Benjamin Roth's chilling chronicle of hard times.

Benjamin Roth was born in New York City in 1894 and moved shortly thereafter to Youngstown, Ohio. He received a law degree and moved back to Youngstown after serving as an Army officer during World War I. When the stock market crashed in 1929, he had been practicing law for approximately 10 years, largely representing local businesses. After nearly two years, he began to grasp the magnitude of what had happened to American economic life, and in June 1931, he began writing down his impressions in a diary that he maintained intermittently until he died in 1978. His perceptions and experiences have a chilling similarity to our own era, and The Big Money believes that Roth's words—though they are 75 years old—have much to teach us today; we'll be serializing several excerpts.

This is the third installment. You can read the first installment here, and the second installment here.

Aug. 10, 1931. I note in today's Legal News that the K--- home on Coronada Ave. is being foreclosed by the bank on a 7500.00 mortgage. It can be bought for the price of the mortgage and is worth 16,0000.00. This and many other bargains are being offered today. The Legal News carries advertisements today of 78 sheriff sales to be held within the next 30 days. In almost every case the properties will be bought back by the bank for first mortgage plus taxes and court costs. There are no bona fide bidders.

[Subsequent annotation dated Aug. 26, 1936. The K--- property was bought eventually by the U--- family for about 7500.00 but instead of using cash they used [local bank] passbooks which were selling at 50 cents on the dollar. This family has bought much real estate this way and in the next few years will reap a harvest.]

Aug. 17, 1931. I just came back from a short stay at Geneva-on-the-Lake. Summer resorts seem to be particularly hard hit. Hotels are empty and everybody is bidding for business at cut-rate prices. This is a good time to buy summer resort homes or even large mansions of the rich people. Nobody wants them at any price because they are too expensive to carry. Many formerly rich families are living in the chauffeur quarters above the garage while the mansion stands closed.

Aug. 17, 1931. Today's [Youngstown Vindicator] carries the news that four of the largest commercial banks in Toledo, Ohio closed their doors (total deposits over 100 million). Also that 11 savings & loan cos. in Toledo stopped paying out money. The conclusion seems clear that savings and loan companies are not good places to deposit money even tho they pay a high rate of interest.