Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-08-11

OF all the absurdities that have bad their
origin In a financial scare such as the
country Is passing through none can Dc
rated as less excusable than the conduct
Of those who rush to the banks to with
draw their deposits under the idea that
their money viii be safer IN their pocket
books or stockings than In the iron vaults
of the bank There are innumerable in
stances where boarded wealth has been
destroyed much more enectually than would
have been possible through the operations
of an expert bank-wrecker. and Of such
occurrences several are on record as Of
recent date. Thousands of ultra-careful
and thoushtfully thoughtless people have
gone quietly to the soundest Of financial
Institutions and taken into their own keep
ing money which they were in no sense
qualified to care for and for which they
had no present use. They hid 1t In some
out-of-the-way corner and are. very nat
urally. o hundred times more fearful as
to It's safety than they were when 1t was
In the hands Of the bank. All manner OF
Ills seem to and do threaten II. and COM
parative peace Of mind is impossible until
the cash Is once more inside the protec-
ton Of the bank.
Much ingenuity has been displayed In the
concealment Of currency. but there is al-
ways greater likelihood Of catastrophe in
cure hiding places than when the capital Is
In active circulation. Not very long ago a
lady now resident in this city sold to an
itinerant dealer In old clothing ceveral gar
ments for which she supposed her husband
could have no further use and was horrf-
fed to discover when she casually men,
toned the transaction three or four days
later that there were bills in the lining Of
one Of the disposed-of vests to the value Of
advantage Of the scare and seem to have
prospered exceedingly ever since this run
on the nations currency commenced; in one
case following a gold-laden farmer from
the bank to his home and there succeeded
In transferring to their own persons the dis
turbing metal and paper. Fire and water
have both destroyed vast sums and we fire.
quent1y hear Of the losses inflicted upon
hoarders by rats and mice that have nib
bled away the encasing sock and chewed
to pulp the bills that had been 50 care
fully rolled up and concealed. The records
Of the redemption division Of the Treasury
Department, Of the Bank Of England and
TIN Bank of France show conclu-
sively that the losses suffered by individuals
through their foolish lack of faith in gen.
orally sound institutions exceeds by an
enormous sum the total of deprivation
caused by bank failures. The Treasury De-
partment Is frequently called upon to iden-
tify, II possible, fragments OF macerated
paper which was once legal tender Of con-
siderable value. but which lost its current
shape and very much Of its commercial
usefulness because It was buried In the earth
or poked away In the darkest corner of a
closet where the mice and the ever hungry
reaches had lots of fun with IL. An exam
pie from which a lesson ought easily to
be extracted was a handful Of gray-green
dust that would have been worth three
thousand dollars had the notes been placed
to the owners credit in a good bank.
American people are properly credited
with being keen, practical business folk, and
yet. during the passing crisis. thousands Of
rational and commonly shrewd men and
women have senselessly drawn their money
from the security of the banks. and. by
boarding 1t and Withdrawing 1t from circu-
lation, have caused the present dearth Of
currency. which Is destroying business and
making hard times"
Nothing would be more potent In break
ing up the stagnant conditions than the
prompt return to circulation Of the count
less rolls of promises to pay now. without
reason, stuffed in improbable holes and
corners