A BANKING SCHEME.
A Proposition to Abolish the
Present System.
Three Thousand Governmental Rank * as
A SubHtltutc They to Loan Money
to Horrowcra tit the Ituta of
Four F r Cent.
Thomas E. Hill , of Hill's Manual ,
has been for some years engaged in
fanning at Prospect Park , 111. , and ,
from a farmer's standpoint , he gives
the following suggestions on banking
in an Interview with a representative
of the Chicago Inter Ocean :
Why occasional money stringency ?
Because through numerous bank and
other failures people become frightened
and hide their money. Two causes have
combined to produce recent failures.
One has been the late" era of real es
tate speculation in the vicinity of large
cities , inflating values to a point that it
had to stop. The other has been the
steady diminution of money through the
contraction of National bank currency.
Ten years ago the National bank circu
lation was 5302,000,000. One year ago
it was $200,000,000. To-day it is about
$180,000,000.
Why do National banks contract their
circulation ? The National bank law
enacted in 18GS and 1804 made it obliga
tory upon the bank company to loan
one-third of its capital to the Govern
ment , upon which it was granted a
charter to do business for twenty years
and issue bank notes to the extent of
90 per cent , of loan to Government. As
Government bonds in the beginning of
this system paid 6 per cent , interest in
gold , and gold yielded 40 per cent , pre
mium , banking was very profitable.
Latterly , as the Government will payne
no more than 3 per cent , interest , banks
are unwilling to loan it money. They
prefer not to issue National bank cur
rency , but would rather take other pee
ple's money on deposit , get full interest
for all they loan , and be free from the
annoyance of Government bank inspec
tion ; consequently they are gradually
withdrawing the currency they have is
sued from circulation.
But , it may be said , il the Government
could give encouragement why should
not thr * ' ' "sent bank system be contin
ued ? use our National debt is be
ing too rapidly extinguished to allow
the present system to be perpetuated.
Banks that have proven the most relia
ble , and have been of the greatest serv
ice to the 'people , have been those inti
mately connected with the Government ;
have been founded on Government ne
cessities , when the Government had a
large debt and had to borrow. Thus
the Bank of Venice , founded in 1171 ,
owed its existence to the imperative
necessity that the government borrow
money. This bank , tinder government
control , was the admiration of all Eu
rope for 000 years , and only ceased its
existence on the overthrow of the re
public in 1797 by the revolutionary army
of France.
The Bank of Hnland. . established in
1G94 , was organized as a means through
which to borrow money from the pee
ple. The government had been paying
from 20 to 40 per cent , on money , which
was difficult to get at that. William
Paterson , a London merchant , con
ceived the idea of organizing a com
pany to furnish § 0,000,000 to the gov
ernment as a permanent loan , for
eleven years , at S per cent , interest.
Subscriptions to the entire stock were
taken in ten days after the books were
opened , and from that day to this the
loan to the government has been about
equal to its capital , the bank company
obtaining their profit from their bank
notes in circulation nn.-l their deposits.
The government supervision over the
bank has been such as to give entire
confidence , so much so that the bank is
allowed to issue 875.000,000 in excess of
its gold deposits. This bank should be
maintained , and will be , as the people's
guardian of the public debt of England ,
which is S3-100,000,000.
In contrast with the "beneficent serv
ice rendered the people , through the
Bank of England , was the disastrous
consequences to the people through the
failure of the Bank of Glasgow , which
went down iu 1S78 owing the people
§ 33,000,000 ; bank officials , free from
government control , having squan
dered its funds and misrepresented its
condition for years before its failure.
The unreliable condition of banks in
the United States is well illustrated in
the fluctuating values of paper money
from 1840 to 1800 banks without Gov
ernment control. The war came on ;
the Government found it necessary to
borrow , and then was inaugurated our
National bank system , which , under
Government supervision and inspection ,
has served its purpose with comparative
safety to the people. With the extin
guishment of the public debt , however ,
which is down to 6850,000,000 , the pres
ent National bank system must be
changed.
The defects in our present system are
the following :
1. Even perfect as our National bank
system is the failures had been so nu
merous as to cause a loss to depositors
in National banlcs of $500,000 annually
for twenty-seven years prior to 1S79 ,
while -the loss to depositors in other
banks was over § 10,000,000 per year dur
ing the same time. The great number
of bank failures of late is not only
taking the hundreds of thousands from
suffering bank depositors and putting
"the same into few hands , but money
stringency compels many millions of an
nual loss to the people from being
obliged to sell property at a sacrifice ,
while the enormous interest which
borrowers are compelled to pay
in the money crisis is another
loss of many millions to the people.
