The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-08-13
THE MONETARY COMMISSION.

THE MONETARY COMMISSION.
Senator Cummins Of Iowa has res
olution pending in the Senate direct.
ing the Monetary Commission to make
its report by December 4th next, and
then its existence to he terminated.
This commission has been in the way
for a long time: we say in the way,
because 1T has prevented the passage
Of remedial legislation, on the ground
that it was necessary to have this com.
mission 8 report before any currency
or monetary legislation should be
enacted by Congress,
But the commission is an abortive
affair; it has not agreed upon any
thing, not even upon the tentative plan
submitted last winter by the chair
man, Mr.. Aldrich, a plan which is re.
ceived with suspicion and reserve by
the country, and with much qualified
praise, even by the financial interests
which it was designed to serve In the
meantime the banks have gone for
ward in devising operating combina-
tions which are described as mergers
or holding companies, practically iden.
tlcal with that of the Northern Pa
cihc Railroad merger or Securities
Company. designed by President Hill
The Attorney General has declared
that these holding companies, and the
mergers designed to be promoted by
them, are illegal, and announces that
he will proceed against them in the
courts. 1t would be a good deal bet
ter, however, if he would work with
the Secretary Of the Treasury and the
Comptroller of the Currency, and adapt
these National Bank mergers into aux
lliary movements that would be legal,
and that would serve the same purpose
that the several central reserve asso-
Citations in the Vreeland law now In op.
GRAFTON were designed to serve. law
which was so clumsily expressed that
the banks could not operate under it,
The idea in these bank mergers is to
establish a number of central banking
agencies which will serve the same
practical purpose that the Aldrich Cen.
trail Reserve Association was designed
to serve, without being great central
monopoly, and without infringing un-
duly upon the independence of the To-
cal banks. The idea seems to us to
be good one, much better than the
Aldrich proposition, and, of course, far
and away superior to the practically
defunct and unavoidable Vroeland prop
osition.
Attention is called just now to the
Monetary Commission by the resigna-
tion of Senator Bailey from it. 1t ap.
pears that he is the only Democrat left
on that commission; and he is miffed
at the idea Of being called upon to re.
port Former Senator Flint of Cal
ifornia also resigns; and really the
commission might be fairly assumed,
without much injustice, to be almost
defunct. Although the commission has
been in existence some three years,
Senator Bailey announces that he has
not had time to draw up his report,
and that it will be impossible for him
to draw it up between now and De.
cember 4th, the time fixed in the Cum
Minis resolution for the report. The
probability is. that Senator Bailey new
er would be willing to make his report
there never would be a time when he
would not consider that the Importance
of the subject required more time for
a satisfactory report upon it. But, we
believe that the country will, with prac.
tical unanimity, be with Senator Cum
Minis in demanding a show down from
this commission. which has been in ex-
istence so long to such little purpose.
1t has been evident for a good while
past that nothing worth while was to
be expected from this commission. The
report made by Mr.. Aldrich, its chair
man, last winter, was evidently made
in hopelessness of having any action
by the commission itself The fact
that Mr., Aldrich made the report prob
ably indicates his despair of getting
any help from the commission as q
body, or its concurrence in any report
which would mean anything to the
business public. He waited as long as
he could, and then made his suggestive
report as chairman. Evidently the
Monetary Commission is a practically
defunct body, and it's existence might
Just as well be terminated, as pro
posed by Mr., Cummins. To continue
It's existence expecting any report from
it, is vain hope that would simply
burden the treasury for nothing The
commission has served no useful pur-
pose, is not likely TO serve any, and
should be dropped at the earliest pos.
sible date.
THE NUMBER OF INDIANS.