Potosi journal. (Potosi, Mo.) 1894-1929, 1896-02-12
What Free Coinage Would H.saH.


! COSCRE>SAAN HALL of Missouri.
delivered a telling speech against
free silver in The House last Satplr-
day. Nh Hall is a Democrat. and
gives himself the distinction Of be
ing the only Democratic sound
money congressman representing a
rural district west of the MississiD-
pi River. He was formerly for
free silver. but has seen the error
of his ways. and now he is one Of
the strongest supporters OF the gold
standard. We give below an eX-
tract from his speech in which he
shows what the effects Of free coin
age upon our credit system would
be:
Can the United States safely pay
out $50 900. 600. eco! You can
not grasp that sum: neither can |.
The human mind cannot wrap
around it. One hundred and fifty
billion dollars Of credit circulation
in the United States. Take that
credit circulation and frighten it,
and what have YOU! You have
Il contraction in Il NoltIne Of money
that Is not mole hill to the noun
tain; that is not Il dlop of water to
the vast area of the sea as compared
with the extent in the circulation.
Every writer says this credit circ,
lation performs every function Of
money, and nobody will pretend
to attack that proposition who is
any way familiar with the authors,
on that subject.
''Now what have we in the Unit
ed States today! An agitation.
An agitation for what! an agit;-
ton by which men who had depos-
tied their money in the 1900 banks,
the 5000, 900. of dcpo>itors il the
United States who have deposited
over $1,000. 100000 in the 1900
banks in the United States, are
liable to have their deposits paid il
money worth oOc or 32c Oh the dol
lar. If that should succeed. what
would be the effect! What would
be the effect on your home bank!
The effect would lie that the bank
would at once say: Here, We vii!
draw in every loan that we have
out, and we will not only do that,
but we Will oct every dollar that
we can lay our hands on and put it
into the bank. II you ask why they
did that, they would say: We
dread run by these 5000. 900 de
positors. If we do not have the
money, the bank goes to the wall
and the financial crisis will be in
tensilie,t and incrcascd.' The banks
therefore hoard their money. The
depositors demand their money.
If the bank can not pay it, it goes
down. There you have at once a
contraction Of every dollar of that
money. but. worse than that, Il
repetition of what we saw in 1898.
a contraction Of the S156. 900. 900. :
900 of credit currency. which per
forms very often Il function of
money itself. Now we have the
pendulum-like condition ill the
United States, an agitation by the
extreme Is to l silver men on one
side. causing financial distress in
the money market and on the other
side rush on gold reserve and
then bond issue. We have S262.
900, 900 of bonds issued now, and
! have been Informed by Il gentle
man high in authority in the Treas
ury Department that it will reach
81 COG. .ooO,oo0 within the next
twelve months if the present pro-
ccsscs are to continue. Here. then,
we have 500. 900, 900 withdrawn
from railroads. withdrawn from
, stocks and bonds. withdrawn from
all the enterprises that give Labor
employment and give food and
clothing to the wives and children
of the laboring men, and put into
bonds that pay no tax, national,
county, State or municipal, anc
the issue of which may reach
81. .001. 900, 900 within the mex;
twelve months.