2. The present system is one of favor
itism. The man so fortunate as to do
business at a bank can have accommo
dations , while the farmer , offering se
curity worth twenty times the money
required , can not get a dollar from the
bank , but is compelled to pay an extra
per cent , above interest , in order to bor
row.
3. The unequal and very high rates
of interest in certain portions of the
country , especially in the newly settled
regions , is a great burden to the poor
immigrant. In nome portions of tUo
West the allowable rate b 18 per cent ,
per annum ; and , with a commission
above that to farmers , it is not surpris
ing that all the farms and chattels
thereon are so mortgaged that they are
rapidly passing into the possession of
the few money loancrs. The postal
system , under Government manage
ment , makes it possible to buy a post
age stamp as cheap in Idaho as in New
York. Goyernment banking should
and would afford the same accommoda
tion.
4. The legal rates of interest are too
high. Long hours , coupled with laborsaving - ,
saving machinery , have driven work
men out of the mechanical employ
ments in such numbers as to make in
tense competition in farming and all
the various avocations. Not having
profit enough to make ends meet , yet
hoping to save themselves , men borrow ,
and , finally , lose all through being
eaten up by interest.
The institution that serves our purpose
in banking should , be thoroughly
impartial , and be so completely
responsible as to guard the customer
against any possible loss. Nothing
short of government can fill this posi
tion. The only serious question is : Are
we sufficiently civilized ? Are we wise
enough to introduce a Governmental
system that will do justice to all and
absolutely protect the people ? I think
we are and propose the following :
That the Government borrow and add
to its liabilities § 1,150,000,000. The
amount thus borrowed , added to the
present Government indebtedness , will
make the Governmentdebt2,000,000,000
a very light debt compared with other
nations ; and considering the assets of
the Government , consisting of 900,000-
000 acres of Government land yet un
sold , together with custom-houses , forts
and other property worth billions of
dollars.
The exact amount of money in circulation
'
lation November 1 , 1890 , was § 1,499-
004,121 , which made , reckoning our population -
' ulation at 03,000,000 people , § 23.80 for
I each person ; ample with which to do
the business of the country when confi
dence is restored and money circulates.
Continue this circulation with steady in
crease , as may be found necessary with
out inflating or depressing values , in
bank notes of various denominations ,
including a goodly supply of postal cur
rency , so popular and convenient in the
j days gone by.
! Establish 3,000 banks in various parts
of the United States. As the Govern
ment can borrow every dollar it wants
at 3 per cent , and less , it can loan at 4
per cent. As there are estimated to be
§ 55,200,000,000 worth of property in the
United States , the Government can
safely loan up to § 5,000,000,000 , which
may be its limit of loan.
j Whatever money is put into circula
tion will come almost immediately back
into the banks again , through the con
fidence of depositors in the Government
bank as a safe place for money ; and ,
costing the Government nothing , can be
loaned over and over again , up to the
' amount of § 5,000,000,000.
1 A careful appraisement should be
made of all property in every part of
the United States. The 8,000 banks are
so many Government depositories , dis
tributed throughout the Union , for the
purpose of furnishing money at 4 per
1 cent , or less , on good security. If branch
banks are needed they may be estab
lished as required.
! Loan money on land at one-fifth of its
appraised value and on chattels , prop
erly insured , at one-tenth their value.
Pursue so careful a policy that , should
interest or principal not be paid , the
United States will not be the loser , but
the gainer if the property comes into
Government possession.
Abolish all private banking , but al
low individuals , who may be willing
to advance more money than the Gov
ernment is allowed to loan , to loan
from their own funds , or under the
head of guarantee companies , to the
borrower , at a small stipulated ad
vance over the Government interest.
For the expense of managing the 3,000
banks allow each § 20,000 per year to
pay officers , appraisers , inspectors , etc.
The expense to the Government of
this system of banking will be interest
on § 2,000,000,000 at 3 per cent. , amount
ing to § 00,000,000 per annum. The cost
of managing 8.000 banks at an average
of § 20,000 each , will be00,000,000 ; total
cost , § 120,000,000 per year ; receipts from
interest on § 5,000,000,000 at 4 per cent. ,
§ 200,000,000 ; giving a net gain to the
Government by doing its own banking
of § 80,000,000. The advantage to the
people by Government banking thus ,
on a strictly conservative basis , will be
a large source of revenue ; no more
panics from bank failures ; no more
property sold at a third or quarter
value because of money panic ; no more
hoarding of money at home to be
burned , lost or stolen ; no more new
settlers eaten up by exorbitant inter
est ; no more discrimination against
farmers , because their securities are in
real estate : no more millions lost
through speculating bankers or bank
rupt banks.
