Daily Kennebec journal., 1913-12-16

Jared. 1T is not surcharged with de-
struction to business If added checks
| ought to be put in, 1 for one am will
ing to put them in. But the senator
from New York passed his time telling
of the dire things that would happen
to business and passed but little time
explaining his own proposed amend
| ments
! No one has the right to stand on
the floor of this Senate and undertake
to alarm the business interests of the
country when there is not just cause
for it. 1 doubt the high patriotism Of
the man who will stand here and cry
Wolf, wolf when there is no wolf
who will take this chance of injuring
the multitude who may be misled by
such cry"
Senator Reed said 'typewritten
document proposing Senator Root for
the Presidency had been prepared and
given to the press before he made his
speech.
'It is not difficult then to understand
| why the secretary of state was
brought in.'' he added when the
voice of ambition is calling to higher
honors, It is not difficult to understand
that men will some times let their in
terest overcome their spirit of fair
| ness.
'If we ever have imitation of the cur
rency under this bill, it will be caused
by the bankers of the country and by no
one else. Even If Mr.. Bryan was all that
he has been painted by his enemies; even
if he favored imitation of the currency.
which no one has the right to charge;
even II his influence was to stand back
! of this proposed federal reserve board
and to control the men who will be ap-
pointed by the President, that board can
not put out one dollar of additional cur
rency until there has been made a call
upon 1t by the regional banks whose
boards will be controlled by the sound
money men who run the national
banks.''
Senator Hitchcock made a sharp at
tack upon the proposed control of the
regional reserve banks by the banking
interests of the country. He declared
/ this feature of the bill would turn over
the country reserves to the use of these
bankers and would legalize the methods
and the control against which the coun,
try has long protested
Quoting the speech of Senator Stone.
Saturday. in which the latter attacked
A. B. Hepburn and Frank A. Venderip
of New York and Milton Allies of Wash.
ington as representatives of a class of
bankers who were fighting effective cur.
rency reform, he insisted that under the
| Democratic bill the control of the cur
rency system Of the country would be
turned over to those and other bankers.
IF the Vanderlips and the Allies are
going to CONTROL interrupted Senator
Stone, "it is remarkable that they are
opposing this whole system. They have
been down here fighting 1t. They are
fighting it yet. They are invoking every
agency to defeat it. They want to get a
central bank"
Senator Lane of Oregon, who did not
join the Democratic caucus On the cur
rency bill, announced his intention of
supporting the Hitchcock amendment
providing for government control of the
regional banks scheme. He argued that
the proposed banks we're to be public
utility institutions and should be under
government management.
An argument in favor of the creation
of a great central bank to be owned by
the people and operated by the govern
me1t WAS pTeSeHtco Wy SSAotNA "SSN''
who expressed a preference for the
Hitchcock plan as against the Owen
bill.
A defence of the bankers of the coun-
try, particularly those criticized during
the debate by Senators Stone and Owen,
was delivered by Senator Weeks
Because bankers are advising their
customers to go slowly" he said. "is
not an indication that bankers are try
ing to injure or break down business.
1t is the function of q banker to advice
his customer against undue extension
The central reserve city ,bankefs are in
exactly the same position toward their
country hsTfn depositors as the average
bank Is toward it's customers"
4 Mentioning Frank A. Vanderlip, presi-
] dent of the National City Bank of New
York, as an example, Senator Weeks
declared that the bankers of the central
reserve city were competent men, who
had grown up in the business from boys
1 in the banks"
"The United States, today. has the
most competent bank men In the world >
he continued, ito say that they are bad
men is sinister thing to do without
the proof that they are bad. II what
the senator from Missouri and the sena-
tor from Oklahoma say about these men
Is true, 1t seems to me it is bad policy
to do as those senators propose to do and
turn over to them the management OF
these great reserve banks"