The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1894-12-22
CarIisIe's Plan for Revision of Cur
rency Passes the Committee.
ONLY ONE VOTE TO SPARE
Banker st. Joha, of New York, Ad-
yises System OF Silver
Coinage.

vote OF nine TO elBnL the committee on
banking and currency decided tonight
to report Secretary Carlisle's plan for
revision of the currency. Representa-
tives Johnson of Ohio and Ellis of Ken
lucky voted with the republicans
against reporting the plan. The report
will be made on Monday debate begin
on Tuesday and the committee on rules
will be asked to fix the final vote in the
house for next Friday at p. m. This
conclusion was reached after a spirited
executive session of the committee 1t
was decided that the daily debates
should begin at II a. m. and that there
should be night sessions. Mr.. Springer
stated that no amendments would now
be offered to the Carlisle plan, but that
it would be open to amendment by any
member on the floor of the house.
BANKER WILLIAMS PLAN.
Great interest was manifested today
in the closing hearing on the question
of currency revision before the commit
tee on banking and currency of the
house. President G.. G.. Williams of
the Chemical National bank of New
York represented the prevailing view
among bankers, while w. p. st. John of
the Mercantile bank of New York rep
resented the eastern view favorable to
silver. THE first problem in our clum-
sy and conglomerate financial system
is the disposition to remodel legal tender
notes." said Mr.. Williams. He urged
that these notes should be funded $780,
100000 at a time until eliminated from
the financial system; bonds at per cent.
should be received as security for ma
tional bank notes on the basis of par,
the government to have a first lien on
the assets of the bank. These notes
should be redeemable at New York city
and, when issued in sufficient volume,
being readily convertible, would furnish
the adequate elasticity to the currency.
The tax on the circulation of the ma
tiOnal banks should at once be re-
moved. AS to the Baltimore plan, Will
liams said it would be safe in a large
city, but it might start many mush-
room banks merely with the view to
issue notes, and the failure of such
banks would cause loss to the whole
system. Conservative and well man
aged institutions would absolutely re-
fuse to join hands in meeting the losses
sure to arise from these mushroom
banks. After funding the legal tender
notes and giving a new national bank
issue, Williams said, the next step was
to look after the silver certificates and
Sherman notes. The latter were amply
protected by 800, OO0,O0 in the treasury.
AS to silver certificates, congress should
pass a law redeeming them in silver
bullion at the market value, at the dis
erection of the secretary of the treasury,
and it might be well to similarly re-
deem the Sherman notes. With these
changes, the currency system would be-
come absolutely sound and the banking
system the most perfect ever devised.
Williams was questioned as to the
condition of his own bank. He said its
capital was 100000 1t had a surplus
of $4,000, 900; the undivided profits were
more than 81, 900, 900; the deposits reach
ed $50 OO0, 900, probably the largest in the
United States, if not in the world; the
dividends were $50 per cent. annually,
and the bank stock sold for $4,000 per
share of $1OO.
ST. JOHN ON SILVER.
President St John lent much spirit
to the hearing by the vigor of his state
ment and it's novelty, coming from
eastern bankers under official dictation.
Said he: "Tutored by one of the most
aggressive of all Of the handful Of gold
ties of the United States, congress fid-
dies with bank notes, while the burning
issue is our primary money coin, Iden-
tically tutOred, our chief executive has
required his secretary to abandon the
option conferred by law upon the
United States and grant the holders Of
United States notes the right to exact
gold always, silver never, as their re-
deeming coin. Had the option to re-
deem silver dollars been exercised bold
ly at the time when only 100000 silver
dollars were owned in the United States
with an ownership of 10000, 900 of gold,
any possible alarm would have been
hushed to scorn. The amendments to
seize upon and exercise the options
now, under the prospective conditions
of the treasury, would be to court all
the perils of disaster.
Mr.. st. John stated that the same pol
icy led to the present proposition of
substituting the banks promises of
money in place of primary and second
airy money gold and silver, which they
promise. He took up the cases of sill
yer recommendation. He characterized
the repeal of the Sherman law last year
and the closing of the minis to silver
coinage as 1.-THE worlds blind expert
ment in money" 1t severed the last link
that coupled silver to its crippled right
as money in the western world. He
declared it was the duty of congress to
stop experimenting and go back to the
Hamilton-Jefferson coinage system, to
restore bimetallism independent Of
other nations. He took up the subject
of what he termed "Goldites." He cited
the record of France in independent BIZ