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Show ! THE ALDRICH BILL. The most talked of measure, before the present session of congress is the Aldrich bill, whose laudable lauda-ble object is to provide plenty of money at times when money becomes scarce. In other words, it is an attempt to solve the ever recurring currency problem. Every so ofteh people become frightened at the danger of banks failing, ami make a grand, rush for their money, which they hide away for time being. This brings about the very condition which they feared, namely, bank failures. In the, ordinary course .of business, banks keep on hand only one-fourth of the money entrusted to their care by depositors, and consequently if the depositors depos-itors make a united demand for their money, the bank cannot pay it back, and must close up. The Aldrich bill, to remedy this, provides that at such a time, the bank may get money from the government, by depositing as security bonds issued by municipalities or railroads. The government officials must first pass upon the sufficiency of such security. In order that the money so issued will not remain outstanding too long after the emergency emer-gency has passed, the bank must pay the government govern-ment six per cent per annum on the amount so issued. Amongst the most vigorous opponents of the measure are the national banks. One -of their chief objections is that United States government bonds .:n i u 1 . . . jiui ue iccciveu as security ior such emergency currency, in cases where the bank has already issued is-sued up to its limit of government bond secured currency. Thus railroad bonds are preferred to government bonds. This has a peculiar look to the casual observer. Another objection to the bill is that it would take so long to get the securities passed upon and the money issued, that the panic would be over, and the bank closed up, before the relief came, The panic of 1907 came like a thunderbolt out of a clear sky. Even the telegraph was hardly quick enough to keep ahead of it. When some of the large Xew York banks got into trouble, and it became be-came known that they had been dabbling in stocks every depositor in every city in the country was in a panic the next morning, and wanted his money. There certainly would not have been time enough to enter into negotiations with the treasury officials, of-ficials, submit securities for inspection and approval, appro-val, and at the end of a few weeks or a month, tc get the money. It is like a man falling overboard from a ship, and the captain calling a meeting of the officers and crew to arrange for rescuing him lie would he drowned before the meeting was over One amendment to the Aldrich bill proposed by Senator La Follctte provided in substance, that r, national bank be prohibited from lending money to any corporation in which a director of the bank was interested as stockholder or director. Tins raised a storm of protest, and was stricken out, or. the ground that it would preclude the best businessmen business-men in a community from serving as bank direc. tors, because all such men had other business interests. inter-ests. This was an effort to put a stop to high financiering finan-ciering on the part of bank directors, using the depositors' money; therefor, as did Morse and Ileinze with the Mercantile Xational and the Xa tional Bank of Xorth America, and which really startcd the trouble throughout the country. It is to be hoped that some safe way will be found to stop such practices, but the one proposed seems too objectionable ob-jectionable from other standpoints. Although the administration is in favor of the Aldrich bill, there is so much objection to it that it is doubtful if it will pass at this session. Tho most sensible suggestion made so far. out of the multitude of remedies proposed, is the appointmen of a commission to examine into the whole question ques-tion and report at the next session of congress. In cidcntally. this will make one less embarrassing ex planation to be given by the Republican party at the co'ming presidential election. |