Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-06-21
COLDS INVINCIBLE
Such Is the Opinion of Mr.. Hor-
ace White.
SINGLE STANDARD ONLY POSSIBLE

And in the stgugxle for Supremacy the
Yellow Metal Always Wins, Says the
speaker-An Interesting Paper Read Be
fore the Worlds Congress of Commerce
and Finance-History of the Agitation
and It's Results.
CHICAGO, June 2l.-There was a lot Of
railway and financial wisdom fired off in
side the Art institute on the lake front
when the bankers, railway men and insur-
ance men met there for their first business
meeting. Lyman J. Gage is president of
the whole congress, so he turned the chair
over to Charles B. Parsons of St. Louis.
Senator John Sherman was expected to
take an important part in the meeting but
sent letter in which he said it was i'm
possible for him to be present Bradford
Rhodes, OF New York, was Therefore
called upon instead, and he proceeded to
give a review of the banking business
from the earliest times, saying that the
first bank in history was at Venice, in the
thirteenth century.
Some Things He Did Not Mention.
Mr.. Rhodes didn't seem to remember
that check given by Moses to Pharaoh
on the Bank Of tie Red sea, or the way
Pharaoh's daughter got little prophet
out of the rushes on the Bank of the Nile.
Or perhaps he considered these instances
of early banking operations chestnuts, and
perhaps they are. He, however, recalled
the history of the great banks of England,
France, Ireland, Scotland and other banks
of Europe and described their methods of
doing business. All the banking associa-
tions of today are but schools of finance
learning by hard knocks. The Simon Ma
crIlS II f4lSa Of
ally sincere man who didn't know much
about banking. Financial questions should
be discussed with great care and could
only be settled by being settled right
Spoke q Few Words of Railways
Upon railway subjects John F. Dillon,
general counsel of the Union Pacific rail-
way, read interesting paper entitled,
Constitutional GUARANTEES of Railway
Properties and Franchises and Rates
Against Legislative Spoliation.- The
railways Of the United States own 1873 600
miles of road worth in stocks and bonds
$4,000, ,0O0, 900. The roads were built and
paid for by::private individuals and not by
the public The immense sums needed to
build these properties could be raised only
by corporations, but in no true or legal
sense were these railway corporations mo-
nopolies. But the railways have been at
tackled by legislation. Congress attacked
them indirectly in the interstate commerce
act and state legislatures directly by
passing laws fixing the rates for business
PSotection for the Investors.
American railxax, sharss -ase- owned in
ested es pa Il sa M sonstitnsionaI sea ait nser
guaranty+they have against the spoliation
and destruction of their proper
ty by legislation. The rates charged
by railway are its life, and if thesemay
be cut down or demolished by a legislature,
which can also declare what rates are fair,
who would want to own a railway share5
The founders OF the government were
neither fools nor anarchists. The cOnsti-
tuition w& to be the supreme law of the
land and no state may pass laws that con-
fiict with the constitution. The fifth
amendment to the constitution provides
that no person shall be deprived of life
liberty or property without due process of
law" The fourteenth amendment de-
clares: ''Nor shall any state deprive any
person of life, liberty or property without
due process of law, or deny to any person
the full and equal protection of the law"
This declaration OF the constitution si-
lences Prudhom's assertion that property
is theft and property ty-owneTs are thieves
Another Branch Set in Motion.
Another section of the congress which
began discussion was the mutual life and
accident underwriters. After the welcome
by Mayor Harrison, f. A Burnham. o:
New York, said that twenty years ago the
right of a mutual insurance company to
exist was denied by the law. Now they
include in their membership Ogle-tUurth OF
the population of the country and have
paid out in benefits up to date atUIt $780,
100000
Board Of Trade Men Meet
A special conference of bank examiners
state and national, was held to adopt their
own organization and discuss matters per
tanning to the supervision of the banking
business. The congress of boards of trade
also convened with William T. Baker in
the chair George +. Stone. secretary of
the Chicago board of trade, made an adj
dress of welcome and the programme in
cluded other addresses by Denison B.
Smith, secretary of the Produce Exchange,
Toledo, O.: Hamilton Andrews HILL sec.
retary of the National board of trade,
Boston, Mass; E P. Bacon, Milwaukee,
Wis; John A. Gano, Cincinnati, O.: Frank
Galonnie, st. Louis, Mo-, and A c. Ray.
mond Detroit.