The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-08-25
ter is of navigablc depth above the
sills of the upper locks. -
TOWARD GENERALITY

WORKING TOWAhD CGNThAblTX,
Diligent work on the administration
currency bill has brought many amend
ments to il that have helped it mate
rally. The main tendency of all these
amendments, however, has been toward
confirming the central control, which
means in fact central bank, however
much IL may be effected or accom-
plished by indirect approach. The con-
sensus of advice given by the bankers
at all times when they have consulted
with the administration forces has been
that it was inadvisable to break the
country up into financial units sever.
! ally independent, and not necessarily
mutually helpful. This has been cor
rected to some extent by making
general supervision In Washington over
all the decentralized banks, this cen
tral control being wonderfully strength
ened by the addition Of the bankers
committee. which will have no vote
with the seven members Of the Federal
Reserve Board, but will still have the
controlling influence, because of the
greater knowledge, the greater re-
sponsibility, and the greater e1pertness
in banking and all banking affairs of
that advisory committee. This ten
dency towards a centralized control and
the breaking down Of such lines as
might be established by the twelve Of
| ficial separations. we consider to be
the best feature of the bill, but the ele-
ment of political control, still carried, is
irredeemably bad.
The bankers are at work on another
feature, which we hope they will also
succeed in changing. They want the
notes that are to be issued on the as
sets Of the banks to bo in fact bank
notes, and not government notes, This
is exactly as it should be, for there is
no propriety whatever in issuing gov
ernment notes dependable on the as
sets of banks. Present advices are dis
tinctly TO the purpose that the admins
tration forces in control of the bill are
decidedly more than heretofore dis
posed to listen to the advice of the
bankers; and this change is a great
sign for better law than has here
tofore appeared possible,
Another proposition, but one that will
be doubtful, is the provision newly pro-
posed by Senator Owen to take care
of the outstanding two-per-cent bonds
1t is evident that Senator Owen scouts
altogether Secretary McAdoo's foolish
notion that the banks Of New York had
entered into a conspiracy to depreciate
the market value of the two-per-cent
bonds Such thing is absolutely ri
diculous, for banks do not enter into
any movement, by way Of conspiracy or
otherwise to depreciato the value of
their holdings. Senator Owen proposes
that these bonds should be taken up
by the government az par, and paid for
with treasury notes, He proposes that
the basis for issuing these treasury
notes shall be found by utilizing part
of the great mass of gold in the treas
ury. against which gold certificates are
now outstanding and possessing the
character practically Of warehouse re.
ceipts. The Owen proposition is to re-
tire these gold certificates as fast as
they are received by the treasury for
public dues and otherwise, and release
the gold for which they stand, consti
tuting with il a reserve which Will be
the new notes issued. This is rather
an awkward proposition. Nothing what
ever is gained by it, since such notes
could not possibly be any better than
the gold certificates they would re-
place, and it does not appear that the
Owen bill provides any means for the
retirement Of these notes in case they
should become redundant. The trouble
with that scheme, the same as the
trouble with the proposed issue Of $780,
100000 of emergency treasury notes, is
that all such plans provide for the ex-
pansion of the currency, but none of
them provide for its contraction when
too much currency is out, What is
needed, as agreed on by all expert opin-
ion, is a form of currency that will
automatically expand OF contract, ac-
cording to the demands Of business or
exchange; and by all means mixed
currency, by which we mean government
currency and bank currency are to cir
eulate side by side with control over the
bank currency, but no control over the
treasury currency except by politicians
is necessary TO be avoided in any stable
currency system,
A HOPEFUL INDICATION.