Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1898-01-06
III PRESENTS ITS PLAN.
Main Points in the Report of the
Monetary Commission.
Presents What 1t Considers 20 lie Dee
fects I'm Our Present Currency
System, ana Suggests How 1t
May lie Reformed.

\ Wis an abstract Of the report OF the none
N tary commission appointed under au-
n thorlty of the convention of business
yamen held in indianapolis last January
\ which has just been made public:
n It retains practically unchanged the ex-
y listing metallic money. The existing gold
STANDARD on which business has been done
=since 1879 is, OF course, maintained, on the
ground that Industrial interests demand
certainty as to what the standard shall be,
For the steady employment OF labor, FAC
tories and mines must be constantly OPP
cerated; and constant operation, In the judg-
ment Of business men, Is Impossible so long
sas there Is uncertainty as to the standard
on which prices of goods and orders are
based. And to this end, It Is urged that
the United States should remove all I'M
certainty as to the meaning of coin In Its
ieobllgatlons, thereby saving the taxpayer
by the ability to borrow at lower rate OF
interest
Place for silver.
No attempt is made to remove the exist
ding silver dollars nor to change their
Iegal-tender quality; on the contrary,
place is provided for them In the circulation
by forbiddlng the Issue Of any paper money
gother than silver certificates In denomlna-
lions below ten dollars. The silver cur
rency, which will be In the hands of the
people, must be kept on parity with gold,
as is now provided by law, and this should
be done by requiring the treasury to give
gold for a silver dollar on demand, Con-
sequently, when 1t Is known that a silver
dollar can be exchanged for gold 1t Will
circulate freely lin the form of certih-
ecates), and our metallic money without be-
ing diminished, will be unified on a certain
basis. And, as all this silver currency will
be needed to meet the demands for large
change (when other paper below ten dol
lars is retired), It will not be presented for
redemption at the treasury, and II will
kcreate no strain on the gold reserves. But
sno more silver dollars should be coined
Reserve Too Slender.
The commission contend that the ten diff
ferent kinds of money now In use create an
anomalous and confusing situation. More
over, the whole fabric rests on too slen-
der a reserve of gold. 1t is urged that the
demand obligations of the government
should not be used as money, because they
may be, and have been, presented for gold
to the injury Of the nations credit. This
causes grave doubts as to the standard on
which the business operations Of the coun-
try rest. Everything which, by experience
,creates uncertainty and hurts trade
flinders prosperity and should be removed
Hence the fiscal affairs of the treasury re-
lating to the receipt and disbursement of
public revenues should be entirely sep
.arated from the monetary functions deal
ing with the exchange and redemption of
the currency. BY establishing separate
edivsion of issue and redemption In the
treasury 1t will be impossible to take away
funds set apart for the protection OF our
monetary system and use them for current
expenditures.
Fraught with Danger.
Above all, 1t is regarded as dangerous to
tmaintain the present practice Of using gov
rarnnoent dema nd Ohlipa films a money Our
fathers never made anything full legal
otender money except gold and silver; but
In the stress Of civil war, confusing the
fiscal and monetary functions of the state,
forms of debt due on demand were used as
money not as the result of elaboration but
,of emergency conditions. They were is
sued exactly because there were no re-
sources in the treasury; and so they de-
'precated drove out gold, furnished a
fluctuating standard, increased the nation
fal debt enormously, caused change in
{prices whenever the credit of the paper
standard fuctuated reduced the purchas-
ling power of wages, and by causing I'M
expected changes in the level of prices
ggave rise to extraordinary speculation, in
creased the severity of commercial crises
sand placed the small producer at disad-
vantage with the large operator. For II
years CS62-lS79) the government paper was
q falslfed promise, and our standard was
based on this lie Trade and industry be-
ecame speculative. Men of large wealth can
take care OF themselves; but men of small
means should be protected from the evils
arising from such uncertainty Of the stand
ard
If the demand obligations of the govern
tment are used as money, reserves must al |
ways be kept on hand to redeem them. |
They are not therefore a loan without in |
7terest; and the expense of keeping up
these reserves has made the paper money |
49,.
an increase of the public debt These gold |
reserves are necessary, unless the gov
eminent permits its notes to go to pro- |
test. The mere credit Of the United States |
behind Its notes is too vague thing, its |
power to tax is too remote to provide cash |
ION hand for instant use. So far as expense |
is concerned, this debt could have been |
more easily borne by changing 1t into |
dow Understanding bonds.
Should De Withdrawn.
For these and other reasons the COM
omission strongly urge the government to |
withdraw Its demand obligations now used |
fRs money, decline to provide gold for ex- |
gporters, and put the burden and expense of |
maintaining a redeemable paper crcula- |
ton upon the banks. In order to meet the |
demand obligations, the present reserves
of gold In the treasury furnish beginning |
to be set aside in the division of issue and |
redemption; and to meet possible contin- |
gencies the secretary of the treasury Is |
authorized to sell bonds whenever the re-
erves need replenishment. In this way |
or from surplus revenue the demand obli-
cations Chat is, United States notes and |
treasury notes Of 1890 can be gradually re-
moved, and the cost to the country can be
reduced, while this process will also give
the inestlmable advantage of ceasng to
ruse demand debts as money, of simplify
ing our currency and of adding to conf
hence In the certainty Of our standard
BY the plan of the commission, government
paper Is withdrawn in the first five years
only as fast as the banking currency ex-
7pands, so that contraction cannot possibly
4take place; If United States notes are can
celed their place will be taken by the gold
paid out for them, or by the expansion of
bank notes (under the new system pro-
fposed); and In the following five years
all the remaining United States notes are
to be retired.
Bank Note Is Landed.
The demand obligations of the United
States were put forth solely because there
were no funds in the treasury to redeem
them. The notes were only evidence that
property had been received and used up
for services or supplies or public buildings
(no longer available assets) The govern
ment by the nature Of the operation did
mot retain, as the notes went out, any
property Immediately convertible into coin |