Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1913-06-27

Isl ~ nat snail we say II we make fresh.
enterprises necessary and also make It
very difficult BY leaving all else except
the tariff just as we found It? The
tyrannies Of business, big and little,
lie within the field Of credit. We
know that. Shall we not act upon the
knowledge? Do we not know how to
act upon it? II man cannot make
his assets available at pleasure, his as
sets OF capacity and character and re-
source, what satisfaction is 1t to him
to see opportunity reckoning to him
on every hand when others have the
keys Of credit in their pockets and
treat them as all but their own pri-
vate possession? It is perfectly clear
that 1t Is our duty to supply the new
banking and currency system the coun-
try needs and that it will Immediately
need it more than ever.
Need Of Currency Changes.
The only question is. When shall we
supply it-now or later, after the de-
mands shall have become reproaches
that we were 80 dull, and so slow7
Shall we hasten to change the tariff
laws and then be laggards about max
ing it possible and easy for the coun-
try to take advantage Of the change?
There can be only one answer to that
question. We must act now, at what
ever sacrifice to ourselves. It Is a
duty which the circumstances forbid
us to postpone. I should be recreant
to my deepest convictions of public OBJ
legations did l not press it upon you
with solemn and urgent insistence.
The principles upon which we should
act are also clear. The country has
sought and seen its path in this mat
ter within the last few years-sees it
more clearly now than it ever saw it
before-much more clearly than when
the last legislative proposals on the
subject were made. We must have
currency, not rigid, as now, but read
lily, elastically responsive to sound
credit, the expanding and contracting
credits Of everyday transactions, the
normal ebb and flow Of personal and
corporate dealings. Our banking laws
must mobilize reserves, must not per-
nit the concentration anywhere In q
few hands of the monetary resources
of the country or their use for specula-
tive purposes in such volume as to
hinder or impede or stand in the way
Of other more legitimate, more fruit
full uses. And the control of the sys-
TEN Of banking and Of issue which our
new laws are to set up must be public,
not private; must be vested in the gov
eminent itself, so that the banks may
be the instruments, not the masters. of
business and OF individual enterprise
and initiative.
Committee Ready to Report.
The committees Of the congress to
which legislation Of this character is
referred have devoted careful and dis
passionate study to the means Of &C.
complishing these objects. They have
honored me by consulting me. They
are ready to suggest action. l have
come to you, as the head of the gov
erpment 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 a
clear air of common counsel.
appeal to you with a deep convfc-
ton Of duty. believe that you share
this conviction. therefore appeal to
you with confidence. l am at your
service w*tSsut rSserve to play my
part in any way you may call upon me
to- play it in this great enterprise of
.exigent reform which it will dignity
and distinguish us to perform and dis
c>tdit us to neglect.