The independent. [volume] (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907, 1902-12-25
THE CURRENCY QUESTION
Ffatitudiss Reg araiHg al Elastic
Currency

Editor Independent: The president
says: 1T is necessary that there
should be an element OF elasticity in
our monetary system.
How much elasticity" ought there
to be? The president makes no an
swer to this question. Who shall de- :
eide as to the quantity of elasticity?
The president answers this question
by saying: Banks are the natural ser
wants of commerce, and upon them
should be placed, as far as practicable,
the burden of furnishing and main
tanning a circulation adequate to sup
ply the needs of our diversified indus
tries and of our domestic and foreign
commerce; and the issue of this should
be so regulated that a sufficient sup
ply should be always available for the
business interests of the country"
Evidently Mr.. Roosevelt thinks that
the banks" should decide as to the
volume of money and currency. This
is equivalent to saying that the stand
ard measure of value" should be de-
cided by the banks and not by the gov
ernment Tor people generally, as rep
resented in congress). TO say that
the elasticity of the currency should
be decided by the banks, is to say how
much and how little the volume Of the
money and currency shall be, and this
is to decide the measure of value" for
the nation, which includes the needs
| of our diversified industries and Of our
domestic and foreign commerce" Mr..
| Roosevelt thinks that the currency
should be SO regulated (by the banks)
that sufficient supply should be al
ways available for the business inter
| estS of the country Does he think
that there should always be money
enough to supply the needs of Wall
street spectators? or would he disre-
gard their needs? s9il-----~s------
| The president suggests that all fu-
| ture legislation on the subject should
| be with the view Of encouraging the
use of such instrumentalities as will
automatically supply every legitimate
demand of productive industries and
of commerce, not only in the amount,
| but in the character of circulation; and
of making all kinds of money inter-
| changeable, and, at the will of the
| holder, convertible into the estab-
| lished gold standard" The president
speaks of Legitimate demand of pro-
dutiVe industries and of commerce."
| Does h consider the Industries" of
| Wall street "productiVe?" Does he
think that the business of Wall street
| is part Of commerce." If it is 4
part of commerce. is it part of legiti-
mate commerce, for which money or
| currency should be provided by the
banks? He also speaks of "autOmatical-
! ly' supplying money and currency by
| the banks. How is it possible for the
banks to supply currency Cor money!
automatically?
/ have heard people say that the
government could regulate the cur
rency automatically, but | have never
heard it claimed that the banks could
regulate the currency automatically.
The president has in mind such Gin
strumentalities as will make "all
kinds Of money interCh ngeabie," and,
at the will of the holder, convertible
| into the established gold standard"
But he does not specify the 'instru-
mentalities," and therefore we are left
in the dark as to how he will regulate
the currency automatically" except
that the banks will do it, in some way,
automatically; which is an impos-
sibiIity.
He also thinks that all kinds of
money must be interchangeable and
they must all be convertible into the
Established gold standard" This is
equivalent to saying that the govern
ment ought to exchange gold coin for
silver coin, whenever the holders of
silver demand the exchange. This
would make all moneys interchangea-
ble as long as the government is able
to give gold coin for silver coin. But
suppose the balance of trade turns
| against our country and all the gold
goes away, how is the government to
give gold for silver? Suppose, again,
the gold and the silver coin should
both go away, would not this produce
| too much elasticity of the currency? If
it would, is not the presidents plan
| defective? He assumes that we must