New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-12-24
NESTERN CREDIr.

worth. .-
UFSTERV CREDIT.
| Last week long list of firms at Chicago
vas carefully fled away for future use hy
| strong banks here. "Why7" it was asked.
Because thi, is list OF firms who support
BANDS bill they are in favor of paying 30
.'ccnts on the dollar where they can find flaw
" in Tie bond. 1t may be well TO know such
firms by aud by. The man who will blackcn
&" the public faith in such case Will never lack
g" excuse to evade debt which he docs not
" want to pay, and his own faith will not
abe more sacred to him tlan that OF his
" country" So spoke an old banker Of note
Was the verdict harshl OF one thing Chicago
may be sure men who make war Oh public
! credit will not the sooner gel credit for them
! selves. Let all the pretcxts pass. They
| suit men whose sense OF honor Is rpe Tor
fraud. This change in the public debt Will
WRONG millions, and the men who ask it know
that fact. 1t will wrong every depoStor; IN
ten States there are over two millions IN say
incs banks alone. 1t will wrong every man
who Las stock in a bank, il savings bank, Il
trust, loan or insurance company, and they
are many. Cheap silver, instead OF good gold
IS meant TO wrong those who get wages, and
it viii. But if those wrongcd were few, would
tie act lie less base
Ii is the style at the West to sheer at no.
fons Of honah which find voice at the
last. So it was once the fashion to sncer at
loyal" men. But right will live longer than
those who scOil at it. To rob another is not
right, and the West ought to know by this
time that it does not Pay. What mean these
cards, which meet the eye in many papers,
pleading for loans at 10 per cent year on
Western farms No bond more sure, or more
swift to be enforced if payment fails
can be devised. Yet on such bond
10 per cent is given. Can no sober
Western man guess why Year after year
towns, cities, counties and States at the
West have forced creditors To weary suits.
Men who lend or send money to the West, charge
for the great risk They hold that those who
will not pay just debts of town or State, or
who frame laws to fleece corporations which
trust capital in Western roads, need TO be
watched. SO the West pays each year, on
many millions borrowed, one-thrd or onc-half
more interest than towns or firms ut the East
would have to pay for the same sum. This
does not pay, and Western men know it we'll
Yet they lightly sheer when the East speaks
| Of honor and think it smart 20 find some flaw
| in a bond by which a lender can be ileeccd.
| A large share of Eastern means now loaned
! to the West has been loaned through banks,
| trust and insurance companies, and these hold
! their reserves largely in National bonds. The
| West now talks of BANDS bill, which will
| take onc-tcnth from the value of such bonds,
| and force such companies TO draw in loans
/ sharply. What loans will they call Those at
/ 6 per cent with honor or those at 10
Der cent without it Where is Il loan
/ the most safe At The East, the man
| who talks of "scaling" debts, or giving
| silver where gold was the intent of both par
! ties. is looked at as a knaye, whose lack of
! faith or whose debts and needs, make him
/ feared by all. If Western men rs Il class give
| backing to these schemes, Will they be trusted
| the more for it9 There are hard times ahead
! for many Eastern companies which have mil
| hons at the West, if BANDS bill saps the
public credit. Some will fail, and courts will
! force collections. Others will save themselves
/ by sharp withdrawal OF loans and does any
/ body think that loans at the West will be
/ deemed the safest
| Rich, fertile, productive beyond measure, the
| West ought 10 have credit not surpassed.
The mere growth OF the West suliiccS to meet
/ all risk save that which comes from bad
/ faith. But low trust in Western faith makes
high charges for use and risk of money, and
puts on ii tax of many millions, which the West
pays every year. Ii times are hard, men
/ shrink first from loans with greatest risk, and
50 each time of pressure falls most severely
on those whose gifts from nature are greatest,
| but whose notions OF honor are most loose.
In good times, the West pays a heavy tax
because ii IL dislru,tcd, and in bad times
il asks in vain loans which il could
well repay. How long must States so fair and
rich be cursed 30 sorely : Is it good sense
sill TO search for every flaw by which lenders
can be iletced3 Has not the West earned dis
trust enough, and paid enough for it2 Who
can blame the lender II, as men now think of
acts of Indiana and Minnesota long ago, so,
/ fifty ears hence, votes for BANDS bill are re-
calicdl Cheated men have long memories.
/ Can tue West afford, Cor fifty years more, to
| lack capital, and to lay hardly for what il
! ge;sl
| -------------------------
Messri. llonghton & Co. have purchased the good
will and substitution list of The CaiGfy and that