OCR Text |
Show I Uncle Sam Should Be The Banker i 1 That report of Mr. Secretary of the treasury can well be paralleled to a !t hobbled cayousc travelling through I a prairiedog town. While lie .is in I plain view he plunges along without I knowing where the solid ground lies extricating himself from one hole only to step into another and finally exhausted, simply gives up the struggle strug-gle and in desperation neighs for a patl'ifindcr. An efficient assistant enables en-ables us to learn a few pertinent 1 facts as to an approximtc status of affairs, so that our deductions c.in but be comparatively correct. He thinks there is in circulation in the United States $2,772,956,450 of money, of which 41-9 per cent was gold but ihow much silver or what other kind of money he fails to state or wc did not sec it. One thing is definite that at the close of tlic fiscal year there was $904,691,730.14 gold on hand and that the available working carfitai amounted to $272,061,445.47, an increase in-crease of $91,372,090.65 as compared with that of a year ago, which serves to emphasize our argument that Uncle Un-cle Sam is .1 good enough banker for the people to deposit with direct and he d'oes .. require any intermediary for cithci his own protection of convenience con-venience nor that of the depositors, for whom he must supply funds to enable them to keep their doors open when the latter happen to want a lit-tie lit-tie pocket money and do so without receiving interest, while he is paying , interest on $2,457,188,061.54, which I he can extinguish at his pleasure if i . he will but issue certificates of depos-i depos-i it to the people for the savings they now have in National Banks, and not only extinguish it but readily add to his present balance from one to two-thirds two-thirds of the entire total sum, the astute secretary concedes to be in circulation, for he means when he says in circulation what is actually 1 in the hands of the people and what 1 g, is also in the national banks, which ! latter is scarcely placed in its right class as it seems to have a slight attack at-tack of heart failure just at present. That the government is a capable banking institution is verified by the fact that its accumulated1 'profit fot the year over its expenditures was $84,236,568.30 and its increase in re- ceipts $84,338,435 over 1906, while its increase in expenses was but $25,-771,171.31 $25,-771,171.31 and its total revenue amounted to $846,725,339.62 with $1,160,009,869 held as trust funds in gold and silver coin to redeem outstanding out-standing issue of certificates, an increase in-crease of $115,371,000 as compared with 1906. But here comes the item that we want on the blackboard in big letters so all can read it no matter mat-ter how much of a hurry they are in, viz.; "The monetary stock of the country increased $180,584,416 during the last fiscal year; in gold $125,682,-36, $125,682,-36, in silver $13,623,750 and in national na-tional bank notes $42,676,330 while there was a decrease in treasury notes of the issue of 1890 (or it paid off in other words in coin) $1,398,006. The national banks, as can be seen by this statement, helped out their Uuclc Samuel by using his credit with the rest of the family to the extent ex-tent of $42,676,330 and benefitted directly di-rectly by having the use of this issue to loan the same "rest or the family" together with several times that amount which their Uncle deposited with them without interest for which they collected high rates of interest from that same "rest of the family," is it much wonder that the few of his nephews could easily become multimillionaires multi-millionaires and chief owners of all utilities while the other relatives did all the work and they simply kept the books? Well that's what they were doing when all at once it occurred to them that these relatives arc still getting too much and so they decide to cut them down by retaining all but just enough to keep them going. It "reminds "re-minds the writer very much of the way a certain smelting company acquired ac-quired millions off the earnings of a very small community. No matter how rich the ore their charges adsorbed ad-sorbed all but enough to keep the miner in grub and supplies. Under date of March 14, 1900, congress con-gress was "induced" by the "interests" "inter-ests" of coursc( to authorize the incorporation in-corporation of national banks with a capital of $25,000 in commu tics of 3000 population. From the date upon which this act took effect' to' the close of the business on August 31, 1907, a period of seven and one-half years 2,333 national banks were incorporated, in-corporated, the average capital being $26,078 and total capital $60,840,500, while from February 25, 1863, 'when the national banking act was firl passed to March 30, 1900, or thirty-seven thirty-seven years only 5,264 were organized organ-ized and but 3,617 were in existence on that last date. Some one must have been getting wise as to the profit of national banking. At this rate wc soon all would be bankers. But to save detail let us just go back and allow our common uncle to be the banker for the whole family alike. Take a glance at his relative capacity capa-city as compared with the few nephews? ne-phews? 3617 banks had a total capital of $616,307,864 2333 banks had a total capital of $ 60,840,500 5950 banks, $677,148364. Practically 6000 national banks controlled con-trolled absolutely, even if indirectly, by less than six thousand nephews out of a total family of eighty-nine millions. With a capital of $677,148,-364 $677,148,-364 and doing all the business of the country with "Uncle Sam" with a cash capital on hand of $1,688,027,-086.83 $1,688,027,-086.83 and the assets of the whole country behind him, borrowing money mon-ey from the "rest of the family" at 2 and 3 per cent and loaning it to the few without interest for them to loan to the many at any old per cent they can squeeze out of them; and when the many put their savings in the hands of the few they can't ?et them when they want them. Which is better Uncle Sam's certificate cer-tificate of deposit or a national bank's? How simple it is when you look it square in the face? Let Uncle Un-cle Sam pay off his outstanding bonds with certificates of deposit and open the mints to receive all the gold and silver offered paying for it in hi own coin and there will be plenty of money to run the business of the country for rs it grows he grows in . wealth and his certificates of deposit can be augmented as a circulating medium by his coin and bank notes and no panics can take place, as the people cannot be frightened at anything any-thing threatening him. They always have and always will stand patriotically patrioti-cally with him. An1 why? Because he is themselves as a whole. While M the family may have a little jar now H and then woe betide the outsider who M interferes. Wc who arc Anglcciscd and Ameri H canized can refreshingly take a les- son from the new comer from foreign lands. When "lie goes back he takes H his savings in United (States postal H cJrdcrs or coin. lie knows who to H trust and when he returns as he will H with his family he will have to br H educated before you can palm off H any subsidiary -institution on him in H place of the government. The mass H of figures presented here shows the H results and prosperity and safety of H the country, and of the government H and serves to bring into most bold H relief the fact that Mic only thing H that is wrong is our present banking H system which can never be right tin- H til that same government issues all H the money, receives the deposits and H hanks do business just the same a H the miner, the farmer, the manufac- H turcr and the merchant on their own H capital, credit, assets and capability H without exceptional favor from the H national government. H H |