The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-01-01

The Sound Money Nictory-Not the Pro-
vince Of Our People to Govern the Earth


BALTIMORE, MD, Dec. 31.-At a ban
quet OF the Merchants and Manufacture
erS Association, in Baltimore. last night
Hon. James Eckels, Comptroller OF the
Currency, said:
Before entering upon the subject as
signed me L wish to felicitate the CHIEF
magistrates OF the State and city upon
the better humor In which fnd them
imam when last l was here. At the time
the Governor was wrestling with tie Pro-
tlem or dlspOslng OF "A few offices among
party which had been for more than
twenty years without patronage. He
has reached the point where he has no
more offices to dispose of and where his
pathway Is not of thorns, but of roses.
AT the same time the Mayor stood in
"a position toward the City Council not
unlike that of the President toward the
Senate OF United States, wrestling with
the problem OF which was the bigger.
1t is hattering omen TO the Chief
Executive OF the nation in the contest
with the Council the Mayor was decreed
TO be the commander OF the situation, be-
cause back of him stood a people who
had created public sentiment which de-
manded that the right principle should
prevail. (Chcers)
Il shall not undertake TO discuss at
length the question assigned to me. IL
there Is an appropriate place for paying
tribute 10 the necessity for sound cur
rency. II is TO be found I'm this city. which.
at home and abroad, bears a reputation
for individual and collective honesty,
where merchants, manufacturers and
bankers have created a public feeling
which demands that the first essentials
TO business transactions be conservatism
and honesty; a city where. when the ques-
ton was addressed TO its voters-Shall the
currency be debased 2-ansWered with
laundering no.
we have won the preliminary battle in
ha ctr ola 40 Is
ours, If those empowered with the formu-
lation and execution of the laws have
sufficient strength and courage OF pur-
pose to heed the verdict which the peO-
pie gave. The verdict Of November was
not q negative verdict, not a command
TO stand still but an affirmative verdict
and a command TO go forward. We sunk
party feeling and allegiance not with the
hope of reward of Office, but that the
integrity OF the United states should be
maintained and its credit at home and
abroad be such that all Americans could
be proud of it. We ask nothing more
and are entitled 10 nothing less
I'VE want a currency system so sound
that IL shall be no more subject of
discussion than the methods OF Jurispru-
dence. We want system which VIII
command ths confidence of the people, so
that none shall hesitate and be afraid TO
deal with US. We want a system founded
cident, politics or peculiar circumstances.
I'VE nave a system Of threads and
patches crudely developed under stress OF
circumstances, in part the OutgrOwth Of
politics, IN part the outgrowth Of neces-
sity and which as a whole. embodies the
seeds of its own destruction and the
causes Of loss TO the citizens In their bust
ness enterprises.
when we reach the point that the
dollar is not the subject of political de-
bate and the banks are not the subjects
of continual inquiry because Of agitation
of the money question we shall have
reached the point when we will have
prosperity and plenty. This time will not
come through the agitation OF the ques-
ton which makes timid business men
hesitate; it will not come when there is
abroad either war or the rumors OF war:
It will not come until the individual
American citizen recognizes that it is the
distinctive province TO attend to his own
business I'm a business manner.
1T is not the province of this people to
superintend the earth. (Cheers) Until
that idea is eliminated from the minds
Of statesmen and politicians you will see
here stagnation. uncertainty and dread
in business undertakings. You cannot in
duce capital TO come out by threatening
10 destroy II, ana you can't induce lnves-
tors TO invest until conditions are such
as will assure the investor that what he
invests will come back with reasonable
profit. If the people Of the United States
desire peace. prosperity and plenty and
all that makes a nation great and com
manding-the confidence of the civilized
world-let them forever cease method OF
swash-buciing. the desire 10 have al
ways a shoulder upon which rests a chip.
looking forward for war and forever de-
manding contest"