Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1911-09-30

the bonds and reduce the circulation
when the demand for money Is light.
Such has not been the result, and it is
due to the fact that the bonds which
were issued for the purpose of en-
abling them to be used as deposits
paid only 2 per cent, rate which is
about per cent below the regular
market rate for government bonds in
this country, and therefore prevents
the disposition and use of the bonds
for any other purpose than the Sc
curing Of bank notes. This gives a
of such bonds and rigidity to the
amount Of currency dependent on
them that deprives the system of the
elasticity which Is desired.
More than that, the Independent ac-
ion of each bank when money grows
tight, in reaching out for cash and in
creasing its reserve, accentuates the
original cause for the contraction Of
the currency and doubles its force. The
control by each one Of the banks is q
control by none of them, and we find
a money famine growing, by the very
fact Of it's existence, more and more
pressing and panic-producing.
There ought to be some central
authority that could take over the
quick assets Of the banks IN the form
of business paper and issue bank
notes on the faith Of 1t to meet the
exigency arising at any time IN de-
mand for money. If vested In one per-
son or set of persons, the business
can be intelligently done, panics
avoided, and money sufficient for the
purpose Of business constantly kept
on hand. The present proposition OF
the monetary commission, which !
believe will be recommended to con-
gress, is that this authority shall be
provided by combination of all the
banks Of the country, reserving to the
smaller banks power of selection
greater than the ratio between their
capital OF the larger banks, in which
board or agency the government shall
have representative, not so that It
may control, but so that 1t may have
voice in the management.
do not 60 into tie details except to
say that they must be carefully worked
out for the purpose of preventing the
political control of the monetary situa-
ton, or control by the large banks OF
Wall street. Such system is abso-
lutely necessary for the progress OF
business in this country. We must
have q system In which the merchants
have confidence that 1t will be scien-
tifcally run, and with q view only to
the public interest.
Appeals for Moderation.
/ have thus reviewed four subjects
in which the action of the government
has direct relation to business, and
I have discussed them with view to
the conclusion which would now like
to state. The evils which the inter-
state commerce law and the antitrust
law were adopted to correct are in the
process OF being remedied. They were
evils that required hostile legislation
to stamp them out, and need constant
vigilance In the future to prevent their
recurrence. The difficulty is that the
indignation caused by the evils arous-
ed a spirit Of antagoHism and bitter
ness which it is now difficult to allay,
and which manifests itself in action Of
hostile character whenever occasion
arises. The same thing may be said
of the excessive tariff. The fact that
banking and currency necessarily con-
Germs banks and those institutions that
gather together money attracts the
hostility Of men in politics. who thrive
by stirring up envy and hatred and
who live chiefly upon the denunciation
of the Industrious, the thrifty, and the
successful in business.
have considered these points with
view to an appeal to the public in
behalf of reasonable, moderate action
and treatment for the purpose Of en-
couraging the investment Of capital
and of promoting prosperity. de-
precate vindictive feeling against
railway corporations, against the COM
peting parts of trusts after they have
compiled with DEGREES Of courts dis
integrating them, against a reasonable
treatment of the business dependent
on the tariff, or against the solution
of the monetary question, which ap-
peals to all reasonable and expert
enced men.
We In this country are all In the
same boat. Speeches made in one
part Of the country to arouse the peo-
pie Of that region against the enter
prIses or business of another are made
| by the bIIndest men. Let there be
prostration Of business In one large
section and that prostration will
spread quickly to all the rest.
What makes men happy? What
furnishes shoes and clothes and
uood, wholesome food to the family OF
| father and mother and children but
prosperous times, In which labor Is In
high demand, wages are good, sales
are plenty, prices are normal, and
everybody is sharing In the general
prosperity?
In attempting to rid ourselves Of the
evils that were growing In business so
as to put dangerous power into the
hands Of concentrated wealth, we had
to do many things that savored OF
hostility to capital, at least to the cap
ital which was engaged In those things
that II was thought necessary to enact
statutes to condemn. am no de-
fender Of those evils. On the contrary
have been SO strongly In favor OF
their suppression by statutes made ct
fectlve az anyone; but think we have
arrived at time when the people
themselves ought to acquire sufficien,
| >4