Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1897-04-09

or III payment of public dues.
"ln passing it may be we'll to note
the relative usc of these various agencies
i'll the practical operations of commerce.
and trade. No better place to determine
this can he found than the counter of IL
bank. and the following statement OF
the amount of each received by Il biml,
in this city Oh Il recent day will indicate
their relative importance in that direc-
ton:
Gold coin. $l,ssj
silver coln. l5.sa5
1old rcrtiilcatcS. 4.Cl5
SILVER certiiicates Observation-Disclosures. rs, i:J
legal tender notes and grccibacks... S:.i1,
treasury notes aa5.4aG
National bank notes 3I.aGs
/ Total cash. ......... sa,y su;
,, Checks, drafts, bills Of exchange .....$5. SD
Percentage of cash to total credits.
5 per cent.
1.-The lesson TO be drawn from these
figures is this:
"Much the larger part of all our coia-
mercial exchanges are carried OH Ly
bank checks or other Instruments of pri-
waite credit. These instruments all relate
to u certain form of money, i'll place of
Which they for the stand. Ii
uncertainty intervene as to what this
related ~thing-this moncy-is, or is to
be, distrust and confusion enter in.
The mighty agency of personal credit is
shaken. Commercial exchanges fall off,
trade languishcs and industry declines.
"Thc greenback was issued to pay
debts, not to acquire value, OF, if value
was received, such value was either con-
sumed or converted into value not avail
10 i'll the market. The %greenbacll paid
soldiers and government employees; it
bought powder and munitions of VIII
The existence of IL greenback is the evil
dence OF a debt not paid. 1t is IL lien
upon the future.
"a national bank note, OH the cor
trary, is the evidence of some existing
value which lies somewhere as collateral
for its redemption. To transfer such
values is the only ordinary and proper
occasion which calls for their issue. The
volume i'll which they will appear
marks the rise i'll prices or an increasing
quantity OF existing things. Like the
bank check. they will be in active serv-
ice when trade and commerce are active.
Thus thoT enjoy the principle of elias
ITCHY, wholly lacking i'm any possible
form of direct government issue. The
method of their retirement is wholly
different and subjects the trade and COM
MERGE of the country to less dangerous
Strain.
"Therc is no reason why the govern
mcnt should act as w"arehouscman for
either gold or silver. Such Il function is
outside its proper limit of action. But
we are faced by the condition, and it is
the bette noire of the treasury. The
enormous amount OF $500, 600, 900 of
silver, represented by S33s, 600, 900 i'll
silver certificates, added to the $780,.
OOO,O purchased by the government
under the Sherman act, constitutes Il
standing menace to every business inter-
est.
Our whole monetary system is the
resultant of makeshift legislation and
unsclentlficc compromises. 1t is time that
reform began. I do not assume to offer
more final remedies. In my OWL opinion
the %srecnbacks should be permanently
retired. The silver purchased under the
Sherman act should be gradually sold
and the treasury notes redeemed and
cancelled. Some we'll guarded system of
bank note circulation, broader and more
elastic than the present national bank
act provides, should be inaugurated.
Such bank notes should be redeemable
at q central place and be redeemable in
gold only.
"To sum up, the defects of our pres
ent currency system are: 1. A confusing
hcterogeneity which needs simplifica-
ton. 2. The greenback c%ontroverts the
principle of paper money-viz, that CIV.
cry note injected into the commercial
system should represent an existing
commercial value. 8. The treasury note
is Il standing evidence of Il foolish opera
ton, the creation of Il debt for the pur-
chase on Il falling market Of a commodity
for which the purchaser has no usc-it
lies open to the just charge of being both
idiotic and immoral. 4. The national
bank note nearly conforms to the true
principle of paper money, but the un-
reasonable requirements for security
paralyze its efficiency and operate to
destroy its elasticity. 5. The silver GER
tificate encourages the use of silver to a
larger extent than consists with the safe
preservation of that metal OH a parity
with gold.
"Would q national commission help
to promote reform? There is reason to
hope that it would be of great service in
that direction Such a commission if
rightly selected, would throw q flood of
light upon these involved questions.
The information it might gather would
be of immense value to all our people
and would guide us to wise legislation.
Emotion and sentiment are not safe
guides i'll matters of science. A clear
apprehension of true principles will lead
to correct action"
Tom Watson Accents the Verdict.