The daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1892-1897, 1895-07-04

rs,cv in use nv the people, including the
ei,ver dollar itself. weuid he worth less
than e il now. for OF course If this Is not
10 he tbe result money would be no cheap
er than it is now. To assert that the peopl5
are in debt is simply to say That they nave
traded with each other on credit; that one
part of u fellow citizens, relying upon
the integrity and financial standing on
their neighbors and acquaintance, have
lent them money on time and sold proper
t. TO them withont demanding Immediate
payment in cash, and that III this way they
have enabled many people 70 carry on u
useful business and live In comfortable
homes who otherwis Use could not have done
50. IL it is Il crime 10 lend money TO
man who wants TO borrow it or to sell
property on credit 10 u man who wants to
purchase it and has no ready money 10 pay
tor it, let the perpetrators be properly puD-
ished, but let ~ ngs involve the whoio
country in confusion and disaster and i'm
molnte the innocent and guilty alike II
order TO punish the real Offenders. IL our
people are in debt. they owe each ether. nud
consequently about as many would 10 &c
tually injured as w0uid.be apparently BEN
Gifted by scaling the obligations down to .
silver standard.
so Distinct Debtor Glass.
The Indebtedness of the farmers, ma
chanics and ether lahoring classes ~ or
people, although large in the aggregate, ~
quiIe small ic comparison with tie whDis
indebtedness OF tho great railroad and
manufacturing corporations, tho national
and state banks, savings institutions, trust
~cou,ranies, insurance companies, building
asst. iatiOns and other organizations en-
gagged IN financial and commercial enter
Prises. These various organizations are in
Gebtcd to the people To the oxtent Of many
billions of dollars, and while il is true
that many OF the people are also indebted
to them their debtors and creditors are not
the samo persons, and therefore the debts
cannot he set OF against each other and
eztinguishcd in tln5 way. 1 deny that
there is any such thing Us u distinct debt
or class in this country, for, while nearly
every ore owes some debts, large or small,
nearly every one las also sOmcd debts owing
TO HMM Other words, lie IS both debtor
and crcditor.
The labOriag people, as q general rule.
owe yeTy Little st any etiua, while their
employers are always indebted TO them,
because wages ire rot paid in advance,
md, besides, many Of them have small de-
pcsits in savings and Other IanHS, i'm trust
companies, in building assneiliinns, ard
large numbers Of them have their Ives iu-
surcd for the benefit Of their wives and chill
dren, and consequently they are creditors
OF the banks and the insurance companies.
The savings bank depositOrS in his
country last year numbered 4, 177,6S7, and
the wives aad children Of the depositor5
VIVA depended upon these accumulated
earnings for future support doubtless num-
beFed 10, 900. 600 HlOrc. There were 1885,
lfA Iu-,-ft,-u - - ,,4Sa,.I H,-I-- I,.@
year, and I.724,O77 Of them had deposits
Of less than $1,000 each, while state and
private banks and loan and trust conf
panies held deposits for I, 49,, 63S people.
The building and loan associations had
nearly 2,O0O.O GOO members, aIi of whom
had paid their money in as required by tho
rules of the body 10 which they belonged.
Here, then, are about 81, OOO, 600 of our
people, generally poor or nt least people OF
moderate mems, who have given credit to
these great corporations and companies.
and, in NY opinion. it would be Il g~rleTous
wrong to adopt any policy which would
deprive them OF the legal right TO demand
and receive just a good money as they
parted with when they made the deposits
i'm the banks Or paid the premiums on their
insurance policies. The hard earned saw
iEgs of the poor ought not 70 be sdcrificed
20 tic a~.Jticc q do wealthy mine owners
or the ambition of aspiring politicians, and
If the people wEO haze d substantial inter-
est in the welfare OF the country and n juse
aFprcciation of their responsibilities az Cit
ions Will exert their proper influence in
public Affairs this great wrong can never
be pcrpetrated.
Preserve the Standard of faIur.
TT. President, but little remains for mo
D.. -- 49,, rrs,,-+--+ - -...-t-A
conclusion. 1t is not my purpose to dis
cuss upon this occasion the various propo-
sitious which have been made from timS
to tire for the Improvement Of our bank
ing systain or for the retirement of United
States uotes. because the questions inyoIY-
cd il them are so important and 50 large
that they cannot he properly considered i'll
connection with the subject tC which my
ti1nc has been devoted. We have an album
dance OF money in this country for all this
purposes Of trade, and the disturbances
and hard timeS Of 1898 and 1894 were not
caused by n scarcity or contraction of tho
currency, but by a contraction Of credit re-
sulting from - loss Of confidence In the sta
biIity and value Of our currency.
- Tar "a tho mere volume OF orr cur
Teucy is concerned. we had then 7nd have
now an ample supply foF all necessary pur-
poses, but under the existing system it Is
not properly distributed and is not sniff
ciently elastic 10 meet al the changing re-
quireIneDt5 Of business nj different period
OF the ye3T. The United States should 81
entirely out Of tia banking business bv
the withdrawal of It's arbitrary and COM
rIlsory issues Of notes and afford tbs reo-
rle IN opportunity 20 SUpqiy thnir cvZn cur
-ency based upon their cTva means and
credit. thus enabling EVERY corimuSity ~
utilize its own resources WHEN uecessaTv
ard adjust tie circulation from time tD
time to tbs actual demands Of legitimate
commerce.
in what wy this shall be ACCOMPLISHED
is 2 question which lFns already engaged
the serious attention Of the reepls and
public authorities, and it viii no Doubt
continue to lie investigated and discussed
until n Plsu il formulated which. if nos
perfect, viii at lcas; have tie merie of a.
ing a great improvement upon The cxisttSg
system.
In tho meantime our highest duty is to