The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1897-04-23
Government Banks.

uCAdhu VI luC SulCdSo pldtloIuJ,
and the Peoples party st. Louis
platform. And that there shall be
a sufficient volume of money put
into circulation to do the business
of the country as nearly on a cash
basis as possible. This is about as
far us those and former platforms
of the Peoples party have gone.
How that right quantity of
money is to be measured, put into
circulation and kept there has not
been considered other than by an
individual here and there. It is so
selfevident that there is not gold
and silver sufficient to answer as
money to transact the vast busint SIS
of any civilized country that no one
has even raised the question. The
parties who clamor most for gold
are those who propose to make the
least use of the yellow metal. They
advocate monetary system that is
almost entirely of credit. They
constantly insist that money is less
needed than ever before, that a
system of checks and credit has
superseded the necessity of a large
volume of money. While the gold
standard and credit-in- place-of-
money advocates are busy filling
the ears of the public with their
pernicious sophistry, their oppo
nents stand still, as it were, and
wage the battle for the remonetiza-
ton of silver and government issue
of all the paper money, without
attempting to demonstrate to the
people how they propose to conduct
business without the intervention
of banks of issue" The banks
issue but mere bagatelle now, a
matter of a couple of hundred mil
lions, and yet they manage to be
as great disturbing element as
when the state banks were issuing
currency ad libitum.
A system of postal savings banks
is advocated, but the popular idea
of a savings bank is bank to re-
ceive small deposits of surplus
money of the working people, the
wage earners, and pay the deposit
ors little interest on them. Bus
mess people know that kind of bank
would never supply the demands
of business for banking facilities,
and consequently the postal savings
bank fails to arrest public attention.
The modern bank of deposit, loan,
and discount is the engine of bus
mess, and the people will submit to
all Of its eXactions, robbery, and
cyclonic disturbances in trade,
rather than attempt to do without
it. And when the platforms resolve
against the Intervention and issr e
of banks their declarations have
but little influence ON the public.
If the gold trust credit financial
system which is now in full swing,
and has been so long that the peo-
pie have come to believe it is an
absolute necessity and nothing can
be devised to take its place, is not
met by the friends and advocates of
a purely government banking sys-
tenn, the usurers, having possession,
which is claimed to be nine points
of an advantage out of ten, will be
able to hold their ground.
The business class of the people,
those who are compelled to use a
great deal of borrowed money in
transacting business, should be
shown the great gain to them that
would result in the government
handling the money of the country
through system of public or gov
eminent banks.
The first gain to this class would
be the saving of immense sums of
interest that now go to swell the
cost of their business which would
be the difference between what they
have to pay and the bare cost to
the government for clerk hire and
the necessary cost of distribution
which is done by banks. This
would be clear gain to every large
business establishment of many
thousands of dollars annually.
Another gain would be the safety
of deposits. No depositor would
ever lose his money if deposited in
a government bank. No panics to
business could occur, which would