The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-05-23

Aggregate ...................$2 099, 968, 718 AZ
Of this amount the official report claimed
that SIP, 416, 1888. SO were in the United States
treasury; and 81, $751; So, 1856 IL were in circula-
ton among the people as money It will
be seen that the figures do not greatly differ
from those of the report of Aug 1, 1893.
The United States treasurer, however, ad-
mits that the certificates of deposit are SIM
ply representatives of money in the treas
ury, which cannot be counted twice, and
hence, with sweep of his pen he reduces
the aggregate from 81 099, 96S, 71S47 to ST. $685.
094, 42047! Why, then, were they included,
except to deceive the people. who will read
the report and not the explanations.
Mr.. Dunning first shows, from the treas
urers report, that the gold and silver bull
lion held by the United States treasury
amounts to SIG, 1883. This is not money
any more than pork or wheat would be. 1t
is commodity; stamped bars Of metal-and
cannot be called circulation. This reduces
the metallic money in the treasury from
$27s, 543, SO to S2O2 103, 1896.
In the next place the estimates of the gold
in circulation is mere guess work. No al
lowance is made for the amount used in the
arts. The Commercial and Financial Chroni-
Gle of Feb. 8, 1889, vouched for by the secre-
tary of the treasury good authority, says
there are at least 100000 of the total
that cannot be accounted for. This is q
big cut into $3.50, 063 sos. The same authority
shows that Jan. /, 1888, the treasury
Quoting gold certificates issued against it,
"only about $780, 600, 900 can be foundv' The
same writer continues: mot one individual
in every 100 receives in ordinary business
transactions a gold certificate a gold coin
once in IL months"
Mr.Dunning then proceeds to show that the
entire silver coinage of a country wears out
in 80 years. John Sherman confirms this.
The treasury claims that every silver dollar
coined since 1878 is still in circulation and
$S,Oc0 900 besides; and that no part of the
subsidiary silver coin has disappeared; al
though the government has been claiming
for years, and now claims, that there are
IS, 916 $50. AZ of fractional currency-paper
"halfs'' and quarters and 10-cent pieces
floating around, while everybody knows
that not one has been seen-eNcept as a curl
osity-for 20 years. What has become of it :?
Lost, sunk in seas and rivers, burned up in
hotels, worn out. And congress declared
June 81 1872 that sS,375,934 more had been
lost or destroyed. Fourteen millions in all
out of S36S, CSC 900 issued vanished. And is
not the same thing true of the silver and
gold coin? And yet this fraudulent govern
ment of ours, to help the plutocrats, claims
that the people have got it all!
But this isn't the worst of it. The law re-
quires the national banks to hold a large
amount of money in reserve for the pro-
lection of their depositors. This is not cir
culating among the people. 1t cannot be in
two places at once. How much is it? 1t is
| 1888. Ill ,465. Then, the state banks and saw
ings banks also have to keep a reserve of
from 10 to Is per cent. Mr.. Dunning esti-
mates this Cat 10 per cent? as s233, IL, c772
Then there are 3.647 banks that have not
reported. Place the reserve, says Mr. Dun
ming, at $4,000 each, and it gives SD, 40 CO.
| or grand total of hank reserves of sseS.
| O68. 1u7, which must be deducted from the
| 81, 3S7, 551, S35 of total nominal crcuiot icn,
| leaving bat 1874, ,12S for the use of the
| people!! Why did not our lying servants at
| Washington tell us all this when they tonk
| the trouble to figure UP the per capita. cir
| culaton at $24.02? How particular they were
about those 2 cents!
/ Here are Mr.. Cummings concluding figures