Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1896-08-08

the bankers, for instance. Now, what
is the real situation In Rockford? The
number of bankers in that city is, alto
gether, thirteen, and the total amount Of
capital which these thirteen bankers have
is $4,000. The total amount of de-
posts in their banks is S3,400,000. So
that these thirteen bankers, with a total
paving s0paetys Of dod but odo S759oO are
pies money with which to do business
in any manner they choose. Upon its
face, II would seem that any number of
men who have n total paying capacity of
but S3T5,00O must be of great integrity,
upriightness and reliability to be cntrust-
ed by the very people with whom they
live and do business with whom they
their paying capacity, or So, 100000
who are the people who have entrusted
this thirteen with so large n sum of
ing capacity? They number $500 in
that city of total population of 10000.
IN this case. therefore, who are the
debtorsF They are undoubtedly the
BANKERS. These thirteen men owe these
$500 depositors SO, 100000.
Now, If all that has been said about
the rapncity of the creditor class be true,
think of the situation in which these de-
positors have these poor bankers. IL
all that has been said about the poverty,
the wrctchedness and the ensaved CON
dition of the debtor class be true, think
of the miserable plight of these poor
bankers.
What is true in Rockford must be
true OF the whole country. The real
debtors of the country are bankers,
and the real creditors of the country
are the depositors; and it is to the credit
of the bankers of the United States,
as It is to the credit of the bankers of
rockford, that although they could net
90 per cent. on the dollar If the coinage
of free silver at 16 to | We're made legal,
by paying their depositors who have de-
posted gold at 30 to 1 with them in
silver at but 16 to 1, none of the bank
ers of the City of Rockford, and but
very few of the bankers in the United
States, who would have so much to
gain by the adoption of this free silver
lunacy, have advocated this policy,
which would enable them at one stroke
to clear SO much money.
rms brief statement makes it plain
that all the viification which has been
bestowed by Populist orators and news
papers upon the creditor class of the
United States has been emitted because
of totally false msapprehension as to
who the creditors are and it is but n
sample of the profound ignorance under
| lying the whole free silver agitation that
they have undertaken to describe as
| vampires, blood suckers, Shylocks, etc,
| the great producing classes of this coun-
| try who are its real creditors and who
own all the money deposited in the
banks and upon which bankers do busi-
ness and upon the borrowing of which
most of the manufacturing and produc-
| ton of this country is carried on. So
| that the Populsts of this country who
| have been claiming to be the friends of
the people, have been denouncing them
upon the suppostion that the denuncia-
| tion has been describing the bankers;
whereas, the real truth is, the bankers
are the debtors and the depositors are
| the creditors.
| According to that She Populists won't
accomplish free silver?
Well. there are in the United States
9,OOO,OOO depositors in the savings institu-
tlons of the country. and they own de-
| posts amounting to about S0,OOOUOO, 900.
If all the people in the United States
who can vote, should vote, the total vote
| cast in national election would be
about 14,000,000; but the largest average
| national vote cast is about III 100000;
hence, the total number of depositors in
savings institutions in this country large
| ly outnumbers any majority of votes
which has ever been east in a national
| election.
In the single state of New York there
| are 1,TOOOOO depositors in the savings
banks of that state They have on de-
posit S60O,0O0,000. In the state of New
York there are but about 100000 vot-
ers; the number of depositors in the saw
ings banks of that state exceeds the
number of voters in that state by o00,-
600. These figures show the utter I'M
possibility of any such movement as the
free silver movement succeeding in this
country, because its success would in
voive the conversion of more people than
| have ever voted on one side upon any
| question in this country, to the abso-
lutte belief that it would pay them TO set
tie with the savings institutions in which
tlgir money lies at 30 cents on the dol
lar for every 100 cents on the dollar they
have on deposit.