions failed of their object, new ones were held fixing new limits, for example fourfold the prices of 1774, then eightfold, then tenfold, then twentyfold--terrorism being applied in each case to enforce the decrees. Country folks accused town folks of extortion, and threatened to come in and take what they wanted by force. Town folks accused country folks of withholding their produce, and so laws were enacted against withholders. Anonymous hand bills and broad-sides were circulated threatening vengeance on merchants. As a result of such irrational business disturbances, Boston was, in October, 1779, on the verge of starvation; money transactions had nearly ceased and business was done by barter. A soldier's pay had dropped by depreciation from $7.00 per month to 33 cents, although it had been twice raised by Congress. Washington could not move his soldiers to Yorktown till Robert Morris had borrowed hard money from Rochambeau for their back pay. In March, 1780, Congress tried the colonial experiment of "new tenor" in a very awkward and roundabout way, and declared that "old tenor" to be worth 40 to 1; the actual depreciation being 60 for 1. As it was supposed that $200,000,000 of Continental money was out, this was a repudiation of all but $5,000,000 of it. The depreciation then went on more rapidly than before. The "new tenor" bills started at a depreciation of 2 for 1, which became 3 for 1, even before they reached the army, and dropped to 6 to 1 in a few months. Old tenor went at a galloping pace at 500 for 1 in Philadelphia, when it ceased to circulate. In the remoter districts of the South, it continued in circulation nearly a year longer, and until the depreciation had reached 1,000 to 1. The southern people, when they learned that they had been using the stuff long after it had become worthless in the North, thought that they had been cheated by the Yankees, thus intensifying the sectional distrust which was already so dangerous. Continental money was now an object of execration and afterwards of derision. "Not worth a continental" became a synonym for absolute worthlessness, and remains an axiom to this day. In the Act of Congress approved August 4, 1790, authority was granted for funding the bills in 6 per cent bonds "at the rate of $100 in the said bill for $1.00 in specie." Only $7,000,000 turned up to take advantage of this provision. MR. BANKER: I want to be perfectly frank with the rest of you men. Last Thursday I was over at Mr. Lawyer's office and we got into a discussion about this matter. I was literally astounded to find him in favor of Government issues of money, and that he actually thought such issues were constitutional. I knew how Mr. Merchant and Mr. Manufacturer stood, for we had talked the matter over some time ago. So we got together and divided up the work we should each of us do in order to convince Mr. Lawyer that he was wrong on both points.