The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1908-09-03

itor has not. If any one must lose.
therefore, as the result of bad man
agement, 1t ought to be the stock
holder rather than the depositor
And, / venture to ask IL the bankers
will not trust each other why should
they expect the depositors to trust
the banks?
II we had to choose between the
interests of the bank and the inter-
ests OF the community, we would be
compelled to protect the interests OF
the community first; but here, too,
we are fortunate. for we are not
driven to this alternative That
which protects the community pro-
tects the bank also, for when there
are several banks in the community,
the failure of one often causes a run
upon the others, and the insolvency
of one hank Is such menace to the
solvency of others that the solvent
banks often join together and assume
the liabilities of the insolvent one for
their own protection. AS an illus
tration of this, l point to the action
of the Chicago banks in assuming
the liabilities Of the Walsh banks, at
a heavy loss to themselves.
There is another advantage which
the guaranty of depositors brings to
the banks-it protects the reserves
deposited in other banks. During the
panic last fall the reserves caused the
most of the trouble. The small banks
wanted to withdraw their reserves
from the city banks, and the big
banks In the cities were not pre-
pared to meet the strain. With de-
posits guaranteed there would be no
runs on local banks and no sudden
withdrawal of reserves.
l submit that in this effort to make
all banks secure, the democratic par
ty is the champion of the farmer, the
laboring man, the business man, the
professional man, and the champion
of the banker as well. No class is
outside OF the benefits of this law,
for it bestows its blessings upon all.
Why has the republican party
been so quick to respond to the de-
mands of Wall street and SO slow to
yield to the demands of the masses?
There are two reasons: first, the re-
publican party has allowed itself to
become the servant of the favor
seeking corporations, and, second,
too many republican leaders look at
questions from the aristocratic stand
point, the standpoint of the few
rather than from the democratic
standpoint, the standpoint of the
many. They legislate upon the theo-
ry that society is suspended from the
top, and they fail, therefore, to un-
derstand either the evils that afflict
the body polite or the remedies that
are needed. The democratic party,
viewing questions from the stand
point of the whole people, easily sees
that which republican leaders do not
discover, andeits remedies begin with
the relief of the average man. This
is the secret if secret there be, of
the primacy of our party in matters
of reform.
When Solomon was invited to
choose what he would, he asked for
an understanding heart, that he
might discern between the good and
the bad and he was told that, be-
cause he had chosen wisdom rather
than riches or long life, he should
have, not only wisdom, but riches
and length of days as we'll. And so
when a party determines to seek
first that which benefits the common
people, it finds that in acting in the
interest of the common people, 1t al
so promotes the welfare of the small
Ter classes which rest upon the
masses, for when the producers of
wealth prosper, their prosperity is
shared by every element of society.