The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-10
BAILEY SPEAKS
 UPON r FINANCE Ts,,, Argues Ag,sI, living Great Povz.% Banks PRESIDENT IS CRITICISED
Bailey Declares That the President Has Exalted the Nation to the Detrment of the State, and
 Is Too Arbitrary.

Washington, March S.-senator Joseph
 W. Bailey of Texas, a member of the
 finance committee which reported the
 Aldrich currency bill today, held the at
 tention of his colleagues and visitors who
 crowded the galleries of the Senate for
 over two hours with speech in opposi-
 tion to that measure. When he conclded
 his address he was greeted by storm of
 applause and senators from both sides
 of the chamber as well as many members
 of the House crowded about him to
 extend their congratulations The Senate
 also spent over an hour in debating the
 Frye bill providing that materials and
 supplies shipped from the United States
 for the Panama canal shall be shipped
 only in American vessels.
 Resolutions of sorrow upon the an-
 nouncement of the death of Representa-
 tive Adolph Meyer of Louisiana were
 adopted and at 4:SO o'clock the Senate
 adjourned as further mark of respect
 to his memory.
 The House was in session but few
 minutes. adjournng at 12l2, upon the an-
 nouncement of MT. Meyers death. Washington, March 9.-Senator Joseph w Bailey of Texas, member of the Senate committee on finance, from which
 the Aldrich currency bill was reported
 addressed the Senate today at length
 and generally voiced the views of the minority upon the subject of emergency currency He did not believe his substi-
 ute for the Aldrich bill would result
 in imitation, although it provided for $5OO,-
 100000 a permanent part of our money
 supply.
 "The truth is" he said, "the national l banks of this country are seeking tc 1 establish a system of asset currencyi and they will strive to defeat any meas
 ure which compels them to secure their circulation. They want the privilege of issuing their notes without interest and
 without security, and lending them to
 the people for interest and upon securi-
 ty. For my part, 1 will never support
 bill which legaizes such an arrange
 ment; and l shall always insist that the safety of our currency is of infinitely
 more importance to the country than
 the size of bank dividends"
 Investment for Banks. He wanted to compel banks of the
 south to invest part of their capital and surplus in state, country district and
 municipal bonds. He quoted court de- cisions to show that there is no ques- ton as to the right of Congress to au- thorize the issuance of money by the government and make it legal tender for 1 all debts.
 | q cannot account he said, flor the general but unfounded notion ,lat the issue of currency is the function of a 1 bank except upon the theory that SC
 many governments have abdicated that sovereign power and have permitted the banks to exercise it so long that men have come to believe that it is, and has always been, a banking privilege. Moth ing could be further from the truth than this.'
 Mir Bailey reviewed at great length | the circumstances under which national
 bank circulation has been issued If any evidence were needed to show us the danger of committing the con- | trol over our volume of currency to banks" declared MT. Bailey, "recent | events will furnish 1t. Last autumn. when the country was in the very throes l of a money famine, the national banks | did not come to the rescue with cheer | full and patriotic alacrity, but on the | contrary, sir the Secretary of the Treas ury was compelled to beg them, almost | upon pended knees, to take out additional notes. They preferred the clearing house l certificates, because it was easier to re- 1 tire them and less expensive to obtain l them.
 Not Greenbackism.
 l He insisted that the issue of govern | ment notes proposed by him could not 1 be charged as a ''recrudescence of green l backism." The green backs, he added | had done great service for the govern ment and he defended the record of that | class of currency. But he explained his to 1 similar to the greenbacks.
 l The fact that his substitute is not | drawn in the interest of the banks. MT | Bailey said, is shown by the opposition | of nearly every banker in the country | to it. The interest required on the money | so provided, he added, would prevent | the banks from making anything out of l it. He opposed the idea of making the great staple products security for these | deposits of emergency currency It's na- | ture as emergency currency would be- | he said, affected by such a practice. | Mr. Bailey declared that he had his | own opinion on the cause of the recent 1 panic
 q did not of course" said MT. Bailey Overlook the fact that it has been | charged in many quarters that the trou- | ble was due to the persistent demand l of the President of the United States for l the enactment of new laws and the en- l forcement of the old laws to regulate and control our railroads; but that charge has been made by men whose minds are heated with resentment. and it will not l bear a close analysis. The President has demanded only that the railroads of this country should be required to deal just | ly with the people; and he has evinced nc disposition to harass or to oppress them
 No Apologist.
 "I am no apologist for the President | and I have no patience with the adula- 1 ton of him in which some democrats in dulge It is true that upon this ques- | tion of railroad regulation he has enl- | braced the doctrine of our party. and for | that applaud him; but he has done moro | to change the character and the structure | of this government than all of his pre- decessors combined. He has frequently exhibited supreme indifference to the