To guard against political dishonesty
there should be elected annually a
board of five bank commissioners in
each Congressional district , who shall
have the control of employment of
bank officers ; these officers to be con
tinued hi place so long as they accept
ably serve the people. As the privilege
will always rest with the people of
completely changing the membership
of Congress , and the management of
banks shall rest with commissioners ,
annually chosen by the people , the rea
sons can not be seen wherein the bank
ing system can be corrupted. On the
contrary , instead of banking being con
ducted to the injury of the people , com
missioners thus chosen will call to the
management of the monied institutions
the best banking talent of the country.
Men of high moral character who are
now successfully conducting banks ,
will be chosen to these positions of
trust , where , given full opportunity for
the accomplishment of good , they will
conduct banking not alone for the suc
cessful few , but in the interest and for
the benefit of the entire people.
In School. Teacher "How are
worms a prophecy of vertebrates ? "
Pupil "Because they crawl 'round. "
ODD OCCURRENCES.
MJUXE men do some strange things.
The owners of an unsuccessful "panta
factory" are converting it into a maple
uyrup factory.
THERE is a woman living at Newton ,
Kan. , who is forty-eight years old and
she has never had a proposition of mar
riage. She thinks Newton is the dead
est town in the world.
TUB hunting costume for women is of
such a clerical stamp that when a lady
was thrown lately in Ireland a country
man nished up with the remark : "If
your reverence will just kape along the
hank a bit there is a handy rail you
might climb over. "
WHILK Mr. Williams , of Iilontezuina ,
Ga. , was driving under an oak tree at
dusk he was amazed to find his horse
leave the ground and remain in the air.
Investigation proved that the affair was
not supernatural , as the animal had got
caught in a swing hanging from a
bough of the tree.
A IJAKREI , of apples opened near the
Isle of Wight had a very fine apple in
the center with this message written on
a piece of paper : "If any young lady
who chances to eat this apple is desir
ous of matrimony she will please cor
respond with Hartley Marshall of Falk
land Ridge , Annapolis County , Nova
Scotia. "
THE Lewiston ( Me. ) Journal has this
William Tell story : "There was a
Maine doctor gunning for big game a
day or two ago , and he got helplessly
hung up over a precipice. His fellow
huntsman took aim , cut off the branch
of a tree that imprisoned him by shoot
ing it off at 200 yards distance , and the
imprisoned doctor was rescued. "
THE girls in the shoe factories at Gar
diner , Me. , have originated a new fad.
When one of their number needs a set
of false tcetli a paper is passed around
and each subscriber pays for one tooth.
When a sufficient sum is collected the
set is ordered , and a party is given at
which the "friendship teeth" are pre
sented.
NAVAL AFFAIRS.
THERE is a scarcity of lieutenants in
the British navy , and every officer on
the list is in active employment.
WHEN the vessels provided for have
been finished the United States navy
will have twenty-nine new steel unarmored -
armored and armored cruising vessels.
SECRETARY TRACY has decided upon
j the names lor five new ships of the navy
now building. They will be called
Cincinnati , llaleigh , Indiana , Massachu
setts and Oregon.
THE Stationary Engineer remarks :
The steam plant on some of the war
vessels assumes astonishing proportions
and is the principal element of their
composition. The riew British war-ship
Victoria has in her equipment eighty-
eight steam engines , not counting those
in her torpedo boats and launches.
THE uniforms of the German marines
will be altered shortly , so that the neck
and chest , which have heretofore re
mained bare , will be covered , as is the
case in other navies. The object of the
change is to prevent illness among the
! recruits whose lungs are not strong
enough to endure the customary ex
posure.
A PECULIAR phase of the tise of power
ful projectors in naval warfare has been
brought out. In misty weather the re
flection and glare of the light from the
projectors served only to blind the ship ,
and the torpedo boats were able to approach
preach within easy distance and dis
charge their torpedoes without being
discovered.
FOR FEMININE READERS.
BILLIARD cloth makes the dryest case
for a banjo.
To OBVIATE the shiny appearance of
silk , sponge with unsweetened gin.
IF pretty women would remain pretty
they must not permit their tempers to
become ruffled. A rage leaves creases
and wrinkles , and we all know these
give an impress of age.
