The herald., 1897-02-16
WHAT 1T MEANS

WHAT 1T MEANS
The manifest purpose in the appoint
ment of Lyman ]. Gage secretary OF the
treasury is, as the single gold standard
men express it, ito take the government
out of the banking business" The plain
intendment of this phase is simply that
the government shall turn over to the
national banks exclusively the author
ity to issue paper money. The nomina-
tion of Mr.. Gage is designed to carry out
that scheme. Mr.. Gage is now. and for
long time has been, president of the
leading financial institution of that
great city. He is pronounced in his ad-
yocacy of retiring not only the green
backs but all other kinds of paper
money. except national bank notes. and
he favors extending indefinitely the au
thority OF the banks to issue those
notes. This would indeed be to deprive
the government of a very important
function, but whether the exercise of
that function by the government is in
any sense a banking business is quite
another question. If the making of
plows is to be deemed a farmers occu-
patton, or the making of augers and
saws is the work of a carpenter then
the printing and furnishing of paper
money to the people may be banking
business. But there is often wide diff
ference between the occupations of those
who make articles and those who use
them.
Mr.. Bryan, In one of his campaign
speeches, aptly remarked that perhaps
it would be as we'll for the banks to re-
tire from the government business. 1t
is perfectly plain that so far as they eX-
ercise the prerogative of creating money
they perform function of government.
To give them sole control of that busi-
ness would necessarily involve control
of the national finances and put them,
to all intents and purposes, in possession
of the government. The duty of furnish
ing the circulating medium of country
has always been regarded as incumbent
upon the government. Our constitu-
ton makes it the duty of congress to
coin money, and the furnishing of
money in any other form is of the same
character of obligation. 1t also de-
clares that the making of money by any
other authority Than the government is
counterfeiting and punishable as fell
ony. But the proposition of Mr.. Gage
is nevertheless to- legalize that bust
ness in the hands of private corpora
tions. The shallow pretense for this is
that the manufacturing Of money is
banking, and that the government
should not be engaged in that sort of
business.
The nomination Of Mr.. Gage points d.
rectly towards the surrendering by the
government of, perhaps, its most i'm
portant prerogative into private hands
for private gain. This is the poorly
disguised and unmistakable meaning
of it.
AS matter of fact, no such man as
Lyman j. Gage should be considered
eligible to the office of secretary of the
treasury, and it is hoped the senate may
take this view of the matter They have
a good precedent for refusing his con-
firmation. When General Grant was
elected president one of his first acts
was to send to the senate the name of
A. T. Stewart for this same office, but it
appearing that Mr.. Stewart could not be
confirmed, his name was withdrawn.
The objection to Stewart was that his
house was interested in the importation
Of merchandise and questions relating
to duties on imports might come before
him for adjudication, hence he was
deemed disqualified.
The reason why an officer of a ma
tional bank should not occupy the post of
secretary of the treasury is infinitely
stronger than that against an importer.
If A. T. Stewart was disqualified by rea-
son of his interest as a merchant. how
is it with Lyman ]. Gage, the national
bank president His honesty is not
questioned any more than was that Of A.
T. Stewart, but it is a question of pro-
priety. He is imbued with the idea of
national banks, and there can be no
doubt that his influence will be exerted
in that direction wherever he may be.