The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-11-24
Desirable Currency Reform.

| Tn. rlamor which was raised two years
! ago for tho retirement Of the Government
! legal tender notes and for the substitution
| in their place of bank notes has very
nearly died away. Almost all OF the
advocates Of u bank currency have ceased
To demand anything more than an in
crease OF the amount OF notes per-
mtted to be issued by the national
banks against deposits OF Government
bonds from the present 90 per cent. OF the
pur value OF such bonds to 100 per cent. OF
1t. Tho project OF an elastic" currency,
to be had by abolishng the requirement
! of bond security and by allowing all banks.
State ~ we'll as national, to issue notes
secured only by their own assets, though It
may be recommended by Secretary GAGE In
! his forthcoming report, has 30 few support
! crs that IL also may be treated rs dead.
As THE SUS has repeatedly pointed out.
! the safest and hest paper money that
| can h" furnished to the people OF this
country Is Government notes redeem
! able on demand in gold coin. At pres
nnt, however, the volume Of these notes
is fixed by law. and the demand for
| additional circulating medium is met
I Wy hS' VI gun NOln WI VI lTtuSuIN
certificates against deposits oi gold
I coin, of which the smallest denomina-
tinn Is $50 1t would hn much better
and simpler to authorize the issue by the
Treasury, for deposits OF gold coin. of
legal tender notes In any denominations
from 81 upward which tho de?ositors may
request, making these new notes. and all
the old ones. too, rcdeemable specifically
I In gold coin. When redeemed, the notes
| should h. rcissucd only against fresh de-
posts Of gold coin. IA the redeemed notes OF
the Bank Of En- gland are.
An auxiliary measure which the adop-
J ton Of this one will require Is that
! az the issue. in exchange for the out
standing silver dollars and silvercertificates.
of legal tender notes redeemable in gold
The Government Is already bound to receive
the silver dollars and silver certificates
usrqual to gold in payment OF duties and
taxes. and, II il il To use only gold in the
redemption of its legal tender notes. 1t must
also b" prepared to give notes redeemabls
in god in exchange for silver dollars
and silver certificates. As fast. too as tho
exchange was made tho silver dollars set
| free by II could be sold for gold and tho
! reserve for redemption augmented with
! the proceeds.
BY adopting these measures the cur
r"ncy Of the country would be- not only
simpliiied and freed from all dispute as
30 its value. but 1t would b elastic in the
true sense Of the word. w Ell more OF it
was needed than the country Possessed
gold would be imported and Govern
melt notes taken out against it. When
its supply was redundant, the notes
would be redeemed in gold and the gold
would be exported. The bugbcar OF silver
payments, which the continued existence Of
the standard silver dollars has created in ill
informed minds, would be laid at rest, and
We should have currency not only as
good as gold-which 1t Is now-but con-
vertiblo into gold on demand beyond all
doubt and controversy Great Britain has
had Just such n currency for more than
fifty years, and nobody in that country
desires any change in It, The Bank of
England issues all the paper money used
in England and Wales, and increases and
diminishcs the volume OF it only as gold Is
deposited for its notes or withdrawn by
their redemption. Our Treasury can be
: made without difficulty to perform the
same function and with the Same salts
, factory result.