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OUR BANKING AND CURRENCY LAW A Discriminating System Which Puts an Uninst Burden and Handicap Upon FarmerOwner and HomeBuilder. To the Editor of The News and Courier: The most momentous struggle of this generation is on in Congress. Public opinion should be aroused and expressed with reference to the shaping of the currency bill. Not even tariff legislation is so important to the people of this enuntrv nn thn riorht kind nf r>iirmn. cy legislation?and the tariff exacts from the people for a class annually its missions of tribute. The President has well said that he "regards the vigorous debates among the Democrats on the House banking and currency committee as a wholesome discussion calculated to bring out a better measure." The people should be heard from. The newspapers and the thoughtful men of the South and West should give attention and speak out. The metropolitan organs of high finance are not failing to level their batteries against the reform features of the pending bill and the committee under the leadership of its chairman is granting compromise concession to this vfociferous criticism. The bill began with too .many concessions to "conservatism" and Will llA o Qnrl /liaanrvAi?fmonf a riatw ocfratic hopes of four months ago unless the forces of radical reform have their inning and compel a different resultant of' compromise from that now foreshodowed. I shall not attempt to define "money." "Doctors differ" But we know that at one time in Colonial Virginia tobacco was used as money, and in Colonial South Carolina rice was money, while the money of ancient times consisted of cattle, sheep and goats. The very word "pecuniary" is given as derived from "Pecua? cattle of all kinds, sheep, .money." Cotton is the money crop of the South, while corn and wheat are the money crops of the West. If left to a state of nature, not controlled as we are by the artificialities of civ 1 ^ iiu.mi.iuii miu Kovernmeni, tnese products would be the "money" of these sections. A very crude sort of money this would be, of course, not to be carried around with you in your pocket, but a "money" available to us without dependance upon any other country or region to mine and furnish it. Silver and finally gold, has been the preferred money of the world, because it compresses so much value into so small a space, being thus convenient for handling, and is moreover imperishable. But it cannot be used as a necessary of life?it can not clothe or feed. It thus has a much more limited or secondary utility than cotton, corn or wheat. Except for making wares for the wellto-do, it has a quite narrowed demand as a material for consumption. In fact, it has come to be in demand chiefly for "money"?its value would be lowered and its production checked if it were no longer demanded by the world for money. The mere needs for manufactured products would hardly afford a market for all the silver and gold now available and each year coming from the mines. Thus the Government's selection of a commodity as "money" adds greatly to the demand for that commodity and increases its value. Such governmental preference (whether by necessity or by favor,) increasing as it does the value of a commodity and the consumption of it, stimulates the Droduction n nrl ?: ?.?? vvitavvjucuuj' raises the profits and the wages of the produces and the wealth of the section to which nature has assigned such production. Relatively other commodities and their producers suffer thereby?are subordinated to this Govcrnment-mado "measure of all value and medium of exchange for all things." In the universal commerce of modern times there is sort of compulsion upon the remote and heretofore isolated regions to adopt in trade beyond their borders tho standard of the most advanced nations, which thus establish a worldstandard. The laws of the strong nations as to "money" become paramount throughout the world even though such laws be to some extent arbitrary say-sos. Thus the great countries of the east and the south? 'China and Mexico?where silver is the natural and legal money (the product of their mines,) have been compelled by Europe and the United Oi.i ~ 1 ... ow?ve? to dow to the gold standard, practically demonetizing their silver _ money?as good for them as gold for any other nation if it were not that the stronger nation is able to dictate the "money" for world trade. But even gdld and silver are heavy to carry in quantities, and the practice has arisen for Governments to provide a substitute, a receipt for s There's a worl tion in buying!] because you k get what you crackers that a crisp, clean, a; i nourishing. o Uneeda Biscuit ar< in quality?they i in crispness, in ? soda crackers upon. And all Biscuit are uncom ers packed in an Five cents evei moisture-proof pa NATIONAL BISC gold or silver, bearing the guaranty of Government, and usable as gold or silver money. Paper money in this form leads easily to