20 W. G. Langworthy Taylor 



finance from a scientific point of view, and made progressive 

 recommendations. 1 



After the strenuous monetary political campaign of 1896, and 

 in view of the then impending campaign of 1900, congress was 

 compelled to take action upon the action of the currency, and 

 passed the Act of March 14, 1900, which is a monument of timid- 

 ity. The first object of the act was to secure the gold standard, 

 and this it sought to do by increasing the treasury reserve against 

 government notes, and by giving to the United States Treasurer 

 additional facilities of borrowing in order to maintain it. The 

 best way to maintain the gold standard would undoubtedly be to 

 abolish government paper money altogether, and to enforce 

 strictly redemption of bank circulation by the banks themselves. 

 It was not, however, felt that the country was ready for such a 

 liberation from financial swaddling clothes; the labors of a long 

 series of monetary reformers were neglected. So the act made 

 a slight move towards greater note elasticity by allowing the 

 banks to issue notes up to 100 per cent of the bonds deposited, 

 instead of the 90 per cent theretofore permitted, by allowing 

 them to reissue notes just after they had retired them, instead of 

 the period of delay which a law of 1882 had prescribed, by re- 

 ducing the tax on circulation, and by reducing the interest on 

 the bonds put up as security. Action of this sort is noticeable 

 for our purposes chiefly as showing that the question of elasticity 

 of the currency was under actual discussion, and that the legis- 

 lature, although reluctantly, was compelled to acknowledge the 

 pressure of enlightened ideals. 



The Hon. Charles N. Fowler has, in a series of often amended 

 projects, offered to the country a measure of real reform, and 

 must be looked upon as one of the best educators of public opin- 

 ion to be found in political circles. Even his proposed bills do 

 not go to the full extent of complete freedom of issue, but are 

 largely influenced by the German model. He proposes to remove 

 the bond guaranty ; he advocates the safety fund ; and, until his 

 last bill, he proposed to tax additional note issues at an increas- 



1 Vid. Report of the Monetary Commission of the Indianapolis Conven- 

 tion, 1898, by J. Laurence Laughlin. 



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