The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1907-11-21

blood. The vitality OF the whole body,
too, reflects accurately the condition
of the blood supply.
Treating System.
When Secretary Cortelyou went TO
New York to relieve the banks of that
city, a considerable cry arose from
the south and west because no relief
was given from stringency there.
They charged sinister discrimina-
ton in the placing Of funds and even
declared that Cortelyou went to the
aid of gamblers on Wall street.
These assertions were made by
persons who apparently have a vague
idea of the function of money or the
principles on which it operates. They
should know that there is as much a
system In the operation OF money as
In the circulation of blood and that
this system has a center where the
pressure is greatest and from which
streams are pumped I'm and out to
other parts of the commercial body
in the same way the blood circulates.
What doctor would begin at the little
toe to relieve person whose heart
action and consequent circulation are
weak? He goes straight to the vital
point, the point where relief means
relief for the whole system and that
point is the heart.
New York is the financial heart OF
the American monetary circulation.
As such II is at the same time the
weakest and the strongest point in
the financial system. strong under
normal and exceedingly weak under
abnormal conditions. The financial
doctor would no more think OF going
to Texas or Montana to relieve a
money stringency than the doctor
would go to the little toe 20 stimu-
late the heart action When there Is
a great strain on chain, the weakest
link Is the place for the watchful
mariner to strengthen. Cortelyou in
treating the commercial body in its
weakness follows the action Of the
doctor in treating the human body
when Il is weak in the blood system.
To him it Is neither here nor there
where that weakest point may be.
II the financial center OF this country
was in Arkansas, the place to de-
post government FUNDS in order to
AFFORD relief to the whole commercial
body, would be in Arkansas. But II
happens to be in New York and Wall
street also happens 10 be in New
York and some people connect the
two with the result that they think
Cortelyou has gone TO the rescue of
stock gamblers.
The commercial body lost freely
for some time before the banks adopt
ed the clearing house plan. The prin.
cipal loss was In New York, where, as
the center OF The money system, a
loss of money w6nid be felt all over
the country. like the body would be
weakened by trouble in the heart.
Undoubtedly the commercial blood
circulation does not grow poor with
out a cause. and that cause In this
panic was a loss of confidence In the
integrity OF the managers of big
financial institutions. Wall street
operations perhaps contributed mos.
to that fear coupled with an actual
growth Of the commercial body. due
to the harvests. without a correspond
ing increase i'm the money supply. 1t
was as II the human body had sud
denly outgrown its ratio of one-four-
teenth part of the blood. Six per
cent cash transactions became too
small blood supply for the CONNER
cial body and the heart of the finan-
cial system was weakened.
Cause OF disorder.
II this had been the only trouble,
the country would have gone along
without serious inconvenience by i'm
porting money, but series of bust
ness transactions which the public
did not relish, resulted in a run on
the financial center that withdrew
many millions of CIRCULATION. The
panic grew with what it fed on. Now,
there is just as much money in the
country as before the panic, but 1t
has been rudely snatched out of the
channels it was accustomed to run in,
and the vast superstructure built on
the currency credit is left paralyzed
from a lack of blood. The CONNER
clal body lies helpless from the dis
arrangement of 6 per cent of its own
weight.
1t is as II the feet should Suddenly
refuse to let the blood it has return
to the heart, and the head and the
arms and other local organs follow
suit The heart under such circum-
stances can do nothing but run or
whatever blood happened to be In Il
when the stringency came, and II thai
is being gradually depleted final ces'
sation is inevitable. The feet, arms
head and other parts grew panicky
believing the heart would not senC
them anv more blood and boarded