paper money In other forms?still trusted and accepted by the people because of the known strength and wealth of the Government which guarantees its full value. There is need of such money, too, because there is not enough gold and silver in the world to supply the world'p demand for money, especially as production and commerce are multiplied in the development of science and progress. Paper currency proper may thus be the mere promise of the Government to pay?good enough up to a limit, but with a tendency to depreciate if issued in too great quantities. It is dangerous to depend upon this kind of money as there is a temptation at times to exceed the proper limit, and thus to lower the standard valnn Put the prestige of the nation is a trem- ] endous factor in securing circulation ! for its mere promissory notes. < Other paper currency, more sub- i stantial than the mere promise to ; pay, may be money issued on assets of value other than the precious met als. Such currency is the Govern- ] ment's promise to pay, secured by < valuable collateral which the Gov- i ernment certifies that it holds as an j added assurance of its ability to pay. ( This kind of money is like the paper , issued as a receipt for gold or silver, ( and is as good to the extent that the j asset for which it stands is as good , as silver but it is less readily ac- 3 cepted to the extent that it is less ; certainly valuable than gold or sil- \ ver. Wherever this asset is trusted, such "money" should be as good as j any?especially if the Government < be strong and have public confidence It is far better than Clearing House certificates, with which the banks of Columbia have relieved the stringency of panics. It is far better than the issues of the State chartered banks, which constituted the money of the South in large proportion before the war. It is far better than the "greenbacks" mere promisorry notes, with which the United States Government weathered the financial strain of the war between the states, far below the nominal value of silver certificates, since silver bullion is far below the nominal value of siver ( money. It should be as good a3 gold t if the asset is in general demand, is t of adequate excess value to allow for ' any possible depreciation or deterio- < ration, and is insured against de- t struction or damage. All the better if the asset is a thing the outside < world must have and will send gold ^ to get. < It has for more than a generation ] been the policy of the Federal Gov- j ernment to issue such currency ) (through national banks) with Gov- ] ernment bonds as the asset. This i currency has long been as fully trust- i ed, as readily accepted, as gold it- 1 self. Yet, consider what its se- i curity; First, the Government's i bond?another form of Government i promise to pay, but bearing interest i and therefore in demand as an easy c and safe form of investment, though i at small profit; second, there is the c bank's promise to pay, a sort of en- i dorsement for the Government. But the manner of the issue is such as to t make the note that of the bank r#. * ther than, of the Government, and it 1) bears the Government's certificate c that the bank has left Government d bonds with the Government as secur- fa ity. The Government styles all these t notes of the different national banks o "National Currencyand as their v sponsor and the holder of the collat- ii eral (its own indebtedness) pledged r to secure them, the Government is c the quasi-guarantor or endorser for t the banks. Uncle Sam is a good en- o dorser, and the party for whom he e endorses is quite favored above the n common run of men. v d of satisfacrneedaBiscuit now you will want?soda re oven-fresh, ppetizing and 3 always uniform ire always alike lavor?they are TTA11 /?o?i jvm. vcut ucpcuu because Uneeda unon soda crackuncommon way. rywhere in the ickage. UIT COMPANY But no citizen can get this endorsenent. He may buy the bonds, but he :annot use them except through owning a national bank. No State bank ?ets this endorsement, this Government credit. No industrial corporation, cotton mill or other factory, railroad or farming corporation. Onrailroad or farming corporation. On ly tne national bank. But the national bank is misnamed. It is not national?it is not owned by the nation. It is as private a corporation for private profit as any other corporation?the Standard Oil or the Steel Trust. Thus one set of corporations, national only in the sense of being chartered and supervised and nurtured by the National Government, has the advantage of the Government's recommendation and quasi-endorsement of a large batch of its promises to pay, and is the specially privileged ?nd monopolistic private agency or private brokerage through which the National Government issues its money, or that great proportion of its money based upon other assets than actual gold or silver. Here we have a fine illustration of what has been called "special privilege." Likewise