The sun., 1908-11-01

try shall guarantee tho payment Of the
deposits or ell I he other national banks.
We have'in this country q system OF
perfectly safe and sound savings bankt
10 which over eight million end half oi
depositors have deposits amountinE to
about three billions and q half % collars
These .depositors are fpE the most part
wage earners, clerks. thrifty PERSONS o
small means not engaged IN business
For the use Of such persolla III parts o.
the country where sayiugA are moi
accessible the Republican ktty proposes
which the Government will take charge
OF their savings and keep them securely
MIR. Bryan's scheme does not touch this
class OF people or provide for the safety
of this kind OF deposit. 1t relates to the
business banks. through which the busi-
ness people Of the country transact their
business. A bank deposit is in effect
loan Of money by the dspositoar dp aa T.; to ,ns the
amounts as the depositor indicates by
drawing checks against the bank. We
now have free banking system under
which any group Of men who can raise
t25 900 can start q bank and invite depos'
it's; that is. can ask people to lend them
their money to be repaid in the way
have described. AS matters stand now
ordinarily no man Undertaking. to start
say, will get business people to lend
him their money unless he is known and
has a good repntation in the community
Business people will not entrust theii
money to unknown or unfavorably knowT
adventurers. As result our cankinR
Is as a rule honest and conse vative and
the losses by depositors are exceedingly
small. .'
If, however. Mr.. Bryan's scheme were
to be adopted any set of scoundrels who
could raise 5000 could start bank
and could borrow money on the credit
Of the entire banking capital OF the United
States. for the depositors would know
that IL made no difference to them whether
the men who asked for their deposits
tors or disho nest rogues, becaus II
their deposits were lost in speculation
or stolen neverth eless the other banks
Of the country would pay them. Further.
more the business OF banking is con,
ducted under widely different conditions
in different parts OF the country. Bank
money can be loaned at l2 per cent. in Ok
lahoma; in New York. Boston and Phila'
delphia 4 Fer cent. Is a good rate. Some
bankers are content to get only pei
cent. with the good security that can al
ways be had with lower rate of interest
while other bankers prefer to take the
chance Of very high rate of interest to-
gether with the risks that always accom-
pany high rates Of interest. Under Mr.
Bryans scheme the conservative, eau.
tious. safe banker who .is content with 1
Fer cent. would have to, bear the risks
incurred by the IL per cent. banker while
the latter would take the IL per cent.
profit il all went well, Under Mr.. Bryan't
scheme the sound. conservative bankers
Of the country would have no contro
whatever over the risks which would
thus be imposed upon them. The burden
OF these risks would not be imposed upoT
the stockholders Of banks alone but
upon the great body of the depositors
and borrowers from banks-the men who
are engaged in conducting the legitimate
business OF the country: for under the com.
petition Of our free banking system the
margin of bnaking profit IL ordinarily
very narrow and any burden imposed
upon the banks comes ultimately out, oi
the depositors in reduced interest paid
to them for their deposits and out Of the
the banks in the increased rate charged
against them for loans.
Such a scheme as this Is worse than
would be D law to compel every mer-
chant to indorse the notes OF every other
merchant, for when notes are indorset
the amounts are known and the persons
for whom they are indorsed are known.
iulh bCueIIlo WOufu IcquIc al thc bOuuu
banks Of the country and all the legiti.
mate business transacted through them
to indorse. out OF sight and unseen. all
the future obligations that may be con:
tracted by. an indefinite number of un-
known persons.
TWO CENT RAILROAD FARES,
Mr. Bryan in his Lincoln speech oil
October IL attacked Gov. Hughes for
vetoing the two cent fare bill In the State
of New York and held up that veto as q
reason why the Republican party should
not be continued in power.
He knew, as the whole country knows
that at the same time when Gov. Hughes
vetoed that bill he procured the pass1ge
by the Legislature Of New York Of a bill
for a Public Service Commits
sion charged with the duty OF inquiring
into the reasonab,eness Of railroad rates,
what rates would enable the railroad COM
panies to pay their expenses. maintain
their roads and rolling stock and still make
a Reasonable profit; and to regulate rates
in accordance with the facts ascertained;
and he knewghat the ground OF the veto
Of the two cent fare bill was that the bill
was passed by the Legislature of New
York without any Inquiry whatever into
such facts, but as purely arbitrary act
OF power fixing the rates without any ref
erence to the question whether it would
amount to confiscation, of railroad prop
erty or not. Mr.. BFyan's disapproval of
Gov. Hughes's course therefore was an
Of a practice under which the
people who travel upon the railroads OF
the United States shall fix their own fares
by legislative enactment ip accordance
with what they wish TO pay. without as
ceTtainipg or caring whether the fare 30
paid will furnish a reasonable return To
the railroad to enable it to pay its labor.
al Il t.nt, .
whatever TO the capital inv ested.
= =. DEALING WITH TRUSTS.
I Mr.. Bryan proposes in his latest plat.
petition; with trust controlled products
shallbe placed upon the free list
Examine this for moment. The great
evil of trusts lies in their driving out OF
business their smaller competitors, and
after these are driven out putting up
prices. The driving out of business is
practically always done by unfair and
oppressive means. Indeed, it'can be done
In no other way except In cases where the
trust controls, the whole raw material OF
manufacture. for wherever the raw ma.
terial of Manufacture can be obtained
and competition has a fair chance. the
moment prices are put up competition
increases and the trust control decreases
The Republican plan OF dealing with
trusts is to ~ after all the big concerns
which are driving out competition by un.
fair practices. to compel them TO stop
and to punish them IL they do not stop,
20 as 30 give the smaller competitors a
fair chance. The- whole railroad rebate
system, for,which so many punishments
have been inflicted within the last few
years, is an illustration of one of the
unfair methods by which big concerns
have been driving smaller concerns out
Of business. The essential idea OF this