Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-08-01


| Theodore Roosevelt, are continuing
their efforts to reap political advan
tage by plunging the business world
into PANIC. Comparison OF the bust
ness and politics of 1907 under Roose
velt with the business and politics of
1914 under Wilson, therefore, becomes
timely and pertinent.
Ing the present year, numerous and
convincing evidences are at hand in
dicating that a period of unprecedent-
ed prosperity has begun. This is true,
notwithstanding the campaign to de-
stroy confidence and paralyze business
Jointly waged for the last few months
by the republican partsans and their
Wall street allies.
There are many reasons for the en-
couraging outlook now. Moth least
! of them lies in the fact that the new
currency law was put onto the statute
books by the Wilson administration.
| This law was enacted within a year
after President Wilson took Office At
| te- the panic of 1907, what was done
| to fortify against panics during the six
years that the republicans remained
| in power?
Scarcely calamity speech is made
in congress which does not assert that
republican rule signifies prosperity
and democratic rule the reverse. They
make loud ado in comparing 1914 with
1894. Not a word do they say, how
ever, about 1907
The foremost republican authority
upon matters financial in 1907 was
the then Senator Nelson w. -Aldrich of
Rhode Island. Aldrich was high priest
of republican tariff and financial doc
trine. Not only that, he was the lead
er of his party in congress. On Feb
ruary 10, 1908, delivering set speech
in the senate. Aldrich described the
panic of 1907 as the most acute and
disastrous in the history of the coun-
try. He said:
"Mr President, the financial crisis
from which the country has just
emerged, which eliminated in seri-
Gus panic in October, was the most
acute and disastrous in its immediate
consequences of any that has occurred
in the history of the country. Nothing
but the heroic measures taken by the
and financial interests of the country,
acting in cooperation with the secre-
tary of the treasury, prevented total
collapse of private credit and disas-
trous destruction of all values. 1t is
impossible to conceive, much less TO
measure, the losses which would have
resulted from such a calamity. The
country was saved by the narrowest
POSSIBLE margin from an Overwhelming
catastrophe, whose bhghting effect
would have been felt in every house
hold.
"a total collapse was avoided, but
the shrinkage in values of securities
and property and the losses from in /
jury to business, resulting from and
incidental to the crisis, amounted TO |
thousands OF millions of dollars"
Prior panics in the United States, he |
continued, had been panics in which |
serious distrust existed in the public |
mind as to the security of the whole |
or some portion of the country's cur
rency.
The panic of 1907" he went on, /
was not, either in its inception or its
progress, a currency panic, in the
sense to which l have alluded. Our
currency in character was beyond /
question
Neither the strength of the none
tary system nor the extraordinary eff
forts which were made to avoid the Sc
rious result prevented a general sus-
pension of payments by national banks
with most deplorable and far-reaching
results. This suspense commenced III
New York on October 26 and was fol
lowed promptly by a suspension OF
banks in Chicago and other localities:
The issue of clearing house certificates
followed in most of the principal cit
les.
= "a complete disruption of exchanges
between cities and communities
the country took place. 1t
is impossible to estimate the losses
which were inflicted by this suspen-
sion of payments by the banks and the
resultant interruption of exchanges:
There was financial embarrassment on
every hand, and an impossibillty OF Sc
curing the proper funds to move crops
Or carry on the important business OF
he country. The suspension and dis
of business operations :
brew thousands of men out of employ
nent and reduced the wages of the en-
)loyed."
Mark you, this occurred after ten
continuous years OF republican rule,
With a republican president in the
White house.
Senator Aldrich has painted the pic
ure completely and accurately. A
mass of corroborative testimony IS
valuable, however.
Leslie NJ. Shaw, former governor of
owa, who then had recently retired
IS secretary of the treasury. in a pub
ic speech declared that the panic OF
9O7 was generally conceded TO have ,,
'een the worst that the world has wit
essed.''
In December, 1907. on December 16.
o be exact. Senator Benjamin f. Till