Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1892-11-04
Tspeclal Correspondence.l

Nes --Oey'
Especial Correspondence-l
NEW YORK, Oct 4.-One subject tina
may be of interest to the voter in discus
sing the issues of the campaign Is that o.
national bank currency as comparef
with state bank currency, which th'
Democratic party proposes by its plat
form to re-establish. A comparison o.
the losses by depositors, noteholders
and all creditors of national banks II
the last thirty years with depositors anc
noteholders of private banks is startling
An examination of the losses through
national banks since they were estab
hshed in 1863 shows that the annua
average loss to depositors and othel
creditors during the entire period hat
only been one-twentieth Of l per cent
Of the entire liabilities Of the nationa.
banks.
The com, roi.er of the currency
showed in his report of 1891 that the
los ses by failures of private banks
throughout the country amounted in &
single year-1s90-to 81, AT ,419, which
exceeds by far the total losses by the
national banks since their establishment
in 1863 This shows the contrast be
tween the condition of the national
banks and the private banks of today
Looking back to the history Of private
banks when they were permitted to issue
currency, the contrast isstill more strik'
ing. Thompson's Bank Note Reporter
for October, 1859, shows the failure oi
no less than / ,547 banks between Aug. "a
and Nov. of 1851. Another authority,
The Elliott Funding System, reports that
in the year Of 1841 fifty-fve state banks,
with an aggregate capital of $67, ,036, ,265
and circulation of $23, ,577, ,752, failed
and that in nearly every instance the en-
tire capital and circulation were lost.
Thompson's Bank Note Reporter OF
Nov. IA, 1858, reports the notes Of all
banks in Arkansas, Florida, Iowa and
Mississippi Of doubtful and only nomi-
nal value, and the notes of all banks IN
Wisconsin at discount of 8 per cent,
those Of Virginia from to 25 per cent,
those of North Carolina 10 per cent,
those Of Ohio and Indiana from to SC
per cent, and those of Illinois from 0 to
so per cent. This is the sort of money
to which the Democratic party wants to
return.
Word comes from Washington that
the public debt statement which is to
be issued few days hence will show a
continuation Of the reduction of the
public debt. The complaints made
against the, Republican party by the
Democrats regarding its expenditures OF
public funds may be recognized as an
unjust one by every man who stops to
consider what the Republican party in
its administration of the government
has done. Since 1865, when it set itself
seriously about the task of paying of
the public debt, which n war waged by
the Democratic party had piled up, il
has reduced the indebtedness from $7e
per capita to $13 per capita, and re-
duced the public debt from 81, 756, 900, ,00C
to 5000, ,000, 900, in round numbers. Such
record for any party or any govern
ment is unheard of in the history OF
nations.
The record Of the present administra-
ton in relation to the finances of the
country compares favorably with any
which has preceded it in the long line OF
Republican administrations, and con
trasts in marked degree with the Dem
ocratic administration during the -four
dent Harrison. The Democratic charge
that this administration has dissipated q
surplus which the Cleveland administra-
tion created in the treasury is shown to
be false by the fact that the 80 called
surplus has been expended six times oye'
by President Harrison's administration
in the reduction of the bonded debt.
Another subject relating to the finances
of the government about which a good
deal Of talk has been made is the amount
of money in circulation. In this connec-
ton it may be interesting to compare the
conditions III this country with those in
others. A careful study of the finances
Of the world shows that among the ma
tions who count their population with
eight figures, or, in other words, among
the nations whose population is over TO-,
900, 900 of people, only one has as large
an amount Of money per capita of the
population as has the United States.
The amount Of money in circulation
in the United States is S25.62 per capita
of which S1057 il gold. 1856 silver and
1851 paper. Free trade Great Britain
after which the Democrats are anxiou:
to pattern, has but Si7.90 per capita
Germany has even less, $l6.40 per capita
Austro- Hungary has still less, So.52 pei
capita. The per capita amount of money
In circulation in the United States /.
double the average per capita amount il
the great nations Of the world having q
population of 10, ,000, 900 or more