The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1894-12-21
OUR LOYAL FRIEND.
w. P. ST. JOHN, THE NEW YORK
BANKER, HEARD IN THE CAUSE.

w. P. ST. JOHN, THE NEW YORK
BANKER, HEARD IN THE CAUSE.
The Currency Revision Hearings Of the
House Banking Committee Close With
Interesting Statements from Two Prom
inent Bankers of New York.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 15.-Great interest
was manifested to-day in the closing of the
hearing on the question Of currency re-
vision before the committee on banks
and currency Of the House President
G. G. Williams of the Chemical National
Bank, of New York representated the
prevailing view among bankers, while
W. P. St. John Of the Mercantile Bank of
New York, represented the eastern view
favorable to silver.
''The first problem in our clumsy and
conglomerate financial system is the dis
position to be made Of our legal tender
notes." said Williams. He urged that
these notes should be funded, $5O,OOOOOO
alta time until eliminated fromEthe fnan-
cial system. Bonds at 3 per cent should
be received as security for national bank
notes on the basis of the par value, the
Government to have first lien on the
assets of the banks. These notes should
be redeematle at New York City and
when issued in sufficient volume, being
readily convertible, would furnish ade-
quate elasticity to the currency. The
tax on the circulation of national banks
should at once be removed.
AS to the Baltimore plan, Williams
said it would be safe in large city, but
it might start many mushroom banks
merely with the view to issue notes, and
the failure of such bank would cause a
loss to the whole system. Conservative
and well managed institutions would alb
solutely refuse to join hands in meeting
losses sure to arise from these mushroom
banks. After funding the legal tender
notes and giving new national bank is
sue, Williams said the next step was to
look after the silver certificates and the
Sherman notes. The latter are amply
protected BY $1o0,000,0 ,000in the treasury.
AS to silver certificates, Congress should
pass a law redeeming them in silver bull
lion at the market value at the discretion
of the Secretary the Treasury, and it
might be well similarly to redeem the
Sherman notes. With these changes the
currency system would become absolute
ly sound and the banking system the
most perfect ever devised
Williams was questioned as to the con-
dition Of his own bank. He said its capi-
tai was 100000 and it had surplus Of
$6,000,000. The undivided profits were
more than a million and the deposits
reached $50, 100000, probably the largest
in the world. The dividends were $50
per cent. annually. The bank stock sold
for $4,000 share of $100.
President St.,John lent much spirit to
the hearing by the vigor of his statement
and its novelty in coming from an eastern
banker. "Under official dictation," said
he, "Tutored by one of the most agrees
i've Of all the handful of goldites in the
United States, Congress fddles with bank
notes while the burning issue is our pri
mary money coin.
chemically tutored, our chief execut-
i've has required his secretary to abandon
the option conferred by law upon the
United States, and grant holders Of Unit
ed States notes the right to exact gold
always, silver never, as their redeeming
coin. Had the option to redeem in silver
dollars been exercised boldly, at a time
when only three millions of silver dollars
were owned by the United States, with
the ownership Of $116,000,000 in gold, any
possible alarm would have been hushed
to scorn. To sieze upon and exercise the
conditions Of the treasury, would be to
court all the perils of disaster.
j THE MYSTIC SHRINE.