The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1908-07-16

and u lAG IQQQ. Both bonds
ID ffG-,Ti Iuheates were sold to aid the ma
p fns. ranks. Whenever anything reIat-
b. IL - ponds or the currency Is on deck.
n midsi, ' ,haI banks are sure to be in the
,- 49, tnereoI. One feature of this bond
!, S,'dnSaetion wish TO enphssiza sinca
r rsl,.Hl the touching tenderness of Cor
# i}siiog Ior the banks. In his first apub-
P iba 10 oner ne proposed to sell them, as
= ne public without discrimination' for
= go lull paid on the terms of the offer
: noiiot eluently he arbitrarily changed that
: hSnSss 80 as to give preference for both
: ILLS ana certificates to national banks
; n3ne, Thi5 he did on the ground that
,'uINluuaI purchasers would demand
! m9I.eE from the banks with which to
i. dst,ns,,tnelr payments. The spectacle OF
: y, s5e banks to make investments Appealed
. ~. tIe secretary as so unconscionable and
b,, hn.oivlng SO great a hardship to the
, he H., tnat ne determined to deal with
~ nahks alone As to the $50, 600, 600 of
ouinus, ne declared his intention to re-
I fulLe only 10 per cent cash from the
, Inns Inns IN payment for them, and that the
ib b,'dhinlng 70 per cent should remain i'm
m. pahks as government deposits with
nus interest. Now these bonds draw 2
pet cent interest. and so when a bank
pn a sl0e bond, and paid only $40
p n" H. retaining the other so as a de-
noSu Without interest, the bank, while
mat cnht condition lasted. would be really re-
eeNins ~ per cent interest on the
aulouht actually invested For one who
az used the banks. as the President did,
lls Iasoritism Is astounding. 1t Is such
inconsistencies that make me so often
question the good faith of his utterances.
or republican publican apologists, unable to agree.
IRE scrapping among themselves as to
t,ie cause OF the panic. Some say IL is
over-production, some that 1t is over
speeuiation, some that It is bad banking.
some some that II is an insufficient currency.
n mn 40
Iem, while others charge 1t directly to
WHAT they denominate the rabid inds-
Sre.ions OF the President; and the Presi-
the m answers so 10 the mayor Of Omaha. so
10 come the sooner the better, and he
Vas proud OF his part in it. Proud OF
m what think you Of thatf Proud to
nave worked havoc among the Industries
q great nation; proud to have brought
likeness to a million men and the gaunt
specter OF want to countless homes
P pro9rss to have have clossed the wheels Of
shadow over a happy land l know the
mayor of Omaha. He is an old-time
friend of the President. and know him
70 pc an honorable man. Yet it surpasses
President of the United States. this
popular darling could have SO expressed
himself. But whatever the cause, and
II is Undoubtedly due to- pore than one
that we have suffered "a disastrous panic
under Republican auspices. How long
the panic may linger none can forecast.
me recuperative energy of our people Is
marvellous. and already they are bringing
order. out OF chaos. We will have the
experience of other panics, Gradually
our wounded Industries will limp out OF
Tue storm, and sooner or later normal
conditions will be restored But for the
enormous damage already done, and for
| inevitable losses yet to accrue, there can
De no restitution. Out of 1t all comes
only this poor consolation, that it is a
Republican panic. Not even In the re-
hottest degree can 1t be charged to the
Democratic party. That Is the signif-
| cant fact l wish especially to impress. 1t
proves the falsity of Republican accusa-
ton and the emptiness of Republican
boastng. Hereafter sane men will give
less heed to traducers when the name of
| Bryan Is heard.
THE ALDRICH-VREELAND BILL.
Certain Republican leaders in Congress,
like Aldrich and Vreeland, following a
coterie of great bankers and financiers,
affected to believe that the panic was due
to lack of money and the want of
greater fiexibility in our currency system.
Ihereupon they started In to incubate a
remedy. and the result is the hyphenated
monstrosity known as the Aldrich-Vree-
land law. OF this law I wish now to
speak. Prior to its passage national
bank notes were issued only when United
States bonds were deposited to secure
them. The new law makes two radical
changes in this particular. First, under
this law national banks may now under
certain conditions pledge state, county
town and municipal or district bonds as
the basis of their circulation. Upon such
bonds the baHks may receive circulating
deposited, We market value to be as
rotary of the Treasury, not to exceed the
par Vaiue or the securities Second,
under this law ten or more national
banks. having an aggregate capital and
surplus of at least S., 900, 900, may or
ganize what is termed national cur
rency association" The chief purpose of |
these associations Is to enable an individ- |
ual bank, member of the association, |
to use its commercial paper, that is, |
promissory notes, as the basis of circu- |
lation. II bank holding membership in |
one of these associations should desire |
TO use Its commercial paper to obtain |
CURED in the first instance to lay the |
proposition before the board of managers |
or the association, together with the |
securities 1t offered to pledge. If the |
the application, it would then be their
duty to value the securities and trans
init the proposition to the Comptroller of |
the Currency. II in turn that officer |
should approve It, 1t would then be his !
Treasury, and If he should be of opinion |
that the conditions contemplated by the |
law existed and that all statutory re-
quirements had been complied with, he
would direct the issue of additional cir
culating notes, based on the commercial |
securities pledged, to an amount, in his
discretion, not to exceed seventy-five per
centrum of the cash value of the secur-
ties deposited. These circulating notes
would be delivered in the first instance
to the currency association for and on
behalf of the particular bank applying
Tor them. The entire association, under
the law, would be responsible for the re-
demption of the notes, the association
holding the pledged securities to indemni-
fly it. The evident and confessed object
of the law is to enable the larger national
banks to unite their credit and CONNER
cial assets, and by cooperation to utilize
them to obtain additional circulation as
they might have occasion to need it. The
law fixes the aggregate amount that may
be issued under its provisions at $780,
Oo0. Co., All notes issued under the pro-
visions of this act are made subject to a
tax at the rate of per cent per annum
for the first month, and one per cent per
month additional thereafter, until a rate
OF 10 per cent per annum is reached. The
notes issued under this law are known as
emergency currency" and the tax re- 4,
ferred to is imposed to hasten their early
retirement
This. in substance, is the remedy GER
tain national bankers and Republican
statesmen, acting In cooperation, pro-
pose as a panic preventive and panacea. |
The best feature Of the law is the pro- !
vision limiting its continuance to six {
years. That Is the duration fixed by its !
terms. venture to say, however, that
while 1t is claimed to be an experiment, ;
and temporary it has been
really put out as feeler. IL the people
endorse the measure, IL they fail to ex- /
press their disapprovaI of 1t, then the +,
policy II inaugurates will be continued. {
II is the first hesitating step toward 9
turning our monetary system over to I
the national banks. Movements Of this
kind gather volume as they 60. Is 1t q
possible that the American people are .
willing to endorse this dangerous depar- T
lure? Here, more than ever before, the |
abdicates the sovereign func- I
hon imposed upon 1t by the constitution
II making money, and confers that 9
treat prerogatlve, at least IN substance. c
,royidsnr sass ana n adennsaa cuy
% the people 10 one of the most delicate | .
Ind important functions Of our sover- G