The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-10-22
TILT QUESTION 0nMoYEY

All human effort, whether in religion,
politics or commerce, seeks the channel
of least resistance. Thought and bust
ness, like water, may be diverted from
it's ordinary course by legislation, but
when the arbitrary barrier is removed
the laws of nature assume control. A
very large per cent of the financial and
industrial disasters is caused by in-ad-
vised attempts to force human effort
against the governing conditions.
During the last quarter of a century
the question of exchange has been a
prominent factor in our national econ
omy. For ten years the people have been
divided on this question of finance The
laws governing the circulating medium
have been condemned or upheld, accord
ing to the bias of the speaker or writer.
Something was wrong in the situation
and the administration of the finaces was
charged with being the cause of the diff
difficulty. We heard much of the .'crime
of 1873 and the cross of gold,' the go
cent dollar and the in God we trust
heresy. Men talked 1earnedly Of what
had to be to bring p-o
gushing industries. The history of
finance was paraded efore the astonish-
ed eyes of the groundlings, and they
were advised that to vote this theory in
power would mean ruin and that theory
opulence. People went crazy on the ques-
ton of money. The less a speaker I'M
derstood of the adaptation of a medium
of exchange to existing conditions the
more positive was he of his theoretical
assertions. The average politician dis
GUESSING the question of national finance
in its relation to the great world of bust
ness brings to mind the somewhat hack
neyed, but expressive lines of William
Shakespeare:
ION. but man. proud man,
Drest in a little brief authority;
Most ignorant of what he's most as
sured,
Like an angry ape,
Plays such fantastic tricks before high
heaven
AS makes the angels weep.
The trouble with the ordinary writer
and speaker on finance is that he takes
but one phase of the question and seeks
evidence from history to prove a pre-
conceived opinion And the history OF
finance, like the Bible will furnish proof
for most any heresy. Those who discuss
economic subjects are apt to forget that
we live amid ever changing conditions.
They forget that the world do move. .
It may seem somewhat iconoclastic, but
we think the majority of business men
will agree with us in the statement that
all this pother about the finances of the
oountry-this silver and gold squabble--
was to little purpose.
The speech of A. B. Stickney before the
Bankers association at Milwaukee, last
week, received universal applause be-
cause of its simplicity. He ignored the
little side paths which lead to anywhere
and nowhere and went straight to the
end of the difficulty. The great function
of banking is to furnish credit for bust
ness exchanges-to furnish medium of
exchange. The talker on money always
ignores the important part the bank
check plays in the business world. The
entire business of a city may be conduct
ed with the use of but very little
money" Taking one of Mr.. Stickney's
illustrations and simplifying it, we get
something like this. A manufacturer
goes to a bank and exchanges his credit,
represented by securities, to the amount
of 100000, and receives in exchange a
credit on the bank books for that
amount. No money has changed hands
The manufacturer pays his employees
by check on this bank credit These
checks are used to pay the weekly or
monthly debts to the butcher, the grocer
and the landlord, who in turn uses them
to pay his debts. They find their way to
the various banks and at last wind up in
the clearing house, where they are used
to balance up the debts and credits of