St. Tammany farmer., 1910-02-26
Market Drop Puzzled Banker

leaves, tore off one, rolled 1t in his
nngers, and tucked the impromptu
twist In some mysterious cavern in
the back of his mouth, Il have been
told that You are an ardent support
er OF the proposed silver law now
before congress"
why, of course am" he said, land
heartily believe in silver as money
metal that would easily pass current
| if it had fair chance. But silver has
| been abused by our government.
! There isn't anything the matter with
| 1t except unfair Observation-Disclosures
ination against it in favor of gold.
But, and here the old gentleman
chuckled, 1T Is going to have fair
| treatment, and l am telling all my
friends who think I'm crazy because
say silver and gold should be the
money of the country at fair ratio
say sixteen to one-that I'm going
to demonstrate it. and Uncle Sam is
going to demonstrate it, too"
This. parenthetically, was several
years before the national campaign in
which the silver issue was paramount
All that was said then in favor of sill.
yer was thus compacted into a few
sentences by John Thompson, founder
of the first of the national banks, now
one of the greatest banking institu-
tions of the world.
You know he continued, with an
other chuclzle, they say that money
talks. Well, that's the way Il at | am
going to talk to my friends. am
going to make converts of them by let
ting them hear money talk. They call
me a silver proselyter. Well, this is
the way am PROSECUTING. I've got
little document here that's going to be
the greatest silver argument that any,
one can Offer"
He took from a drawer of his desk
a piece of paper, read what was writ
ten upon it and then, turning it over,
showed me list Of six names written
in pencil upon the back Several of
these names were of prominent finan.
ciers who had spoken publicly against
the proposed silver law.
Il bought a put for quite a little
sum OF money! won't tell you how
much-a few months ago, when silver
was pretty low" said the old gentle
man. THE option runs for month
yet. sBefore it expires, if the silver
law passes congress-and it is going
to-the price of silver, on a parity
with gold, will be on ratio of sixteen
to one. Then Pm going to put my op-
tfon to the broker l bought it of, take
my profits, and divide the profits
! among these six men. That'1l be quite
a little penny for each of them, and
guess it will be a convincing argu-
ment, proving to them that old John
Thompson isn't crazy, after all"
But upon the day, some little time
after the Sherman silver law was
passed, that the option became avail
able, the price of silver fell, and Mr..
Thompson lost the money that he had
risked upon that argument. Il don't
understand it," he said to me, with
mystified shake of his head. II don't
understand it. Silver ought to have
gone to parity with gold at sixteen
to one. There's kink somewhere
don't understand it."
And this was John Thompson, crea-
tor of our national banking system.
who could not see that the enormous
production of silver, as compared with
the production of gold, had, in spite of
government legislation. aimed to boost
up the price of silver, caused the price
to drop under the well-known eco
Eomic law of supply and demand.
Copyright, 1909. by E. j. Edwards)