People's voice., 1893-04-14
CARLISLE AND CURRENCY.

The Nation Must Look to the Omaha
Platform For Relief.
Reports from Washington state that
Secretary Carlisle has arranged a plan
for banking system, which he pro-
poses to urge upon the country through
congress at the next session. The out
lines of the plan are not given very dis
tinctly. The principal features, how
ever, appear to be provisions for the
issue of state bank currency, under
virtual control of the national govern
ment, and the permanent suspension Of
both silver purchase and silver coinage
by the treasury. AS indicated by the
information at hand the secretarys
plan for regulating state bank issues is
to have the banks chartered by the diff
ferent states and have the issues based
upon securities whose sufficiency is to
be determined by the national govern
ment.
Such plan, if adopted, would result
in the same thing as would follow if
the present national banking law were
amended by giving the national banks
the right to deposit other securities
than government bonds or money as a
basis for circulation, and is, therefore,
merely an extension OF the present ma
tional bank act in that one particular.
All the objections, therefore, which
may be urged against the present law
will obtain equally against the one
now said to be favored by Secretary
Carlise, with another very strong one
added, that is, it will be impossible to
keep the security as good as that now
required, and hence there will always
be danger of loss, either to the
state or national government, which
ever is required to make such
guarantee, then the liability to
loss is with the holder of the notes
The attempted appeal to sticklers for
state rights" which is evidently in.
tended to be made by allowing the pro-
posed banks to be chartered by the
states separately, while continuing the
power to prevent them from going into
actual business in the hands of the ma.
tional government by giving it power
to pass finally upon the security offered
as basis for circulation, seems to be
very clumsy, and can hardly have much
effect especially against the strong OBJ
lection which we have suggested.
The same objections which are now
so strongly urged against a further de-
probation of the price of silver bullion
would still remain under this enlarged
banking scheme, if it should foolishly
be adopted by congress. These objec-
tions are based upon the well ascer-
tanned fact that the price in foreign
markets Of all our agricultural ex-
ports-and these form about seven.
tenths of our annual exports, besides
what are exported in the form of man.
ufactured articles, which makes near.
ly another tenth-is regulated by the
price of silver bullion, and there is
certainly no reason why this country
should desire to lower the price of the
products with which the interest and
principal of American securities held
abroad, must be paid. Yet if Mr.. Car.
isles scheme were adopted that is pre-.
cisely what we would be doing. Both
the changes proposed, if correctly re
ported, are very Objectionable, more SC
than the present arrangement
The financial disease with which the
country is now afflicted is bad, very
bad, but DR.. Carlisle's proposed remedy
is worse. Iowa Farmers Tribune