The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1913-03-08

vast concentration of money ana credit |
power In New York. than TO recon-
struct the system 80 as TO eliminate |
that evil and the others inherent TO it.
Aristotle. Is his definition of money, |
says of barter This kind of trading |
is not contrary TO nature, nor does IL
resemble gainful occupation, being
merely the complement Of ones natural
independence Politics !, .. In
this day of enlightened econumic
thought we are inclined 10 smile at the
quaint notion OF the ancients that any
gainfdl ocoupation--such as taking in
terest on money, for instance lis in it
self meretricious But we in the
United States. with banking system
which has marked time for half CEN
tury. have less cause than any other
civilized nation TO smile
There can be no doubt that the time
is at hand when this outworn mistit
system is 20 be renovated Every sign
points TO that. And every sign points
e. the work of the Glass subcommittee
as the most important now-under way,
because the bill offered by that body
will be the most conspicuous and the
most seriously considered OF any pre-
sented TO Congress.
In order 10 sound the sentiment of
the country, the Glass sub committee
has examined many business men,
bankers and economists. and will ex-
anime more. am one OF those who
have appeared before il. and from the
questions put TO me and other witnesses
IL is not difficult TO detect the drift of
the committees deliberations. Chair.
man Glass has announced Enthusiastically
that the committee proposes to stand
squsrely on the Baltimore platform,
and is unalterably opposed to the Ma
tional Monetary Commission plan,
commonly known as the Aldrich bill.
What plan, then, lies In the mind of
the committeey
II may 10 tS NCit nCtO w punt Ouh
that the Monetary Commission's plan,
which began at the top and built down
through branches, as tile servants of the
National Reserve Association, had some
of the Objectionable paternalistic fea-
lures Of the foreign central bank sys-
TENS II provided, moreover, an I'M
wieldy machinery and might have pro-
duced imitation through the counting OF
its note issues as reserves. and through
too promiscuous use OF acceptances,
or bankers bills.
Mr. Glass and the other members OF
his committee evidently wish To avoid
these defects Their plan seems to be
to build mp from the bottom, insteaC
OF down from the top-a plan clearly
more in accord with the genius of the
American people That tins is theil
plan is shown by Mr. Glass irequen
references TO regional reserve associa
tions, with a supervisory board OF con
troll a Treasury Board, he called i
at times) and with the reserves Of tn
member banks pooled in imite,
/, number Of regions, zones or districts
according 70 reports AS to tile plans o
the COMMITTEES The Treasury Board
il seems. is 20 hold the reserves il thi
plan finally wins the favor OF the com
mittee. but is TO superintend the oper
ations of all the regional banks as
trustee.
Even this crude sketch arouses inter
esting questions. Will the regions
banks issue the currency or will th
supervisory board issue it, BY wha
method Will tho regional banks effeC
their clearings2 Surely not Ivy tn
awkward and expensive shipment Z
currency. Is any use to be made of on
valuable clearing house experiences
, Will there be uniform discount rat,
, or discount rate for each district
, How are the Government bonds whic
ara now the basis of bank note Issue [
. be retired
: These are superficial problems whic
4 suggest themselves at once 10 the str
dent OF monetary reform. did M
include the question of how the supei
visory board is TO be chosen. because
to my mind, 10 Is not highly impo
tant. do not care whether majo
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