The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-02-10
WEAKNESS IN THE CURRENCY
SYSTEM.

chamber of commerce last Thursday,
a report was presented on the work of
the indianapolis monetary conference.
Mr.. John Hansen Rhodes, who pre-
sented it, said, after having read it:
Let us not forget that until the ex-
listing arrangement and weakness in
the currency and banking system now
| IN operation are remedied, we can have
no permanent prosperity. Economy,
! liquidation, and a large balance of
| trade in our favor NAV bring tenn
porary relief, but the evil remains, sap
ping the vitality of the nation and
forming standing menace which is
sure to bring US once again face to face
with reputation and fiat money In
the certainty of a peril such as this, it
| behooveS every man who has his own
| interest at stake, as we'll as the inter-
! ests of every human being in the land
from the humblest to the highest, to
! take up the battle for a sound currency
and a wise banking law, and not lay
down his arms until the fight is won
and victory has crowned our cause; so
/ shall peace and prosperity wait upon
| our efforts and the land rejoice in a
future which will dim the glories of the
past and place us once more foremost
among the nations of the earth in zeal
and activity, progress and civilization
the bedrock of honest intent, and
| honesty must be the cornerstone of all
| governments if they are to exist, and
not crumble with time into dust and
! fragment.
The currency of the country is the
result of legislation extending over
many years, legislation which may al
most be said to be amendatory Of other
/ &c
tory by any means, and thus far no
plan proposed has been found accepta
bic. The recommendation of the Chi
cago platform of 1892-that the tax on
state bank circulation be repealed
was not acceptable to the country, for
! the people feared a return of the wild
cat banks of half a century ago, though
some of the old state banks were as
sound as any national bank ever was.
A year or more ago the Baltimore plan
was suggested, but that did not meet
with popular favor. No currency plan
has been suggested that seems in any
way to meet the requirements of the
case In many respects the national
banking system is the best by all odds
that has been formulated, but there is
a popular hostility to it, and whether
reasonable or unreasonable, it is so
great that congress would not dare to
extend it or to declare that it met all
the demands for a safe currency. If
Mr.. Lyman ]. Gage is correctly re-
ported, the financial policy of the in
coming administration will, in part, be
to retire the greenbacks. 1t is extreme
ly doubtful if it will be able to ac-
complish this if it undertakes it, for
the Republican party looks upon the
greenbacks as having done more to
save the Union than Lincoln and Grant
did. Even if they should be retired,
what would Mr.. Gage urge in their
place?
While our currency system is not
satisfactory, still it will be found that
the great trouble with the whole thing
is lack of confidence in both the gov
eminent and the bankers to supply a
sufficient amount of gold for redemp-
ton purposes in times of panic. The
incapacity of the government to do this
without borrowing was demonstrated
when it was compelled to issue bonds
tc secure the gold with which to re-
deem it's notes. 1t was able to borrow,
but it did so at great cost, and its
ability in this direction would have
been strained as it has not been since
the war had the bond issues continued.
Prior to the election gold went out of
circulation and the money of the coun-
try was nothing but fiat money.
Why was all this? Simply because of
the inadequate supply of metallic
money to support the confidence of
the people They became appre-
hensive. and this was Immediately fol-
lowed by lack of confidence. There
must either be an adequate supply of
metallic money or there must be fiat
ism, which none but financial heretics
want A paper currency, to be safe,
must have a metallic basis. Our cur
rency, so far as the government issues
are concerned, has this, but it is in
sufficient. 1t is a recognized law of
business that a country's currency
should expand with the expansion of
it's business. The ratios of expansion
will not be the same, as they need not
be, but they must not dlVerge too
much. If the basis of the currency
does not expand sufficiently to safely
support the superstructure, the super
structure must either be too small for
the business or must be unsafe. The
basis of this currency has been reduced
one-half by the characterization of sill
yer Restore silver to its proper place
in our monetary system and the ad-
justment of the currency system on a
safe and satisfactory basis will be an.
easy matter. Mr.. Rhodes says that
until the existing arrangement and
weakness in the currency and banking
system now in operation are remedied,
we can have no permanent prosperity"
True, because the arrangement and
weakness in the currency and banking
system now in operation cannot be
remedied until the country has the free
and unlimited coinage of silver
HOME AND FOREIGN MARKETS.
mora or less effective nIea of tho