Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1908-07-03
FINISHED
Convention Of State Bankers
Concludes Its Work
and Adjourned

NinOt Selected as Next
Meeting Place
The final session of the State
Bankers association was called to or
der at 10 o'clock by the president, and
he introduced Professor Boyle OF the
North Dakota State university, who
read a paper, as follows:
Our American democracy is a mixed
blessing. One evil is that we have SO
little expert service in law-making
and law-administering. And yet our
great economic questions Of Transport
tation, insurance. tariff, labor, corpc-
rations, taxation, money, banking,
currency, etc, require the very keen
est Of expert knowledge for their
final solution. We know what bung-
ling has been done even by the most
Jealous Of our lawmakers. We may
rest assured that all genuine inn
provements in our currency and fl
nancial methods come principally
from suggestions Of our bankers in
the end, and after bitter experience
has taught Its lessons. HeTIre You
are the experts, or ought to be. This
& is a slow process in our present sys-
TEN Of government, but q sure one.
Eventually your interests and the
public interests will be seen to coin
eide, even by the most suspicious and
prejudiced laymen. In the good old
days Of shay's rebellion the banker
was cordially hated as the worst enc
my Of the poor man And but yester-
: day that great organizations, the
knights Of Labor, while admitting
freely to its 600, 900 membership, al
4 laborers, farmers, merchants and
manufacturers, stern1y drew the line
1. and excluded four classes Of "nnde-
sirable citizens, /" namely, gamblers
saloonkeepers, lawyers and bankers!
& Well, Shays and the Knights Of La.
Dor have come and gone, but the
n banker goes on forever.
But you who are bankers have go
to show the laymen, not by argu
/ ments,3 but by facts, what the coun
try needs in the way of good, SOUND
4 banking, banking founded on bed
rock principles OF finance. You arr
are familiar with Carnegie's criticism
chat we have the worst banking sys
tenn in the world. The great iron
{ master referred here solely to the in
4 elastic feature of our currency, ant
not our banking methods In general
But he makes no pause and sharpl.
/ ask ourselves, Are we right with oul
precent banking system? Or are W,
wrong II wrong, then it is time ii
get right.
Objects of This Paper.
1t is my intention in this paper t,
discuss somewhat in detail the vita
question Of elasticity of currency, II
meaning and ignificance, and com
pare various countries with our owl
with respect to this question. Thi
will naturally lead to the discussion
Of panics and their relations, IL any
h to an elastic bank currency My owl
conclusions in the matter will be stat
de, not only as general principles, blu
for the sake OF clearness and con
creteness, as definite recommends
tions.
Some Fundamental Principles.
But before proceeding with tn
discussion, let me lay down fer
i propositions which deem funda
mental.
A. Barter All our trade and com
nlerce is in the last analysis. barter
We merely exchange our goods o
our services for other peoples good
or services.
2. Money And in making these &,
changes money has gradually com
: to serve as a universal go-betwee
and a convenient measurer or name
of value.
5. Credit But we have found bal
\ ter In these days almost impossible
and have found money likewise undt
sirab1e In many Of our exchanges. !
other words, we have come to us
credit IN 30 per cent or 95 per cent {
our transactions. And what then
credit? It Is promise to pay none.