Following the Civil War, credits in the United States were of an uncertain kind. Interest rates rose high and merchants on the whole preferred to do business on a cash basis. The cash discount became the customary inducement for the settlement of bills, and varied as it does now, but within wider limits, according to whether payment was spot cash or on the basis of ten or thirty days' time. On account of high interest rates, merchants were obliged to offer larger cash discounts as an inducement to buyers to borrow funds and use them for the prompt settlement of their commercial debts. The seller in this way relieved himself of all responsibility attendant upon the carrying of the buyer's account, and of financing the latter's business. On the other hand, a buyer, who was not able to avail himself of the cash discount offered him, created the impression in the business community of not being in a position to borrow the money that he required for the purpose of discounting these obligations, which fact cast a certain discredit upon him. Subsequently, interest rates declined again in many lines of trade, and as a consequence, cash discounts grew less in favor until they reached a level with that of bank discount rates.