Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1868-10-07
WHOLE NO. 27l4.

amount Of public securities. SO $50 2l9 As:
amount OF bank stock held by savings hanks
q AZ 5 20 ~ loans rs 0li securities,
crease Of deposits over 1866, Sl2, ,G99 ,3l9. The
average amount to each depOsitOr in Massa-
chuSetts Is $50 73
sIThe amount Of deposits in the savings
banks of Connecticut in 1867 was $50, ,2S3 100
OF this amount SIP SS4 sos Is in government
bonds Number of dePositOrs, l8S. .s46, nearly
One-third of the population Of the state
"The amount deposited in the savings
banks in Maine in 1857 was s. 5qs 500 98 and
Of this amount the benks held in govern
ment securities Sl.373t tSsS, and Of national
bank stock 1855, ,j65, making a total OF govern
ment securities held by the savings banks OF
81 ,7a2,9 ,95S, almost One-third Of the whole
posits in 1856 was s3,9l6 i33 %; in 1857, $685.
go d, being an increase for theyear OF 81 652- :
l66 a The number Of depOsitOrs in 1867 was
2l,593." RI.
Again:
''The number of depositors in the savings
tieut and Maine who are holders OF the Uni-
ted States bonds in one million twelve thOus-
and and thirty-twO."
Once more:
The savings banks Of New York have a
total OF deposits OF $40 900 900; Of this amount
Si9,OO,OOO are In public securities, and Of the
balance, S3l 100000 Of the earnings Of the
poor, or Of the labOrers, are loaned to the
property y-holders on bond and mortgage
One-half Of the savings Of the wages Of labor
in the savings banks Of this state, represen-
ted by 10000 men and women, are in United
States securities, and loaned to property
owners Here we have in only four states
sIOO,0O0OOO Of the United States securities
held by the labOring men and wOmen-the
the poor, as they are called Let me take
the depositOrs of the "Bank for Savings in
New York, TO illustrate the character or
occupation Of depOSitOrs.
The bank, on the LIST Of January. 1868,
owed 54,5oS aeeounts-sl4,9lO,SS7 81. OF this
amount S5yS736O0 is In the securities of the
United States. OF the depOsitOrs 2are butch
ers, 81 are carmen, I02 carpenters, 2OS clerks
- eOachmen, las dOmestics, go labOrers,
lO9 masons, % nurses, 81 hOstiers, 20 pOrters,
3IS seamstresses, 100 shOemakers, rs tailorS
- teachers, "a washers, los walters of the
deposrtors z.5o9 are married women, l,756
single women, Ib2 widows, lS6 minors, 81 col
ored persons. OF the depOsitOrs. 35,5f2 have
deposited not over SlO0; p, $50 deposited be-
tween s. and $50.
-Four men in New York city who own one
hundred millions Of dollars Of property, do
not hold as large an amount of United States
securities as the Institution for the Savings
Of Merchants Clerks, which holds sS52, ,5SS
Now, it is evident that the increase
OF the currency would destroy the
value of bonds and mortgages, and of
all other evidences of debt, to the same
extent that it would lower the value
of the currency itself. Every man in
the country who has saved his wages
and invested them in loan would
lose as much as the bOndhOlder.
But some pretend that the true
democratic doctrine is that the bonds
shall be paid in greenbacks without
printing them. By some mysterious
method, which nobody has attempted
to explain, the Treasury is to become
possessed of 81, 800, ,00O, 900 out of the
less than S400,0OO, 900 of 'lawfuI
money" now issued, and to paw the
bonds with this. Without remarlxing
on the extreme difficulty of doing this.
let US suppose it possible; and ask
what would then be the loss, and on
whom would it fall?
The difference in value between
gold and our present currency is "A
per cent premium on the one, or 80
per cent. discount on the latter. The
direct tax proposed by the most mod
crate democrats, who wish to nav
81 ,6OO, 900, 900 of greenbaeks out of the
ordinary revenues of the next five
years, Is 30 per cent. on the face of the
bonds This is a tax on the average
OF nearly ten per cent. on all deposits
IN savings banks. Half a million of
labOrlng men and women in the state
OF New York are to be taxed ten Der
cent on the total savings of their
labor IN order to carry out this glOri-
Gus democratic principle.
This Is not taxation, but eOnfisca-
ton. 1t is not protection of the DOOR
but oppression and outrage towards
them- 1t is a direct penalty upon in
dustry and prudence. 1t is robbery of
widows and orphans, of the education
of children, and of the provision
against sickness and old ace. TT
would remove the burden of taxation
from those who can bear it. and throw
1t upon those whom it will inevitably
crush.
So much is true, if Mr.. PendIeton's
of his platform he
wrong and if the meaning really is
to pay the bonds in greenbacks of
their present value. But the absurdi-
" OF such a position is plain. The
government cannot carry ont the
democratic platform save by printinO,
the currency. The downfall of its
credit upon the adoption of such a
policy would, of itself, destroy half
The value of its paper. The other half
would melt away rapidly before tbe
arge issues of new paper which Mr..
fendletOn, reasoning with unanswer-
l0le logic from his platform, demands.
Where, then, would the blow fall?
First, upon the labOring man. whose
'avings would be swept away-that
'Dloated aristOcracy" Of two millions
u hard working men and women
whose wages have been put aYay i'm
ayings banks against the evil days.
hen upon all families for whom The
ives on which they are dependent
lave been assured against their loss
hen upon all widows, orphans. and
INSTITUTIONS, whose support is in the
lands of trustees or Of the courts.
lext upon all who have trusted in the
iatlonal good faith, whose trust would
'e betrayed; then, upon the whole
community, whose trade would be
brown into confusion, whose Industry
would be struck down into misery.
nd whose very name would become
proyerb of infimy to the world
Ne10 York Post.