Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1896-02-15
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY IS.
Our Present Monetary System.

Our Present Monetary System.
Speaking of the present monetary
system of the United States the
Kansas City Times says:
an our present system, the
national government is not only
responsible for it's own issues of
bonds and treasury notes, but is
also the security for the paper of
the national banks and for the vast
volume of silver money. 1t is
pledged by law to redeem the
national bank issues with its own
treasury notes, and being equally
pledged by law to preserve the
parity of gold and silver, it is
compelled for this purpose 10
redeem the silver bullion notes in
gold. Every greenback treasury
note ($3i6, 6sl ,0l6), every Sherman
silver bullion note ($l3D, 5S3, 2SW,
every national bank note
($2l3, 1851, and every currency
certificate (S4s. 735, GOO, making a
total of $74S, ,S94, are virtually
sight drafts on the United States
treasury for gold. Under our
present laws the United States
government is compelled toredecn
in gold over seven hundred
millions of paper, and yet has no
means of procuring gold except
the buying of it with bonds. Every
dollar of it's revenue can be paid in
silver or in paper; it is compelled
to pay in gold, but none of il dues
can be collected in gold. AS
fact, no gold is paid into its
treasury on imports or on excuses.
Moreover, as matters now stand.
the United States treasury is now
compelled to furnish all the gold
needed to settle our commercial
balances. A debt of ten millions
is due to Europe, no cotton or
wheat, or other commercial bills
can be bought to offset it, the gold
must be sent; the banker Whose
business il is to furnish such
exchanged, instead of going to his
own vaults for the gold, draws it
out of the United States treasury.
The banks of the country conduct
the foreign exchanges, so long as
they can be effected by mere book
keeping, but as soon as gold is
necessary they consider the United
States treasury the only foreign
exchange bank in the land. Our
laws allow and invite them TO do
this.
"To complete the fatuous
absurdity of our system, the law
forbids the United States treasury
to cancel its notes after they have
been redeemed in gold, and
compels it to issue those redeemed
notes again. The purpose of this
enactment was to prevent a
contraction of the currency; but
surely il does not contract the
currency any more to withhold
greenback from circulation than to
withhold any other kind of money.
If the treasury does not pay out
greenbacks for its expenses II must
use some other form of currency.
"The effect of this law is to make
our greenbacks the endless chain
cups of an elevator, pumping the
gold out of the United States
treasury into the vaults of the
European bankers. Anyone SO
disposed can, with malicious or
merely humorous intent, wreck the
United States treasury with a ten
dollar greenback; yea, with ten
dollars of any kind of money. Let
him begin with ten dollar silver
certificate. For this he can get ten
silver dollars; for the ten silver
dollars some one will give him
ten dollar Sherman silver bullion
note. This he can exchange with q
friend for ten-dollar national
bank note, which the United States
treasury must redeem with a ten
dollar greenback. He is now ready
for business; this one little cup is
all he needs. He is the chain and
the greenback is the cup. He
revolves the chain with its cup TO
the United States treasury and
takes out ten dollars in gold; the
chain then moves to bank,
empties it's gold and gets another
greenback cup in place of 1t. The
chain rolls ronnd TO the treasury
again and scoops up ten dollars
M 1re In gold; moves back to the
bank, empties the gold, gets
another greenback cup, and 80 on
and on, until the last gold eagle is
drawn from the treasury.
~Thus we see that by our system
the United States treasury is made
to back all The credit money of the
county with its gold, and TO
fnrnish all the gold for our foreigr
exchanges. tits compelled to do