The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-12-01
ROOSEVELT NOT
HELD TO BLAME
Neither Is Any Particular Wall
Street Group Responsible
for Present Panic.
CENTRAL BANK IDEA WRONG
SPEECH BY FORMER coMPTRoL-
LER DAWES.


st. Louis, Nov. 3O.-Charles G. Dawes
Of Chicago, ex-comptroller of the cur
rency, was the guest of honor tonight
at a regular dinner of the st. Louis
Commercial club, and made a speech
concerning "The Present Financial Sit
uation, It's Causes and Lessons"
He declared that President Roosevelt
is not responsible for the recent finan-
cial stringency, despite opinions held by
critics of the president, and asserted
that neither could the responsibility
for the monetary crisis be assigned to
any particular group of spectators in
Wall street. He said the stringency
resulted from too great disproportion
between the cash in which debts are
redeemable and the debts themselves.
Mr.. Dawes said in part:
President BIameIess.
President Roosevelt is not response
BILE for the panic of 1907 as his critics
would have us believe; neither is any
other particular group of spectators in
Well street responsible for the expan-
sion of credits which led to the present
crisis. This is no time to either praise
or blame individually This cause or
that cause may have fastened, or may
not have fastened the panic. 1t is well
for us in these times TO consider the
fundamental conditions and the funda-
mental causes, and close our ears to
those who seek to lay the responsibility
upon individuals. The panic of 1907, as
have all former panics in the United
States, resulted from too great a dispro-
portion between the cash in which
debts are redeemable and the debts
themselves.
Now that the liquidation of the cred
its of the banks has proceeded to that
point when the matter of the resump-
ton of currency payments is-only one
of a few days, when confidence in the
banking institutions of our country has
been again restored. as 1 believe It is,
1t is amiss TO speak of the conditions
which confront US.
Never in the history of the country
have crises such as this we have re-
Gently had in the financial circles of
this country, been followed by other
than periods of Tetrenchment That this
period will be shorter and less drastic
than heretofore is the hope of us all,
and it is my own belief; nevertheless.
into this period We are just entering.
The first step we are successfully pass
ing.
Treasury a Bulwark.
ut might as well be recognized now
that the independent treasury system
of the United States has largely proved
it's commercial salvation in the present
crisis. We have heard so much loose
talk during recent years about the evils
of the sub-treasury' system and its
locking up the cash of the country
when needed in commerce and bust
ness that we may as well recognize its
benefits and what we have escaped
through it and IL alone. The difference
between conditions with our independ-
ent treasury and the position which we
would eventually reach with its aboli-
ton is that the government would in
the latter case be hard up for cash as
well as the rest of US. From the mo-
ment Of our putting the extra cash in
treasury into circulation it becomes the
basis of business and credits are built
up above it under the ordinary opera
lions Of banking.
One Former Fault.
with this condition there would be a
much larger volume of credits in exis-
tence and therefore a much greater EN-
DarraSSm emit IN business when the ScC-
rotary of treasury would find it neces-
sary to call upon the banks for money
for governmental needs. IF any excep-
ton is to be taken with the manage
ment Of the treasury during the past
recent years, 1t is in the fact that, be-
fore Secretary Cortelyou's admtntstra>
ton. too great an amount of the cash
of the government was allowed to go
into general business in the shape of
public deposits where 1t became a ba-
sis of credit. and the amount of cash
left Secretary Cortelyou on hand in
the treasury, which he has so well and
so ably used as a means of relief in
the present crisis, was such a small
amount.
VIII Never Be Changed.
The independent sub-treasury sys-
tenn will never be changed until we de-
part from our present system of bank
ing. The Independent treasury system
is absolutely necessary unless we have
a great central bank such as govern
ments of Europe have, where the ex-
tension of bank credits in the central
bank is limited by the governments
necessities. In this country with indie
a-bara the ayfpnSi0n Of