CONGRESS. (TiiE FINANCIAL MEASURE.) 



159 



$100.000,000. However, now these same men are 

 supporting this bill, with its gift of $100,000,000, 

 under the pressure of a party caucus and a party 

 pressure. 



" One of the most essential attributes of a 

 monetary system is to establish a stable stand- 

 ard of value, so that in case of deferred payments 

 and long-time loans the creditor can not collect 

 more than he lent or the debtor pay less than he 

 received. 



" This standard must be based on full legal- 

 tender money. 



" While a bank currency forms a good circu- 

 lating medium when times are normal and con- 

 fidence is unshaken, however it is credit money 

 and it must be paid or redeemed in gold. 



" It has been the experience of the financial 

 world that as the standard of value contracts and 

 as confidence is disturbed, instead of bank paper 

 or other redeemable or credit money expanding 

 it contracts in sympathy with the money in which 

 it is to be redeemed as a standard and as a means 

 of storing values. 



" Because gold has been scarcer, it has gen- 

 erally been used for large payments and for stor- 

 ing great values; and silver, because more abun- 

 dant, has been generally used for divisional coins 

 and small payments and as a means of storing 

 smaller values, and the two conjointly make an 

 ideal currency for the masses of the people. 



' If this bill passes, the 89,000,000 Treasury 

 notes, the 346,000,000 greenbacks, and 482,000,000 

 silver dollars wrll circulate among the people or 

 will be impounded as the whims of the dictator- 

 ship of some great banker at the head of our 

 Treasury may direct." 



In the discussion in the Senate, Mr. Vest, of 

 Missouri, argued for a State banking system as 

 against the national banking system, which the 

 measure was designed to strengthen. He said: 



" Let each State control its own banking sys- 

 tem. Let its legislature determine what kind of 

 security shall be held and how much currency can 

 be issued and what kind of money it shall be 

 redeemed in. Such action will furnish a domestic 

 currency for the use of the people of that State 

 among themselves. 



'' They only seek to have a medium for their 

 own business. They do not care to have a cur- 

 rency that will go outside of their State. The 

 object is not to have it go away from home. 

 Whatever other pretenses may be made, this 

 means will be antagonized by only one class of 

 people, the money-owning and consequently the 

 money-loaning class, since it stands for the best 

 interests and welfare of all others. 



" Gen. M. C. Butler, who formerly represented 



this body the State which I in part now repre- 

 nt, used the following strong language recently 

 an open letter to a friend in South Carolina: 



" ' I regard the repeal of the 10-per-cent. tax of 

 ir more value to the welfare of the great masses 

 if the people than the free coinage of silver. The 

 resent evil in our monetary system is the inade- 

 quacy in the volume of currency and the inequal- 

 ity of its distribution- the latter the greater of 

 the two evils. This inequality of distribution 

 would be corrected if we could have local State 

 hanks of issue, under proper safeguards, and just 

 <o much currency would be put out by them as 

 :he local demands required. It has always struck 

 me as very absurd to suppose that any State 

 would or could permit " wild-cat banking," which 

 is about the only argument ever urged against 

 State banks of issue. No State, under our mod- 

 ern methods of transacting business through 

 quick correspondence by mail and wire and the 



vigilance of the commercial and business agencies, 

 could tolerate loose or " wild-cat banking " for 

 forty-eight hours, and there is no good reason 

 why State-bank currency could not be made as 

 sound and safe as the present national bank cur- 

 rency. 



" ' I have said the free coinage of silver would 

 inevitably follow the reopening of State banks, 

 and for this reason: These banks would absorb 

 every dollar of coin, both gold and silver, as 

 security for their circulation and to maintain 

 whatever reserve the law might require. For do- 

 mestic purposes, as a domestic currency, silver 

 is to-day as good as gold. Silver only becomes 

 embarrassing when transactions are had with 

 foreign countries. Like gold, it passes only for 

 its bullion value in foreign countries; but at home 

 it is taken at par of its present weight and fine- 

 ness. I say. therefore, for all domestic purposes, 

 silver is as good as gold, and there is no reason 

 why it should not be admitted to free coinage 

 and used by local banks as a redemption and re- 

 serve fund.' 



" This scheme of circulation does not require 

 the issuance of a single bond or the payment of a 

 dollar by the United States Treasury in inter- 

 est. The bonds issued during President Cleve- 

 land's administration amounted to $262,315,40!). 

 There was received for the bonds the sum of $293,- 

 454,286.74. The quotation of Fiske & Robinson 

 shows that these bonds are worth to-day in the 

 market $349,753,866. This makes a profit to the 

 banks of $36,299,580. The last issue of bonds are 

 now quoted at $1.10, which gives the banks a 

 profit of $19,800,000 upon the issue. The bonds 

 are now quoted in New York at $1.10, at which 

 figure the income is only 1 per cent. They meet 

 with ready sale, which shows that the Govern- 

 ment can borrow money at that figure and that 

 the banks who receive $6,000,000 a year make a 

 net profit of $2,500,000 a year upon the last issue 

 of bonds alone. Since 1892 the increase in inter- 

 est paid annually by the United States has been 

 $17,000,000. It is now proposed to increase it still 

 further. 



" These enormous sums are direct subsidies to 

 the Eastern banks. The total indebtedness of the 

 United States is less than it was in 1892, while 

 the interest charged is over 70 per cent, greater. 



" During President Harrison's administration 

 the interest-bearing debt of the United States 

 Avas $585,029,330. The noninterest-bearing debt 

 was $1,000,648,939.37. In the Treasury statement 

 of the public debt for the month of November. 

 1899, the interest-bearing debt has been increased 

 to $1,037,049,690. The noninterest-bearing debt 

 has been decreased to $388,048,760.16. The propo- 

 sition in this currency bill is to wipe out this non- 

 interest-bearing debt by replacing it with interest- 

 bearing debt. The interest paid by the United 

 States Government in 1892 was $22,893,883. The 

 interest paid for the fiscal year ended June 30, 

 1899, was $39,896,925.02." 



The measure was passed by the House Dec. 18. 



YEAS Acheson, Adams, Alexander, Allen of 

 Maine, Babcock, Bailey of Kansas, Baker, Bar- 

 ham, Barney, Bartholdt, Bingham, Boreing, Bou- 

 tell of Illinois, Boutelle of Maine, Bowersock. 

 Brick, Bromwell, Brosius, Brown, Brownlow, 

 Bull, Burke of South Dakota, Burkett, Burleigh, 

 Burton, Butler, Calderhead, Cannon, Capron, 

 Chickering, Clarke of New Hampshire, Clayton of 

 New York, Cochrane of New York, Connell, 

 Cooper of Wisconsin, Corliss, Cousins, Cromer, 

 Crump, Crumpacker, Curtis, Cushman, Dahle of 

 Wisconsin, Dalzell, S. A. Davenport, Davidson, 

 Dayton, Denny, Dick, Dolliver, Dovener, Driggs, 



