The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1898-01-04
PRESENT SYSTEMS DEFECTS
Government Should Go Out Of the Banking Business and
GreenbaCks Must Be Redeemed
and Retired.

INC commission appointed by ho In
.iianapons monetary eonyeutipa held on
January lb. iSI. mot In Washington Sep,
tembcr q. and reported ~ conclusions De-
oember II. 1871. 1ns olvvon menbcm OF
tho commission were Mraars. George b..
Edmunds. da)nas u. Leighton. y. a..
Duaa. W, II. Dean. Charles .. Fairchld
s,uyyesan, Fish. }. ", Fries. L. \.
dafno,t J. Lauruaos l.aughlu, G..
stuart rattufson and Il. y, Taylor a
plan In the form OF prpp,a,Ionn oo DC
later presented 20 oongysaa In a detailed
bin. 10 preceded by a brief al,siy Of lho
problem submitted 20 them. A fnal te.
por, In book form 10 to DO las-r ANen 70
tho publie.
10r commission Fapory a. grave evils
~ tho situation tho pruoncc OF very
large amount OF gold credit ourruaey i'm.
ptopgiy secured. tho abscncu OF an claH
Us ,usulauun suited 10 an expanding
c.amcr,c. the circulation of ton different
kiuJa of money having different irsai
tender quaiilios tho cSistracc Of 80 many
slRcf dollars Of c1ll iogal'loulor quality
AAaso value aH buiilpa n luaH than one.
sH-4-
button or banking facilities Throughout
the country. a nys,oin OF bank ISSUES ~.
eutvd by bonda which shrinlSA IA tho face
OF an oNpayiing development ot trade
aud. OF cinof lmportanccc. to watch tho
above contribute morc "a l,r- tbs uncer.
talngy Whirh has been produced at home
and abroad au 10 what our standard oi
payments shall continue TO bo,
Some standard OF value either good or
bad must bo Ia fact adopted by overy
ccuntry Tho standard must have mar.
kct yRlur an IL commodity Independently
Of any governmental nat and OF all legal.
tender Jaws {, must be durable. it m,Ha
be homogeneous. Il mast nave rtnSi.
mum Of value propor,ioncd TO It's bulk
~ must have. aa coumOity, ~ stable
a market value aa poaslblo, and IN tricr
TO secure The stability OF that market
yaluc, thc relation between It's supply ana
demand must be as constant na possible
Gold alone fulntls thcso conditions.
Although certainty as TO tho STANDARD
Is The very esHUltlal Of busansas prosper.
ib that has b,on hmentably absent IN
our Industrial MS,ory. since 1869 the
gold standard has bocn supplantod by an
ineonyNtIbc fnper standard iiuctue Ing
during scvcntoon years from 100 20 30
cents on tho dollar: In the remaining per.
icd the possibility OF change from tho
restored gold standard to one OF silver $50
constituted ~ 90 ba about onc-hnlf M
valuc) haH been constantly present, The
injury To tho dcvelopmut ~ our country
ny this uncertainty has been lncnlc,lablo.
and the losses have risen to hundreds or
millions Of doll0rS In these years. while
tho United States haH been suffering un.
told disasters. other countries In which
tho standard has remnlnad rnques.loncd
have Increased their trade ana produc.
tlon to tho highest point ever realized In
their history. This uncertainty or to the
standard in (which pGi,'s and contracts
haN" been expressed has given an undue
speculative character to Industry. ana
placed tho smaller producer nj disad.
rgin9IUaI.f 80 IA.
intor.
So long ~ variations continue be.
tween The values Of gold and silver only
one or the other can be used as a stand.
ard without entering into tho reasons
why these relative variations exlat. or
without discussing any suggestions os 20
how those variations may he removed. the
fa,1 must be recognized that these varin.
tons now exist. And II the choice Is to
DO made between gold and silver It is
clear that the existing gold standard.
upon which present contracts have been
IN fnct based since 1878. should he main.
talned A distinct announcement In law
would efrectualy remove all dlstrust on
This point for the future, and the credit
OF the government at home and abroad
would be Improved 10 the saving Of many
millions to the taxpayer In lowered rates
of interest on our indebtedness As the
first and Indispensable element OF SOUND
monetary system the standard should not
only be distinctly declared In the law but
clearly nxed In the minds Of the people
BY the concuudng habits OF modern clvi.
ilzed nations throughout the world, gold
'as In fact been chosen as the standard.
Any country wishing to maintain trade re-
iatlons with the most enlightened coun.
tries Of The world must necessarily base
their transactions on The same chosen
STANDARD.
It is clear luhat the metal selected as a
standard Is not In civilized lands the only