The Grenada sentinel., 1907-01-19
ASSET CURRENCY.
Proposed Reform 10 In the Interest oi
the Banks.

| proposed Reform 10 In the In1eroe1 u
the Banks.
AS long as the bankers cannot agree
on currency reform how can they ext
pect congress to pass a bill that will
give general satisfaction? The. fact
is there is no need for more currency
for the volume is constantly being In
creased by the enlarged gold produc-
tion and the organization OF new ma
tional banks and there is now over so
per cent. more money in circulation
than there was ten years ago. All
the proposals for currency reform are
in the interest of the great banks,
which are paying enormous dividends
and If the frenzied financiers of Wall
street had not tied up SO many mil
lions in stock-jobbing there would bs
more than enough money for all legiti-
mate business. The fact that for
stock exchange purposes interest on
money is bid up far beyond the maxi
mum legal rate, indicates there is
something rotten in the prevailing
conditions in the financial center.
That our whole financial system Is
an anomaly and should be reformed is
the belief Of most of the best informed
financial experts, but the reformation
when undertaken, must be in the in
terest of the public and not for the
purpose of giving the secretary of the
treasury or the great bankers a mo-
nOpOly of the increase or reduction Of
Of Of uyill hot
is too great a power to be placed in
the hands of any man or set of men
and will not be tolerated by the bust.
ness interests or the people. The
chief cause of the lack of money IN
Wall street is speculation, and as long
as our trusts and corporations are al
lowed to issue new stocks and bonds
without proper supervision there will
always be periodical semi-money
panics.
The enormous commissions and
profits on such new issues of stocks
and bonds are a standing temptation
for the frenzied fnanciers to under
take to float such issues and compel
the withdrawal of vast sums from
legitimate business purposes. Every
bank and trust company in New York
is loaded up with loans on these undi-
gested securities waiting for the pub
lie to buy them at the fictitious price
set upon them. Many Of these securi
ties have but little real value and may
never pay dividends, but money is
loaned on them by the bankers in con.
junction with other stocks Of more
real value. They are the wildcat cur.
rency of Wall street, and the PROPOSE.
ton to allow the banks to issue asset
currency is for the purpose of digest.
ing these indigestible securities which
the financial stomach has so far re-
fused, or taken as a necessity to pre-
vent the Wall street patient from col
lapse.
The people generally have nothing
to do with speculation in Wall street
and are satisfied with the present
volume of currency and its being
legal tender for what they purchase or
sell. Any proposed change in the |
system they regard with suspicion, the |
more so, as the predatory trust pro-
moters and the frenzied financiers are |
the instigators of the proposed re- |
form. The country is now on the top |
wave of high prices, which have ad-
vanced SO per cent. in ten years, pro-
duced by currency initiation of 55 per |
cent. during the same period and the
policy of protection to the
trusts. To initiate the currency further
with unsecured bank notes would only
add a further burden on the farmer,
the wage Garner and especially on
those with small fixed incomes, on
whom the greatly increased cost OF
living is especially Onerous.
Any proposed reform in our cur
rency system must therefore have the
first requisite of safety to the people
and this the asset currency proposed
does not contain.