The midland journal., 1894-12-21
The Bankers Dollar and the Peoples
Dollar.

Comptroller Eckels i'll explaining his
banking scheme to the Committee on
Banking and Currency said "The eX-
tent of the banking interest of the coun-
try represents i'll capital $3.50, 900, 900, i'll
deposits s., 400, ooo, 900, and i'll depositors
about 1000, ,ooo." The most reliable in
| formation that can be obtained from a
careful analysis of the bank statements
and the Comptrollers' reports, give the
amount of money i'll actual circulation to
be about $500, 700, 900. All above this
sum is shown to be held as reserves and
not i'll general circulation. The law under
which national banks are chartered gives
them the privilege to loan all Of their
capital which is $3.50, 900, 900, all of their
surplus, all of their undivided profits, rs
per cent in cities and SIS per cent i'll the
country, of their deposits liable to
check, and the same proportion of their
certificates of deposits.
Thus we find there is nothing under
control of the bank not loanable except
the above per cent of its deposits.
By examining the Comptrollers reports
and the banking privileges we may ascer
tain with reasonable certainty the amount
of WIND the banks loan to the people.
We have basis of $500, 100000. This
sum, which is the actual circulating me-
dunn of the country, and is deposited and
redeposited by the 100000 persons
doing business through the banks, till the
aggregate sum of deposits liable to
check" amounts to THREE THOUSAND
FOUR HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS. The
comparatively small sum of five hundred
million is made to represent the above
immense aggregate of deposits by the
privilege the banks enjoy of loaning IS
and IS per cent of every deposit, which
necessitates the loaning of every dollar in
actual circulation very nearly six times
If we deduct five hundred millions, which
remain in. the banks temporarily to meet
the demands of depositors, we find the
amount of wind loaned to the people
aggregating TWO THOUSAND NINE HUN
DRIED MILLION DOLLARS. If we place
, this immense sum representing bank
. loans at interest, at the moderate rate of
per cent per annum we have as result
ONE HUNDRED AND SEvENTY-FoUR MIL
LIONS wrung from the hands of labor and
business, on all investment of zOind COLL
, monty called credit, and by mental
| mr. ho,
mary basis called Confidence" That
the above loans are entirely wind money
, is clearly proven by the fact that there is
but about five hundred millions in actual
circulation and that the deposits in the
; banks aggregate three billion, four hun
, dred million dollars, IS and SIS per cent of
which the banks are allowed to loan.
This per cent of reserve which the banks
must keep temporarily on hand, it being
replenished by daily deposits as it goes
out daily to borrowers and payments on
checks, amounts to about the five hun
dred millions i'll circulation. By study
of the above statement it will be readily
, understood what the banker class mean
by "honest dollar" and "cheap dollar. 4"
In gold bug parlance the 'honest dollar, :"
the ''sound money" dollar, the "good
money" dollar, is the dollar principally
wind the banks make which costs the
people one hundred and seventy four mil
lions for the use Of the dishonest dol
lar" the cheap dollar" the Eight
weight dollar" is the dollar Uncle Sam
. makes and costs the people almost moth
ing for its use
The republican party stands for the
bankers ''honest dollar" the Peoples
party stands for Uncle Sans "cheap dol
lar; the democrat party stands for o.
1t oughtn't to require much "mother
wit" to choose between them.