Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-06-16

billion emergency bank notes at this
time would drive gold to Europe,
would eraveIy sssravate credit in
Hstion here and render our last state
worse than our first. We have al
ready in circulation the largest VOL
uus Of bank notes ever put out.
We don't need more, but less
credit, less borrowing.
Secretary MeAdoo's unexpected
announcement that he stands ready
TO issue S5Oo,OOO,OoO Aldrieh notes is
e direct invitation to go on jam
boree. New York bankers-who,
after all, do know something about
bsnkirg-have been striving with
might and main for months to cur
tail the credit expansion that has
gone 70 perilous LEM hs throughout
the country. Thew have, moreover,
practlesd what they have been
preaching; loans here have been
risidy discouraged, spectators have
been obliged to stop their antics and
liquid resources have been zealously
accumulated in preparation for au-
tumna needs.
But country banks have gone on
their way nsrriIy, lending TO all and
sundry. The expansion in national
bank loan5 alone has been at the
rate Of 100000 every business day
for the last twelve months-without
one cent addition to cash r hand 10
justify this initiation.
Bank notes are not capital.
The scarcity is scarcity Of cap
ital, not currency. Newly blossomsd
"experts' on national finance would
do we'll {. Insert that fact into their
noodles and keep it there in prom
inent place. More nonsense is be-
ing writton and spoken about finsn-
oial subjects BY men In prominent
positions than at an. time since
William Jen inss Bryan ohampioned
his famous "sixteen-to- one"
Washington can not create capital
BY opening currency flood gates. Cap
itsl can come into being only through
the people spending less than they
earn-that is, by saving. The urgent
need to-day is for less borrowing, not
for more borrowing, a la Secretary
MeAdoo's latest proposal
Let the Wilson administration be
assured that the more bank notes
they pump into circulation al this
time, the easier will It be for Europe
to take gold from US. We have eN-
ported $4,000, 900 gold within the last
five months and the chances are that
more will go within the next fort
night. Europe is hungry for gold, the
medium that speaks all languages and
can do duty in any land She will
leave us our emergency currency and
take our yellow metal.
To the noVitiate the prospect of
releasing s5O0ooo,00o additional cur
reney is most inspiring. II lntoSi-
Gates. But those who can see below
the surface, those who can diagnose
the difference between bank notes and
actual wealth, shrink from eontsm-
plating the outcome of any wholesale
Issuance Of emergency notes at this
juneture. Borrowers should pull in
sail between now and the crop NOV
ing season. They should not rush
deeper into debt.
The Treasury Department should
not dissipate resources at this time.
Il should fortify itself against tho
abnormal demands that the market
ing of bumper crops can not fail to
entail. In non panic, but oninous
times. all banking institutions should
ourtail credits. II is only when .
crisis is imminent that a policy Of
granting generous and prompt assist
snee should be adopted and courage
ously followed.
II is a pity that the Treasury De-
partment has elected to hold itself
aloof from the best banking minds in
4ha rountrv and 40 blipdlv ahead