The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-10-03

v
to affect the iegal-tender qualities "as now
provided by law of the silver dollar, or
of any other money coined or issued by
the United States" Therefore, all private
contracts merely providing for the pay
ment of dollars can still be discharged
by the payment Of SILVER dollars. Sherman
certificates and greenbacks; that is. it has
not affected the standard of private con-
tracts. 1t has, however, provided that
something over SS39.0oA.Go0 out OF about
sl.026 100000 of Government bonds. bearing
5. and ) per. cent interest and payable
in COIN may be refunded into per cent 4
gold bonds.
WHAT IT ALL MEANS.
That is, TO be assured OF gold in pay
n nt of the interests of these bonds, theE
n.lsst be readjusted. az it were, into per
cent. obligations a lG TO or 50 per cent
basis. as YOU nay say, SO far as interest
is concerned. In other words. the act de-
clarcs that coin in the bonds referred
to shall mean gold if the holder will
accept in exchange for his present :, ] or
) per cent. bonds ,thers bearing en- the
average less than half the interest he is
now receiving. and if he will not accept
such readjusted bonds, he may still be
paid both as To principal and interest in
silver. There still remains unfunded into
these two per cent bonds about $3.50 O0o,-
coo of the sS39. 100000 that may be exchans
ed for per cent, gold bonds Having
provided for the possible issue of $500 o0e.
G0V of gold bonds. common prudence de-
m5ndcd that our gold reserve should be
strengthened, and this the act has done
But il falls far short Of establishing tho
gold standard in this country, and does
not secure against the policy of u Presi-
dent of Secretary of the Treasury hostile
to gold. TIE passage Of this act means,
n my Judgment. one thing we should
-
mont Of this country on the question Of
currency legislation, and that is that there
is no hope in the near future, ii at ali.
in the lifetime OF this generation of any
elaborate currency enactment along the
Ines Of the Baltimore plan or any
other which contemplated the issue OF
money by the banks. Before We can hope
for any legislation of that kind. people
n large. the masses, must be made to I'M
lerstand the necessity OF it, and lie jus
tice and wisdom of its specific provisions:
and 1 care not how the value of this bank
money may be secured, nor how fair may
be the compensation pad by the banks
for the privilege. it will be difficult work.
and take long time to persuade the peo-
pie tt?at the bankers are not getting an
undue advantage and profit through their
right TO issue money. The unreasonable
hostility with wllich so many people still
View tic right of national banks in this
respect should convince the most SAN
cune Of how almost hopeless will be the
task of reconcilinG the people to anything
worth attention of the kind under con-
sheraton. And is anything along these
lines worth attempting? Everything Of the
Kind which has been attempted involves
the greater or less abandonment of the
most essential features of true or redemp-
ton money; namely, Intrinsic and fixed
value. And the closer we keep to true
money and the fewer substitutes for it we
have. tie better. The industry, capacity.
| commerce and wealth OF the people are all
proper clements OF their credit; but credit,
which means. atf@r all. hope, relief. cNpec-
fancy should be eliminated as far as pos
sfhe from money For a thousand years
before coins were invented money passed
by weight alone. and during that period
| the only confidence needed with respect
to il was as to the purity of the metal,
Which was weighed out before him to whom
ii wa paid therefore. nothing but necessity
should induce the adoption or omission Of
representative money. Its very name shows
that II is q substitute for something which
IS conceded to be better than the substi-
tute.
BROAD FIELD FOR WORK.
This brings to the suggestion I
would make in this connection. We may
not be able to bring all the weird to adopt
induce most of the people Of this hems-
| phere to adopt it? Hayti has already
made our gold dollar its standard of val
ue. and its action may be the entering
| wedge whereby the gold dollar Of the
United States will become in expres;
terms the standard of every country in
the three Americas. Ali OF them excent
some Of the British possessions use The
decimal system and our money nonen-
iS ic hat nf II
hemisphere, or is, at least, familiar TO
most of its people
Let this association take up as an inpor-
tant part OF its work the task of procur-
ing he adoption of the gold dollar of the
United States as the standard of value
throughout all the Americas.
In concluding. l would remind the mem.
bers that this is voluntary organization
without legal means for coercing our
members or others TO measures that a
majority Of us may deem ever so advisa-
BILE We can only persuade, and hereto
fore have never attempted to govern
in any other manner, and have wisely
forborne from going into the details Of
banking and endeaVorinS to secure uni
formity in matters concerning which
there must. for the very nature of things.
be much diversity of interest and judg-
ment. If a contrary policy were possible,
the present is very inopportunc time for
its adoption. when combinations of capital
are viewed With SO much disfaVor by the
masses.
THRUST AT MR. BRYAN
That some Of the leaders of the people
should find il TO their advantage to decry
the patriotism of bankers is ] am sure
source of regret to All members of this
Association. | may venture to say with
out fear of successful contradiction, that
| no other single class Of men are so de-
pendent on good times" as bankers. and
none do more to make good times or stand
| more brayely in the breach and sacri
flee more TO stem a panic and avert the
| untold evils that follow in its train.
| than bankers And no one class of men
| from the days of Robert Morris to the
| present time nave made more personal
| sacrifices and rentured their fortunes
more freely for their country than Amer
| lean bankers; and yet some who must
| know this hesitate not to induce many 10
| believe that bankers are the enemies of
| their country. Let us hope that the ever
/ increasing Intelligence of the people will
soon make them npervious to such un-
| jusufiable misrepresentation and sucf IN
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