Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1896-10-13
NO MONEY Is TOO GOOD.
Nal. Mckinley Recalls the Days Of
State Banks and Wildcat
Currency.

Maj. Mckinley said to a delegation
from Indiana which visited his home on
September %:
/ believe in America for Americans
native-born and naturalized. (Applause.)
l believe in the American pay roll
daughter and applause.) And l do not
believe in diminishing that pay roll by
giving work to anybody else under an
other flag while we have an idle man
under our flag. Tremendous applause.)
Four years ago the laborer was agitat-
ing the question of shorter hours. We
then had so much to do. have heard
no discussion of that kind for four years
daughter and applause.) But l have
cussing the desirabiity of having short
dollars. The complaint-the chief cause
of complaint of our opponents is first,
that we have not enough money; and,
second, that our money is too good
Uaughter.) To the first complaint
answer that the per capita of circulating
medium in this country has been greater
since the so-called crime of 1873 than it
ever was before (applause), and that it
than it ever was in all our history. (Cries
of THAT'S rightly We have not only
the best money In the world, but we have
more of! it per capita than most of the
nations of the world. (Applause.) We
have more money per capita than the
United Kingdom per capita; than Ger
many, than Italy, than Switzerland
Greece, Spain, Roumania, Servia, Aus.
tria, Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Den
mark. Russia, Mexico and the Central
and South American states, and more
than Japan or China. Great applause.)
So that some reason rather than the lack
of volume of money must be found TO
account for the present condition of the
country.
money is too good. 1t would seem to be
enough to say that the money of any
country cannot be too good; and that
no nation ever suffers from having its
medium of exchange of the highest and
best quality. Great applause) 1t has
been poor money--not good mOney-that
has been the cause of so much loss and
ruin in the past. both TO individuals and
to nations. (Applause.) The older men
of this audience will remember that be-
fore the war we did business with an un-
certain and fuctuating currency known
as state bank money. Many of these
banks and their notes were absolutely
sound; but for the most part they We're
subject 10 a discount. The total num-
Der OF DankS III loOO, exclusive Oh stdte
bank branches, was 1870. OF this
number. the counterfeit detector,"
then in constant use. reported
$50 as broken, closed. failed,
fraudulent and worthless" The notes
of these banks were in circulation
among the people and had been received
by them for their good labor and their
good products. They were absolutely
worthless and of no more value than the
paper upon which they were printed. Up
on whom did this loss fall, my citizens
There is scarcely an old gentleman in this
audience who will not recall that it fell
upon the laboring man and the farmers
Of the United States. (Cries of That's
rightly l allude to this only to show
that those who suffer most from poor
money are the least able to bear the loss.
II is the history of mankind that the least
valuable money which will pass current
Is the money that at last finds it's resting
place among the poor people and when
the crash comes, the loss must be borne
by them. And | doubt If there is a man
in this audience who has not among the
belongings of his family or the family of
his father some of the old hank paper as
a reminder of what they lost. "a voice:
II have SO at home myself.") / cannot
imagine any interest that can be per-
manently subseryed by having poor mon
ey. The bare suggestion of such a propo-
sition TO a man Of reason meets its in
slant rejection.