Year: 1877

The Convention OF Bankers.


The meeting of the American Bankers
Association, to be held in this city on
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this
week, may or it may not prove a valuable
means of enlightening the public mind on
questions which deeply concern the public
prosperity. We will not take exceptions to
their programme, although it includes some
subjects which will lead to mere proftless
debate. The silver question. for example,
is topic of that kind. No doubt it will
be interesting to know the opinions of
leading bankers as to the expediency
of remonetizing silver; but that question is
not vital, and the divergence Of views will
be SO wide that no resolution which the
Convention may pass on that subject can
have much weight with the public. We
have had the double standard by law,
though not in practice, during the greater
part of our history; and should it be re-
established it is not probable that the prac-
tice would ever quite tally with the law.
The cheaper metal would inevitably be the
practical standard Of value; but bi-me-
tallic legal standard would work no
greater practical mischief than it did
previous to the Legal Tender act, when
its evil effects were inappreciable, or at
least so little appreciated as to create
no sense of practical Inconvenience. The
bearing Of the question on the public credit
has been overrated, because reconciliation
would open market for silver large enough
to bring it's value very nearly or quite up
to the level Of gold. AS this is not vital
question we hope it will make no great
figure in the convention Of bankers.


The question Of bank taxation so nearly
concerns their own interests that we cannot
complain Of their purpose to discuss it, but
their decision can easily be foreseen, and
will have no more weight with the public
than any other decision so certain to be
attributed to interested motives. The other
side of this question will have no fair rep
resentation in q convention of bankers.
The issue of local bonds is another question
put down in the programme. Bankers are
not more competent to discuss this than the
community at large. The power of restraint
rests in the State legislatures, and local
taxpayers are already sufficiently alive to
the magnitude of the evil.


But there is one great and far-reaching
question, question which concerns the
whole country and every citizen, on which
it is desirable that the associated bankers
should concentrate their attention. They
can do very little toward deciding the other
questions which appear in their programme,
but on this they can speak with controlling
authority if they speak with near ap-
proach to unanimity. 1t is question of
the first magnitude, the one vital
question whose decision the banks
of the country can really infu-
ence. Specie payments imply great
deal more than has yet come within the
purview of Secretary Sherman. 1t is not
merely the raising of the greenbacks to
par, but with them the circulation Of the
banks and the whole mass of bank deposits
and bank credits. This is a subject which
touches the banks and their customers
more nearly than it does the government
We suspect that the banks do not indorse
Secretary Sherman's method, which con-
ssts merely in the accumulation of
great gold reserve to be paid out
suddenly after January /, 1879, in redeem
ing all the greenbacks which may be offered
II the banks dislike this method it is in
cumbent on them to devise and propose a
better one. Their united opposition to
Secretary Shermans method would be for
midable their united cooperation in any
method would make the task Of the Secre-
tary of the Treasury comparatively easy.
The bankers, better than any other class,
understand the business of the coun-
try. They know how resumption by any
particular method would affect the in
terests of their customers, and if, accepting
resumption as u foregone necessity, they
can agree on plan which would smooth
down practical obstacles and tighten the
inconvenience both to the Treasury and to
the business community, they would render
signal service, emitting them to public
gratitude. We shall watch their action on
this great point with lively interest on the
other topics of their programme with only
q tepid curiosity.





The state Militia system.