The age-herald., 1898-03-20

It is an adage that the law is a jealous mistress, and certain it Is that when one is dependent upon her he must pay zeal- ous court and can take but little time for reading outside of the books of the law. During the last four years, however, being deeply interested in the money question which has become the issue upon which 6 re-alignment of political parties in our country has been made, I have devoted considerable time to reading in the endeav- or to reach a judiclally impartial under standing of the material points in this great case. I have been able to reach few conclusions, the most important of which is that the national banking sys- tenn, 'pointed to with pride" by its advo- cates as 'the best banking system the world ever saw is in it's inception and development an adrot scheme of the mon ey-lending classes of this country and Eu- rope This scheme is that as the exhaust less wealth of this country Is produced by the toiling masses, these money-lending classes will acquire and control it merely by Juggling with the counters by which wealth is computed. The gold standard is the keystone of this arch-conspiracy, but so steaIthily has the conspiracy intrenched llSeil III OuI ldWS lhdl thO heeSs Ae"'S-NS of it's supporters, honestly deceived, can not be made to see that there is any con- spiracy at all
 To present this view, shall not attempt to enter into much original argument, but I will endeavor to present somewhat of a s'brief," as lawyers do in the courts. shall therefore as far as possible, use the language of such authorities as must be oF sideration. Most of these authorities are collated in a recent work on the National Banking System by R. M Smith, and as I have not all the originals, shall quote almost entirely from MT. Smiths work As this discussion will be too long for one newspaper article, shall contribute 1t in a short series of articles. If 1t helps any of my fellow-citizens to understand that the policy of the present republican admin istration of this government (which policy, 1t is sad to say, is supported by many who still call themselves democrats) of turning over the circulating medium of this coun- try to banks of issue, is design and con- spiracy to monopoliZe the wealth or thls nation, shall feel amply rewarded.
 Origin of the System
 When the war between the states began United States gold and silver coins, and the different state bank notes constituted all our currency. The first thing which forced itself upon public attention on both sides was that there was not enough money for the needs of war. Well has money been called "the sinews of war" and es- pecially is this true of paper money, for paper money has been the "sinewS" of all the wars of our country and It would also have been our strength in peace had 1t not been ungratefully discredited and it's redemption forced after the war was over in the cowardly gold dollar which spred it's wings and flew when the war cry rose.
 The financial condition at the beginning of the civil war is thus described in Hay and Nicolay's Abraham Lincoln, a His tory,'' vol 6 page 230.
 "It was apparent that the volume of cur rency in the country was not sufficient for the enormous requirements of the public expenditure The banks could neither par coin to the government for funds, nor dis pose of the bonds to their customers for specie. The weaker institutions were al- ready tottering, and the stronger ones feared a crisis which would result in uni- versal disaster. They met in convention on the 27th of December, 1861, and agreed upon a suspension of specie payments which took place the following day. The government necessarily followed the exam nle of the banks $ In the world of finance as well as in the world of poli- ties it was agreed that the only resort of the government was paper money"
 Extra Session of Congress
 In July, 1861, congress had been called in extra session for the purpose of devising ways and means of carrying on the war. Two loan acts were passed by this con- gress one of which was approved July II, and the other August 5, 1861. By the first