The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1880-08-12
TELEGRAPHIC
The Banking As.ociation.

!. | Association was caleb 70 OIuer IN Ln'
town hall. President Alex. Mitchell
was introduced. Mitchell Congratulated
the n nbers Of the convention on the
change in the financial condition OF the
. county which has taken place during the
past two years. Then theproblem OF the
. return to specie payments pressed FOL
solution, which ali awaited with anxiety
and some with spprehensii rs. Beyond
= doubt the success of resumption was
largely, if not entirely, due to the cor
dial and organized effort and co0pe: alton
Of banks aod bankers OF the United
States, and thus one of the great objects
Of the association has been happily
achieved.
| Resumption hiss only been tested under
the most favorable circumstances. It
was preceded by long and elaborate pre-
paration. 0vertradiog had been checked
by the enhap cement in value which the
currency had undergone 10 anticipation
of the day fixed for resumption. The
balance of foreign trade was in our favor.
The prosecution of works Of public inn
lprovsment had been partially suspended,
and trade and commerce had been placed
on footing of prudence aud economy.
Large crops and high prices abroad have
furnished the stimulus to the vast trade,
to the wants of which the volume of cur
rency has been inadequate. In this
country periods Of prosperity, with GER
tainty almost, if not with regu arity, Of
seasons Of depression, may now be looked
for at any time, when an extensive fall
ure of the crops shall concur with q sea-
son Of overtrading and extravaganza in
| enterprise.
The report Of the executive committee
states that there have been l55 deaths of
bankers and bank officers during the
year, among them Thomas Wolcott, the
Oldest banker in the United States at the
time of his death. In reviewing the
work of the year, it is found that the
spirit Of cordially and anion hassbeen
gathering strength, and some thousand
tanks AID bankers of the country are
gradually uniting for carrying on the
common work for mutual benefit.
George r. Gibson, of California, in
his address before the convention, briefly
reviewed the rise and growth of the
workingmen's party. He said the for
eign population of our great cities is a
discontented and dangerous element
which once organized under public
sufftrance acquires force difficult towith-
stand. The anti-Chinese prejudice fur
nished a pretext for this agitation In San
Francisco, but under the direction Of de-
signing demagogues it widened its scope,
promulgated agrarian and communistie
theories, and the Sand Lot soon echoes
with the sentiment of Proudhon, that
property is robbery" He pronounced
the new constitution radically bad, gave
short history of the savings banks, and
showed their present condition. The
savings banks have suffered much more
severely than the commercial banks
under the new law. The new constitu-
ton has been instrumental in destroying
confidence and producing temporary
stsgnstion. Referring to the pRst rage.
for mining speculation, he SAID it had
been arrested, for a time at least,
and mining Is likely heneeforth to
be conducted moro as a profitable
institution than As 2 lottery which des-.
perate speculation would make it. On
the silver question, he said: With the
treasury vaults in Washington, New
York and San Francisco filed to reple-
ton with the new dollar, with its coinage
proceeding at the rate of millions
monthly, and with the utter impossibility
for forcing it into circulation, Is it not
about time to consider some better outlet
for eur surplus silver? That outlet is
China and India. Asia il pioverbial for
its absorptive capacity for this metal, and
by reason Of its long familisrity With the
Mexican dollar aud American trade,
coin which is of almost identical value,
they both command there much better
prices than bar silver or other coins. If
1t be said in defense of suspended coinage
of trade dollars that it would be injected
into home circulation, the profit, after
paying seignorsge OF the difference be-
tween It's bullion and nominal value, i'm
properly accruing 10 private parties in
stead of to the government, the objection
can be removed by legislation. It is only
necessary to provide that depositors OF
bullion for such coinage shall accept
trade dollar warrants, the coin itself
being deliverable only into the hands Of
custom house officer for export, as
directed by the holders Of warrants.
Being designed solely fnf foreign use,
the only purpose for which these
trade dollars could properly be imported,
would be for remelting or sale to govern
ment, as bullion. Thus, to prevent the
importation for use in home circulation,
if should be provided that they can only
be Withdrawn from bonded warehouse
for delivery into the hands of the mint
officer to be sold TO government or con-
verted into bar silver, and the proceeds
returned to the owner With these legis-
lative restrictions the mint might safely
be opened to atrade coinage which would
accommodate itself to the export demsnd.
Alter reviewing the growth and
prospects of railroads on the Pacific Coast
and borders Of Mexico, the speaker coR-
cluded: In California the internal indu-
stries were generally prosperous aud pro-
duetive and the wheat crop this year will
be unprecedented. Last yesr the Pacific
States closely Appropriated Russia In
its export TO Great Britain, and this year
they will far exceed it. The acreage Is
twenty per cent. above the average and
present appearances indicate that Cali
| fornia alone will yield 80 600, coo bushels,
requiring 3 wheat fleet Of $50 vessels TO
move the surplus. When California
wheat was first introduced into the
| foreign markets it commanded p.
per quarter mere than any other
wheat, but negligence in harvesting
and shipping reversed this premium, and
| Il now brings shout shilliogs less. This
has been observed by the Produce Ex-
change which will endeavor to remedy
the deficit involving in value q loss Of
| S., 600, 600 TO farmers Of the state. The
| revenue from its fields, forests, herds,
fisheries, orchards, shipping, gold, silver
and quicksilver mines IS direct creation
of wealth and must serve to continually
enrich it. Enormous population, bust
ness stagnatiou which is of periodic
occurrence in all commercial countries,
and pernicious legislation may tempo
rarily impede but cannot defeat the
/ splendid destiny of that empire by the
| western ses, with It's unrivalled resources
Of the soil and mine, its genial climate
and commanding position 81 the gateway
of Asiatic commerce.
w. S. George, of Michigan, read a
paper On grsngers and greenbaekets, il
which he said grar gers influence was net
i inimical to banks, and many bankers are
high officials 10 g-anges. Greenbackers
are spectators whs would give notes at
banks and want them continually re-
newed. The grcenbsekers should make
fat mo ey to cancel them.
Restless Red