The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1896-01-30
THE CAUCASIAN'S FINANCIAL
VIEWS.
1t Has NeweSpasm Every Weei
Communicated

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The Caucasian has new spasm
with every issue, but this is chiefly in
teresting as study; for without a
weekly object lesson no one would be
lieve SO much and such a variety Of
agony could be crowded into a paper
once in seven days. Sometimes i,
raves at what it thinks it sees, some
times at what it or no one else ever
saw, often at nothing, which is much
the same.
Leaders have appeared which, like
ring had neither beginning nor end;
others are on the cork screw order, in
tended to bore great holes and let in
light, which have only served for the
escape Of calamity walls; but the prize
creations are those in which the writer
ties himself into several knots, doubles
and twists along course so tortuous,
that the proof-reader reels home from
dizziness and requires a. monkey
wrench to set his eyes back in their
normal position.
The pleasure the above journal takes
in making conflicting statements is
shown by the following extracts from
its columns; that of October 24th is
from one of its essays when facts and
fiction lost their identity, and like
twins each passed for the other; that oi
December 18th, from running COM
ment on the Presidents message 10
Congress on the opening of the present
session.
The Caucasian treating OF National
banks and bonds in its edition Of Oc-
| tober 24th, says:
" x x X To begin with, the govern
ment pays these bankers S4,o 900 year
interest on their bonds. Then the
bankers issue 100000 dollars of bank
notes, (the kind OF money which is
now in circulation) and they lend out
this 500, 900 at, say 8 per cent. AT
this rate of interest the 100000 would
bring in $1,000 year. Now add this
to the $4,000 interest on the bonds and
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sII,2oo interest every year on their
original 100000 worth Of bonds,
Take from this the 5000 charged by
the government for the use of 500, 200
in bank notes, and you will see that
the net amount of interest which the
bankers get on their S1oo,ooo in
bonds is s1o;3oo per year-more than
10 per cent
The Caucasian of December 18th,
contains the following:
''ln this wondrous message the ma
tlonal banks come in for distinguished
consideration. The bald fact is that the
plea for more banks has for part of its
object the perpetuaton Of the national
banking system. 'The aggregate cap
ital,' says the President, 'of those
banks now in existence, amounts to
more than s664,ooo,ooo, yet their
outstanding circulation (bank notes.
based on bond security, amounts to
only about s19o, 100000 If these
banks choose to do so they could issue
S597,ooo,ooo. Why do they not do
it? x but we we may state
that the reason is the fact that the
issue and circulation of large volume
of money would make money the ser.
vant, not the master of the people; and
it Is the plan OF those in whom the law
now vests the power to issue these
notes to make the whole country sub.
ject to their demands and those in
power seem to have a care that only
such an amount of money as will &C
Complish this shall be issued"
Ifthe first is true that national bank
capital arms S1o3 on $1,000 or better
than 10 per cent per annum, (nationaI
bank stocks being among the safest and
most sought Of investment securities)
it follows that national banks would
take out and use all the notes that theil
charter allowed them to, never having
the slightest desire to contract a circu
latlon yielding such profits, and tha
the other statement must be false, viz
That national banks would of theil
own accord contract CirCula ton if they
had the power. Now look at it the
other way, if the December 18th state
ment is true, that it is the aim of ma
tional banks by contracting circula tior
TO "SQueeZe' the masses, what then o
truth or fact is lett in the October
24th statement, that national banl
capital earns better than 10 per cent
per annum? For the first move towar(
contraction would be the calling in O
those circulating notes, which accord
ing 10 the Cancasian's figures arr
loaned out at the rate of 8 per cent
every day in the year; but being callet
in they would be idle in the bank
vaults earning nothing, but sti IL sub
Ject to the per cent. tax on account O
having been in use part of the year
History repeats itself and the IDOL hav
ing obtained sufticiency Of rope hatl
hung himself in his own language.
The facts in regard to nation2
banks are these: The average pc
cent. Oh net earnings on CapitaI ant
surplus of national banks in 1894 wa
Sc per cent. of dividends 5 per cen,
Contrast this with the "better than I,
per cent Of the Caucasian. Nationa
bank notes in circulation are abou
$I9o, o,ooo,o 900, while the banks ownin,
these notes could issue upward Q
5000, 100000, nearly three times a
much, if there was an object 70
doing SO. Regarding expansion ant
contraction the regulations applyinl
to national bank currency are suci
/ that only three millions of notes cal
be retired during a calendar month
at this rate it would take more thai
90 months or even five years to retir
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