Hutchinson gazette. [volume] (Hutchinson, Kan.) 1895-1902, 1896-02-13

L1u the bankers haFo tho NOiu
A Play for Voters That Won't
Work.
The so-called popular loan is a fraud
so obvious that the wonder is it was
ever called by that name. Certainly
our officials are becoming very bold, OF
place very low estimate on the intel
ligenee of the people, when they resort
to such methods to excuse their shame
full official conduct. In the sense that
this loan is advertised only does 1t or
will it differ from the dark lantern
transaction which Cleveland and his
former partner made with The syndi-
cate by which the public credit was put
in an Anglo-American pawn-shop for
seven months, at cost to the people OF
not less than ten million dollars.
AS everybody knows the bonds are
sold for gold only.
How can it be called a popular loan
when there is no gold in the possession
OF the people2 Even the plutocrat pa
pers, that are never careful about con-
sistency, are ridiculing the idea OF this
being popular loan. In recent issue
one Of them treats the matter in the fol-
lowing style:
But 1t is not popular loan, strictly
speaking In France and other cOun-
tries where such loans have been so
successful a different method has been
pursued. The bonds in those cases
have been offered at a specific rate, thus
putting all purchasers on an equality,
and simplifying the matter beyond any
necessity Of technical calculation or
any chance Of misunderstanding by the
average citizen. In the present instance,
very few men outside of the banking
circles know what kind Of bid they
can afford to make, Or in other words,
how much they can properly offer for
the bonds. The conditions are more or
less ambiguous to majority of people,
and this uncertainty is likely to have
the effect of preventing them from bid
ding, and thereby giving the bankers
an opportunity as if the sale had been
made to them without asking for bids
from other parties.
''It is to be noted, Furthermore, that
the government does not request the
people to furnish it with $100,000O00 in
current money, but with that quantity
- mo ri hntr-
ing surplus funds which they would be
glad to loan the government at per
cent interest, or less; but these funds
are mostly in bank notes, and the gov
eminent does not want bank notes, and
will not even accept its own notes in
payment for tie bonds that it proposes
to sell. The people are really asked,
therefore, to take their money and buy
gold with 1t, and then exchange the
gold for bonds. But gold is not within
easy reach Of the people any more than
OF the government. 1t is because of this
very difficulty In procuring the yellow
metal that the bonds are to be issued.
The people are thus solicited to assist
the government in practically impoS-
sible way, and if they fail to respond,
the fault will not be theirs. They would
readily buy 100000, 900 Of bonds at any
time as an investment for their saw
ngs, but that opportunity is not pre-
sented them in this transaction. It Is
no answer to say that the government
is so situated that nothing but gold
will answer its purposes. That is an
other question, and one that does not az
feet the fact that the so-called popular
feature of the new loan is more a matter
of pretense than reality with the prob
ability attached to it that the bankers
will get the bonds because they have
got the gold"
The official tables show that the
above observations are correct. And
the National banks hold a greater part
Of the gold. There are 609S banks other
than the National banks. These hold
but $1O,144,262 in gold, while the Ma
tional banks at last authentic accounts
held more than $235 100000. Of this
amount the New York banks alone held
over $50,0O0O00. 1t appears then that
instead of some $25O,OOO, 900 in gold,
held by the banks, and perhaps $780,
100000 by the government, there is a
wide discrepancy between the amount
of gold actually in the country and the
statement made by Secretary Carlisle,
which declared that there was over
5000 ,O00,O 900.
In this connection the paper quoted
from above has this to say. Com
paratively speaking, the people
have no gold to exchange for 500
bends or for any other purpose. Almost
all the gold which is in the country
outside of the treasury is in the banks
and trust companies. The tables. Off
cial or other, which place the aggre-
gate amount of gold in the country at
over s600,00O,OOO and which. after de-
Quoting the amount in the treasury
and in the banks out of this total, as
sumo that there must be between
$3oO,OOO,OOO and $3.50, OOO,OO in the peo-
pies hands, are unquestionably wide of
the mark. Spectators in these DAYS
may hoard gold, but the people do not"
II seems to be the chief end of those
Ntsa.