Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1916-11-02
Willis OF Ohio, then a mem


Der of the House of Representatives,
said on December %, 1913, the day the
Federal Reserve Act was passed, II
shall not support this bill' (the cur
rency BILLY. "Mr. Speaker, because it
represents a reiuvenation and revivi-
unsound finance that were shot to
death in the campaign of 1885,"
Senator Burton said in the Senate
on December II, 1913, eleven days be-
fore the Federal Reserve Act was
passed: From every standpoint the
Regional Banks will prove disadvan-
tageous to this country. This
system will cause a serious wrench
in the banking system which has been
built up with great care, the result of
process of evolution in American
business, and which, barring two or
three defects, is as nearly perfect as
any in the world. / emphatically de-
ny that our banking system is defec-
tive in it's general provisions; and
the development of the country denies
it."
Senator Root on December IL, 1913,
nine days before the passage of the
Federal Reserve Act said: 81 say
that this bill presents the financial
heresy twice repudiated by the people
of the United States. / say that the
Central Reserve Board, appointed un-
der this bill will have to represent
that very heresy. If this bill passes
as it stands, America stands to lose
all we saved when Grant vetoed the
Imitation Bill, all we saved when Grow
er Cleveland abolished the Silver Pur-
chase, all we saved when we elected
Mckinley, all the Republicans, all the
Gold Democrats, saved when they
helped in the reputation of the vital
principle which has been put into this
bill"
Every prediction of these Republi.
can leaders, and of all the Republican
orators of the Senate and House, has
been falsifed by the actual fact of
the successful establishment and op-
GRAFTON of the Federal Reserve Banks,
and the magnificent prosperity that
has followed. They are all discredit-
ed prophets and yet they are the same
people who are believing loudly that
our prosperity is only temporary and
that it is built upon the sands.
The demand of Wall Street for a
single central bank is not dead; it is
merely sleeping, and will be gratified
If the Republican party regains pos
session of the Government
With this great Federal Reserve
System securely established and main
tanned, the prosperity of this coun-
try is founded upon an impregnable
rock.
PROSPERITY AND THE RETURN
OF PEACE. :.
We have nothing to fear from the
return of peace in Europe, because our
prosperity is based upon the strongest
financial system and the strongest
economic fabric and the greatest nat
ural resources of any nation in the
civilized world. But Mr.. Hughes sol
EMMY warns us that our prosperity
is merely temporary" How does he
know that it is? How can he foretell
the future? The very assertion dis
credits him because he assumes a
power of infallible prophecy which
belongs to God alone. He is candi-
date for the presidency, the prize for
which some men in this country have
been willing to sell their veracity and
their souls. Mr.. Hughes has no con-
vincing issue. He has advanced no rea-
son that appeals to the Judgment of his
fellow citizens for turning President
Wilson out and putting Mr.. Hughes
in. What must he do, therefore, to
make an impression? His one hope
is to excite the fears of the American
people, and make them believe that
he is the only man who can save them.
Mr.. Hughes cannot guarantee the pros
perity or the future of the country.
Neither can the Republican party.
The Roosevelt panic of 1907, the worst
in our history, is conclusive proof of
Republican incompetence. We finite
human beings can only prophesy as
to the future upon the known cOndi-
tons of the present. Every known
condition favors a continuance of pros
perity if we keep in power the expert
enced statesman who has with such
signal ability re-established prosperi-
ty in the country and kept the nation
at honorable peace.
A few fundamental facts disprove
Mr.. Hughes assertion that our pros
perity is built upon sand.
The United States is today the
strongest financial power in the world
This is shown conclusively by the fact
that we actually possess more than
$2,636, 100000 of gold, which is about
one-third of the entire gold stock of
the world. If the war continues an
other year we may have one-half the
entire gold stock of the world; and if
it keeps up longer, there is no telling
how much of the gold we will own.
We are no longer a debtor but a cred
itor nation. We now hold, and can
continue to hold, the dominant posi-