The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-12-11
4 FINANCIAL CRISIS.
The Causes for the Present
Monetary Trouble.
THE M'KINLEY BILL RESPONSIBLE
The Duty of Congress in Regard to Good
IN Bonded observation-disclosures Of
the Silver Bill.

Special to THE HERALD-Examiner Dispatch.1
NEW YORK, Dec 1O.-Regarding the
present mercantile crisis the Commercial
AdUerstSer in the course OF an editorial has
this to say: "The merchants of New York
are passing through critical experience.
When the Mckinley bill went into opera,
ton there was such q rush of imported
merchandise for the purpose of taking ad-
vantage of the old tariff rates that the i'm
portations in this city alone during the
four months ending with September ex-
ceeded by nearly $50, 000, 900 the imports
for the same months in 1889. The excess
i've importatiOns were paid for in money
raised by the importers on their own notes
for thirty and sixty days. Some of these
notes have already been extended but
large proportion matured at the opening OF
the present month or will come to maturity
before the 1st of January. AT the opening
OF October the reserves Of our clearing
house banks amounted to Sl14, 765, 200.
This represented a surplus over the % pei
cent. reserve against liabilities amounting
to between 100000 and $4,000, 900.
Since that time the bank reserves have
been decreasing at so rapid a pace that in
the last bank statement they amounted to
only sol, sol, 400.
1.-The merchants of New York in the i'm
porting trade alone used 10 per cent. more
money to carry their goods than they did
year ago. The banks are several millions
poorer than they were year ago. and have
been steadily losing money by Withdrawals
of depOSitors in the west. In the east the
situation is critical, and in many respects
discouraging. An imperative duty rests
upon Congress to extend beyond February,
the period in which bonded imports
brought. in under the old tariff may be
taken. out of warehouses. If Congress
compels the payment of the heavy cash
duties during the critical month of Janu-
airy, the party in power Will justly be held
responsible for any disaster which fol.
| lows"
Here is what the Post says: "Senator
| German yesterday made some excellent re-
marks, as far as they went, on the financial
situation. sMr. German referred to the
action Of the secretary of the treasury in
| Offering to buy $, coo, COO OF bonds, and
| actually buying S6,000,OU0 This, he said,
was only a drop in the bucket. The
| S, 600 would disappear as rapidly as
| the great disgorging of treasury money
! last September had disappeared. We APP
/ prehend that the Senator is right in this
anticipation. But there are other drops
| in the bucket, that Washington city
is Offering TO a suffering nation
more unsatisfying than this The
greatest mischief of the day is the ex-
istiug silver Legislation which has led to
the boarding OF gold. Each boarded gold
dollar is tying up at least four dollars Of
fiduciary circulation. There are two
measures of rehef that would not be drops
in the bucket but would be whole buckets
well filled, and fortunately neither of these
would cost anything. One is 10 repeal the
silver bill; the other is TO amend the na-
tionaI bank act so as to save the system
from the process of slow decay that has
been for years and is still whitening 1t
away.
Mr.. German is right. The time that il
spent in puttering over the force bill is
worse than wasted. The country is in
course of slow strangulation and the public
servants who are responsible for the ex-
listing conditions are doing nothing"