The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1907-12-30
There Will Be a Shower of
Currency Measures to Be
Considered When Congress
Convenes After New Years.
SENATOR ALDRICH MAY
WARP IDEAS OF FINANCE.
Will Favor Only Such Meas
ures as Meet His Fancy
Growing Tendency Toward
Distribution of Currency.

Washington, d. c., Dec. 3o.-Hish-
browed statesmen from all sections
these days arc pondering gravely over
currency measures. There will be a
shower of these, all calculated TO solve
the currency question, before the Six
tieth congress is many weeks older.
Senators and representatives, dozens
of 'em have pet bills TO introduce. AL
ready there have been scores thrown
into the legislative hopper.
Senator Aldrich, however. will have
considerable to say about how much
currency legislation will get through
and he will also see TO it that it's char
acter suits his ideas of finance. The
senator from Rhode Island. as t:rair-
man of the committee on Finance, is
all powerful. He has the making Or
the unmaking of measures that pass
through his committee before they are
presented to the Senate. His COM
mittee room, also is the graveyard
where rest hundreds of bills whose au-
thors never heard of them again.
ambitious trainers of financial legisla-
tion will be confronted by the peppery
and unabaShed chairman of the house
committee on banking and currency.
This is representative Charles y. Fow-
Ter of New eJsrey. Mr.. Fowler only
recently referred publicly and emphat-
ically to Secretary Cortclyou's meth
cd of handling the recent furry lie
was anything but complimentary in his
references to the secretary's activity.
and as they included the president,
who endorsed the treasury's work. Mr..
Fowler's colleagues trcmbled for him.
He'll never be reappointed chair
man of his committee they whispered
among themselves. "Thcrell be a
swishing sound, and the big stick will
fall. When the dust Ce:tlcs we'll find
Fowler's political frame and future all
mussed up"
But they didn't. The New Jersey
representative still is chairman of the
house committee on banking and cur
rency and a man to be reckoned with.
There seems to be 4 growing tenden-
cy toward the distribution of currency
through the medium of extensive ex-
ternal improvements TO be undertaken
by the government The recent finau-
cial furry was caused By tightening
of currency, and it was relieved by the
United States treasury placing several
millions of money in certain banks
This plan eventually saved the day,
but the method was a slow one and
might not have been effective in the
face of real panic.
Expenditures Of treasury surpIuses
by the government is looked upon by
certain statesmen az the surest method
of preventing panic. If the United
States should expend SJO,OOOOOO a
year In improving its waterways. it not
only would be getting the money back
into the hands Of the American peo-
pie, thus preventing possibility of pan
ic, but 1t would be making an invest
ment In real improvements that would
pay heavy interest on the sum paid
out.
II this method finds favor with con-
gress, its advocates say it will go far
toward solving a question that has
worried many administrations before
this Certainly proposition that Of
fers both q national investment and a
financial safeguard should be popular