New York, October, 1931.
"It's like this," Mrs. Hays explained to Eliza one evening in Eliza's study. "The fear of being caught in a devaluation has driven international capital flows down, and brought down the interwar gold standard. Why just last month Britain abandoned the gold standard! If the gold standard was still functioning reasonably well impulses like this would have been dampened by the credibility of the commitment to gold and by international cooperation. But there is no international cooperation and thus it is impossible for any country-including ourselves-to fight the depression within its borders."
Eliza frowned, trying to understand, but Mrs. Hays saw her blank look and laughed.
"I was like that as well. I had dinner with the Morgan's the other night and of course the talk was all centered on the depression." Mrs. Hays said. "Basically I get the impression that there is no country left to help us out of the depression! Everyone is in the same boat as we are."
Eliza sighed, and leant forward to pour herself another cup of tea. "Well I hope something happens and we turn the corner soon. Do you have any idea how hard it is running this place on virtually nothing?" She asked.
Mrs. Hays smiled tightly. "Not exactly, although I'm on a strict budget myself with the boarding house!"
*****
The next morning was the weekly inspection for the orphanage. Eliza had all the orphans dressed up as nicely as she could, and made sure they were all clean. "Now, you know the drill children." Eliza said as the doorbell rang. "We have to behave or else we might lose some of our money, and you know how bad that would be!"
Emma put her hand up. "Miss Eliza?"
"Yes Emma?" Eliza asked.
"If they get mad and take away the money will we all be thrown out onto the streets and have to live in cardboard boxes?" Emma asked.
Eliza smiled weakly. "I've told you Emma we won't have to live in a box." And she glanced over at Molly whose expression gave nothing away. Honestly, Eliza thought as she went to answer the door, Molly was more trouble than she was worth!
"How are you Miss Eliza?" The man asked as Eliza opened the door. "It's beginning to get cold already. What's the bet we're in for a colder winter than usual?"
"I hope not Mr. Peterson!" Eliza replied, frowning. With limited funds reaching the orphanage coal was a luxury, and it was more common place for the orphans to have a brick heated in the fire and then put in their bed for a little while before they got into it!
"Well let me check the children quickly." Mr. Peterson said. "I've got to get over to two other orphanages this morning!"
It was a quick check which basically consisted of seeing that the orphans weren't being mistreated (it wasn't all that uncommon for the person in charge of an orphanage to beat the children), and that they were living in some kind of decent standards with the little money the state could give them.
After it was over Mr. Peterson nodded to Eliza. "They seem to be in good nick-at least as good as we could expect under the circumstances. I almost forgot to tell you this-a man will be arriving tomorrow probably accompanied by one of us-and he wants to look over the place. He's thinking of making a rather large donation to the state for our orphanages. So if it is at all possible can you make sure the children are as well presented as they were today?"
Eliza sighed, and agreed.
[A/N. I realise this is a shorter than usual chapter, but you'll see why eventually. Trust me!]
"It's like this," Mrs. Hays explained to Eliza one evening in Eliza's study. "The fear of being caught in a devaluation has driven international capital flows down, and brought down the interwar gold standard. Why just last month Britain abandoned the gold standard! If the gold standard was still functioning reasonably well impulses like this would have been dampened by the credibility of the commitment to gold and by international cooperation. But there is no international cooperation and thus it is impossible for any country-including ourselves-to fight the depression within its borders."
Eliza frowned, trying to understand, but Mrs. Hays saw her blank look and laughed.
"I was like that as well. I had dinner with the Morgan's the other night and of course the talk was all centered on the depression." Mrs. Hays said. "Basically I get the impression that there is no country left to help us out of the depression! Everyone is in the same boat as we are."
Eliza sighed, and leant forward to pour herself another cup of tea. "Well I hope something happens and we turn the corner soon. Do you have any idea how hard it is running this place on virtually nothing?" She asked.
Mrs. Hays smiled tightly. "Not exactly, although I'm on a strict budget myself with the boarding house!"
*****
The next morning was the weekly inspection for the orphanage. Eliza had all the orphans dressed up as nicely as she could, and made sure they were all clean. "Now, you know the drill children." Eliza said as the doorbell rang. "We have to behave or else we might lose some of our money, and you know how bad that would be!"
Emma put her hand up. "Miss Eliza?"
"Yes Emma?" Eliza asked.
"If they get mad and take away the money will we all be thrown out onto the streets and have to live in cardboard boxes?" Emma asked.
Eliza smiled weakly. "I've told you Emma we won't have to live in a box." And she glanced over at Molly whose expression gave nothing away. Honestly, Eliza thought as she went to answer the door, Molly was more trouble than she was worth!
"How are you Miss Eliza?" The man asked as Eliza opened the door. "It's beginning to get cold already. What's the bet we're in for a colder winter than usual?"
"I hope not Mr. Peterson!" Eliza replied, frowning. With limited funds reaching the orphanage coal was a luxury, and it was more common place for the orphans to have a brick heated in the fire and then put in their bed for a little while before they got into it!
"Well let me check the children quickly." Mr. Peterson said. "I've got to get over to two other orphanages this morning!"
It was a quick check which basically consisted of seeing that the orphans weren't being mistreated (it wasn't all that uncommon for the person in charge of an orphanage to beat the children), and that they were living in some kind of decent standards with the little money the state could give them.
After it was over Mr. Peterson nodded to Eliza. "They seem to be in good nick-at least as good as we could expect under the circumstances. I almost forgot to tell you this-a man will be arriving tomorrow probably accompanied by one of us-and he wants to look over the place. He's thinking of making a rather large donation to the state for our orphanages. So if it is at all possible can you make sure the children are as well presented as they were today?"
Eliza sighed, and agreed.
[A/N. I realise this is a shorter than usual chapter, but you'll see why eventually. Trust me!]