Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-03-19

4 IL.
| representative Of the hnnntial aeno,t,,.',,,,
/ yl me United States. Tpon nv sht.,i
ueis rests the responsibility of nto,.i'ii,,,
.ue money with which 20 pay the 80,
] cAptDses entailed In the suntort - ~
| urlny ana the military Operations ~ ~
| hh1VNerhment- We have a great arm,
mere f,hsle = no difficulty about ccttinv al.
\ No oot me emergency demands ID
l'VVV,VVO men may be enlisted ,s.i,,tc
month, hut we have no INCOMES. 'u ~
| NY thein, TO feed them or 10 arm tba,,
/ VIZ heel money and need 4 now. Ne
| w soiu ana great quantity Of IN
| we must bOrrcw Il until We can prn,sds
| MeaLs by taxation Of brpring h al
ii"e utNsufy' Now. gentlemen, nltboupb
= uin secretary Of the treasury. i nn -
n snsr 1 Gun only tell you what Il
n aVVesu can only obey the laws "
congress ~ Paying out this money Am
! YOU are hnanuicr IL Is Your business
| 10 devise means for raising money / mn,
/ ptul TO you both ns business men ana
! lulllota Tor aid In this emergency. I ,ov
/ 10 you that the resources Of tho Irnit,d
I othtes are ample 10 curry on n war for
many years with an array Of 1.OtnW0
n.yn IN ne held aud without greatly Inn.
/ pairing those resources Thu N,eaifb 80
/ the United States developed ia abnnd,Dt
| 70 meet an outgo Of at least 81 iSlO O1o n
hands" '''eu' W 'our
Next morning these bankers met In the
Oihces OF the New York clearing house
an association whose power 10 perhnps
we mighuest In finances that exists
vpou we American continent, although
! very seldom used. The bankers consult.
ed less than half an hour. Al Inc enJ
| OF mat time dispatch was sent to
! ashington, announcing that the New
/ lork banks would lend 10 the goveru
ment SoO'OOOOO0 Ia gold at once. ana
| WITHIN day or two the coin was In Tho
! treasury. The announcement itself WAS
% even more value than the money.
! sshhl..e ! was a proclamation TO the world
| lhat Tue great banking interests hnd
iaiih IN the credit Of the government
! 9nI had stakod the enormous SUN OF
/ IJO,uOO.QOO IN gold az pledge Of that
| ruin Opom two other occasions after
| mat the banks OF the seaboard cities
| FURNISHED S0OOOOOOO more. and II was
the opinion Of Roscoe Coukllng, OF
james g. blaine aud many of the bank.
| err mat with this amount Of gold and
with such further amounts as the gov-
erhment could have secured by drawing
! upon Europe, IL would have been posi-
Dle 70 maintain specie payments through.
out the war.
Since then the government has come
TO the rescue of the bankers when they
/ '"fN h..h AA NlhAItHa several iliuNA. hWt
| until this meeting with Governor Eos
ter no appeal has been made 10 the bank
| ers TO give aid 10 the government. Al
TINS meeting II was suggested that since
all the European countries, IN view Of
the continental war. which II Is believed
VIII break. out IN n few years. have
been drawing gold 20 their vaults, and
that explains why. SO much gold has
| been taken out Of the United States.
and Mr.. Foster was urged to checkmate
this movement, and by the Issue OF bonds
or In some other way, draw back gold
enough from Europe 20 make IL perfect
ly easy for the United States TO maintain
gold payments.
How much gold Is In the United
| St0tesP Mr.. Foster was asked.
More than S6O0,0O0.000" he replied.
HAS any country as much M that?'
Whore is this goldy
! well, the government has nearly
| $3.50 100000 Of Il, and the rest of It is
| In the banks and is boarded"
SIS there much hoar1ingY
More than the people suspect"
To Illustrate this tendency 10 hoard,
an experience Of Mr.. Hepburn when he
was bank examiner for New York City
was told. Mr. Hepburn is now comp.
| trOller Of the currency. When he was
| appointed bank examiner he made a
thorough examination Of the condition OF
| every banking institution In his district,
which includes New York city. In one
of the larger banks he was told that
there lay at the bottom Of It's vaults a
number Of canvas bags containing gold,
which had been deposited there during
| the war by q wealthy man still living.
| Mr. Hepburn felt II TO be his duty "a
count this gold, rs II was a charge upon
the hooks of the bank.
He went into the vaults lie found
I the bags covered with dust and some
| of them with mould They were In eX-
actly the spot in which they had been
placed q quarter of n century before.
! Each bag was sealed, and after being
cleaned the amount Of gold contained In
Il was discovered 20 be traced upon the
outside. The gold was counted. Thete
were several hundred thousand dollars
OF Il. The amount agreed exactly with
the books IL was then placed back In
the bags, resealed and has not since been
touched. Here was nearly $4,000 IN
gold as completely boarded as though
II had been hidden In a miser's stock.
ing, although II would have required
several large one TO have held II. There
| would have been OF no use either 60 its
owner, the bank or 70 the people. There
IL lies today. almost as useless as though
Il were In It's original ore.
IL Is estimate that S40000,O00 or $50.
600 600 OF gold is hoaded In a similar
manner During the war when gold went
10 n very high premium, curious looking
persons appeared in the money maits
Offering gold for sale. Some Of IL was
of foreign coinage. and much Of t.
though Of ancient date, showed 80 little
abrasion that It plainly had been boarded
almost as soon as issued from the mint
One of the bankers told the following
story He said that In 1884, Just before
die panic, there appeared In Wall street
al very singilarly looking individual
He was rustic and no mistake nc
wore a long linen duster, pdm-leai hai
OF the style IN vogue with farmers Wien
vpaied life In the remote rural districts
II also suggested the keenest suspicion
Ills ewes were very bright and very
yratchful. He went into one Of the greal
banking houses. not NATIONAL Danh
and no produced letter from the cor
respondent Of that bank In one OF me
interior villages OF Southwestern NeN
YorL. He was treated Win eourtesl
rather scant, for IL was q busy 1opf oi
the day, and bis apPearalts ~ ~
snuport the prospect Of profitable Gus,
to,5,er But scant courtesy soon changed
"a extraordinary pOliteness and defefeiifr
mo man produced from an inner p9ckel
ehpekgkin wallet nearly q 1901 long
siad will n shoe string, an opening u
drew tberefrom some bonds yellow Nltl
ace. lie asked II the bonds We're worn
onything. aud no sooner hau hs Maos
The inquiry than be was lnFitsu mo ~ NV
nrivate Office OF the president lhe
kanter gaged az these bonds with aston
isbment' and then looking over his spsc
t"cles M the quaint specimen OF humanity
! t.e,,,, him he enid you VIII nave y