The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-09-16

NcCsYary Of Minnesota should explain
the provisions of his currency bill, in
troduced at the last session of con-
gress, but the paper money champions
Tired questions at him so fast that his
entire IS minutes was taken up in an
swering them, and his paper went over
TO the evening session. The fire of
questions brought out some views on
coinage. With reference to silver, he
said it had never been damonetized, in
the proper meaning of the word What
had taken place was precisely a change
N policy as to coinage. 1t was simply
a question of coming on public account
or private account.
lengthy exposition of the process
and history of coinage followed. George
Fred Williams presented a long series
OF questions, to which Mr.. McCleary
attempted to reply, but was cut off
by the clamor of the fiiatists to be
heard
w. w. Clay Of Chicago said money is
money by virtue of the law behind it.
lie is opposed to the coinage of gold,
silver or paper on private account
John 2. Irish of San Francisco de-
tended the gold standard in a few
words.
Chairman Towne came back at the
gold mems contention that value can
not be legislated into a substance by
saying legislation can affect value. The
only value money has is its exchange
value.
A paper by William c. Cornwall of
Buffalo, n. Y, on deposits, was read
by e. V. Smalley, secretary of the Ma
tional Sound Money League.
AN ABUSIVE FIATIST.
Two Of the middie-of-the-road edi-
tors of the Reform Press association,
nfS-ifl e Ind md IL
Reed OF Iowa, managed to be heard on
their theories of absolute fiatism. Reed
created a scene by charging the gold
standard advocates with being paid
hirelings of the bankers and the money
power.
This evening A. w. Wright of Chi
cage elaborated on a plan for free
banking system without government
supervision. Professor X. Allen Smith
of the Washington state university and
Judge Sheldon of Connecticut contend !
ed for the cumulative theory as regu
lative of prices, and Congressman De
Almond of Missouri pictured a grue- |
some future with only a 5 per cent !
gold reserve to redeem an immense |
volume of bank paper, under the pres
ent system, in case Of a panic.
MCLEARY'S VIEWS.
Time was allowed Congressman Nc
banking system.
Mr.. McCleary said in part: Briefly |
stated, the problem of currency reform /
is to furnish to every community in the |
United States a currency whose euaI- |
ity is beyond question, ample in guam |
tity, but not redundant, responsive to !
the demands of business in each COM |
nlUnity, to equalize and lower the rate |
of interest throughout the country, to |
make bank failures almost unknown, to !
minimize the severity OF commercial |
crises and Danish the possibility Of a
financial panic.
rs it possible to lower very mater
tally the interest rate in the United
States? ] answer that a commercial /
rate approximating 2 per cent is fof
this nation entirely practicable within
the comparatively near future. Two
per cent is the usual commercial rate
of France and England today
rs it possible for US to have such a
bank system as to do away with bank
failures? Practically, yes. In Scot
land only three banks have failed in
200 years. In Canada there have been
only two bank failures within the last
year. Is it possible to have a currency
and banking system so strong that at
d time of commercial crisis no man
need fail? Most assuredly it is. When
the great banking house of Barring
Bros. fell in 1880 the crash was felt all
over the world. But, though their af-
fairs required long period for liquida-
ton, not for a single day did any bank
in England refuse its customers their
usual discounts.
1t viii always remain true that GER
tain communities will have more cur
rency volume than other communities.
It ought to remain true, because they
have more exchanges to perform and,
therefore, need more currency. But
these differences win be only the nor
NAL ones, and they will not trouble
anyOne's soul when our banking and
system is so adjusted that
every community, in every section, and
at all seasons, has the quantity and the
Kind of currency that it needs for its
business transactions, adequate to its {
purposes and furnished on terms that
are seen 70 be equitable. And such a
system, once established, will endure
endure by virtue of its right TO endure;
endure because il viii be fortified by
the intelligence and integrity of this
great people"
The closing argument for fiatism was !
made by General Warner. He said the
other side had practically admitted the
Iuantitative theory of money by con-