Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-01-11
FINANCIAL
Republican System Offers No Pro
lection Against Rapacity
of Banks.

of Banks.
AS a Tule the spectators and bust
ness men can protect their own inter-
ests in times Of financial stress. and
Therefore advice to them is superfiu-
Gus. But the farmers, storekeepers
and workingmen have but a small
chance OF getting reliable information
OF the great affairs of the world that
may lead to financial disaster in this
country. From the trend of events
there is danger of a world panic, al
though now the times are what are
called prosperous. The danger comes
from our frenzied ~financiers and the
revolution in Russia. Property is be-
ing destroyed in Russia of millions of
value, and the crops have in some
provinces been poor and neglected. If
order and good government was GER
tain Tomorrow, which is far from the
case, the people of Russia would be
unable to pay the taxes necessary to
support the government and pay in
terest on the public debt. The people
will require time to ~recuperate from
the devastation that they themselves
have caused in their fury against their
licentious rulers.
Over two billions of Russian bonds
are held outside of Russia, of which
the greater proportion have been pur-
chased by the people of France and
Germany. If the interest on these
bonds is not paid, it will bring dlsas-
ter to many Of the holders, and prob.
ably a panic on the PARIS and Berlin
stock exchanges. AS far as borrow
ing more money is concerned, Russia
is about at the end of her string. and
to try to borrow to pay interest would
only aggravate the unfortunate condi-
lions. There is also the danger of re-
pudiation of the debt if the revolu-
tionary party succeeds. Fortunately,
there are but few Russian bonds held
in America or England, but foreign
finances are so inextricably mixed in
this age in all the financial centers,
including our own, that what affects
foreign money markets affects the
United States also.
But the avarice of the frenzied
financiers of Wall street and other
monetary centers is of much greater
danger to our people than the Russian
revolution. Many of the great banks
and trust companies are loaded to the
guards with watered stocks and other
securities" which they have loaned
upon at the present fictitious values.
The failure in Chicago of a great bank
and its allied financial trust company
and savings bank is an example of
what may happen elsewhere. These
financial institutions were considered
safe and reliable, but it was discov-
cred when the crash came that the
peoples money had been used by the
chief official for speculative opera
tons. The other banks, to save them
selves and Wall street, have come to
the rescue and offer to pay the depos-
itors, but that only makes the other
banks so much the weaker, and such
endorsement could not be extended to
oIiCi lhoIlIuL1OilS III llhc pIcuICdIltnI
Thinking over all that may happen,
it will be wise to be careful and con-
sentative in expenditures, and above
all keep out of debt until these foreign
clouds blow over and the frenzied
fnanciers of Wall street and else
where has recovered their senses.
The Republican system of finance
offers no protection to the people
from the rapacity of the banks and
their frenzied efforts at money MAX
ing. The government bank examiners
but seldom discover that a bank is
rotten until the crash has come. Near
ly every national bank in New York
has had less cash on hand than the
law requires for weeks and have been
Obliged to get their friends, the trust
companies, to take over many large
loans to be in no worse condition, but
the United States treasury officials
complacently shut their eyes to the
fact, and Secretary Shaw condones the
offense. The execution of the law by
these Republican officials is all in
favor of the bankers, who supply cam
paign funds to keep these partisan
friends in power, for all these bank
examiners are partisan Republicans,
appointed or the recommendation of
Republican leaders. This is therefore
a good time for the man of small
means to avoid extravaganza and save
money for the rainy day that may
come much quicker than is expected.