Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1899-11-06
THE PANIC OF 1893.
HOW THE PEOPLE WERE MADE
TO SUFFER FOR BANKS.
The Sherman Law Had Raised the Price
of Wheat and This yexed England
Into Plan to Secure Its Immediate
Repeal-History of u Crime.

III DOM the great political parties OF
the country begin to feel the working
of the yeast of knowledge on one sub
iect above all others, for the plain
reason that it is beginning to be under
stood at last that the monetary panic
and consequent decentralization of all
business industries was due to a fixed
purpose rather than to any chance
combination or mesalliance of events
and circumstances, and that the plan
was as much deliberate conception,
undertaken with cold calculation, as
any scheme of band of wreckers to
get possession of treasure ship in
the offing Of a reef-fringed ocean
island. The order issued to the 3,70O
national banks by the management Of
the associated system on the 18th of
March, 1893, for the purpose OF secur-
ing concerted action for the objects in
dicated in the circular, was the signal
gun of this nefarious war. 1t recited
that 1.-The interests of national banks
require immediate financial legislation
by congress" 1t declared that "silver,
silver certificates, and treasury notes
must be retired, and national bank
notes upon gold basis made the only
money" This, it further stated, would
require the authorization of from
S400,000,000 to $1,000 100000 of new
bonds as basis of circulation" The
banks were therefore ordered to retire
their loans. Then this cold blooded
and piratical order said: BE careful
q trip
among your patrons, especially among
influential business men," And it di-
rected them to advocate an extra ses-
sion of congress for the repeal of the
purchase clause Of the Sherman law,
and to act with other banks in getting
up a large petition to congress for its
unconditional repeal, according to a
form accompanying the circular. And
1t affirmed in conclusion that "the
future life Of national banks as fixed
and safe investments" depended upon
immediate action, "as there is an in
creasing sentiment in favor of govern
ment legal tender notes and silver
coinage" Here stands the plot re-
realed. After such a showing, it
looked well to see the Eckelses and
Hamlins of the treasury department
sounding their alarm gong that free
coinage men were guilty of disturbing
business prosperity by destroying pub
lie confidence. First, they overturn
and undermine all the normal condi-
ttons of the countrys finances them
selves, and then they turn and de-
nounce those who seek only the res
toration of what maintained the coun-
try in its course Of prosperity. And
these are the men who assume to guard
our finances and govern our policy.
The distinctly declared purpose was to
create monetary panic, or at least "a
money stringency." which was to be
charged to the expectation of gold in
amount sufficient to determine the
necessity of an extra session of con-
gress. The object of an extra session
was to establish an exclusive gold basis
for our currency. Then, to procure
such legislation as would retire all ex-
listing forms Of paper money, and give
to the banks power to issue the only
money outside the metallic limit. Fin
ally, to load the people with a heavy
debt, payable principal and interest in
gold, which debt was to be the special
interest of the banks themselves, by
furnishing them with bond basis for
this paper currency. And all obviously
to crafty the greed Of foreign money
lenders hungering for another thou
sand million United States bonds, re-
deemable only in gold, which these
same foreign money lenders had per-
suaded us to accept, discarding consti-
tutional silver, as the exclusive money
of this country. The work was done
according to the design. All the ma
tional banks of the country proceeded
to withdraw a third of their circula-
ton from business use, solely in obedi-
ence to the order from the money cen
ter. Then they called in one-half of
their loans, which at the time aggre-
gated not less than $1,000, 100000. ST.
multaneously they served notice
on their customers that fur
ther loans and discounts would
cease. and that all obligations
then outstanding must be met as
they came due without further ex-
tension. The result was exactly what
the conspiring money power had cal
oulated. The money market became
stringent instantaneously, no one
could tell how or why. Failures were
precipitated right and left. The banks
themselves went down by the whole
sale, the explanation adroitly given for
SO unprecedented an occurrence being
that the falling banks had been doing
business on unsound principles. In or
der to more fully understand the
method, purpose and spirit of this
purely predatory conspiracy, having it's
long tap root in England, in Lombard
street, in mere handful Of powerful
banking houses in London and on the
continent, we must next proceed to
observe the effect of this bank order in
the way of contraction, since strin-
gency was the thing aimed at in order
to force call of congress and compel
its favorable legislation. First fol-