The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1886-01-28

nave pTOpoIllonaiiy
decreased.
There can be but one purpose in
this attack all along the line on ev
crvthing except gold and national
bank notes, AMI that is to transfer,
10 tie holders 81 orr bonds absolute
poirer orer thr currency which means
over the business Of the country.
The report of the Comptroller OF the
Currency develops that purpose, per-
Aars, more plainly than the other.
After insisting that Congress should
repeal the tax on circulation. give up
the profit lnadc an lost bank notes,
orpnt il into safety fund with 9TH
cr things for the benefit OF the banks,
he adds, on paeo IL
Such legislation would have the
elicc, of maintaining bank note cir
culation. and PREVENTS being super
celad by Government issues, which
I'M authority as high as Alexander
Hamilton has said are o. 4 nature
so jiahl. IT, abuse, and it may even
Il. affirmed - certain Of being abus-
Ia. that the wisdom Of the Govern
nent Will Do shown in never trust
ing itself with the Use OF so seduclnG
and dangerous an experiment.
assume that it is too clear to al
nit OF debate, 10 matter what Mr.,
Hamilton or anybody else said, that
a circulating note. IN any form, prop.
erly secured. is as good when issued
by the government as a like note
would Ire .hnn i--iied by corpor-
alton created 10y the government aud
secured by government bond, and
hardly anybody but the Comptroller
or Ii bank attorney would venture 20
assert that the Secretary OF the
Treasury Is not as likely TO be hon.
ct and careful OF tie public interest
in maintaining and keeping the nec-
esaary amount Of circulation ailoat
for legitimate business purposes, as
bank presidents would be, who are
under NO obligation TO consult the
public welfare. but, Is the private
interests of their stockholders de-
maud. may contract OF expand their
issues rs the ono course or the other
best suhseryes their private ends re-
gardlesS altogether OF the public
veal: indeed. they are apt to be en-
riched when they can most surely
Cypress tic uiasSes.
Yet. iii the face OF his claim that
al other circulation Is unsafe, the
Comptroller shows tina. the decrease
in national bank circulation in the
last three years amounts to over
SiS.00o000 and says it would have
decreased s25.o0D.ooO more il the
secretary OF the Treasury had not
come TO their rescue by refusing to
use the meney at his command in
the purchase of ; per cent bonds on
which their circulation is based: in
ether words. the people have lost
over Sa,Ooo.oo3 Of interest and the
hanks have made $4,000, Od0 On loans
by the operation. The Comptroller
shows very clearly Why the bond
holders are 20 anxious to get clear ol
the silver dollar: they fear the prem
ium on their houds will fall IL they
are paid in whole or in part in silver
l think the Comptroller makes il
clear that the country cannot afford
to rely for its circulation on national
bank notes. He asserts that the
bankers will surrender their circula
ton and sell the bonds upon which
Dit il based. regardless altogether Oi
the public needs. whenever they car
make more money by selling the
bonds than they can by loaning the
circulation. We al know this to be
true.
Can Congress afford to vest abso.
lutte power over the contraction and
expansion Of the circulating medium
which regulate, all cur transactions
exclusively in the hands of men who
gamble with it for private gain with.
out any sort of public responsibility
think not: yet, if we retire the
greenhacks and the silver certifi-
Gates, rs onr officials advise us to do
we will have 10 currency but nation
al bank notes left, rLich they can el.-
pGni 0f contract al pleasure. No
body prctenas that in the reduct-
ion of these notes from 1921 600, OOO
In November. 1852. to 21G,oOO.OOO in
November. 1855, the public interests
or needs were for minute consider
ed.
No set Of men should be allowed
to exercise privileges prohibited by
law,nor have the rights given to them
in regard to character and quality of
the coin in which their debts shall
be paid which ARE denied to all other
equally meritorious creditors: and
no set or men should ever have pow
er 70 regulate or control, as their
private interests may be affected. the
currency or the business Of the pee-
pie. Ii that power Is yielded or con-
cedcd 70 them. with legal tender
notes and silver certificates with
drawn and gold paid TO them, and to
them alone, for their interest and
bonds, Congress would be powerless
TO resist ANY demands our bondhold-
ers and bankers might make. know
their power and appreciate the adj
roitncss with which they can have
their claims presented. Even the
President in his message has been
induced TO say that up TO the pres
ent time only about S50,oOOOOO OF the
silver dollars We have coined have
found their way into circulation. He
modified that statement by showing
that a large amount OF silver certiti-
Gates were outstanding, but the press
OF the country has taken up the first
statement, leaving out all the quail
iications. and parade it before the
country as conclusive evidence that
too much silver has already been
coined, and that all OF it is an incum-
brance except about $4,000, OO0.-
Why is no, the coin represented by
these certificates as much In active
circulation as If it was passed from
hand TO hand as often as the certifi-
Gates are: | ask, Is it fair to COM
plain Of the silver held In the Treas
ury rs being expensive and useless,
under such circumstances, aud yet
utter not one word OF complaint in
regard TO over sl37 100000 of gold
coin locked up. at the same time and
in the same way, represented by the
same sort of certificates, most OF
them In Il far less useful form?
WHAT SPECIAL EFfonT.w