The Louisiana populist., 1897-06-18
THEBANKING SCHEME
THE HONEST MONEY! OF
THE GOLDOcRACY.
A Movement Started In Favor of I'm.
porting the Scotch Banking Method
of Skinning the Producers-Crushing
Out Honest American Methods.

teachers by the goldocracy is to teach
the people the necessity of increased
banking facilities, through which the
banks may be enabled to loan money
to the farmer and small producer and
save them from the heartless rapacity
OF the merchants and traders. They
have discovered system of banking
In Scotland that has moved their hearts
with longing. The canny Scot has
invented a scheme by which he is
enabled to have a sub-banking office
in every village and loan money direct
to the farmers. By means of this sys.
tenn the interest that the farmer Or
other producer pays for the use of his
credit goes direct to the bank without
being detected into the hands of the
merchants.
But the most fascinating feature of
the Scotch system is the amount of
business that may be done in proper
tion to the capital invested. The pro-
portion is as IL to 1, while in this coun-
try the most favorable proportion that
has been achieved is 4 to |. That is,
under the Scotch system the bank
can keep at interest $l2 for each
dollar invested in the business,
while in this country, under our sys-
TEN, not more than $4 can be made to
earn interest for each dollar of capital
inVnctoA Tho toI
in the bosoms of our American finan-
ciers by contemplation of this Scotch
system may be imagined. Of course
it is not considered necessary that the
lesson be taught the people should in
clude any explanation of where the
other eleven of the twelve dollars that
are used for the one invested came
from. 1t is not necessary that the
people should be permitted to under
stand that the eleven dollars must be
either unsecured issue of the bank, or
the money of its clients intrusted to
it without security. These are finan
cial intricacies too complicated for the
people to be troubled with, and the
philanthropic banker prefers to wres-
tie with them unaided.
The lesson to be taught Is that by
means of banks. unhampered by legal
restrictions, and left to be controlled
chiefly by the judgment and discretion
of the bankers, money will be made
plentiful and brought within easy
reach OF the people.
This undertaking is already well un-
der way. The country is being strewn
with literature pointing out the beau
ties of the Scotch banking system and
recommending 1t as a remedy for the
evils which plutocracy-fo the pur-
poses of this lesson only-admits are
comprising the ruin of the agricultur-
list. 1t is another grain added to the
mountain of evidence previously given
of the unbounded confidence of pluto |
cracy in the stupidity Of the people
How long will it take for them to
overdo it: 1t would appear that a
proposition like this, coming from the
advocates of the gold standard, would
strain the capacity of any kind of gull
libility.
In reading the proposed lesson, it |
should not require more than an oc-
casional squint between the lines to
discover the beauties of making gold |
the only money of final payment and,
at the same time, turning the regula-
tion and issue Of the circulating me-
dunn over to the banks. There is not |
in the country more than enough gold |
to pay the annual interest on our debts.
The proposition of the gold standard |
and Scotch bank scheme is that we so
arrange that the banks can control the |
gold and permit them to demand that !
they be paid all debts due them in
gold, while they are allowed to conflne |
us to paper money with which to do |
business.
Until recently they have confined |
their efforts to teaching the honesty
and efficiency Of the gold dollar. 1t |
was represented as the only honest dol
lar and as being able and willing to do |
all our business. Now it sulks in the
bank vaults and demands that its work |
be done by deputy, the deputy to do all |
the work and the principal reap the
reward.
1t is the same with the dollar as with |
the man. The men who feed and
clothe the world are treated with con-
tempt and abused and cursed if they
complain, while the idler is regarded
with respect akin to awe; the silver
and paper dollars that do our business
pronounced dishonest while idle gold
is lauded. Our plutocrats cannot suf-
ficiently show their contempt for the
divine fat, I'm the sweat Of thy face
shalt thou eat bread"
CLINT J. LEIGH.