The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1883-11-15
WE GOT 'EM ON THE mir.
from the ChicnRosen,inol.j

Tho roar Of the impending Niagara II
distinctly heard, the current has I've
como irresistabN. and, unless some n,
present unknown power intcrvencs, III
cvitablo doom awaits the best banking
system the world ever saw"
Az We have said md repeated times
without number. tho payment Of tho
debt inevitably forces the banks TO the
wall. II was on this account TINT such
gigantic effort was nude years ago To
rcrpetuato tho debt II the finance re-.
formers had held their tongues the
debt would have been refunded aud
pcrpetuated, and the present banking
system have become permanently
fastened upon tho country. II the
Wood or Garfield Refunding bills had
passed in 1870, tho present prcdicamcnt
would have been aycrted.
sooner than people generally mag
incd the sue has arisen.
The Washington dispatches arc tecm.
ing with NIL sorts Of gossip, prophecies
and suggestions concerning tho qucs-
ton.
Tho recent Bankers convention dis
cussed thi question moro than anything
else.
Tho newspapers Of the great cities
arc filling their columns with il.
business men are beginning to talk
about it.
sooner even than the finance reform
crs themselves imagined tho discussion
IL sprung upon tie country.
We can clearly fofcsec that the near
future promises a greater agitation Of
tho money question than this coun-
try has ever yet witnessed.
The present condition Of affairs is
briefly this: The banks have on de-
post in round numbers $500, 600, 900
Of bonds, about $3.50, 400. 900 Of which
are the per cents. which are subject
to call. All tho 3. per cents have al
ready been called in--though SO great
is the stringoncy in bank currency that
many Of tho banks have not sl,rrcn.
dercd them. prcferring to hold them
after tho interest il stopped rather than
to surrender their currency.
On.the other hand, Notwithstanding
the efforts If the last Congress to pre-.
vent it by cutting down the revenues,
money is poaring into the treasury ut
such rate rs to cause \ stringency and
threaten y panic.
Mr.. Folgcr is therefore placed in the
unpleasant dilemma Of having 10 dis
please the banks by calling in bonds or
pile up idle money in the treasury and
thus cause disastrous stringency.
Ii he calls in tho per cents, the
only class now subject 10 call, the banks
will be compelled to go into the market
and buy the Is and AIS Mt figures rang
ing all the way from la to 10, thing
which they will be slow to do, as such 4
premium would. absorb from four or
five years interest, Tn the other hand
il they fail to hny the high-premium
bonds they must either hold the called
Is without interest or surrender their
currency.
Yielding to the necessity of prevent
ing any further accumulation OF money
in the treasury, Mr.. folger on Satar-
day called in Sl5.ooO.Ona Of the 3 per
cents, lnasmuch MS tho banks hold
about SlS0. 1000, 900 of the $500. 600, 900
3 per cents. outstanding il is safe to
assume that nj least Slu. 100, 900 Of the
Sla,ooo, 900 called will como from the
banks. This will cut the bank supply
down to Sl10,o0l. 900. At the rate
money is at present flowing into the
treasury il will not he six weeks before
another call Of $4,000, 900 will have to
be made.
And thus the current Of Inevitable
events is forcing the present banking
system to the wall.
What thens
That's tho question.
What course is to ho rursue,ls
Delay can no longer III endured.
The question Of what kind Of cur
rcncy We are going to asca question
that We have asked, in tho Sentinel
and IN public speeches. thousand
times will have 10 be met and an
swered
II is a question in which every bust.
ness man. every farmer, every manu-
faetarer. every mechanic, every banker,
every merchant is Interested.
Mr.. folgcr has already been cudgcl-
ing his brains To find way out of the
trouble. II is reported by Washington
dispatches that he proposes to recon-.
mend long per cent bond into which
upon satisfactory terms tho Is and AS
may he converted. These per cents
would then Of course he gathered up
by the banks ~ basis for their circu-
lation. by taking OF the tax on circu.
lation even J per cent bonus in the
shape Of interest money to banks would
I've very acceptable.
Another scheme Is to permit banks
to deposit State bonds, and perhaps city
aud county, instead Of United States
bonds for circulation. This latter
scheme. our readers will remember, we
have heretofore frequently predicted
would he attempted.
Probably another effort will be made
to cut down the revenues by reducing
taxation. This would Of course accom-
plish the purpose Of preventing q fur.
ther reduction Of the debt.
Rut there are many obstacles in the
path Of any adjustment of the difficulty.
In the first place the high tariff Sec
ton will be unwilling to cut down the
custom duties, while the free-traders
will contend for it.
A portion Of the Democrats will per-
haps favor reducing the tax on whisky:
a few Republicans, especially the high
tariff class, will also favor the scheme.
But there is such nm almost universal
feeling among the people that the
whisky and tobacco taxes are the least
hurdensome Of any that it is doubtful
il any measure Of that kind could be
be carried through. The Prohibition
lists would also oppose any reduction Of
the whisky tax.
And the greatest obstacle of all is
tho fact that the House is Democratic
and the Senate Republican, SO that
with a close Presidential contest Mt
hand, neither party will dare to take
the initiative and risk the disapproval
OF public opinion