The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1916-10-02

Chat d. warring nations Of Europe
have had their hands full, on land
and SEA in battling against each
other. None Of tt Il lad any hips
or soldiers to Spa e. A. -.tack
upon, or invasion of, our country, and
none Of them have manifested pur-
pose or desire to make such an attack
or invasion. And as to our own
We have not been in condi-
ton to invade or attack any of the
belligerents or any other country save
In the pursuit Of Villa, the
best We could do was to send about
eighteen or nineteen thousand regulars
into and along the border Of Mexico.
These were all the regular troops we
could muster, and our militia, or ma
tional guard, could not, under the
constitution. be taken out of our
country and used In q foreign war.
And % to our navy, it is admitted on
al sides that it IL far inferior to
that Of England, Germany, and even
to that Of France. How could any
sane man, under such circumstances,
harbor the notion of our making war
upon any Of the great belligerents in
Europe? The truth, in brief, IL that
none Of tho belligsrents could wsll
Get at us, nor We 1T them. The only
war President Wilson has had on
his hands and suffered from has been
q diplomatic war, and that has been
carried ON by him with no credit or
glory to our country.
Record Of Democratic Party.
The chief claim, however, of the
Democratic party 10 in respect to
what they are pleased to call their
scheme Of so-called constructive leg
1slation. Great stress is laid upon
the laws enacted during President
Wilson's administration.
Currency Legislation.
In the fall of 1907, there was a 80.
called bankers monetary panic in
New York city, which not only seri.
ously affected the banks in that city,
but also to considerable extent
affected banks in other parts of the
country. For a time the banks In
New York suspended cash payments
and this led to the suspension Of cash
payments in many of the banks in
our large cities. The panic finally
subsidized and spent its force by the
end of the year without leaving the
havoc and destruction in its wake
that the panic of 1878 did. This
panic led to the passage of the So
called Aldrich-Vreeland act Of May
80, 1908, which provided for the is
suance of emergency currency through
voluntary currency associations of ma
tional banks and also permitted ma
tional banks in certain cases to obtain
additional circulation, on other &C.
security than United States bonds. The
act also provided for the appoint
ment of q national monetary commits
sion, TO inquire into and report to
congress what changes are neces-
sary or desirable in the monetary
system of the United States," and so
forth. The commission made an ex-
haustive and thorough investigation,
both at home and abroad, and gath
cred a large quantity Of most val
liable data and material, consisting
Of many volumes, and finally made its
report to congress on the 9Th day
of JAM. 1912, recommending, among
other things, the establishment of q
national reserve association, with q
capital of 5000, 0o0,0 900, and with sub
sidiary local, or branch, associations
throughout the country. Stock sub
scriptions were to be limited to
national and state banks and to trust
companies, but was not compulsory.
A bill to carry out the recommends
lions of tho commission was intro.
duced, but no action was taken on
the same. I shall not at this time
enter into further details in regard
to the report Of the commission. It
is a part of the monetary history OF
this country, and much of the COM
missions work was utilized and made
use Of in formulating the federal re-
serve act, to which shall later on
call your attention. While emergency
currency associations wore formed
under the Aldrich-Vreeland act, no
currency was taken out under it until
the threatened panic of 1914, for the
reason that after the subsistence Of
the panic of 1907 normal monetary
and business conditions prevailed,
business was good, and money abun-
dant at reasonable rates. BY its
terms the Authenticated act OK:
pired by limitation June 80, 1914. In
the federal reserve act the life of
the Aldrich- Vreeland law was *
tended for another year and re.
duction Of tho tax on the emergency
currency was also made.
No Change In Tax Rate.
The act Of Aug. 1, 1914, made no
change In the tax rate, but removed
some other restrictions which were
not germane after the passage Of the
federal reserve law. The war in Eu-
rope, which was impending in July