The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1895-02-20

/ A~SS-
Drained--:A Thoughtful Review of the
Situation,
NEw YORK, Feb. 16.-The World of
a few days ago published the fol-
lowing article, which shows very
plainly the absurdity of the present
plan of trying to preserve the gold re-
serve Here is the article:
Will the gold stay!
That is the query which Wall street
men are thinking if they are not ask
ing concerning the last deal of the gov
ernment with the bankers. The teach
ing of history and very lively history,
is that as soon as the gold gets into
the treasury it will be taken out main
ly by the same people who put it in.
SO far as the history of the bond deals
has been shown in operation game
somewhat worse than the gold brick
swindle, for in this game the victim is
allowed to keep at least the gold brick,
while the government gives away its
good bonds and is then promptly de-
prived even of the gold brick.
Since the panic OF May. 1898, the ups
and downs of the heap Of government
gold has been the text of thousands Of
columns of newspaper talk, of talk
in and out of financial and legislative
circles enough to crowd thousands OF
volumes of the Congressional Record,
and incidentally of profit to the bank
| inc world far up into the millions.
Stated in bulk sum, the govern
ment is trying to keep 500, 900, 900 in
gold IN a seive 1t saw So, 900, 600 60
through the seive once. Then the
seive was filled, and it saw $45, 600, 900
slide through, Once more the seive
was filled, and S5S,000,000 went
through like sand. So the govern
ment, with the aid of Messrs. Belmont,
Morgan and Rothschild. is again
about to fill up the same old seive-
the treasury Of the United States So
to keep this seive full the government
has gone into debt to the tune of $i62,-
000OO0, and contracted to pay out
while the debt y is more than $107,-
000,00 in interest alone.
All around the edges of the seive,
apparently working with might and
main, to assist the government in fill
ing it, stand representatives of pretty
near every banking house in the coun-
try and of foreign ones aswell. While
below the seive catching the golden
shower as it falls through the partners
of these same financial concerns catch
ing the coin and bagging it up ready
to pass back again, over and over again
al infinituun, Or as long as the seive
| holds together. That IS the situation
in nutshell While over the whole
matter have hung nc end of clouds of
talk, surmise, advice and speculative
interest.
| The first loan came in January, 1894,
after a summer and fall spent on the
part of a number of money-dealing
| houses in carrying off the yellow coin
| from the ever-open United States
Treasury. It was on January II, 1894,
Secretary Carlisle issued his first bond
call. saying that he would receive bids
for $50, COO 600 in ten year bonds He
| fixed the price at $117, 1928 for 500
bonds Which was equivalent to a per
| cent. return for the investor There
was loud storm of protest, and every
body dealared it was ridiculous to eX-
pect to get the use of their gold atsuch
figures, The money-loaning elias were
expecting with the anticipated revival
of trade that there would be demand
| for their waiting millions, and it was
not unul the government agents came
on to New York city and begged, ca
| ioled and bullied those who had semi,
Governmental positions as heads of ma.
tional banks that the cash was turned
over for temporary use to the Govern
ment. Temporary USE is the exact
term to use in the transaction, because
Immediately after the sudden drop in
the specie holdings OF the banks in.
cident to the taking of the bonds the
specie holdings started to climb and
) did so steadily until the Government
was ready for anothe replenishment of
the seiye.
The inside history of that call loan
of gold to the Government has many
chapters which are floating about in
whispered gossip. How one large in.
surance company madea bid got its
share of bonds and then with the most
shallow pretense at concealment. took
the gold from one end of the sub-treas
ury to pass it in at the other 10 assist in
retaining the reserve. What was not
downright rascality in the selfish pro
ceeding was supremel V comic
Then came the draining process. Al
during the summer of 1891, with al
occasional attempt at damning the
flow on the part of the government.
until in the fall of last year the reserve
of $lO0, 600, 900 stood at the So. 900, 600
mark. The moment Of breathless sus
pense with which the financial world
saw the reserve encroached upon
dropped to mild sort of spasln when
the $65. 5.000,000 low point before the
January loan was reached in Novem-
Der then the 55.000.000 mark only
brought slight chill. and the bond
cali came, with hundreds of money
holders and lenders scrambl;ng for 8
slice of the big melon which the coun
Try seemed to be cutting Wlth Sucn reg
ularitv. The pressure was so great
that a syndicate who had wOrked the
whole thing out calculated on making
q neat turn of a million by passing the
bonds along to final holders. They
! bid $117.07 On November 22, 1894, and
took the whole instalment, proceeding
to at once mark up the price to ll9,
and wee opening apa very proita
| bic trade wien they were practically
trippcd up by the fellow III trade;
The decorls withdrawal Of gold be
caue mad rusheS. raids and lootings.
of the government gold heap. 1t dis,
appeared to the extent Of over fourteen
million in single week. 1t was no
! wonder that the drop TO S42,O0O, ,O0U
vas accomplished in about two months
time. Many experts were learning the
same. and calculations were made as
~. "a