Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1897-01-07
soMErnINe IS rHE MATTER.
The Need OF Immediate Action-A Cur
rency Commission Not Needed.

The Need OF Immediate Action-A Cur
rency Commission Not Needed.
| The cry for commission to examine
and report on the currency question is
reyiEing since the election. In general
terms commission Is usually author
lied by congress for purposes of delay
and postponement. If our legislators
really want to act upon q matter they
| can, through their committees, get all
| the information that can be obtained
upon the subject during the two years
| in which a congress continues. III they
cannot obtain it in that time they had
better leave their results 20 the proper
committee of the next congress, who, if
| the subject continues to be important,
can continue the investigation. Be
yond a certain point action is clogged
| by excess of counsel. But admitting
for the sake of argument that COM
mission of inquiry may sometimes be
| more useful even to congress than a
standing committee, it can with diff
Guilty be conceived how such commits
sion will be of any use in regard to
subject so much studied and upon
which information is so full as upon
the currency question. Report after
report has been made upon it, and there
has been debate after debate. There are
before congress and its committees vol
ume after volume upon every conceiva-
BILE phase of the subject.
No commission could possibly report
any new plan that would be accepted
on its merits. If one were authorized
number of eminent gentlemen would
doubtless be appointed by the presi-
dent. They would take the subject in
hand and doubtless investigate it thor
oughly. They would finally formulate
a plan which might be exact and per-
feet in all it's parts. Sooner or later it
would be presented in the form of bill.
The house or senate, as the case might
be, would refer this bill when intro
duced to the proper committee. The
committee would examine it, go over
it, call experts upon it, amend it and
perhaps supersede it, and after all at
length present their own measure to
the house or senate, where it would
have to go into the crucible of debate.
The final outcome would be precisely
the same as if no commission had been
much unnecessary delay and expense.
If no commission is authorized there
are plenty of members of the house and
senate capable of preparing bill or of
introducing one prepared by outside ex-
perts, or congress can instruct it's COM
mittee to investigate and prepare n
general measure to cover all the points.
To this committee can be referred all
recommendations of the executive de-
Partments and recommendations of
boards of trade, chambers of commerce,
bankers associations and other COM
mercial bodies, as well as the sugges-
tons of individual citizens, expert or
otherwise. The committee has more
power than a commission, as it can re-
port at any time directly to congress,
and is thus at the completion of it's Ia
bors one step nearer than n commission
would be.
There is one advantage in misfortune
and disaster, and that is the lesson that
may be learned from it. Just now the
public mind is wildly impressed with
the necessity of some reform of the
monetary laws of the country. The ne
cessity of such reform would be less
realized if during the coming winter
or before next summer the business
community should find itself on the
road to prosperity. This might easily
occur without any change in the laws.
from the inherent tendency of the
United States to thrive even under adj
verse circumstances. TIA revival of bust
ness should occur, the defects in the
currency laws would be forgotten, and
many would believe great mistake
had been made in thinking there were
any defects. But prosperity on an I'M
sound basis would not be as permanent
as that based on wise and scientific
financial conditions, and in time the de-
fects which aided in inaugurating the
panic in 1893 would operate to bring OH
another financial revulsion. No friend
of q better currency should advocate
the appointment of committee to in
vestigate and report on currency re-
form. At best it is useless, and it may
delay and prevent any action whatever.
Bankers Magazine.