The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1898-10-22

How unfortunate that cur free-silver
friends cannot take up the government
bank question and with their eloquence
and ability fire straight at the mark
The party that would espouse this issue
would be invincible.
What great mass of argument can
be brought forward in behalf of the gov
eminent bank. The person or the party
that would argue against it would be SO
evidently in league with avarice and
greed as reveal their purpose at once;
while the advocates of government own
nership of banks would carry them selves
into power through universal popular
favor. 3@
Instead of considering the real money
question our friends will insist on bark
ing up the wrong tree. What nonsense
to insist that a permanent ratio must be
maintained of 16 pounds of silver to l
pound of gold, when it is admitted that
with the new devices in mining 80 pounds
of silver can be produced as easily as one
pound of gold. To waste breath, there
fore, in arguing that sixteen to one
ratio must be retained, is about as SEN
sib1e as to insist that a ratio of four
bushels of oats could be maintained with
one bushel of wheat.
Again, what folly to maintain that we
want more silver coin when we already
have in existence three times more silver
than we ever can use. And how blind
the person muet be who cannot see that
to get out more silver and Issue silver
certificates upon the silver is no solution
of the money question, because were we
to coin ten times more silver than we
have and issue silver certificates thereon
all the silver and all silver certificates
would Immediately go out of sight in a
time OF general bank failures, as they did
in 1898.
In 1890, 81 and '92 there was no com
plant of there being a shortage of money
in the United States. But when the silver
agitation began in the spring Of 1893,
frightening people into going to the
banks to get their money, IA banks col
lapsed and all the money went into hid
ing.
Then it was that our silver friends all
at once discovered that the foundation
cause of our" financial trouble was that
we did not have money enough and the
remedy would be more silver. With
$500 100000 of silver coin in the country,
and we not able to circulate over So, 000,-.
600, the discovery was made that we
must start up the minis and 60 to coin
ing more silver. Not word was said
about our banking system. No mention
was made of the fact that over 700 bank
failures had frightened everybody into
hiding all their money. The idea seems
never to have occurred to the great free
silver party that if we had ten times
more silver and ia banks would fail that
the people would hide all the money they
could get hold of and money would be
Just as close as ever.
We are sorry that our silver friends
h ave gone off in this shoot and that they
are so struck on this one hobby that
they can think of nothing else. Sorry
because they are an aggressive party ad-
vocating many commendable reforms.
But we suppose the fever must have it's
run. Like know nothingism, anti-ma-
sonry and the government going into the
business of manufacturing money and
loaning it to farmers and nobody else at
two per cent, the craze must run itself
out and we will have to plod along alone
in the government bank question until
! we can induce some other reform party
to take this issue up. J.,
But in stopping to regret that we can
not have the assistance of our free silver
friends we are wandering from the sub
ject. We will now show how the gov.
eminent bank would assist the farmer.
Suppose the government bank was
established in each important city, and
supposing that three. per cent was paid
on long time deposits. The bank would
be Immediately filled with money, gold
silver and paper money. The bank
would be filed with money all brought
out of its hiding places. AS everybody
who borrows money would Immediately
deposit what they borrowed the bank
would be continuously filled with money,
and the volume of money in the bank
would never be reduced.
Therefore, if everybody could get
money, as they could on the right Sc
curity, there would never be scarcity.