The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-12-02
Breakfast Chat.
Plan TO Stop The
Endless Chain
IN. in TimeS-IIerald,

Walter Wellman, in Times-Herald.
n y HIS message to be sent to congress
II next Monday President Mckinley will
| make one positive Recommendation in
ii regard to the currency. That recon-
mendation will be an advocacy of the
plan which he has originated providing
for the breaking of the endless chain and
the draining of the treasury's gold by
means so simple that it appears to correct
the evil, and, at the same time, does not
involve a contraction of the currency,
which has been SO much feared. The
presidents plan, stated in its simplest
form, is this: Whenever. for export or
any other reason, person desires gold
he can obtain the same from the treasury
on the surrender of an equal amount of
greenbackS. Whenever for any reason,
such as the movement of crops or the de-
mandS of trade, currency is required, it
can be obtained from the treasury on the
surrender of gold. In other words. in
stead of the present method, by which a
person paying into the treasury a million
dollars in greenbacks receives in return
a million in gold, and those greenbacns
are Immediately reissued and made use
of by some else to obtain another million
of the yellow metal from the govern
ment, the greeEbacks, under the preSi
dents plan, when exchanged for gold. will
be held practically locked up until some
ious for currency than for gold, and is
willing to surrender gold for the paper.
o
The merit of this scheme, as explained
by the president to persons with whom
he has discussed it, is that it does not in
any way contract the currency or dis
tLrb it's equilibrium. All that it does is
to make the banks share with the govern
ment the duty of providing gold when
there is a demand for the yellow metal
AS the law now exists, with the balance
of trade against this country and inter-
| national balances having to be settled
| in gold, the New York banker having to
| make remittances to London finds it more
| convenient to draw his gold from the
| treasury than to obtain it from his bank
| All that he has to do is to transfer a cer-
| tain sum in grcenbacks from his bank
| account to the sub treasury in Wall
street and receive in return an equiva-
| lent amount in gold. At other times in
| the year, when TIE crops are being move
| or when there is demand for small bills
| in the interior, the New York or Boston
| banker again makes use of the treasury
| as a convenience and obtains this small
| currency from the government in return
! for large bills and although practically
at that time currency is more valuable
| than gold, the banks do not disturb their
| holding of the metal, but draw on the
treasury for the paper.
| o
| The president believes that II his plan
| is adopted, whenever from natural causes
| paper is more in demand than gold, and
| the banks having a redundancy of the
metal they will naturally exchange Il
at the treasury for paper, inasmuch as it
| is too expensive for them to ship gold
to the interior, and besides, the ncOnveni-
| encc of handling gold is so great that
| they would not attempt it. If put in prac-
tical operation this plan would not re-
| strict circulation, inasmuch as the gov
| ernment now holds gold fund, which
| of course, is Valueless as a circulating
medium as long as II remains in the treas
uTy vaults and for every greenback
| taken in by the treasury an equivalent
amount of gold will be released.
| o
Beyond this suggestion ii is not ex.
pected the president will so in the direc,
ton Of recommendations for CORRECTING
our present faulty system. lie takes the
position that the operation of the endless
chain is practically the only menace tC
the government and to public confidence
i'm the governments operations, and there
fore the first duty of congress is to re-
move this danger. If congress wishes tC
go further and to take up the genera
question Of banking and currency, 1t vii
find food for thought in the report of Sec
retary Gage, to which the president will
call attention in words of commentator
The president has no currency plan Of lis
own to bring forward, ami he is not sur,
that congress is ready to take mp thai
general question, But he will urge tho