a fine illustration of 'Government partnership with private business." The national bank ?ets interest from the Government >n its money invested in bonds, just as any individual would get interest an the investment; but it also gets the use of the currency based on those same bonds, and lends this currency to the people, obtaining in this State 7 or 8 per cent interest additional on the same investment. Further, the national banks are thus jiven the "sovereign" power of controlling the supply of money (or this large proportion of it) and controll injar its distribution, saying yes or no is to who shall borrow it. Gilt-edge collateral, United States bonds themselves, in the hands of a mere man, cannot command "money." The larger and more powerful national sanks, in the great cities of the North, thus select the enterprises which shall be undertaken, the groups of financiers who shall acquire the most desirable industrial plants of the country and dictate the wages of the workers and the prices to the consumers. The Southern national banks are still relatively weak ind dependent, and merely subsidiiry. The big national banks of New York make our Southern banks hang jn their favor for loans and renewals, just as the home banks say yes Approved commercial paper will >r no to their customers who ask vhether money can be had or not. A call from New York calls along the line. The money must come. The lotes must be met. The collateral nust be sacrificed. The cotton long held in the warehouse against the *ise that must come unless the "holdng" is broken, must be sold regardess of price when the "accomodatng" bank regretfuiiy suys that the noney advanced on the cotton canlot be longer spared?obligations nust be met in New York, and the cotton must be sold. The home bank s as helpless to indulge the farmer till cotton goes up as the farmer s 10 neip nimself. Thus it is within the discretion of he leaders of the chain of Governnent favored (national) banks to imit the credit of the parts of the ountry dependent upon them and orlinat-ily served through weaker >anks. They may say which secions of the country shall be develped and in what degree by "capital" 1 rhat water powers shall be left gong to waste through this generation ' ather than be brought into use as ompetitors of others within a cerain zone, what new railroad develpments shall be permitted In a giv n territory, not with regard to tho ieeds of that part of the country, but rith an aye to the continued profits of the investments already there b syndicated capital. Since the powe of money is increased by its relativ scarcity in proportion to demand, th private selfish purposes of the Na tional Government's chosen "depu ties" in the supply of money may b subserved by refraining from avail ing themselves of their right to is sue currency. If they chose thus t contract the currency, or (which i the same thing) to decline to increas it in proportion to the normal re quirements of the growth of th country, the Government has provid ed no machinery to prevent the dis astrous effects of such dereliction The business world may be throwi into a panic because of the scarcit; of money. The "Money Trust" is th creation,' not so much of the brain o J. Pierpont Morgan and his forerun ners and coadjutors, as of the Na tional Government's abdication of it functions in favor of the nationa banking system. We have lived so long under thi system, the national bank in ever city and town is so much a part o the life of every business man, it officers are so respected, and in th South, are on the whole such goo< men, so truly public-spirited as the; see the public interest, that 5t is har< if not impossible for us to reali/i that these banks are founded in fun damental error. The system begai during the war and had its excuse ii the need of making an artificial mar ket for United States bonds, whicl had to be sold in large quantities ti produce the money with which to car ry on the war and coerce the South In time, under the restored Union the Southern cities and towns cairn into the system, and in the past half century the people of the South hav necessarily been on terms of friend ship with these banks and on term of intimacy with their beneficiaries l.U?IJ -? ? "" Iiv awkniiuiucis UIC OI US. ine an nual dividends (rrtore certain thai the dividends of any other corpora tion in our midst) endear them t the man with money to invest, am the loans to "tide over till fall" en dear them to the pest of us. But a students of finance and of govern ment we must perceive, and as Dem ocratic reformers proclaim, in the in terest of the people, that these bank are founded on favoritism, on spec ial privilege, and should be change* as one of the first and greates achievements of the Democratic Ad ministration, representing the whol< people, who have for the entire life time of most of us been exclude* from view in the plans and opera Mp|AOf the Federal Government, "itit how