The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1897-12-15

lie Rtccnme ends the Expansion Throusn
Larger Isscss OF National BspRs-sosn
Striking Figures.
TIE annual report of James Il.
Eckles, comptroller OF The currency,
for the year ended October 81, 1897,
opens with brief review Of the his,
tory OF the legislation which constl
tutes the present national bank act
and invites the attention CT congress
to amendments 20 the law recommend
ed in former reports without specih.
cally repeating them. Or the subject
OF bank rot circulation The ccmptroI'
er says:
ut is noticeable tha: all the chang
es which have besn wrought IN tie
natioral currency act from is lncep.
ton to the present time, the feature
subject to criticism, but whicb wss
intended should consti u:e the priGci-
pal benefit 10 bs conferred, hss re-
NAMED com psratively unchaa geG,
namely, !be note iSsuirg function.
Whatever Justification ttece was IL
TIE first instance for restricting the
issuing of notes sgairst the 6oHds o.
the government Ge2csi!ed with the
treasurer ofthe United States to SO per
cent. of psr value thereof hss long
ceased.
In the report Of every comptroller
of the currency during the past %
years the wisdom Of changing the ex-
isting law so that banks, and through
them the communities IN which Iocat-
ed, might have the additional eeushs
of an added lcanable capital has been
urged. Despite all this, tie law still
remains without sEencnent- Not
only should the bank act be amended
in this particular, but congress should
seriously consider such change IN
the method OF bsnk note issues as viii
enable the banks of the currency to
more sdeauately meet the demands OF
trade and commerce in al sections Of
the country. The business Of banking,
like every other form of investment.
must be made attractive to capital. II
it is plsceS upon footing different
from other undertakings, embarrassed q
through unnecessary restrictions, and
deprived OF proper sources OF profit,
the result cannot be otherwise than
that lnvestiole capital will seek other
means of employment and to such ex-
tent deprive the people of the benefits
Of the agency most requisite to com
mercial activity.
1T is considered by every great COM
mercial government except the United
States to be the sole province Of banks
to issue paper which eli c1lates as cur
rency. The belief in s bank note cur
rency as being better and safer than a
government paper currency reyaIleo
unouestioreo in this country until
under the apparent exisencies of the
war the government undertook to Is
sue paper currency. Even under
such circumstances the promise was
always given, however, tnas it should
be retired at the earliest practicable
moment and the admission freely
made that it was neither wise meas-
ure nor 8 safe form Of currency.
Between the competition Of the
government note issues on the one
hand and the unnecessary restrictions
impcsed by law upon the other, to-
gether with the Increasing price OF
bonds re quired to be deposited as Sc.
curity, the note issuing function Of
the banks has been permitted to be-
come merely an incident OF the coz
duct Of the national banking assccia-
tioLs OF the country. It has been sc
riously suggested more than once that
the bank rote issue be done away
with and all ps per beissued by the gov
ernment instead. The danger of
such course is not to be overestimat-
ed. The experience OF every govern
ment has been that governmental cur
reDcy paper is source Of weakness
and danger. In the United States,
where there has been the rearest ap,
proach to success, with the volume OF
the Federal paper comparatively limit
ed in smount, the credit of the gov
ernment has been more than once pat
in jeopardy through it and the bust.
ness interests of the country subjected
to unnecessary loss acd confusion.
The argument, that the govern
ment, better than Ihe banks, can pro
vide for tie redemption OF paper note
issues will not stand the test OF q care
full analysis. The government has no
means for caring for lis demand lia
bilities except through borrowing and
through tie levying Of taxes. Upon
the other han5, the banks have assets
which can Be promptly converted lnto
cash meet their outstanding notes when
presented. Their ability to commaad
gold mss aIways been beyond that Of
the government, for II each fosnclal
exigency which has confronted the
government the banks nave furnished
toit the amounts necessary 70 mentaln
Insolvency. Itisinpossihle to he;ieTe
that with system OF oank note issues
based in parE upon securities SD &c
part upon bark assets, the country
cannot be provided with sound, SAFE
and elastic bank noe issue, always cGm
mensurate with and responsive 10 de
mands of trade The bank Of England,
bank O. Scotland and the 0a3k Of Ire
land have been found TO be ample in
their resources 10 provide the note is
sues for use in tee trade Of the United
Kingdom. TIE same IS true OF the
bank OF France. The Dautsche Richs-
bank, or German Imperial bsnk has
for more than % years issued bank
note paper against assets which has
maintained It's value and has been SC
controlled SIS TO successfully meet the
needs Of the empire" ;"
TIE conptroller calls attsrtion to
the organization OF this bank and pub.
lishes some interesting statistics IL
connection herewith. Thetotal mum
Der Of national banks organized since
the system vas put into operstion IN
1868 is shown to have been 5,095. Ga
Oct. 81 LAST there were N active opera
ton {. 617, having an authorized capi
lal OF $3.50, ,230, 295. The total cut
standing Circulation OF the banks then
in nneratinn uos 5000 100 $50 OF