The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1906-12-04

government.
Wien home ties are loosened, when
me-. 2,4d women cease to regard a
worthy family life, with all its duties
fully erformed, and all its respon-
sibill'.es lived up to. as the lie best
worth living; then evil days for the
commonwealth are at hand. There
are regions in our land, and classes of
our population. where the birth rate
mas sunk below the death rate. Sure
ly it should need no demonstration to
show that wilful sterility is, from the
standpoint of the nation, from the
standpoint of the human race, the one
sin for which the penalty is national
there is no atonement; a sin which
is the more dreadful exactly in proper
ton as the men and women guilty
thereof are in other respects, in char
acter, and bodily and mental powers,
those whom for the sake Of the state
it would be well to see the fathers and
mothers of many healthy children,
we'll brought up in homes made happy
by their presence. No man, no woman
can shirk the primary duties of life,
whether for love of ease and pleas
ure, or for any other cause, and re-
tot hi
Currency Reform.
I especially call your attention to
the second subject, the condition of
our currency laws. The national bank
act has ably served a great purpose
in aiding the enormous business devel-
opment Of the country; and within
ten years there has been an increase
in circulation per capital from $21.41
| to $3S.0S. For several years evidence
has been accommodating that addit'ona
| of each crop season emphasizes the
| defects of the present laws. There
| must soon be revision of them. DO
cause to leave them as they are means
to incur liability Of business disaster.
Since your body adjourned there has
| been a fluctuation in the interest on
call money from per cent to 80 per
cent; and the fluctuation was even
| greater during the preceding six
months. The secretary Of the treas
ury had to step in and by wise ac-
| ton put a stop to the most violent
| period of oscillation. Even worse than
such f1uctuation is the advance in
commercial rates and the uncertainty
| felt in the sufficiency Of credit even at
| high rates. All commercial interests
suffer during each crop period. Ex-
cessive rates for call money in New
York attract money from the interior
banks into the speculative field; this
depletes the fund that would other
wise be available for commercial uses,
and commercial borrowers are forced
| to pay abnormal rates; So that each
| fall a tax, in the shape of increased
interest charges, is placed on the
whole commerce Of the country.
| The mere statement of these facts
shows that our present. system is Sc
riously defective There is need of a
change. Unfortunately, however,
many Of the proposed changes must be
ruled from consideration because they
are complicated, are not easy of COM
prehension, and tend to disturb exist
| ing rights and interests. We must
also rule out any plan which would
materially impair the value of the
United States 2 per cent bonds now
pledged to secure circulation, the is
sue of which was made under con-
ditions peculiarly creditable to the
tresury. I do not press any especial
plan. Various plans have recently
been proposed by expert committees
are possibly feasible and which GER
tainly should receive your consider
alton is that repeatedly brought to
your attention by the present secre-
tary of the treasury the essential fea-
lures of which have been approved
by many prominent bankers and bust
ness men. According to this plan ma
itonal banks should be permitted to
issue a specified proportio of their
capital in notes of a given kind, the
issue specified proportion of their
re drive the notes back when not
wanted in legitimate trade This plan
would not permit the issue of cur
ency to give banks additional profits,
but to meet the emergency presented
by times of stringency
l do not say that this is the right
system. I only advance it to empha-
size my belief that there is need for
\