A NEW bed-spread is made of coarse
linen sheeting , embroidered all over in
gold-colored silk in bold , conventional
designs , wrought in the long-stem stitch
known to our grandmothers.
ALL dainty women are fond of scent.
Some of them use it very extravagantly.
They saturate their dresses with per
fume , so that when they are taken out
of the wardrobe they are as fragrant as
a bank of .violets.
THE fashion of sewing tiny sachets of
fragrant powders in the corsage of
dresses is not new , and is certainly a
very agreeable one. There also the
perfume used must be no stronger than
violet or peau d'Espagne , amber or
orris-root.
Ax excellent and inexpensive prepara
tion for cleaning soiled gloves and other
delicate articles is the following mixt
ure : One quart of deodorized benzine ,
one drachm of sulphuric ether , one
drachm of chloroform , two drachms of
alcohol and enough cologne to make it
pleasant.
ASIATIC ATOMS.
CHINA now only supplies twenty-five
per cent , of the tea drunk in England.
A NEW map of Cliina has been ordered
by the Emperor and the surveys have
already begun.
THE Chinese have progressed. This
proclamation was recently circulated in
Tientsin : "Chinamen , rise and slay the
Emperor , who neither gives you bread
nor affords you protection from foreign
aggression. Slay , also , the foreigners
among you. "
HINDOO widows still continue to at
tempt suttee , notwithstanding it is pro
hibited by law under severe penalties.
Only a short tune since a rich widow
was forcibly removed from a funeral
pyre after she had been badly burned ,
in her desire to join her master in the
next world.
IF "cleanliness is next to godliness , "
the Japanese ought to rank very high in
the moral scale , for there is no people
so universally given to bathing. The
number of bath houses in Tokio is 1,20G >
and the average daily attendance at
each is 700. This is an index of the use
of the bath throughout the country.
T
J
PRATTLE OF THE INNOCENTS.
MOTHER ( mournfully ) " My dear
Charlie , what would you do if I hap
pened to die ? " Little Charlie ( eagerly )
"I'd eat all the sugar. "
MAMMA "Flossie , you have been a
very naughty little girl , and I must
punish you. " Flossie ( who has been to
the dentist's recently ) "Oh , mammal
Won't you please give me gas first ? "
LITTLE ETHEL ( just from the city ) "I
don't like this milk. " Farmer "Why ,
what's the matter with it ? " Little
Ethel "It tastes as though it had been
near a cow , and I just believe it has. "
A THOUGHTFUL six-year-old surprised
his family recently by giving his idea of
the derivation of the word "elevator. "
"It is called elevator , " ho announced ,
"because it goes by a weight , and be
cause it'makes people wait. "
GRANDMA ( to little grandson , who is
drumming "McGinty" on the piano ,
Sunday morning ) "My dear , that does
not sound like Sunday music. " Small
Musician "Oh , yes , grandma. That's
about a bad , wicked man , who was
drowned for going fishing on Sunday. "
THE curtain went down on the first
act , and the little boy leaned over and
whispered excitedly to his mother :
" " " " " isn't
"Mamma ! "Well , Jerry ? "That
all , is it ? " "No , Jerry. " He waited a
few moments and then whispered
again , impatiently : "Mamma , when
are they going to roll up that shade
again ? "
LITTLE FRITZ , hearing his parents
speak of Beethoven , asked : "Mamma ,
who is Beethoven ? " "A composer , "
replied his mother. "And what is a
composer ? " "A man who makes
music. " The next morning an organ-
grinder struck up a tune in the street.
"Mamma , " exclaimed Fritz , eagerly ,
"there is Beethoven. "
UNCLE SAM'S CHILDREN.
JAY GOULD carries-a thirty-five-cent
cane.
THE former estate of James Madison
at Orange Court-House , Va. , is owned
by William L. Bradley , of Boston , and
Louis F. Detrick , of Baltimore.
EX-SENATOR BRUCE'S twelve-year-old
son is named Roscoe Conkling Bruce ,
and is the proud possessor of a silver
cup , knife , fork and spoon given to him
by the late Senator.
THE veiy finest estate in America will
be George Vandcrbilt's , in North Carolina
lina , when he has finished improve
ments which , for the foundation and
first floor of his castle alone , have al
ready cost four hundred thousand del
lars.
lars.A.
A. B. FROST is one of half a dozen
American illustrators to whom art has
brought handsome fortunes , "lettered
ease" and rural comfort. He lives on a
good-sized farm near Madison , N. J. ,
dresses as he will and dispenses a gen
erous hospitality.
