The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1900-01-27
The New Nationa1 BANK system

ana through tnem tney are controlling tue
action of the American people.
The New NationaI Bank system.
challenge you to find word in youl plat
| form of 1896 that promised to retire the green
backs and substitute banknotes. | challenge
you to find in your letter of acceptance of
your President single word that indicated
that he would try TO retire the greenbacks and
form a paper-money trust for the beneht OF
the national banks of the United States Ap-
plause).
81 tell you, that if the Republican party
had placed in lis platform an outline of the
bill now before Congress, or the President had
| placed that outline in his letter of acceptance,
| he could not have been President of the
United States. (Applause.) And yet today
the Republican party is seeking to exchange
the entire financial policy of this nation, TO
| drive the government out of the business OF
issuing money in order to turn that business
over to the national banks of the United
| States
Have you considered the plan; do you realize
| the favoritism that you bestow upon national
banks? Let me state the proposition in its
most favorable terms: They say, let us au-
| thorize the President to issue bonds, to buy
gold and redeem every greenback presented
for redemption, and when redeemed the
greenback is not to be issued again except as
a gold certificate, and there is no difference
between retiring the greenback entirely and
issuing gold certificates when the gold is de-
posted, anu put the greenback in the Treas
ury, and you are only issuing it as a certifi-
cate for gold. 1t is merely dishonest way
of doing what might honestly be done by the
retirement of the greenbacks.
"Then they will have all of the bonds
funded for per cent. bonds, and then these
bonds will be at par, and then the banks may
issue money up to the par value of the bonds,
and then they reduce the tax from per cent.
| to one-half of l FER cent When that bill
goes through and becomes law, then, if an
ordinary Republican wants to buy Govern
ment bond at 2 per cent he rakes together
the money to pay for the bond, and will put it
away in a place for safekeeping. He will be
out of the use of the money, and he will get
per cent. on the bond.
''But if national bank, with capital of
$l00, 900, wants to invest in the same bond,
the bank can buy the bonds for 100000, de-
post them with the Treasurer, get back $780,
600 in currency, which will take the place of
the money spent for the bonds. And then
the bank will get 2 per cent. on the SlOO, 900
and pay per cent. back, and thus he draws
II per cent. on the 500, 900, with actually
nothing invested at all. (Applause.
| nat Is tue Siiupie dIdiySlS vi tuS nattSi.
The ordinary man, when he buys bond, is out
the use of the money, and has TO be satisfied
| with the interest on the money, but the bank
gets the money back and gets the interest too.
My mother used to tell me, when was boy,
that could either eat my cake or keep it;
4 but the national bank can both eat it and
keep it. daughter and applause.) Why ?
| Because the national banks have more lnfiu-
ence with the Republican party than all of
the people who pay the taxes. Applause
| But there is another feature of it. This is to
be permanent policy. The government is
| to go out of the business of issuing money and
the national banks are to supply whatever
paper money the people need. The bank is
| to have the right to expand the currency.
We are to have an elastic currency. An elias
tic currency, with the banks holding both
ends of the elastic. daughter.
"Yes, they can expand the currency and
| contract it, but they cannot expand 1t beyond
the amount of the bond. Therefore, 1t the
money must increase with population and
| business, then the bonded debt of this nation
must not only be permanent, but must be an
increasing debt. (Applause. Therefore,
| the Republican party seeks to fasten upon
this country perpetual and ever-increasing
debt, in order that the banks may control the
volume of the peoples money. (Applause.
"And this measure is to be iorced through
Congress with all the power of an administra-
| ton, when the American people have never
had chance to sit in judgment upon the
proposition.
"That, my friends, is a simple statement of
what you can expect under the best condi-
tions of this bill But do you think it safe to
| let the banks control the volume of your
money! Why, my friends, l cannot under
| stand how anyone who knows human nature,
or who has read history, is willing to give this
great power into the hands of private corpor-
| ations and bankers. Let me warn you, that
when you join with other bankers in an effort
to give the advantages over all the rest of the
people; when you once establish the doctrine
! that fayoritism is good, you will find that you
cannot stop that principle with the bankers;
but they will begin to apply it then as between
bankers, and after the banks swallow up all
the rest of the people, then the big banks will
swallow up the little banks.
"And It has been proposed recently that
we have branch banks, great central bank,
with branches throughout the country. What
does it mean? 1t means when there is
once established that system, that this branch
bank, with the power of the central bank be-
| hind it, can drive out of business every other
| bank in the community, and then the people
will be at the mercy of that one institution.
It means that the bigger banks will absorb
the little ones, and then finally all the banks
will be in the hands of few men, and all the
business will be controlled by few men, and
then if anyone has anything that the managers
of the bank want, all the bankers have to do
is to refuse to consider that collateral, drive
down its value, bankrupt the holder and buy
the thing in at their own price. (Applause.) J
Is it not strange; isn't it strange that anyone,
not a national banker, could look without
alarm upon this proposed currency bill.