The herald., 1897-07-04

money grows out of the demonetization
OF silver. Were the government to re-
invest silver with the power of "redemp-
tion money" there would soon be
enough silver certificates issued to meet
all the demands of trade.
The financial scheme of the present
administration. set forth in a general
way by the inaugural address of Mr.
Mckinley but outlined definitely by Mr..
Gage. who is his secretary of the treas
ury, is to call in and cancel all the
greenbacks and to give the banks the
authority to issue their own notes in lieu
Of them
This desire and intention to cancel all
the greenbacks is no new scheme with
the gold Democrats, who followed
Palmer and Buckner to such disas-
trous defeat, or to the gold men who
were for Mr.. Mckinley, and who, while
swearing their allegiance to bimetal-
lism. were at heart in favor of single
gold standard.
This advanced idea that all silver, sill
yer certificates, treasury notes and
greenbacks should be redeemed in coin,
was first declared publicly by c. G. Jack
son of Boston, whose testimony can be
found on page 296 of the Report on Bank
ing and Currency, in which he says:
"Our only hope of a sound and stable
currency is in redeeming all the green
backs, treasury notes and silver cer-
tificates" with gold, and when this is
done. then redeeming all our silver coin
with gold"
Mr.. Williams. the president of the
Chemical Bank of New York, said be-
fore the same committee "that all the
greenbacks should be taken up with gold,
and bank notes be substituted for them
as currency"
This was the central thought of the
eminent bankers, who expressed their
views before the committee of the house
of representatives in 1894 and it was the
source of all the financial plans of all
the advocates of gold in the last cam
paign.
Mr.. Mckinley does not officially an
nounce to the world this system of re-
demption. but Mr.. Gage has outlined
as his policy the cancellation of all
greenbacks and the substitution of bank
notes in their place. The most forceful
figure in the present cabinet is Mr..
Sherman, and he is believed to be op-
posed to the retirement of the green
backs. But as the financial head of the
treasury has heretofore been law unto
himself, setting aside the positive en-
actments of congress whenever they
conflicted with his individual will, we
may reasonably expect to see Mr.. Gage,
by some regulation of the department,
call in and cancel the greenbacks.
The substitution of bank notes in the
place of greenbacks is the most daring
and heartless scheme ever devised by
bankers to rob the country of it's pres
ent satisfactory currency, in order to
give us their own bank notes. 1t is
serious question whether the president
of great national bank has either the
legal or moral right to so change our
present greenback system as to supplant
it with national bank notes. Will not
his intel est as banker conflict with his
duty as an officer of the treasury?
AS the great battle of paper currency
is to be founght along this line, let us
see what the banks propose to take from
US, and what they propose to give us in
it's stead. The greenback, originally re-
deemable in lawful money" was, by
the act of 1874. made redeemable in
'either gold or silver" This gave the
government the option as to what coin
should be used in its redemption; and
it was the base surrender of this option,
first by Secretary Foster, then by Sher-
man and Carlisle, which brought on all
our financial woes. 1t e high time that
the United States should arise in the
majesty of her power and strike down
all heads of departments who dare to
neutralize or nullify a plain law of con-
gress to suit their individual caprices.
If the government had asserted its
option in redeeming with silver, as it
should have done, bankruptcy and in
eolvency would not have paralyzed our
financial OF productive energies as they
have done for the past eight months,
nor would it have been necessary for
Mr.. Cleveland to have sold 1852, 100000 of
bonds in order to keep an imaginary
parity between our various kinds of
currency. The masses are satisfied with
the greenback pure and simple.
The greenback is direct, non-interest
bearing note from the government to
the people, issued without an interme-
diary agent, and its credit is sustained
by the aggregate Of wealth of the ma
ton.
Now, what are the powers of a ma
tional bank note? 1t is not legal ten
der, but is receivable for all dues, ex-
cept duties on imports and interest on
the public debt, and is redeemable in
lawful money at the treasury, or at
the bark Issuing it.
Let us examine the bank note carefully
as to- its debt paying power: First, it
is not legal tender; that is it does not
have the most important element of
money, In. that no law can force its ac-
ceptance in the payment of debt Sec
ond, 1t will not pay duties on imports.
Third, it will not pay the interest on the
public debt.
The government will not receive the
bank note as payment for interest on the
very bonds which the bank has deposited
with it as security. This is practically,
the bank refusing to take its own bills
in payment for interest on its own gov
ernment bonds, in the hands of the
treasury as security. If national banks
will not receive their own bills in pay
ment of their interest, why should they
expect the people to humbly accept
them in lieu of greenbacks? Every
bank note, whether in the vaults of the
rich or in the pockets of the poor, is bur-
dened with an interest which ceases
neither day nor night SO long as the
bank keeps them in the channels of