San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-10-17

brought before the commission to give
their views, and that all data obtain
able from all parts OF the world is
properly presented.
The work of the committee upon met
allie currency will be the simplest OF
the lot. The monetary convention de-
clared for gold standard, and this
committee will probably report the
same way, though it will make an in
lvestigation of the operations of the
single gold standard and the single
silver in various countries, as we'll as
the efforts to maintain a bi-metallic
standard, and will report upon the re-
suit of their Investigations.
The committee on demand obligations
of the government has a much more
difficult task. 1t will report upon the
history of the various paper currency
systems the world has known and give
estimate upon the value and the effect
of the various systems of paper Gu
rency.
The committee on banking will not
only investigate and report upon the
various systems of banking that the
world has ever known, but will en-
deavor to make such recommendation
as will, in its judgment, bring about a
better system of banking in the Unit
States. The commission is impressed
with the idea that American methods
of banking do not afford the facilities
they should for the small farmers and
men of moderate measures. There
are two or three difficulties" said one
of the members of the commission, in
conversation with the writer a few
days ago, that 1 think / can possibly
be obviated. In the first place our
banking facilities and banking capital
might, to advantage, be somewhat
more evenly distributed throughout the
country. There is surely some method
of doing away with this thing of hav-
ing money command nine and ten
per cent interest in the southern and
western agricultural communities,
upon paper that is perfectly sound,
when it will only Command four and
half and five per cent upon paper of
equal soundness in the northern sea-
board states. Then We should find
way TO encourage the making of
small loans. l am convinced that half
the discomfort that finds expression
in the periodical demands for curren-
cy imitation, arises from the fact that
the man of small resources finds it
difficult, if not impossible, to obtain a
loan at a reasonable rate of interest.
Under our system the banks do not
care to bother with loans of less than
81, 900, and have never heard of them
making one for less than 800. Yet a
man who has a single bale of cotton,
one hundred bushels of wheat, two or
three hundred bushels of corn, or
like amount of product, ought to be
able to obtain loan that will enable
him to carry that commodity until in
his judgment the market price for 1t
is right. 1t is seldom that wheat COM
mands the highest price just at thresh-
ing time, or that cotton be sold at best
advantage right after the picking, or
that corn can best be sold in husking
time. Yet the man who has not enough
to fill large apartment in the ware
house, and take out warehouse re-
ceipts, has nothing upon which he can
borrow money, as collateral. If he did
hold a warehouse receipt for single
bale of cotton or one hundred bushels
of wheat he would find it impossible
to go to a bank and get loan upon
it. The bank will not do so because
the care of such loans, the salaries of
clerical help necessary to do it, the
cost of exchange and that sort of thins
would eat up the profits of the loans.
The borrower is therefore compelled,
if he cannot borrow from a personal
friend, to go on having things charg-
ed 20 him at the store, at the highest
prices, or to hypothecate his products,
or pay chattel mortgage rates of inter-
est for a loan. They do these things
better in France. With their proven
bal thrift and care for the interests of
the small proprietors, the French peO-
pie have a banking system that en-
ables them to get loans from the banks
as small as one hundred francs, and
through the bank of France these loans
are carried at very small profit. l
believe it is possible for us to show
the way in this matter and to edu-
cate our banks and our people up to a
system that will give a much wider
distribution of banking capital, and
will afford the poor man banking fac
ilities as convenient as those enjoyed
by his Weather neighbor."