The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1910-12-14
SOMETHING WRONG
IN CURRENCY SYSTEM
Country Has Enough Money He Ad-
Mits, but IL Is Not Handled ts
the Very Best Of Advantage.

night addressed the American Acade
my Of Political and Social Science.
now in session in this city on the need
for currency reforms. Mr.. Roberts
said in part
The most encouraging feature of
this campaign for more scientific
currency system, is the fact that il is
now generally admitted that some
thing is seriously wrong IN the pres
ent system. 1t has always seemed to a
great many people that if ali our mon
ey was good and the supply increas-
ing from year to year in what appear
ed to be an adequate amount, nothing
mere was required. Nobody can say
that monetary stock of $35 per capi-
to Is not on general principles large
enough, or that an increase from S23
to S35 in ten years is not enough. That
is not the point Of the controversy.
The contention is for an elastic eIe-
ment In the currency, and elasticity
mems contration as well as expan-
sian. There must be contraction after
or to expand again.
"Then again, it has been a common
view that it is the exclusive function
OF the government to furnish the
money Of a country, and that the bank
should have nothing to do with the
supply; they should simply receive
money on deposit and loan il or pay 1t
out on demand.
This sounds plausible, for undoubt-
ediy 1t is the function OF the govern
ment to define what shall be legal ten
der, and to supervise and safeguard
the currency supply, but neither the
government nor any other body can
determine in advance how much mon
ey VIII be required from time to time.
Ne authority can determine how much
money the people Of this country will
want to use OF to handle in the year
1911. Nobody can tell within hundreds
of millions Of dollars what the vol
ume of business will be next year, or
what proportion of that business will
be handled by means OF private instru-
ments of exchange or what portion
will require cash; nor can any one
tell how much of the $4,000, 900 900
of bank deposits may be called for in
cash at any time. All Of these de-
hands are uncertain and fiuctuating,
and they are directed not to the gov
ernment, not the Offices of the treas
vince of the government to supervise
the supply, but the demand actually
must be afforded through the banks.
"The fact is that the great bulk of
the payments In country like the
United States are not made in money.
Money has become the small change
of the business world. The drafts and
checks that represent the payments of
commerce meet in the Clearing House
and practically offset and cancel them
selves. Nine-tenths OF the So callel
bank deposits are not made in mon-
ey, but are simply credits that arise
in the exchanges. They are payable in
money and on demand but If the
banks are called upon to liquidate an
undue proportion Of them at any time,
it simply can not be done. We fall
into just such deadlock as we had
In 1907.
"The South for example, at this sea
sen of the year, by the sale OF its cot
ton crop is creating heavy credits, or
deposits in New York or other cities.
In the usual order OF events these will
be drawn upon to pay for the South's
purchases outside, and the entire eX-
change will be effected by the hand
ling of comparatively little money. If
the South should attempt to withdraw
all of these deposits i'm cash, it
would disturb the financial equilibrium
OF the whole world.
$50 when n man says he does not
believe i'm an elastic currency, or that
If all our money is MS good as gold
nothing more is required or that the
banks should have nothing to do with
issuing currency, ho overlooks the
fact that the business OS the country
is not done with gold, or with any
kind of money but by means of bank
credit; and when this credit receives
a shock there is no way to prevent
widespread disaster except by sup
porting it or substituting some higher
form of credit. it."-Journal.
DAVIS GRANDDAUGHTER WEDS.