"morally bankrupt"

[Grant Barrett]

Your friend is right. A quick search of Newspaperarchive.com turns up
cites as early as 1894. A search of the U. Mich. Making of American
turns up two from 1855 and 1874.

Grant

On Apr 16, 2004, at 10:29, James A. Landau wrote:

> I was reviewing a manuscript by a writer friend in which he has a
> character
> say "morally bankrupt" in May 1964.  No way, I told him, the term
> "morally
> bankrupt" is and has been used exclusively in discusssions of the
> Vietnam War and
> had not been invented by May 1964.
>
> Which of us was right?
>
>       - James A. Landau
>