Bisbee daily review., 1906-12-05
SENDS
 MESSAGE ID CONGRESS-
tcontinued from Page rhlee /,

(Continued from Page fhiee) lie evil to have on the statute books a law incapable of full enforcement be- cause both judges and juries realize that its full enforcement would de- stroy the business of the country; for the result Is to make decent railroad men violators of the law against their will. and to put a premium on the be- havior of the wilful wrongdoer into close association. and in the end to drag down the former to the latter's level; for the man who becomes a law breaker in any one way unhap- oily tends to lose all respect for law and to be willing to break it in many ways No more scathing condemna- tion could be visited upon a law than IS contained in the words of the In terstate Commerce Commission when. in commenting upon the fact that the numerous joint traffic associations do technically violate the law. they say: ''The decision of the United States ! Supreme Court in the Trans-Missouri case and the Joint Traffic Association l case has produced no practical effect upon the railway operations of the country. Such associations. in fact. exist now as they did before these de- cisions. and with the same general ef- | feet. In justice to all parties. we ought probably to add that it is difficult to see how our interstate railways could be operated with due regard to the interest of the shipper and the rail- way without concerted action of the kind afforded thru these associations" This means that the law as con- strued by the Supreme Court is such that the business of the country can not be conducted without breaking 1t. | I recommend that you give careful and early consideration to this sub 1 ject. and if you find the opinion of the Interstate Commerce Commission jus tified, that you amend the law so as to obviate the evil disclosed.
 1 Currency Reform.
 | I especially call your attention to the second subject, the condition of our currency laws. The national bank act has ably served great purpose in aiding the enormous business develop ment of the country; and within ten years there has been an increase in circulation per capita from s21.41 to | S33.OS. For several years evidence has been accommodating that additional legislation is needed. The recurrence of each crop season emphasizes the defects of the present laws. There must soon be a revision Of them, be- cause to leave them as they are means to incur liability of business disaster. Since your body adjourned there has been a fuctuation in the interest on Call money from 2 per cent to % per Iscent: and the dactuz<ion was even greater during the preceding six months. The Secretary of the Treas ] ury had to step in and by wise action l put a stop to the most violent period of oscillation. Even worse than such | fiuctuation is the advance of commer- cia1 rates and the uncertainty felt in the sufficiency of credit even at high ! rates. All commercial interests suffer | during each crop period. Excessive rates for call money in New York att tract money from the interior banks i into the speculative field; this depletes | the fund that would otherwise 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 in- terest. charges. is placed on the whole commerce of the country.
 i The mere statement of these facts shows that our present system is seri- ously defective. There is need of a change. Unfortunately. however. many of the proposed changes must be ruled from consideration because they are complicated. and not easy of compre- hension and tend to disturb existing rights and interests. We must also rule out any plan which would mate rially impair the value of the United States per cent bonds now pledged to secure circulation, the issue of which was made under conditions pe- culiarly creditable to the Treasury. ] do not press any especial plan. vari- ous plans have recently been proposed by expert committees of bankers
 Among the plans which are possibly feasible and which certainly should receive your consideration is that re- peatedly brought to your attention by the present Secretary of the Treas
 ury. the essential features of which
 have been approved by many prom inent bankers and business men. Ac- cording to this plan national banks
 should be permitted to issue a speci-
 ned proportion of their capital 1n
 notes of a given kind, the Issue to be
 taxed at 20 high a rate as to drive
 notes back when not wanted in iegiti.
 mate trade. This plan would not per.
 init the issue of currency to givt
 banks add!tiona. profits. but to meet
 the emergency presented by times oi
 stringency
 do not say that this is the righ
 system. only advance 1t to empha size my belief that there is need fol
 the adoption of some system whici
 shall be automatic and open to al } sound banks, so as to avoid all possi
 bility of discrimination and favoritism Such a plan would tend to prevent th'