The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1900-06-08
"rlanaged Currency"

eminent ana a 1uIl legal lSnueE paper
currency not redeemable in coin. The
IVatcjHman fails, as fail it must, aud as all
predecessors have failed, to show that the
automatic" system has ever been salts
factory in maintaining level of prices,
or in curbing or controlling in any degree
the initiation and contraction of the cur
rency by bank redeemable bills or bank
credit. When the old time State banks
ran out of redemption coin they simply
suspended specie payment and inflated at
will. Prices went up like rocket and
fell like the stick and panics galore
resulted.
This condition Of affairs must ever be
under the old automatic system, which is
not automatic at ALL for the free coinage
of gold and silver increased or diminished
the money of the world as the mines in
creased or failed.
To confine the issue of paper currency
to the government and retain the redemp-
ton clause will not remedy the matter.
A run can be made on the Treasury as
readily as on bank, and if the government
permits the bankers TO do the currency
manipulating they will do as they always
have done, corner the money at will.
AS far as the free coinage of gold and
silver enters into the problem, when the
mines are prolific more money is put into
circulation, but when the government
makes crippled paper currency as the
greenback-redeemable in coin-then the
banker has the government by the leg. ;"
There is no sense in the redemption sys-
tenn, and no feature of automatic
about it. Ifthe WatchmaN had any pro-
gressiveness in its makeup il would advise
that the Democratic party drop that
''redeemable in coin" clause ont of the
money plank of the Chicago platform. 1t
is as much of barnacle as gold Demo-
crat,' "gold standard" and other dis
carded rubbish which was sent adrift at
the Chicago convention in 1896.
Let the Kansas City convention declare
for the free coinage of gold and silver, all
paper money to be issued by the govnrn-
ment, of full legal tender, and in order to
give the country truly automatic cur
rency, give it system of government
banking. If it is the part of wisdom for
the government to issue all money, metal
and paper, it is fully as necessary in order
to keep the control of it out of the hands
of money sharps, to establish banks for its
safe keeping and distribution for the
people.
The banking power is the money power.
When the government sets up in COM
petition with the bankers in the business
it will become the money power but never
till then. The government cannot regu-
late the issue of money as long as the
banks are permitted to manipulate it.
Modern-day business cannot be tram
sacted without banks. and if the govern
ment will not furnish banking facilities
for the people they will go to private
parties, Notwithstanding it costs the bus
mess of the country hundreds Of millions
annually. The power that controls the
peoples money has power over their
business, and if that franchise is given to
private parties they will squeeze every
cent out of the wealth producers they
can bear.
All the money in existence in this
country is practically government issues
The national bank currency is in effect
government money. The government is
responsible for it all and the people view
it in that way. The banks are mere
agents of the government to put the few
millions of national bank notes into
circulation.
For thirty-seven years there has teen
no money i'll circulation but government
money, and the banks have exercised
more power over the currency and bus
mess of the country in that time than
ever before. Suppose the three hundred
and thirty or forty millions of national
bank notes were greenbacks, what differ
ence would it make in the control the
banks would WELD over iii None
whatever.
The Watchman aud all of the old stripe
of Democrats profess to swear by Jeffer-
son, bu; they cannot place finger on
line or a word Jefferson ever wrote or
spoke favoring redemption money. He
said government issues of paper money
bottomed on taxes. Why don't these old
Democrats follow his teachings? Frank
lin and Jefferson were the only philos-
ophers of popular government among
g the fathers" and they were both unre-
deemable, in coin, government paper
money men.
Ifthe Watckman aspires to be leader
of political thought it can't afford to go
back to wallowing in the mire of redenlp.
ton money.
The hour has struck when the Demo
crat party must go forward or the people
will forsake it. Redemption in coin be-
long to an ignorant financial past. The
money exploiters who use the Republican
party as convenience to promote their
schemes have taken an audacious forward
step in their system of wrestling all con-
troll of the money of the country from the
government, where the constitution
iudiciously lodges it, by contracting its
financial function tn the coiuaoe of GOLD