The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-09-12


The "money power, "you are told by the
Democratic speakers, has shaped this lcgis-
lation, and the power is growing richer
while you are growing poorer. 1t becomes
important, therefore, TO inquire who and
what constitute the money power to
which reference Is made. and second,
whether that power is growing richer, or
whether in fact, it has not suffered its full
proportion OF the general shrinEage in val
ies which has taken place throughout the
whole country in the past five years.
The Register OF the Treasury has been
making a careful investigation for the
past three months Us to where the bonds
OF the Government are held, and he re.
norris that not exceeding two hundred and
ATTY millions OF the bonds OF this Govern
ment are held to-day in Europe, The
whole bonded indebtedness OF the Gov
eminent is about eighteen hundred mil
lions OF dollars. SOFT will he seen that
the greater proportion OF II is held by our
own people. OF this there is about three
hundred and sixty millions held by the
National Banks, and the remainder is held
by insurance and trust companies, and by
colleges. benevolent institutions and pri-
vate individuals At the time OF the pan
ic in 1873 the average rate OF interest paid
to the holders OF these bonds by the Gov
eminent was nearly six per cent, while to-
day it is but five per cent, and all the Gov
eminent bonded Indebtedness is being
funded into four per cents, so that the
holders of Government bonds are actually
suffering a shrinkage OF twenty-five per
cent in their rate OF interest.
But let us look for moment to the
stock oftheSe institutions which have their
capital invested in the Government bonds.
They all made money, or at least they
were making money, until 1873, but since
that time one-third OF all the life insur-
ance companies and one.fourth Of all the
savings banks and trust companies, which
CONSTITUTE part OF the money power
have failed and gone into liquidation,
while the remainder which have escaped
bankruptcy arc paying very small divi-
iends, and there is not one OF these insti-
buttons to-day, including all the National
banks in the country, whose stock will
readily command par value upon the mar
ket.
There are Gao saving banks in the States
east OF Pennsylvania. The aggregate
amount OF money held by them on deposit
Il
., lSS, SS4 depositors. The average amount
belonging to each depositor is $3.50. These
are the daily earnings Of these two million
people, who by industry and trugallty
have more than lived within their ill.,
come" The officers OF the banks are
merely the trustees OF the depoSitors to-
whom the money belongs. They hold
over Sl09, 600 OF Government bonds,
about sos, 0OO,0 900 OF bonds and mortgages
and real estate, largely in the West, and
overSl 70, 000, 900 in Western State, County
and city bonds. Now, these New England
people who have each accumulated the
sum OF $3.50, have had their rate OF in-
tcrcst and dividends reduced to an aver
age OF FIVE per cent and twenty-five per
cent OF the repositories have failed to pay
either principal or interest. They are be-
ing denounced all over Indiana by the
Democratic speakers rs ShylOcks and
bloated bondholders,
There is another class belonging to the
'smoney power" to which reference is
frequently made, and that is the Eastern
capitalists who are, in the language Of
Mr.. Voorhees,, taking cut-throat morga-
ces upon Western property, and absorbing
the substance OF the people" This is a
very popular declaration, and ifthe people
have not the patience and intelligence to
look into the facts, may influence their
votes, but Us to whether they are a class
belonging to the money power who have
been growing richer, let us look into the
facts. Theleading institutions which have
been making loans on Western property
are the Connecticut and Massachusetts, life
and fire insurance and trust companies.
The statutes OF New York prohibit the
companies incorporated by the laws OF
that State from making Western loans.
OF the companies which have invested the
larger portion OF their surplus in Western
loans, about one-half OF them have gone
into liquidation, and the other half have
seriously impaired their capital, and are
declaring very small dividends, il divi-
bends are declared at all. But who con-
stitutes this bloated money class? These
companies are nearly all purely mutual,
and the money which they are loaning be-
longs to the policy.holderS in the eOmpa-
MES, who are scattered throughout the
West. The funds are held in trust for the
widows and orphans ofthe policy.holderS,
and the men who are managing them
and loaning them back to the people are
merely trustees OF the great army of policy
holders who constitute Mr.. voorhees,
audiences
There is yet another class composing
this money power, and there are in some
instances individuals, and in others bond
and mortgages companies, who take bonds !
and mortgages on real estate and resell
them throughout the East, they acting rs |
q trustee merely for the collection and |
payment Oithe interest. These bonds are |
frequently sold throughout New England /
to persons who have accumulated n !
thousand dollars, and who make an in
vestment with the expectation OF living
off the interest They are sold to guard I
ians aud officers Of savings banks, who |
have the care and control OF the daily /
earnings OF the New England people. In |
q majority OF cases the persons who pur-
chase the bonds are moRe limited in 4
means than the persons securing the loan. 1
They are school teachers, dairymen, dray-
men, clerks, gardeners, mechanics and 1
operatives, and the guauiians otthoSe who
have the management OF their funds, and 4
the savings hanks in which such funds 1
are deposited. To denOunce them Is bloat-
ell bondholders and capitalists is blank
nonsense. lfaloan OtSl0,0o0 is reflected
through these agencies, the probability is
that Il will be held by not less than eight
persons OF the class above named. The
rate OF interest charged on the one hand,
and the honor and good faith Of the Dor.
rover on the other, are the only questions
that can have no political significance
whatever, Yet the men representing the
pooled issues are denouucing the transaC-
ton as cut+thrOat, and the purchasers as
bloated Shylocks, and people protesting
intelligence are being led by such deelara.