The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-05-24

ors are not the same persons, and. there
lore, the debts cannot he set of against
each other and eNtinguished in that way.
l deny that there is any such thing as a
distinct debtor class I'm this country.
LOT, while nearly every one owes some
debts, large or small, nearly every one has
also some debts owing to him; in other
words, he is both debtor and creditor. The
lahOring people, as n general rule. owe
very little al any one time. while their en-
ployers are always indebted TO them, be-
cause wages are not paid in advance: and.
besides. many OF them have small depos-
its IN savings and other banks, i'm trust
companies. In building associations and
largo numbers Of them have their lives
insured for the benefit Of their wives and
children, and consequently they are cred
itors of the banks and insurance compa-
niles. The saVings-bank depOsitors in this
country last year numbered An ,6S1, and
the wives and children of the depositors
VINO depended upon these accumulated
earnings for future support doubtless num-
bered loOW000 more. There were 92j, $40
deposllors in the national banks last year,
and l.l2iO0 of them had deposits of less
than Sl,O00 each. while state and private
banks and loan and trust companies held
deposits for l,436,63S people. our life in
surance companies, TO say nothing Of
companies insuring property against loss
by fire and otherwise. had 7505. SO policies
outstanding last year, upon which the pre-
miums had been paid, or were being paid,
by the people, and the mutual benefit and
assessment companies had 347S,OO0 MEM
bers. The building and loan associations
had nearly 100000 members all Of whom
had paid their money i'm as required by the
rules Of the body TO which they belonged.
Here, then, are about q O00O00 Of our peo-
pie. generally poor, or a least people Of
moderate means, who have given credit to
these great corporations and companies,
and, in my opinion, II would be a griev-
Gus wrong to adopt any policy which would
deprive them of the legal right to demand
and receive just as good money as they
parted with when they made the deposits
in the banks or paid the premiums on
their insurance policies. The hard q o.
savings of the poor ought not to be sacri-
feed to the avarice Of the
wealthy mine-owners or the ann
bition Of aspiring politicians. and II
the people who have n substantial inter-
est in the welfare of the country and a
Just appreciation OF their responsibilities
as citizens win exert their proper infiu-
ence in public affairs this great wrong
can never be perpetrated
Mr.. President but little remains for me
20 say before bringing these remarks to a
conclusion. We have an abundance of
money I'm this country for all the pur-
poses of trade, and the disturbances and
hard times of 1898 and 1894 were not caused
by a scarcity or contraction of the cur
rency, but by contraction of credit re-
sulting from loss of confidence I'm the
stability and value Of our currency. SO
far as the mere volume OF our currency is
concerned. we had then and have now an
ample supply for all necessary purposes,
but under the existing system II Is not
properly distributed and is not sufficiently
elastic 20 meet all the changing require
ments of business at different periods of
the year The United States should 20
entirely out of the banking business by
the withdrawal of its arbitrary and COM
pusory issues Of notes and afford the
people an opportunity to supply their own
currency based upon their own means and
credit, thus enabling every community TO
utilize its own resources when necessary
and adjust the circulation from time TO
time to the actual demands of legitimate
commerce. In what way this shall be ac-
complished is a question which has al
ready engaged the serious attention of the
people and public authorities. and il will
no doubt continue to be investigated and
which, If not perfect, Willat least have the
the existing system. In the meantime our
highest duty is to preserve the present
standard of value, maintain the parity of
the two metals, and keep all the money In
circulation among the people, whether IL
be gold and silver coins, or paper based
upon them, equal In purchasing power. so
that no discrimination will or can be made
between those who receive silver or paper
and those who receive gold. A great gov
eminent should do nothing to dscredft It's
own obligations or diminish the value of
the money in the hands of its citizens nor
should the people Of a great country ever
consent to the adoption of policy.
through experimental financial legislation
or otherwise, which would vitiate the OBJ
legations of their contracts, interrupt the
regular course Of their business and de-
stroy the foundations upon which their
Industrial and commercial systems have
been constructed.