Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1897-04-03
No Currency in Hes. and South,

In the presidential election of 1896,
20 States voted against free silver and
% states for il. In proportion to pop
ulation, the majorities in free silver
States were nearly rs large as the ma
jorities in the opposing states, and In
some instances even larger. While
Mr.. Mckinley had popular majority
on the entire vote of nearly 6oo, 900,
Mr.. Bryan's maiorities in - states
amounted 70 800, 600.
The attempt to account for this deep
cleavage between the Northern and
Northeastern States ON one side and
the Southern and Southwestern States
on the other by saying thai all the in
telligence Of the country was on one
side and all the ignorance and dis
honesty on the other is as unsatisfac-
tory as it is untrue. To assert that the
demand for free silver finds its whole
strength in the demands of q few sill
yer mine owners is contrary 20 common
sense. Only five small states among
those which voted for Mr.. Bryan were
in any sense silver States. Let us.set
these entirely aside, and there remain
II states, giving over 10000 majority
for free silver, and containing about 40
per cent. Of all the population of the
United States. These states have al
ways demanded great increase of cur
rency in any form, and did so long be-
fore the silver question was ever moot
ed. Their demand for free silver Is a
mere incident in the demand which
they have kept up for fully 80 years for
q great expansion of currency in any
form.
The enormous development OF bust
ness in modern times has made it sim
ply impossible to conduct it exclusive
ly, or even in any very large part, by
the use of coin or of small notes as the
medium of exchange. Nothing Is bet
ter known than that over 80 per cent
of all wholesale business in this coun.
try is carried on by checks, or some.
what similar paper instraAaents. It j:
equally well known that vast major
ity of all the coin and paper currency
in existence is centered in precisely
those districts where the use OF check.
is greatest. 1t is therefore impossible
that those sections Of the country in
which regular banking facilities arr
scarce can supply the lack of these b.
the use of actual money in their ex
changes. On the contrary, the more
they fail to make use of checks, tn,
more they fail to have possession o
money. Space cannot be given her,
to explaining the natural laws which
concentrate money in precisely thos'
places where it is apparently mer'
drug locked up in vaults, but the fac
is obvious to even the most superficial
observer.
In examining financial statistics TO
1894, it appears that the aggregat
banking resources of the United State
(using round numbers), amounted d
sc, 4O0, 000, 600. OF this vast sum, %,
100000, 900 was held by the o McKin
ley states, leaving only 500, O0O, 900 70
the p Bryan states. Deducting fror
this sum the amount held by the silve
mining states aud by the large cite
I'm the Bryan states which voted heav
ly for Mckinley, there remained i
the II Bryan farming states much lei
than s4O0, 900, 900 OF banking resources
or only 8 per cent. of the whole, Will
they had 40 per cent. of the populs
tion. Thus they had little more tina
one-seventh of the average bankin
facilities Of the country; and as othe
sections of course had far more tina
their proportionate share, the Norti
eastern States were supplied wit
banking facilities and means OF e.
change to yearly 30 times the propol
ton of the II Bryan states. The banl
ing resources OF Massachusetts, for Q.
ample, were 1926 per capita, viii
those OF Georgia were only s1s, thos
of Alabama IS, and those OF Arkans;
90 per capita.
Under these circumstances, IS 1t n,
perfectly natural that the farmers
these states. constituting the grei
bulk of the population, should contil
ually clamor for more currency? 1t
literally impossible for them TO be gu
piled with such currency In the on
form TO which they are accustomed
which they practically compsehen
Those who live In the East, and are a
customed to dispense with the use
actual money by the universal use
bank checks, fail to comprehend 81
hardships TO which a vast majority
the people in the Southwest are put
their inability to obtain either mon,
or our common substitutes for money.
Harper's Weekly.
Americans are the most invent