People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1893-09-22

tuc pIcScuI uuduCldl SlIudIlOH IHeTc ID
occasionally funny phase connected
with it. As an illustration of this we
quote the following language of Comp
troller Eckels:
THE people, in a large measure,
can give the relief needed by unlock
ing their deposit vaults, untying their
old stockings and making the banks
of the country the places fol the safe
keeping of their money instead of
their beds and cellars. If they refuse
to do this they certainly ought not to
complain Of inconveniences which they
can but will not remedy"
Now 1t never seems to have occurred
to Mr.. Eckels that 1t is not the people
who have Withdrawn their money
from the banks and stored it in their
"old stockings" that are complaining.
These people seem to be satisfied. 1t
is the banks that are deprived of the
free use of that money that are
making the complaints. The great
est sufferers, however, are the people
who have no money to put away and
who are deprived of the opportunity
to earn any. Mr.. Eckels would fur
thermore have US believe that it is not
for want of money but lack of conf
dence that is causing the mischief.
He says:
"The situation as it stands to-day
might very appropriately be termed
|. starvation in the midst of plenty, for
such is the exact truth. The volume
of currency in the country is greater
than in any recent year, yet none is to
be had except as it is bought in the
market as commodity pure and sim.
pie"
1t is really wonder that Mr.. Eckeli
didn't say there was too much money
in the country. But for want of con
fidence, we are told, we have tn,
panic. But the more important ques
ton seems to be overlooked. Why die
the people lose confidence in the
banks? As a rule men and women
who have funds to deposit are
reasonably intelligent and ordinarily
prudent. An accurate knowledge OF
the banking system, and the reckless
manner in which many of them have
been managed in recent years are moi
calculated to impress the general pub
lie with any great degree of conf.
6ence AS rule the stockholders are
only liable for their capital stock.
They are only required to keep 95 per
cent of their deposits on hand, the
balance may be loaned out. 1t is not
infrequent that part of this is loaned
to the stockholders upon INSULT.
cient security. Numerous instances
could be cited where this was
the case and where the money
was used in speculation. As a
result thousands of depositors have
lost a part of their money. Here,
then, lies the true cause of the trouble.
1t cannot be denied that most of the
banks that have suspended during the
panic might have been able to survive
had it not been for the scare" AID a
consequent run" But if the whole
system was not weak there would
have been no "scare" and no run"
Thousands of depositors had lost
money in banks that appeared to be
perfectly sound. They had lost Re.
cause they had not been sufficiently pro.
tected. A bank should not be allowed
to receive a dollar on deposit that
is not properly secured in some
way. 1t is the fear of loss that causes
people to withdraw their money, and,
as Mr.. Eckels says, this aggravates
the case. In this connection we have
presented an excellent object lesson Of
the utility and absolute safety of a
government banking system. We have
in circulation millions of dollars Of
silver certificates. These are merely
certificates of deposit Notwithstand.
ing the fact they are used as money,
the real money for which they were
issued is supposed to be in the United
States treasury. There are also $780,.
OOO,OO in gold in the treasury to redeem
the treasury notes or greenbacks. But
there has been no one complaining Of
loss OF confidence in the government
When banks refused TO honor each
others checks the government went
right along doing business at the ole
stand, issuing money orders and postaI
notes to greater extent than ever
and everyone had perfect confidence il
the government Had there been any
gov rnment savings banks then, the
money that was withdrawn from thu
other banks would have quickly
found its way into the govern
ment banks. When a certain
national bank failed, the people who
held the bank notes issued by thai
bank were not the least bit disturbed
because they knew the government
was behind those notes making then
good. But if they held certificate O.
deposit In that bank it was entirely
different. They did not know ther
whether it was worth 10 cents or 1OC
cents on the dollar. When the de
posits can be made as secure as tn,
bank notes, there will be no suct
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