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What Will Its Provisions Be?

What Will Its Provisions Be? image
Parent Issue
Day
28
Month
August
Year
1903
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

According to reports the senate sub-committee on finance had a meeting with the President recently at Oyster Bay to discuss the principles to be incorporated in the new currency measure to be introduced at the approaching special session of congress. Just what the features of this new measure are is not clearly known. The fact is there seems to be very little unanimity among even the members of the finance committee, let alone the majority in congress, as to what a currency reform bill should include. The fact is the question is a most complicated one, upon which bankers and students of finance appear to be wide apart. 

Senator Aldrich, who is one of the most powerful of the majority members of the senate, is understood to favor the acceptance of municipal, county and railroad bonds as security for government deposits. But this plan apparently stands no show of adoption, not because it is unsafe so much as because it is a simple make-shift and tends away from asset banking, which appears to have a large following.

There is a pretty general sentiment, even demand, for a more elastic currency, but just how to secure this with safety is the problem. Many believe there should be an asset based currency, an emergency circulation based upon assets with a rigid provision for the retirement of this emergency circulation as soon as the emergency has passed.

Certainly some common ground ought to be found for doing away with the locking up of vast sums of money in the treasury at times when the business of the country needs every dollar of circulation we have.

It is doubtful, however, whether any substantial progress toward a solution of this important question will be found at the coming session. The time is too near a presidential election. But even a little progress will be encouraging to those who believe there is much to be done to make the currency more elastic and safe in time of business difficulties. 

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In the death of Lord Salisbury there has passed from the stage of human affairs a man who filled a great place in the world's affairs during his time. It is true that his life work was completed and he had retired from the public view and yet the passing of such a man always involves the interested observation of the world, because of what he has been and what he has accomplished. The public never loses its interest in a great character and Salisbury was undoubtedly a great man. By his acts he is entitled to live in history.