The morning journal-courier., 1908-04-18
NEW CURRENCY BILL Vreeland Measure q Bundle of Sops to Satisfy Various
 Interests. POLITICAL, NOT ECONOMIC cannon Said to Have Determined 10 Pass Substltutc--A Test of
 Asset Currency,
Special rorrcspondcncc,


 New York, April 1.-The business situation has two sides to 1t. some lines of It, Somc lines of trade re- port stagnatIon and decrease even from low figures, It other lines there is shown q very slow, gradual, hut steady increase
 Tho conclusions, then, are that, as compared with last week, or few weeks previous tho political and husi- ness situations have both Improved, which means that we arc moving with certainty in the right direction,
 Tho stock market, which in it's large movement always discounts con ditions months ahead Is 6rognostcat- Ing results as defined above Conse- quently, prices are holding fairly well, and while there is an absence of ne- tiyity and public participation there is little liquidation and apparently scant supply of stocks.
 The currency situation has taken q new turn in an agreement on sub sttute for the Aldrich bill. This suh- stitutc has all the bad qualities of the original Aldrich hill, hut lops off one or two of the hydra heads, namely the Johnson amendment regarding rc- serves, which bankers have testified would bring on immediate panic. and the l.a Toilette amendment forhldding bank Investments in stocks of corpor- atl0ns in which their officers ur dirac- tors are interested (which amend mcut, bankers have testified, would make necessary disastrous cutting out of legitimate business all along tho linc) \ sop is thrown Gin the sub- stiWtc) to the asset currency people, providing that any ten or moro banks, having an aggregate capital and sur plus of $i0,00000O or more, may or- ganizc q National bank Association, which Is virtually clearing house, on tho presentation If commercial pa per satisfactory to it, the association ,may authorize a bank presenting the paper to issue not to exceed Ij per iccnt. of its market value in cmcr- gcncy currency. This whole substi- ! tutc Is. like upas tree. deadly poison ! Representing the original Aldrleh hllD. from which some Of the most noXious fruit has been shaken off tthc Johnson and La Toilette amcndmcnts) and few little sticks of orange and pomegranatc graftcd in, Tho absurd | ity must be apparent of this method os cndcavorng to handle c great sub
 
 country, namely the currency read- iustmcnt, by political methods, throw ' ing out sops here and there without reference to the great economic im- | portance of the subject,
 Nevertheless. we arc told that l Speaker cannon has given ohicc'ors to understand that, notwithstanding I all the objections that have been made or will he made. this Nrecland subst;- tutc will be passed by the house and accepted by the senate This, if it be- comes n law. will saddle the currea- cy system. now the worst m the world. with further dangerous possl- hiIitics. but the rift in the clouds will he the opportunity under the new pro vision noted above. for q demonstra ton of the intrinsic merits cf asset currency. While the provision in the '. Vrc,la substitute does not provide for the issue of real asset currency l. is. nevertheless, q step In that di' rection. and during the next five or six years the issues against conner cial paper may give such good re- suits that further provision may h' gradually arranged for,
 s RNt'UE & co.