The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-02-08
THE WEST NEEDS MONEY
INFORMATION FASTENERS GAINED
AT INDIANAPOLIS CONFERENCE.
Report Of the New York Chamber of
tons by William T.. Dodge.

At a recent melting of the New York
Chamber of Commerce a report Oh the In
dianapolis monetary conference was pre-
scented by the delegation from the chamber,
John Harsen Rhoades detailing the trans
actions of the convention. The report was
applauded. William +. Dodge who was
one of the delegates, told of his talks with
men from the South and West at the con-
ference, and gave the members of the or
ganization some surprising information on
the financial conditions in the South and
West. Said he:
II was surprised to find the assertion made
constantly by men from the far Western
States and the South and the Southwestern
States that il was not Mr.. Bryan and il
was not silver that they were in favor OF,
but they needed some change to bring re-
lief from the terrible condition of poverty
and scarcity of money under which they
labored. They felt that their condition was
extreme and so painful that any change
would be of value, and when L came to look
into the the matter and talk in a friendly
and kindly way with them, they all con-
firmed the same feeling which L had found
at a long conversation in the Treasury De-
partment at Washington. that the circula-
ton of the country Is quite out of joint;
that the lungs and heart are congested, and
that the eXtremitieS OF the country are alb
solutely without any blood. j found that
there were great sections of the Southern
and Western country where there was alb
solutely no money at all; where the most
primitive forms of barter obtained; where
everything was most disorganized. One
gentleman told me that in his county
which was quite rich agricultural county,
by some happy accident fifty
dollar bank bill had come into
the county, and that he had
taken horse and buggy and spent four
days in visiting all the towns in the coun-
ty. striving &c get it changed into smaller
finally was Obliged TO send il to Richmond.
There were senators who told me that their
constituents never saw dollar of money
form the beginning of the year to the end,
with the result that they had constantly to
go into debt to the local storekepers. The
kGd n dyeTvhEe wa rn pay X
to the old times before money was in
vented.
And this was not i'm one section of the
country only. but in large sections. We can
quite easily understand that where there Is
not sufficient money TO establish a national
bank under the very onerous laws pres
ent in force there is nothing else to take
the place. The same difficulty has come up
in other parts of the world. In Austria and
Hungary, in southern Germany and In
southern France these difficulties were I'M
derstood and appreciated years ago, and
agricultural banks have been founded there,
and they have doubled the value of real es-
tate. and they have made the peasantry
and the farmers rich and prosperous The
same thing has taken place in Scotland. as
many of our friends know. Every section
in Scotland with over 100. 900 people has a
branch bank OF some one of the great
banks OF Edinburgh or Glasgow. and man
of good character who wants to lit a
fishing smack or buy anything for his farm
is able 10 go there, and. If his credit is good,
he is able to borrow money cheaply as
any merchant could. II has double effect.
III is not only giving TO those neighbor-
hoods the money that they actually need.
but il is educating the people in thrift and
promptneSs.
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE.
Il have talked with great many of my
banking friends who say that the whole
thing depends upon the character of the
people. that the people are speculative. ana
that nothing can be done for them. My i'm
preston is that If some thoughtful plan
could be suggested IL would be quite posi-
BILE TO educate all the agricultural people
of the country TO understand that man
who was thrifty and honest and sober and
prompt could always in some way get some