The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1907-11-06
need A new
CURRENCY LAW
CONGRESS MAY ACT AFTER DE.
LAYING FOR SCORE OF YEARS
When Furry 10 On Nothing Can
Be Done, and When Affairs Are
Calm Nothing 10 Necessary,
10 Politicians View.

washington, NOV. 5.-That there
Will be an urgent demand for cur.
rency legislation at this session of
congress is assured by the financial
situation In which the country
finds itself. The lack OF elasticity
In the currency system and the
troubles which this defect causes
were never more apparent than
just now. Legitimate business ex-
pansion has not been accompanied
by n corresponding expansion in the
volume OF currency and the result.
ant scarcity Of money Is as natural
as that an unlimited demand should
exhaust a limited supply.
Whether there Is sufficient con-
structlye statesmanship In the two
houses of congress to solve the
problems presented In connection
with the currency question remains
to be seen. but there Is no question
that the demand for legislative ac.
! ton Will be stronger and more per.
| sistent than ever before and that
congress must either attempt the
legislation or acknowledge It's in
competence to deal with the matter
For twenty years the congress OF
the United States has been promis.
ing that at some indefinite time the
question OF currency legislation
should be taken up and settled.
But no house of representatives
in all that time has had the indus
try necessary to give the subject
proper consideration or the courage
to seriously consider the vital needs
of the country in this regard
The attitude Of the leaders has
been that so long as there are no
financial disturbances. the present
system is satisfactory and when dis.
turbances occur there is no oppor.
tunity for tinkering with the laws
because such action would add to
the confusion and increase the mis-
trust. So II has gone from year
to year and so 1t will continue to-
go unless the public itself forces
the leaders from their state OF leth.
argy and frightens from them at
least pretended zeal In behalf of
the public interest.
II given his way Speaker Cannon
will not permit currency legislation
at the coming session. Dalzell al
ready has referred sneeringly to the
probability of public demand for
legislation and has declared himself
against II. He would leave with
the secretary OF the treasury full
discretion to act In emergency cases
just as Secretary Cortelyou has
done In the last week, and let the
matter go at that.
Other house leaders, thinking only
of the political future, and being i'm
mersed in scheme for the pro.
motion of some presidential candi-
dacies and the suppression of 9th
ers, regard the eve of presiden-
tial campaign as an inopportune
time to begin an undertaking which
might possibly affect the present |
order and therefore make political
conditions harder to estimate and
harder to deal with.
In all this mass OF objections to
immediate congressional activity,
there is not even pretense that
consideration for the public inter
est affects in the slightest degree
the judgment of these political
statesmen. Obviously, therefore, the
public I'm this crisis. as In every
other, must insist upon the action