The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-01-13
TELLS
HOW TO STOP
MONEY PANICS
Bridgeporter In Open Letter
Gives Advice to PujO Money
Trust Investigators


ing the Money Trust investigation, in
which he makes a, novel suggestion for
the amendment of the Federal Cur
rency law of 1908. The letter fol-
lows:
An open Letter to the Congressional
Investigating Committee.
Some Financial Legislation That
Would Seem OpportUne.
The Pujo Investigating Committee.
DaShingt ton, D. c.
Gentlemen:
I wish to call your attention briefly
to same financial legislation which,
from the point of view of an outsider
who has made a considerable study
of such matters, seems imperatively
called for at the present time:
Finance, dissatisfied with the Iegisla-
| tive program present and prospective
and desirous to discreddt the same
should decide to ina1gurate a fnan-
cial panic, using the blind methods
provided for them by the existing
Stock Exchange, and to relieve the
currency, authorized by the act of 1908,
were issued on the proper application
of the Banking Fraternity, does any
one familiar with the present financial
situation for moment suppose that
such issue to any given association of
banks would reach the business COM
munity and the people at large?
The relations of the banking inter
ests of the Nation with Wall Street
| during recent years are notorious
The money of the entire country has.
through its banks Of deposit, been
dumped there by them and they have
had their divvy, such as 1t was, of
the spoil. Tit high pirates of finance
have thus been accorded the use of
the peoples money in the successful
launching of the big trusts and cor
porate monopoIies for preying upon
| the people at large. It is not put
ting it too strongly, I think to say
that in their zeal for gain the banks
have largely been traitors to the com
mon weak SURPRISES and dividends
have corr espondingly increased. Bank
ing buildings, ample for all requisite
needs, present and prospective. have
been ruth1essIX torn down all over the
country and palatiaI structures erect
ed in their place with the apparent
purpose of phazing the public with
Street connection has come to be to
them a verita;b1e gold minis when
properly worked.
If that $500, 0OO. 600 were handed out |
to the National Bank Associations, on |
the heels OF a monetary crisis. thus
brought about, there can hardly be the
shadow of doubt that the bulk OF |
that large sum would go at once to /
where the big panic percentage was
calling for it, on the old established
route to Wall Street and the High
Finance Men. There would be this I
excuse for their aotion,-from their
point of view,-that their large bal
ances were already on deposit with
the big Wall Street banks and the L
emergency issue should be sent after
it to relieve the monetary situation ait
its fountain head
mess is the see-sawing UP and down
of values, through his nIanipulations
of the money and security market +
would, as usual, have tine situation
well in hand and, when work was I
stopped and the public distress be
came aecentuated, would once more
the Nation in it's hour of dire extrem-
ity by throwing upon the market his
hoardings of gold and currency in ex-
change for the Debated values OF cor
porate securities.
What I would suggest would be an
amendment to the Emergency Cur
rency act something like this:
That whenever Currency Associa-
ton of National Banks shall call for
an issue to it of the so-called Elmer
gency Currency, in the manner pre-
scribed and provided for by the Cur
rency Act of 1908, and for the pur-
pose of relieving monetary strirS-
members, which may, temporarily, be
unable to meet in cash the require
ments of depositors, any bank of such
association may, under the regulations
specified, and subject to the dfscre-
ton of such association, have issued
to 1T such amount OF additional
transferred for this purpose to the as
Sociation may warrant upon the fol-
lowing conditions, to wit: That a list
of Individual deposits in excess of ST.
wv /
the time of it's Suspension OF payments
shall be promptly made out by 1t and
Iatory notes coming to the said bank
under the provisions Of the Currency
Act shall be at once paid out, on re-
ceipt of the same, to such depoS1tOTS
on a. pro rata, percentage of such
AMOUNTS held on deposit by said bank
1t Is further provided that any de-
poeitor of said bank having on de-
posft with it, at the time Of it's sus-
pension of payments, 2. sum exceed
ing 81, 600 in amount, shall have a legal
right under this amendment to re-
quire from the said bank at once, on
it's receipt of such issue from the ..
S. Treasury, a payment on his de-
post account such as VAL be pro rata
TO the full amount of deposits held
by the said bank in excess OF the said
81, 600 1t is also stipulated that inn
medfately on the suspension OF pay
mentss bv anv National Bank, a list
of its depositors having deposits there
in in excess of 81, 900 shall be prompt
daily paper giving the names and
amounts held for such Individual de-
positors and also the amount OF cur
rency issue coming to such bank AN
der the provisions of the Currency !
Act together with the cash percentage
accruing to such deposftors.
The limitations Of payments to de- I
posts in excess of $1,000 in amount
would, perhaps, be necessary to avoid
cum bersome detail, more especially in
the proposed advertising, while at the
same time the main object of the
neasure-that of placing the Currency
relief in the hands of the general pub
ic-and out of the reach of Financial
dom, as Lawson terms 1T, would be
A further increase in the list of Sc {
ourities and commercial paper avail
able in the case of the individual
bank, giving to it power to secure a p
yet larger amount of such additional
circuIatory notes from the u. S. Treas
1ry together with a corresponding in
crease in the total amount of the au-
thorized emergency issue, might pos
sibIy, to large extent, free the Ma
ton, at such a crisis, from the more Z
disastrous effects of the Wall Street | $
domination of the Nations finances. {
It would go far. in my opinion, to- {
ward severtng that community of in 7
-erest between the repositories of the E
peoples money and the Big Men of c