美国学生历史 第57期:联邦(2)

 　　169. A Time of Distress¹. 169．萧条时期

　　It is not right to speak too harshly of the refusal of the state governments to give Congress the money it asked for, as the people of the states were in great distress and had no money to give. 苛刻地批评州政府拒绝交纳国会要求的钱是不对的，因为各州的人民处于饥馑之中没有钱上缴。

　　As soon as peace was declared British merchants sent over great quantities of goods. 这边宣布和平，那边英国商人马上运送来大量的物资。

　　People bought these goods, for every one thought that good times were coming now that the war was over. 人民买下这些物资，因为大家认为既然战争结束了好日子就要到来了，

　　But the British government did everything it could do to prevent the coming of good times. 但是，英国政府竭尽所能阻止这个好日子的到来。

　　The prosperity of the northern states was largely based on a profitable trade with the West Indies. 北方各州的繁荣大部分是基于与西印度群岛的贸易中获利，

　　The British government put an end to that trade. 英国政府终止了贸易，

　　No gold and silver came to the United States from the West Indies while gold and silver constantly went out of the country to pay debts due to British merchants. 西印度群岛的黄金和白银来不到美国，而美国的黄金和白银不断地以还债的方式流入英国商人的口袋。

　　Soon gold and silver grew scarce, and those who had any promptly² hid it. 不久，黄金和白银变得奇缺，那些拥有黄金和白银的人迅速将它们藏匿起来。

　　The real reason of all this trouble was the lack of a strong national government which could have compelled the British government to open its ports to American commerce. 所有这些的真正理由是缺少一个可以迫使英国政府开放其对美国商贸活动港口的国民政府，

　　But the people only saw that money was scarce and called upon the state legislatures to give them paper money. 但是，人民只是看到钱变少了，他们只是要求州立法机关发给他们纸币。

　　170. Paper Money. 170．纸币

　　Most of the state legislatures did what they were asked to do. 多数州的立法机关按照人民的要求去做，

　　They printed quantities of paper money. 他们印制了大量的纸币，

　　They paid the public expenses with it, and sometimes lent it to individuals without much security for its repayment³. 用其支付公共开支，有时不做偿还能力调查就将纸币借给个人。

　　Before long this paper money began to grow less valuable. 不久，这种纸币开始贬值，

　　For instance, on a certain day a man could buy a bag of flour for five dollars. 例如，某一天一个人用5美元可以买到一袋面粉，

　　In three months' time a bag of flour might cost him ten dollars. 而三个月后他要花10美元来买一袋面粉，

　　Soon it became difficult to buy flour for any number of paper dollars. 很快，任何数目的纸币都难于买到面粉了。

1 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

2 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

3 repayment   

n.偿还，偿还款；报酬

参考例句：

• I am entitled to a repayment for the damaged goods.我有权利索取货物损坏赔偿金。
• The tax authorities have been harrying her for repayment.税务局一直在催她补交税款。