The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-19

pended It's activities. The association re-
safas It's work as finished. Its offices in
1nieaso have been closed. its publications
wiz eease, and its financial obligations
nave been settled
MS of8anlzuron represented the view
OF reading business men Of the United
states respecting the utmost Importance
OF banking and currency reform The
. epluien prevailed that agitation in favor
OF reform should not be confined to the
eankers. The American Bankers asso-
cation mas now for some years at it's an
aual meetings and in other ways pleaded
iof new banking and currency legislation
Whlen would accomplish three things
iiirst, thorough mobilization of reserves:
second, an elastic currency; and third,
the making Of commercial paper more eg-
ieetlNe in enlarging perfectly secure
credit, American bankers did not care
what form legislation took or in what
words the law was written provided only
II could make certain that these three
neds cf this day would be fully met
The panic of 1907 and the subsequent
temporary legislation which made it pos
sible for the government in time of great
emergency and until 1914 to issue as much
as s506,00000O of emergency currency,
were followed by the painstaking and ex-
hausttYe investigation under the authori-
ties of Congress by the so-ealled national
monetary commission. Some of the rec
concentrations which were made in the re-
ports TO Congress of this commission will
be found embodied in whatever new bank
ing or currency measure becomes a law.
There are evidences that the measure as
it went from the House to the Senate
and the tentative measure which the Sem
ate banking and currency committee, split
as it Is. les ready to accept, We're inspired
d aa dot
reaurt of the national monetary commits
sion.
Neither house of Congress accepted the
report in fun. Both houses have accepted
some features of the report, and that part
of tie measure now before the Senate
upon which the banking and currency
committee of that body stands in unani-
nous agreement can be traced to the re-
port of the national monetary commits
sian.
The POli5ical Point of View N
Tut it would not be Inaccurate to as
sumo that no measure could at this
time have commanded the attention of
Congress had it not been in the first
place. for the nation wide campaign of
education which the National Citizens
league carried on, and in the second
place, for the ealnestness and persistence
which haVc characterized the attitude of
President Wilson toward immediate bank
Ing ana currency legislation.
business men all over the country be-
eanle convinced two or three years ago
that II would be difficult, if not impos-
sipie to secure strong public opinion in
favor OF banking and currency reform
iesis&tion We're the agitat ton in favor of
il TO be confined wholly to the bank
efs From the beginning of the govern
ment there has always been more or less
Suspicion hostility or other adverse SEN
tment with respect To banks and bankers.
iais feeling is not SO strong no was was
the case i'm The early days of the republic
The creation OF the national banking
system bS Lincoln Secretary Of the
4feasurE has done much TO soften the at
titude OF the public toward banks Yet
tins disposition was known to prevail
and with considerable strength i'm some
par,s IT the country.
Therefore, business men decided to per
iect an Organization whose membership
sholtid be composed almost exclusively of
men Who had no executive relation to
banks, but whose vocation was that of
commerce or Industry which should nm
deftake to carry ON a campaign of edu-
eailoh- The organization Itself reflects
the ability OF modern business to create
highly systematic and therefore highly
euleient organization machinery, so to call
IL. Men of such pre-eminence in the bus
AttAa*a Ntt III as JDhn 1lafln OF New
York became associated early with tho
oreanization which took the name of the
National Citizens league. The member
ship of the orsanizdtion increased greatly
business men. speaking or writing as
such. made appeals to the American peo-
pie They took eseecial pains to demon
stfate now vitality sound banking and
currency system Influences the prosperity
Of American business OF all kinds
Their D9TUlgl1lefe and tfapfs e41gG a 9 v,-or.,
prepared for the farmers worked out the
argument with illustrations of which the
fatmers had good understandin. So also
the wage-earncrs learned that the per-
manenee of their wages TO some extent
depended upon an adequate banking and
currency system.
Ia fact, the National Citizens league
aeain and again demonstrated that an ad-
eqnate and safe banking and currency
law was of far more Importance to Amer
lean business interests than to bankers
A Wise Decision
One of the reasons why the National
Citizens league is persuaded that there
is no longer any need for it to live and
agitate Is the fact that everybody admits
that the measure now before the Senate
is four-hfths good. Some of the greater
bankers think that the proportion of
health that is in the measure is even
greater than so per cent. If, therefore
Congress can perfect a measure bankers,
business men and public servants of both
parties are convinced is so per cent at
least good, then there is no reason why
the bin cannot be perfected 30 that 100
per cent Of it will be good
The last word OF the officers of this
league is a tribute to the American press.
The league officially declares that this
ration wide labor or agitation and educa-
ton could not have been carried on un-