Los Angeles herald., 1908-10-01
REPUBLICAN PLOT
AGAINST CURRENCY


greed It Is the utterances of that con-
vention upon the matter of the cur
rency.
So pleased was the convention with
the record of the party upon the mat
ter of the national currency that 1t
took occasion to mention with approval
recent currency legislation by a Re-
publican congress in two places in its
national platform.
Under the subject of recent Republi-
can legislation the platform says: And
we especially commend the passage of
the emergency currency bill and the
of the national monetary
commission"
Further along in that document, un-
der the head of Currency" the plat
form says: "The Republican party is
committed to the development of a
permanent currency system responding
to our greater needs, and the appoint
ment of the national monetary COM
mission by the present congress. which
will impartially investigate all pro-
posed methods, insures the early re-
alization Of these purposes"
In view of this approval of the work
of congress by the national Republican
convention, it may be worth while to
inquire more closely as to the charac-
ter OF the emergency currency bill and
the national monetary commission
which was appointed by congress.
1t will be remembered by our readers
that when, under the impulsion of the
recent panic, congress took UP the mat
ter of improving our national currency
laws, there were, among a great many
bills that were submitted, two that
particularly challenged the attention of
the country. One was the bill intro
duced into the senate by Senator AID
rich, who is generally recognized as
the representative of the Standard Oh
and allied interests in the senate of the
United States; the other, known as the
Fowler currency bill, was introduced
into the house by Mr.. Fowler. who for
years has filed the place of chairman
of the house committee on banking
and currency, and is universally re-
garded among men who have made a
scientific study of the finances of the
nation as probably the best informed
man in congress upon national fin-
ances.
The Fowler bill contained provision
for the guaranty of bank deposits, and
through the influence OF Uncle Joe
Cannon and his committee on rules, of
which the present Republican candidate
for vice president, Mr.. Sherman. is a
member and shining light, this bill was
very promptly and permanently retired
to innocuous desuetude.
The Aldrich bill, as originally intro
duced by its author, was SO framed as
to give the large New York banks, the
greatest among which is the City Ma
tional bank-the Standard Oil bank Of
New York city-a very pronounced ad-
vantage over all the other banks Of
the country. 1t did this by providing
for the furnishing of emergency cur
rency by the national treasury to the
national banks of the country to be
secured by the deposit in the treasury
of the particular kinds of securities of
which the New York banks are sup
posed to hold by far the largest amount
held in the country.
There was at once a great outcry
against the plain injustice to all banks,
except those belonging to the system,
of the provisions of the Aldrich bill
as introduced. This outcry proved so
strong as to lead to the modification
of the Aldrich bill, and 1t was finally
passed with some changes which, while
somewhat improving it, failed utterly
to make it as fair and safe a measure
as was the Fowler bill.
Concerning this bill the New York
Journal of Commerce, which is by all
odds the ablest and fairest of all the
financial periodicals published in New
York, and which has for years led the
agitation for comprehensive reform
OF our currency laws, said:
''It would be hard to find in all
history a more degrading and
humiliating exhibition of un-
scrupulous abuse of the power
of legislation by national body"
This financial legislation also carried
with it provision for the appointment
of currency commission to frame
Plan for the reform of our currency
system and report to the succeeding
session of congress. AS to this COM
mission the New York Journal of Com
merce, above quoted, says:
1T has not been created for the
purpose of effecting a real re-
form, but is a device for prevent
ing reform instead of providing
for it. If we are to have reform,
therefore, it must be through
other influences"
The one man above all others who
should have been appointed upon the
commission was Mr.. Fowler of the
house COMMITTEES on currency, but he,
on account of his known ability and
fairness, was apparently the one man
above all others whom Mr.. Cannon and
the representatives of the interests
who control him did not want, and he
was carefully left out of the list of ap-
pointees made by Mr.. Cannon from the
membership of the house of representa-
tives.
AS to the personnel of this commits
sion we will take the description given
OF it by the Philadelphia North Ameri-
can, a Republican newspaper. which is
as follows: