The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-02-03
STATE BANKS.

Mr.. EDIToR:-The Farmers Ali
ance should look with apprehension
upon any scheme to augment the
money supply other than that proposed
by it's Supreme Council; for every ex-
pedient and subterfugegwill be coun-
seled and advised to supply the de-
fciency of money in some other way.
State banks are and have always been,
unconstitutional. The Constitution
(Sec. 10Y says: "No State shall coin
money, emit bills of credit, make any,
thing bu. gold and silver coin a ten
der in payment of debts" What a
State cannot do, it can by no means
authorize others to do. It must re
quire a great and powerful statesman
to discover that the Sub Treasury bill
is unconstitutional and at the same
time discover that the State banks are
constitutional.
We object for several good reasons
to the advocacy by members of the
Alliance of the old State banks; but a
system of new State banks under the
espionage of Congress might be per-
mis- sible and be authorized to issue
silver and gold certificates and prop
erty certificates under the Ocala plan.
We object to all fat mOney-money
issued on faith and credit alone, with
no security, or an adequate security.
These old State banks issued money,
bills of credit with only one dollar in
vault to three or four in issue. True,
the real estate of the stockholders was
pledged as security in most of charters.
These bills of credit were partly coin
certificates and in an indefinite and
uncertain manner property certificates
also. The Ocala plan proposes to only
issue money on a sound and equal
security, qujd pro quo, and any other
device by which corporate powec may
continue its unjust advantage must
and will be condemned. Therefore
any State banking system proposed as
a shuf1ing expedient to c~ontravene
the farmers ideas, and as a substitute
therefor, will not meet with general
approval. The farmers ideas amount
to this: No fat money, only coin and
coin certificates supplemented by prop
erty certificates all referable to one
unit of value, and this issued direct to
the people without the Intervention of
corporate power. Therefore any fiscal
agency which the government may
endorse will be closely scrutinized.
We would have no objections to
banks being authorized to issue gold
and silver certificates, and also pror.
erty certificates under the Ocala plan,
but we emphatically object, and the
people object, to the reinstatement O.
the old wildcat unconstitutional banks
of ante 5eLum times. If coin certificates
and property certificates can in any
sense be called bills of credit, our
legislature could not Empower any
bank to issue them. If they are not
bills of credit, our legislature cannot
make them legal tender in pay nent of
debts. So it will require an act of
Congress author ;zing the States to
establish banks of a specific character
in any event. This should be done
anyway to make their credit uniform
throughout the nation.
However, that which we wish to
impress most strongly upon our mem
bers of the legislature is the Matching
up of some expedient to supply the
people with money in some other way
than by the ideas advanced by the
Alliance-to get the country inflated
with an unsound currency and then
say the farmers did it; then after this
preach contraction to bring the money
down to par. In this event the last
state Of the farmer will be worse than
the fist. Let it be known now the
people have never demanded the rein
statement of the cd STATE banks; but
they might be willing to run State
banks as aforesaid; for we are well as
sured that the money they propose
will be both constitutional and sound
and will remain on a parity with the
unit of value to any reasonable
amount. And be it remembered here.
now and forever, there is no securer
basis to supplement our issue OF money
on a coin basis than that of a properly
basis. Toey may talk and tn nix and
scheme and plan, but the bottom has
already been reached at Ocala.
Possibly u great statesmen will be
ashamed to acknowledge the origin of
any financial plan which may be &C.
vised by the agriculturists and LABOR.
ers and will put their wits to work to
originate a substitute-any expedient
besides that, they may think and
preach. But in all other schemes
there is danger to us, and let the Ali
ance give in its adhesion to no other
financial plan than that already pro
posed or one built on the same founda
ton. No other financial foundation