coming to be recognize* by those formerly blinded througl partisanship that the period of Re publican rule was consistently an< wholly wrong, and often wilfully op pressive. Those who have been it: chief victims may well feel in bitter ness that the presumption is agains everytning tnat it created. Ye "prosperous and successful crinv (says Seneca) is called virtue, and si long an era of dominance of erro has necessarily perverted somewha the mental attitude of even Southeri men. Consequently the Democrat! party is by no means united on th question of money. It denounced th present system and the proposed A1 drich bill, but formulated no definit constructive policy as in the case o the tariff. To the average man tlv money question appears intricate an< unintelligible. He is not sufficient!; informed to know his and his coun try's interests. Those who are sup posed to know have had too long i schooling in the national banks. W have among us too many nationa bank influences, too insidious am ramifying, to escape the effect li moulding our views. Thus our Ion; habitation to Republican finance ha innAAiilof ?2x1- aL .cn.li me ouulii wan in virus of Republican special privilege We need a regeneration. One of the cruel wrongs of the na tional banking law was that by it th Government struck down land as i basis of credit, forbidding tne nation al banks from lending money on rea estate mortgages. This necessaril; depreciated the value of land, am has ever since continued to be i handicap and burden to the farm owner and the home-builder. Ye land is the one thing in the worli that by nature (with local excep tions) never depreciates but alway increases in value, so much so tha economic philosophers argue tha the owner gets, an undue profit, am added value, caused by the increas of population (while the amount o Innrl i \ J a1 voiinui. mticase; una me conse quent increased pressure of popula tion upon land?making a constantly increasing demand for land. This so called "unearned increment" is a rec ognized additional margin which th lapse of time adds to the value o: any real estate in normal communi ties and normal times. Land in th< only collateral that grows all thi time. It "puts up additional margin* automatically. Marvelous collateral Yet farms, and lands generally, havt been "blacklisted" by "our Govern ment" as not to be accepted to any degree by any national bank as th< basis for a loan, while bonds?men indebtedness?have been, if in the (Continued on last page.) ' | BRING YOUR : BUSIN1 I 0 4* To the BANK that is not onl s 4* SAM, But has the largest Ci * 4* Union County. e T We make a special effort T care of the requirements of j * T their demands are in k< 1 T BANKING. n 4f I Deposit your funds with i f ^ of a loan call on us. . f : I Citizens Nafi< ? % UNION, SOUTH ( f :4* Capital and Surplus More t * STATE, COUNTY AND C d e i it 4,+++4?+4'f|?4>4?+4i4?+4 * l * Columbus am ! W A G < ; * B - + Do you need i 1 * * + xi? - j. tue V/OIUI d % Webber Wago * | you buy. - * fc + * * ; >| Peoples Su| i .. ????. ll rLFT P j Mr. Wide-Awa r> i ; Take Advantage j Seasons We Ai v Reduce the feed bill; reduct ^ innr tvtolr/\ ? * u nig, maivc Lite iarm, me yaru 1 ery vacant spot in town or beauty and profit, g A few dollars invested i 3 Vetch, Crimson Clover, Dwa e ber Cane Seed or the best i with a few hours work will the turnip seeds of all variet e tard Seed, and Winter Cal UINE UNION COUNTY R, \ BAGE, famous for their go y bility. d I Everybody can have salad ft I cabbacre. Evprv vp^nt enAi _ a ? . J ? MVMli X> OpUl/ t I ful and profitable in forag< d E feed purposes, as well as imi - I seed and small garden seed J I fine for winter use, planted 1 I SEE US FOR THE MC e I SEED THAT MONEY CAN f your Fruit Jars, Jar Rubbei and Sealing Wax for preset t Remember our motto: if you want it." And the hs e ing work you ever saw to i f mand in season and out of s The Union ftr WH?V>1 \i* "THE OLD REL Phone 100 Prompt Delivery. l== i j? (if* k|i? ?f# ?i|# ?S|* <afi* ?ifi? <ifi? ?2|? (if* (if BANKING ! SSS J iy backed by UNCLE ipital of any Bank in + J. ?n i-- *? AC Ail times LU taKe all patrons so long as 4. eeping with SAFE 4. + us and when in need ^ 4* >nalBank! CAROLINA. % > Than $100,000.00 * ITY DEPOSITORY. * * > 4? 4? 4? 4? 4? 4? 4? 4? 4? 4? 5K d Webber | 3 N S ! + 4a Wagon? | nbus and | ns before * * * *r pply Co. J * . ?$? ?ft ?$? <f? ,$ ?$, >USY I ke Farmer | I of the Fine re Having j e the high cost of liv, the orchard and evcounty a thing of n Winter or Hairy ! irf Essex Rape, Am- r, Acclimated Rye Seed 1 do wonders. Then ies, Rutabagas, Mus- . bbage. THE GEN\ISED KOON CAB- ] odness and dependa* s, turnips and a few : can be made beauti; and roughness for ]'J{ prove the soil. Bean ^ , even beets will do r! now. ST DEPENDABLE . BUY. Don't forget ^ rs, extra Jar Caps, H /es, jellies, etc. "Your money back Lj irdest and most will- |j meet your every de- p> leason. ( ocery Co. I IABLE" t L. L. Wagnon, Mgr. f>