The Mena weekly star., 1907-11-14

Washington, Nov. lO.--'It can not be made too clear that at this time there Is no hoarding of currency by individuals. but 1t is being boarded by banks. It is remarkable comment ary upon the intelligence of the peo pie of the United States and the conf dence which they have in the present business and commercial system oi the country. that they have submitted to the restrictions placed upon them by the banks without protest" This statement was made by Mir Charles H. Treat, treasurer of the United States. The attention of MT, Treat was called to recent publica. tions in the St Louis press which he believes reflect upon him and the gen eral management of the treasury de, partment at this time, and in connec. tion with the money furry. In reply Mir. Treat took occasion to say:
 There is an erroneous impression to the effect that the treasury depart ment has at this ti me in it's vaults here, or in the sub-treasuries of the United States. an immense stock of gold and silver coin. or free currency of any kind"
 MT. Treat smiled as he looked at the photographic portrayals of i'm mense piles of silver in the St. Louis sub-treasury and added: We have less than $l.oO0.ooo in free silver dol lar coin at the command of the gov ernment of the United States at this moment"
 Picking up the daily statement of the condition of the treasury to fortify himself, he continued:
 We now have of free standard sil- yer dollars at the command of the government but s467,7o2. It is unjust to say that this department is hoard ing $25. .00o.0 in currency in the St. Louis sub-treasury.
 Tt is true that there ts . lot of gold in the St. Louis suFttreasury, but 1t h part of the s747. .o51 .see gold coin hold by the division of redemption as the backing and basis for outstanding gold certificates. Our ofIlcial state ment shows that of gold coin and bull lion we now have $7.S37.144.50.
 No secretary of the treasury in the past has been so liberal a Secretary Cortelyou in putting out the public money into the avenues where 1t can be used for purposes of finance and trade. He has shown this by reduc- ing the treasury working balance to one-half of what 1t has been estimated in the past is conservative working balance. No man in the past has 80 fully realized the tremendous Issue at stake if the New York banks were not sustained to meet all demands in the recent furry.
 If the secretary had kept the ma tional resources in the national till, millions of dollars would now be in the treasury vaults. and the payment of warrants and checks for the army and navy. for the pension and postof fice pay rolls would not have to wait on the polite convenience of the banks"
 Although Mir. Treat refused to ex- pand the interview by further explan- ation. 1t was clear that in his closed statement he had in mind the refusal of certain national banks which are Repositories of national funds to cash these obligations of the government.
 It is learned that he has taken oc- casion in the last few days to remind these national Repositories rather sharply that as such they are a part of the national treasury itself. and their refusal to cash national obliga. tion. while they have had no serious effect. are in fact assaults upon the national treasury. MT. Treat said:
 "The situation is rapidly improving. and in another week believe the i'm. portatiors of gold in New York city will loosen up the supply of currency so western drafts and western de mands can and will be met. This will have great effect in all parts of the country"