Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1902-11-18
THE BANKERS UNION.

The recent convention of moneyed
men held at New Orleans has been, not
inaptly, referred to as the bankers
union"
The bankers there gathered would,
no doubt, hotly resent any kirship with
unionism in the current sense of the
term, for which we shall not now quar-
rel with them.
But we do desire to call attention to
the gross inconsistency between their
utterances in this convention and the
doctrines which they have for the past
ten years been preaching to the peo-
pie of the United States as embodying
the sum total of financial wisdom and
national morality.
The burden Of their well-fed cry was
the need Of an anchor to cast to wind
ward in the shape of more money when
the pinch of hard times shall revisit us,
as they seem to think it will, sooner or
later.
The suggested devices to this end
take the various euphemistic names Of
emergency currency asset currens
cy," "elastic currency" and so OH, for
quantity.
But underneath them all lies the
proposition that the government is to
furnish this currency of many names,
and that 1t Is going to furnish 1t to
the banks, and not to the people
The banks, in the hour of need, may
have the resources of the government
paper mills to the limit of their wants
But the public. II they share in the is
sue, must pay the banks their price
for the privilege.
And these schemes are put forward
by the men who six or seven years age
We're shouting that "the government
must 90 out of the banking business.
The difference between that cry anC
the one heard from New Orleans II
that the former was directed agains
the government furnishing its currenc.
favors directly to It's citizens, and thu
dispensing with the costly but usees
services of middle-men In the shape o
, banks. Yes, when the people are beinl
served by the government being in tn
banking business, it must straightwa.
: ''go out" of it: When the banks nee,
, help financially. the government mus
embark in the very business thus for
! merly put under the. bankers ban.
The next inconsistency found In tn
delverances of this convention is tha
> the mooted project Of "asset currency
Z Is no different In principle from the sub
r treasury scheme of the western Popu
lists of a dozen years ago, and whic
. these selfsame bankers at the tim
v laughed to scorn.
q II is hard to see wherein the assets
!. which the Nebraska farmer offered,
the shape of warehoused corn an
grain. are any less valuable or conve
= tibe than the stuff that Wall stree
O would dump into the treasury in "
: turn for crisp new bills, II the dool
Q were once opened for the process.
Another inconsistency is seen In II
q use of the terms emergency currency
{ meaning thereby currency to
n furnished by the government whe
J. ever the need Of more money shall
felt
. This Is neither more nor less thf
n the "greenback" doctrine of still ca
@ lier date, but shorn Of It's merit Of
u ing exploited for the benefit of Il
= people, impartially, instead of beii
!. farmed out by the banks at their ov
It will and their own price. No one hi
loftier contempt for the greenbac
o or than the banker. But now the latt
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