The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1907-11-07
CAUSE OF THE TIMIDITY.

Trouble comes from timid deposit
tors boarding their money" said j. J.
Hill, speaking of the financial strin-
gency. Loss of public confidence is the
real fault People should put an end
to i. by releasing the money, then the
crisis will end" This is all perhaps
true enough. but it does not go far
enough. What have the railroads
and other gigantic corporations who
have been handling the money of the
country done to encourage the people
in having confidence? Are they not en-
tirely and solely to blame for the tim
idity of the depositors?
For some time since the light has
been turned on showing the true con-
ditions of the conduct of the affairs of
the great railroads, insurance COM
panies and the Standard Oil, pre-
dictions have been made by these
convicted kings that a financial
stringency would follow such a policy
of honest irves. igation and just pun
ishment for violations of the laws of
the country. Now the financial strin
gency has arrived but a crisis averted
by the heroic efforts of honest bank
ers with the support of the people.
1t is all very we'll for railroad mag
mates and Standard Oil multimilion-
aires to preach confidence on the part
of the people, but i. would have been,
and would now be, vastly better for
them to so conduct their affairs as to
inspire some confidence. They are the
fellows who have been manipulating
the money market and they are the
ones who have been handling the peo-
pies money.
There is a limit to all things and
when the inside workings of some of
these corporations were revealed. the
confidence, or even the Semi-confidnce
entertained by the people was trans
formd into absolute distrust and there
was almost universal demand for some
action leading to punishment for the
abuse of that confidence which result
ed in a considerable determination to
give no quarters in the struggles which
the American people We're ready to
wage against what they believed to be
practically hold-up methods on the
part of the offending institutions.
The general public has not been re-
sponsible for the financial stringency,
but hold the great money barons to ac-
count for the crisis from which the
country so narrowly escaped. The peo-
pie have gone on producing wealth and
permitting Wall street capitalists to
handle the proceeds, but a different
policy must be followed in the future
and better guarantee of honesty given.
if these conditions are to continue
1t would appear that confidence
would be readily established if more
honesty was assured on the part of
those TO whom has been entrusted the
handling of the peoples money AS
far as the legitimate bankers. partic-
uIarly those of the west. are concerned
they nav,, and always will have the
confidence of the people, but those
crazy operators on the stock and
money markets have been conducting
themselves in such a way as to make
the people inclined to think they had
het-er handle their own money in order
10 prevent panics.
Ot course the country and its insti-
tutions are safe ana the wealth is here
and the people are prosperous but the
credit is hardly due these bloa,ed bond
holders who are preaching so much
confidence. For whatever lack of con-
Edenre is being displayed these high
hn2nci6rs are responsible.
In some quarters a great deal of the
Present scare is alleged to be due to
politics and there may be some truth
in the allegations, bur be that as il
may, the people have seen the purpose
of the game and its effects in this re-
gard are of no consequence other than
to establish the fact that the next
election must see men put in office
who will continue the policy of holding