The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-12-08
AlDRICH'S BANKING SCHEME
lme Very Significant 'Tittle Joker''
 Embodied in it's Provisions.
By Clyde H. Tavenner, Special Corre- & spondent of The Farmer.)

By Clyde H. Tavenner. Special Core spondent of The Farmer.)
 washington. Dec. s-The Aidrich cur rency system Is near enough to be taken seriously by the country. The packers of the plan really expect that, d bill inaugurating the Central Re- serve Association stands a good chance Of being rushed through at this ses- fnnd faon Gs is SeinE Taised to finance the campaign in support of the proposi- fion.
 2. The Monetary Commission. organized at the instance of the former Senator from Rhode Island, and dominated ab- solutely by him, is holding daily ses- sions, while banks favorable to the scheme are bringing what pressure they can on the members of both par ties to get them to view the Aldrich idea favorablv.
 ly optimistic over the prospects of the inauguration of his currency plan.. The fact that his idea is looked upon with disfavor and alarm by the small bankers and the people of the coun- try does not discourage him. He has passed tariff bills loaded down with jokers for the tariff trusts in the past. in the very teeth of the opposition of the entire country. Apparently he thinks he can do the same thing with the currency plan, which he regards as the crowning glory of his acnleve- be disappointed, as he is reckoning without the progressive Democrats and Republicans in both houses who will begin a campaign of education or the public to the tremendous menace of his scheme the moment an opportunity is presented for debate.
 MT. Aldrich's idea is declared by many of those who have carefully afalyzed it to possess many of the vfnious features of a central govern nlent bank The United states nad o61e experience with central govern 1nant bank. It was manned by polt- tic1ans and brought on panics and bSnk failures all over the land.
 Dne feature of the Aldrich plan w[5ich has been largely overlooked by the spotlight when Congress starts to discuss the subject. is so characteris- tic of the author that it may discredit the whole program. It virtually per- mits the central reserve association to discount railroad and other corpora tion securities.
 This is ore of the concealed jokers in the Aldrich plan. To mislead the public, MT. Aldrich proposes that the central association, as he calls it, shall discount. for banks any commercial paper properly indorsed by the district Association to which the bank belongs. Tn his discussions he mentions no oth- CT form of discounts than commercial paper. Then there is this added pro- vision: thlt the central association shall discount the direct obligation of ary bank, upon certificate from the district association that the bank seek ing this discount has deposited with the. association securities satisfactory t0zfhe association.
 Commercial paper has a value of its o1Tn, and the profits the banks can make are restricted to legitimate prof 1ta.& But corporation securities have chiefly manufactured value, and the A5drich plan would enable banks load ed1down with undigested securities put of1U from Wall Street to draw good money from the central association by depositing these securities with the To- cal association. This is a distinctly Aldrichesuue r.oposition.