Show GOLD REDEMPTIOlif 0 JATI01T I r AL SANK NOTe I Congressman Walker of Massachusetts I Massachu-setts chairman of the hous committee commit-tee on banking and currency akes almost al-most as much alarm at what sident I McKinley has to say on the cvrency I question as he took at what PrCfeESor I Andrews said on the silver quWion I I On the currency question he seem to i r i take alarm quite as easily as a fiOCR f i V geese feeding In a stubble field t4 J I j j at the approach of a stranger j I j I Congressman Walker is very much I j alarmed about the greenbacks and I says that what is recommend if put i I into the form of law would enable a man with a million dollars in gold to I retire the greenbacks It would certainly cer-tainly be better to retire the greenbacks I green-backs by the means made possible by I the recommendations of the president I than to be continually exhausting the I governments gold reserve and forcing it to make bond issues to maintain the reserve But that which alarms Chairman Walker most is the recommendation that national banks be required to redeem re-deem their notes in gold Such a requirement re-quirement with no other provision he I says would cause every bank In the country to surrender its circulation And then he asks What other agency would keep the country on a gold basis His assumption that the banks would all withdraw their circulation circu-lation is by no means certain And why shouldnt the banks that have the power to issue money be required to redeem their notes in gold There are no stronger advocates of gold fts the money of final redemption than they I and there is no reason why they should not redeem their notes in the money they favor for redemption Those who favor the discontinuance of the issue of paper money by the government and the relegation of that function to banks of issue urge as a chief reason for the same that the V government should go out of the banking business This recommendation of the president is directly in line with that desire and I yet Chairman Walker has a severe fit of the alarms at the recommendation At the present time these bank notes are redeemable in lawful money Such redemption throws upon the government govern-ment the burden of supplying the money of final redemption Why should all that burden be placed upon the government and not upon the banks of issue There is no reason in the world why it should Congressman Walker was speaking for himself and not for the banks but if his view is their view then they need not expect any consideration at the hands of congress con-gress By this time it should be evident to all that the currency question is still the great issue before the country And the president shows no inclination to I grapple boldly with it The American I people like a bold man no matter what his views may be President McKinley i I is not such a man i |