Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1913-06-27
WILSON ASKS new
CURRENCY SYSTEM
President Wilson Reads Mes.
sage to Joint Session of
Congress.
new SYSTEM is DEMANDED
Revision Of the Banking and Currency
Laws Must Go Hand in Hand |
With Revision of the
Tariff.

Washington, June 23.-Presidenf
Wilson today read his special message
on the subject of banking and currency
reform to the joint session of con.
gress. The message follows:
Mr.. Speaker. Mr.. President, Gentle
men of the Congress: 1t is under the
compulsion of what seems to me
clear and Imperative duty that have
q second time this session sought the
privilege of addressing you in person
know, of course, that the heated
season of the~year is upon us, that
work in these chambers and in the
committee rooms is likely to become
burden as the season lengthens, and
that every consideration of personal
comfort, perhaps, in the cases of some
of us. considerations of personal
health even, dictate an early conclu.
sion of the deliberations of the ses.
sion; but there are occasions of public
duty when these things which touch
us privately seem very small; when
the work to be done is so pressing and
SO fraught with big consequence that
we know that we are not at liberty tc
weigh against it any point of personal
sacrifice. 1t is absolutely imperative
that we should give the business men
of this country a banking and curren,
cy system by means of which they
can make use of the freedom of enter
prise and of individual initiative
which we are about to bestow upor
them.
must not leave them without the tools
of action when they are free. We are
about to set them free by removing
the trammels of the protective tariff.
Ever since the Civil war they have
waited for this emancipation and for
the free opportunities it will bring
with it. 1t has been reserved for US
to give it to them. Some fell in love.
indeed with the slothful security OF
their dependence upon the govern
ment; some took advantage of the
shelter of the nursery to set up 6
mimic mastery of their own within
it's walls Now both the tonic and
the discipline Of liberty and maturity
are to ensue. !.
It is not enough to strike the
shackles from business. The duty of
craftsmanship is not negative merely
It is constructive also. We must show
that we understand what business
needs and that we know how to sup
ply 1t. No man, however casual and
superficial his observation of the con
ditions now prevailing in the country,
can fail to see that one of the CHIEF
things business needs now, and Will
need increasingly as 1t gains in scope
and vigor in the years Immediately
ahead of us, is the proper means by
which readily to vitalize its credit,
corporate and individual, and its orig
tnative brains. What will it profit US
to be free If we are not to have the
best and most accessible instrumen"
talities of commerce and enterprise?
The principles upon which we should
act are also clear. The country has
sought and seen it's path in this mat
ter within the last few years-see it
more clearly now than it ever saw II
before much more clearly than when
the last legislative proposals on the
subject were made. We must have
currency, not rigid as now, but readily
elastically responsive to sound credlt,
the expanding and contracting credits
of everyday transactions, the normal
ebb and flow of personal and corporate
dealings. Our banking laws must mo-
Billie reserves; must not permit the
concentration anywhere in few haodS
of the monetary resources of the coun-
try or their use for speculative pur-
poses in such volume as to hinder or
impede or stand in the way OF otheF
more legitimate, more fruitful uses
And the control of the system of BANK
ing and of issue which our new laws
are to set up must be public, not prl-
vate, must be vested in the govern
ment itself, so that the banks may De
the instruments, not the masters, OF
business and of individual enterprise
and initiative.
The committees of the congress 10
which legislation Of this character is
referred have devoted careful and dis
passionate study to the means OF ac-
complishing these objects. They have
honored me by consulting me. THY
are ready to suggest action. | have
come to you, as the head Of the gov
eminent and the responsible leader OF
the party in power, to urge action now
while there is time to serve the coun-
try deliberately and as we should, IN 8
clear air of common counsel.