The morning call., 1891-10-16
WHAT the BANKERS WANT.

The State Bankers Association have
adopted the following resolution:
RESOLVED, That this convention respectfully
requests Congress at its next session 10 devise
uniform money system FOR the people OF the
Uuit-d States, with The gold dollar as the stand
ard unit OF value; using gold, silver and cur
IenCy for a circulating medium, in 4 sufficient
volume 10 fully meet and keep pace Win the
grow ing wants Of the business OF the country;
founding the Issue OF currency upon the wealth
OF The whole nation, making gold, silver and
currency a legal tender aud eXchaugeabie al
par on demand; fixing by constitutional amend
meut The Legality OF a circulating medium, and
preventing the danger Of Initiation, contraction,
population, OF change in the standard OF values.
II the convention had met when gold and
silver were at parity on their legal ratio
the resolution would doubtless have re-
quested Congress TO devise uniform money
system with gold and silver as the unit of
value. So that the dollars Of the two metals
were interchangeable, the Two might be
considered for commercial purposes as one.
But the convention finds a difference of
about p per cent between the commercial
value Of gold and of silver. These different
values had been created BY the law Of de-
mand and supply. The bankers could not
ignore ii. A uniform money system must
rest either upon two kinds Of dollars of
equal value or upon one kind Of dollars.
Our State bankers have declared for the
liar Of tie greatest value, with supple
mental features in their policy which may
bring the value OF the cheaper up TO the
standard Of the higher. 1t cannot be said,
therefore, that the bankers have declared
against silver or against the double stand
ard; they have declared for the gold dollar
as a unit OF value until such time as silver
resumes its old ratio TO gold.
THE CALL has often said that the present
difference between the market value of the
TWO metals was brought about by legisla-
ton unfTiendly to silver. The bankers pro-
pose TO effect a restoration of equality by
friendly legislation. They demand gold,
silver and currency as 4 circulating medium.
The word currency as used means paper
Issues redeemab.e in coin. Legal tender
and the Treasury notes Issued in payment
for silver bullion ara paper currency which
must be redeemed in coin. Coin certificates
serve as currency, but as theT represent a
certain amount of bullion held in the Gov
eminent vaults, they do not figure as
liability against the Treasury proper The
demand that gold, silver and currency be
made a legal tender and eXrhangeable al par
on demand means simply that the silver
dollars be maintained at par with gold, as
they now are, and that all currency other
than coin certificates shall be redeemed in
coin on presentation. Since the ISt of Jan
uaTy, 1879, there has been no day when all
national currency was not paid in coin at
sight. This proposition is to provide against
an Issue Of paper not so redeemable. Tie
clause demanding an amendment of the
Constitution fixing the legality Of the legal
tender issue recognizes the doubtful char
acter OF the existing legal tender currency.
The opinion is held by good lawyers that
under the Constitution, as it now stands,
authority Is not given Congress to issue
paper currency 1t is claimed that the exer-
else of this power during the war was war
measure which should not be continued
after the exigency had passed away. 1t Is
true tina. there is a Supreme Court decision
declaring the Legal Tender Act to be con-
stitutional, but it is also true that there is
ground for the assertion that the court was
provided for the purpose Of procuring such
decision. The bankers propose to settle
this question by means of an amendment
giving the power to issue paper money to
Congress. The admitted difficulty of amend
ing the Constitution for any purpose which
does not command the almost universal sup
port of the people is perhaps the only OBJ
lection that need be urged against this
clause. Measures to prevent initiation, con-
traction, reputation, or other artificial
changes in the standard of values, will meet
with everybody's approval Imitation must
be followed by contraction, and enterprise
is checked by apprehension of such changes.