The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1893-04-07
rHRoUcH BANKERS. EYEs.
They Would Issue One Hundred Year
BOndS,

Bonds.
At a big blowout by Chicago bank
ers recently, the one time ..honora-
ble'' G. B. Farwell Commonly known
as Charley Farwell) told what little
he knew about finance. What he
don't know would make book so big
that no ordinary reader could get
through it in year of 365 days. Be-
ing called upon, Charley rose and
said:
The state tax was imposed in order
to enable Secretary Chase to sell
bonds to raise money to carry on the
war and it closed out the banks. The
inauguration of Our national banking
system was contemporaneous with
the imposing of this tax. Ifcongress
will not continue the national bank
ing system, then there is nothing
left but to repeal the tax, leaving
the individual state to pass such laws
for themselves, which they will nat
urally be compelled to do in conse-
quence of the refusal of congress to
do it's duty in this regard. I hope
congress will enact such laws as will
render the repeal of the tax unneces-
sary. All the present circulation
should be retired. If the national gov
eminent should retire all it's issues,
the repeal of the Sherman act would
be found unnecessary. It was passed
as kind of makeshift
The Populists, Farmers Alliance,
and others seem to learn nothing
from the history of the past. TThe
trouble with Charley is that the Pop
ulists, ETC., know altogether too much
about these questions. They can't
be fooled any longer by honorable"
slush.-Ed. Sentinel They insist
that the government shall lend them
at two per cent per annum. apparent
ly not realizing that the only way it
can obtain money is by resorting to
taxation. They, therefore, would tax
one class of people that money might
be raised to loan themselves. This
is modern craftsmanship as repre-
sented by the PETERS.
desire to condemn the pratice of
the government in issuing silver GER
tiicates. The certificate itself is a
lie upon its face. 1t reads. This
certifies that there has been de-
posted in the treasury of the United
states silver s." etc. The
modus operandi is this: The govern
ment purchases silver in the market
and pays the market value for it (tO-
day it is "a cents per ouncel, and for
what costs IS cents a certificate is is
sued for 81. No one has ever depos-
tied these dollars as stated in the
certificate. but, instead, the govern
ment has issued them direct, in ex-
cess of the cost of silver, in the ag-
gregate of over $7O.Oo0,O0o. :.
II the silver had been coined at it's
average cost per ounce nobody would
| be alarmed, nobody would care how
many dollars were coined, so long as
each one contained 81 worth Of silver.
This attempt on the part of the
silver states to make sixty-fve
cents worth of silver repre-
sent 81 worth, bearing the nation
al imprint, will surely fail, and
in fact it has failed.
The government should announce
at once that it will redeem these
issues in gold coin as fast as they are
presented. The best money goes out
of circulation and the poorer re-
mains, SO if free coinage of silver
should come in this country and it's
! legal tender functions should be re-
tanned we would of necessity in the
near future be on silver basis. Gold
would as surely disappear as silver
did forty years ago; all values would
adjust themselves to the cheap dol
lar except existing debts They
would be confscated in part. No
honest man is prepared for such a
state Of affairs as this.
If l were secretary of the treasury
and had my way would announce to
the country that l would redeem
every obligation of the government
in gold upon presentation and let the
world understand once for all that
we would never descend to silver
basis. Instead of repeating this ten
per cent tax, and instead of continu-
ing the issue of gold certificates, sill
yer certificates and United States
notes, l would retire them all as soon
as it could be done and fund them to-
gether with the existing bonded debt
of the country into two per cent 100
year bonds. would then allow the
national banks to issue notes upon
the par of these bonds, and if nee
essary would allow the comptroller of
the treasury, with the; approval OF
the secretary of the treasury and the
treasurer of the United States, to &C.
cept state, county, and municipal and
first mortgage railroad bonds to sup
ply such deficiency.
l would at once repeal the sub
treasury act and require the govern
ment to deposit its revenues in the
national banks at the points where
collected, taking security from them
for their safe-keeping. If the $15,.
900, 600 kept in the sub-treasury here
in Chicago were deposited in the ma
tional banks here it would be a great
blessing to the people. The money
would be far safer in the banks anl
would be kept and paid over without
the enormous expense now incurred
for keeping up this useless establish
ment No civilized country in the
world, except our own, keeps its
money locked up as we do. How otter
has the secretary of the treasur,
been compelled to GO to Wall stree
vNfv hi 81 -