The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1896-10-28
A LOOK AHEAD.
IF BRYAN IS ELECTED, WHAT THEM

W wv nv w GGGNh GOf
All Creditors VIII Try to Collect Before
Gold Goes to Premium-Debtors VIII
BE Unable to Pay Prices VIII Fall
Ruinously-Runs VIII BE Made on Banks.
Gold VIII DIsappear-Mills VIII Close.
Labor VIII Be Unemployed-Panic and
Distress VIII FoIlow-No Silver Could
BE Coined For Ten Months, if at ALL
Capitalists Could Save Themselves, but
the Poor Would Become Poorer.
II Mr. Bryan is elected, have you
weighed what the results will be?
At Paterson on Sept. 80 he said ''I
say to you now that my election means
that this nation shall open its minis to
the free coinage of both metals at the
earliest possible moment Not only that,
but my election means that this nation
shall treat the silver dollar just as it
treats the gold dollar and that we shall
not issue bonds to buy gold"
If the treasury gold reserve is not to
be replenished by bond sales, it is GER
tain that it can't last long. Foreigners
would Immediately call for their loans
and balances here and holders of the
| $3.50, 900, 900 of outstanding greenbacks
and treasury notes would quickly with
draw the 1928, 900, 900 of gold now in
the treasury, to either export or hoard
| it, and leave the holders of the remain
ing 5000, 900, 900 to take their pay in
silver.
That this gold will almost immedi-
ately be exported Mr.. Bryan admits.
On Sept. 80 at Tammany hall he said,
"You know that with gold as our only
| primary money and the fact that the
little quantity of gold can be drained
away at a moments notice by foreign
creditors, it leaves us. etc.
AS all our national bank notes are re-
deemable in greenbacks they, too, would
fall with greenbacks to a silver basis.
In short, Mr.. Bryan's election would,
az soon as the present gold i'll the treas
ury is exhausted, put our currency on a
silver basis, and all debts, except
| where otherwise expressly stipu-
lated, would be paid in silver.
II will be observed that this would
all happen, even If no free silver
coinage act should ever be
passed.
| AS interest on government bonds
would henceforward be paid i'll silver,
and also all dividends on stocks, foreign
capitalists would dispose largely of their
holdings in these, and thus necessitate
further large remittances of gold.
Their correspondents here and bor-
rowers of foreign money, being called
on to pay up, would be compelled to call
in their loans and draw their balances
out of bank.
All creditors in this country who pre-
fer gold to silver dollars (Which includes
the bulk of them) would demand al
debts due them paid, and, getting green
backs or treasury notes for their bank
balances, would present them at tbs
treasury for gold before 1t was too late
If impossible to get gold, they would
buy sterling exchange or exchange OF
Canada 1t was reported that priol
to Oct. over So. 900, 900 i'll gold hat
already been deposited i'll Canadian
banks to avoid the risk of the coming
election.
In short, every man who hat
u dollar coming to him would
want that dollar paid him while
1t was still worth 1OOcents ana
before it got to be worth but 81
The business houses and other debt
ors called on to pay up would be com
PEELED to call on their debtors, and thus
all the debtors in the country would be
called on to pay up Immediately. The
demands on the banks would compel
them to call in their loans, and, if not
paid, to sell or try to sell the oollaterals.
Debtors would be compelled to sell
their property at any price, and where
all debtors were sellers at once the de-
olines would be such as we have never
seen before, because there has never be-
fore been such wholesale calling in of
debts, and consequently selling, as this
would cause.
Business houses the country over. be-
ing unable to collect balances due them
or to realize on their stock, except at
ruinously low prices, il at all, must fail.
Nothing could save them.
Small depositors, nervous and follow
ing the larger ones, would draw their
balances and runs on banks would be-
come general.
With these runs upon all the banks
they must either break or suspend. In
| the cities the stronger ones could COM
bine and suspend, but the weaker ones
and all country banks would fail.
The panic and ruin would far exceed
that Of 1873 or Of 1893, the latter Of
which, called the "silver panic" was
caused by the apprehension only Of
going on silver basis. This panic would
be caused in part by actually going
on that basis.
Mr. Bryan admits this: In the Chi
cago convention he said, ''When you
come before us and tell us that we shall
disturb your business interests, we reply
| that you have disturbed our business in
terests +" And the St. Louis Globe-Dem-
ocrat reported his saying: II think it
| (meaning the victory Of the free coinage
movement) will cause a panic. But tho
country is i'll deplorable condition, and
1t will take extreme measures to restore
it to a condition of prosperity"
In the general scramble by foreign
and home creditors for gold, as there is
not enough to go round, it would neces
sarily go to premium, with the iney-
liable result that the $517, 600, 900 Of
gold now in circulation in the United
States would be exported or boarded.
Railroad stocks with gold mortgages
ahead of them Gas gold must be bought
to pay interest, thus increasing il not
doubling this fixed charge and to that
extent diminishing or entirely wiping
out the net earnings applicable to divi-
dends), with earnings diminished by the
business collapse, would in tho general
panic become absolutely unstable.
The bottom would have dropped out OF
them Banks, therefore, would become
absolutely unable to realize on their col
lateral, and though a combination
might save the strongest for time ulti-