WEBB C. HAYES , the ex-President's
son , lives in Cleveland , where he is I'ated
a keen and successful business man. He
is treasurer of one corporation and a
stockholder in several others. He is a
bachelor and occupies handsome apart
ments in the east end of the city.
ONE of the smallest of New York
clubs is the Camera Club , with just one
hundred members. Its president is
David Williams , and among its mem
bers are several of the Harpers , Mrs.
Andrew Carnegie and Cornelius Van
Brunt. The club has recently attracted
some attention by an exhibition of
process pictures.
ESTHER and little Ben Ilolliday , the
children of the famous old overland
stage-driver , Ben Ilolliday , are now the
wards of General Rufus' B. Ingalls , who
intends to place them in some New
York school. The estate of their fathe.r
has dwindled , but there still remains
about six hundred thousand dollars to
be divided between them.
IN THE PUBLISHER'S WORLD.
NEW YORK boasts of the publication
of 2,700 distinct newspapers and period
icals.
THE editor of the Century Magazine
says he has rejected 8,500 manuscripts
during the last two years.
SOME German newspapers are vener
able with age. The Frankfort Journal
is 201 years old , the Madgeburg Zeitung
is 212 years old , and 98 others are over
100 years old.
IT being definitely ascertained , says
Joe Howard in the New York Press ,
that the New York World netted § 800-
000 in the year 1890 , the New York
Herald $000,000. and the Boston Globe
§ 250,000 , what's the matter with jour
nalism ?
Tin : success of Mr. Stead's Review of.
Reviews has encouraged some one else )
in London to establish a Religious Re
view of Reviews , Magazines and News
papers. The title will of itself consti
tute a heavy load for the promoters of
the enterprise to carry.
ACCORDING to the latest issue of the
"Newspaper Directory" there were no
less than 3,431,010,000 copies of maga
zines , papers and periodicals issued in
this country * , or a number more than
sufficient to afford every man , woman
and child in the United States one paper
per week for a year.
CELEBRATED MUSICIANS.
RUBENSTEIN says he will play no more
in public.
JEAN GERARDY , twelve years old , has
made a successful debut as a violoncel
list at the Crystal Palace , London.
WALTER EMERSON , the celebrated cor-
netist , began playing at a very early
age on a five-cent tin horn , and he dis
played so much ability as to attract im
mediate attention.
RUBENSTEIN , who is a Jew by birth ,
is being literally driven out of Russia
by the Jew-haters in Russian society , it
is reported , and will be likely to spend
his remaining years in either Parib or
Rome. His wife belongs to the Russian
nobility.
WHEN Haydn received from the Uni
versity of Oxford a doctor's degree ,
which , since 1400 , had been conferred
on four persons only , he sent hi ac
knowledgment a piece of music , exhib
iting a perfect melody and accompani
ment , whether , read from the top , the
bottom or the sides.
L
BiAIRiGiAiliNiS
We are prepared to sell you goods as cheaply as any
house ii this city. From now until we invoice we
will give you EX'T'RAO'RT lJJAf Y < ZA ( GAIJNS.
'
Ladies' Olo'akS and Jackets , . ; ;
at from one dollar to ten dollars each worth fully
QOUtBLE THE MOjVEYf - i
SHP PIP
u Jjlu.i IiLUi
ARRIVING DAILY-
BOOT © AND © HOE ©
LOWER THAN THE LOWEST.
We are the oaily house that soils the Cele
brated HONEY DEW CANNED GOODS.
\
GALOAD GI EELEY , SOL , , POTATOES ,
SARLOAD OF MINNESOTA POTATOES ,
The best 50c. tea. ever sold 121 the city.
A hijv stock of
HATS , © APS , GLOVES , MITTENS ETC.
Come and see us and we will use vou well.
|
A.JLA\J "s "sr < f $ J * ? J "x" a J& sy . Oi'LEB. .
i I
EVERY WATERPROOF COLLfiR OR CUFF-
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BE UP to
TO
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BEARS THIS MARK.
NEEDS NO LAUNDERING. CAN BE WIPED CLEAN IH A MOMENT.
THE ONLY LINEN-LINED WATERPROOF
COLLAR IN THE MARKET.
JACK DWYER'S
A FIVE CENT CIOAR.
Try this popular brand. It is one of the finest nickel cigars
ever placed on sale in McCook.
H
A. KALSTRDT , THR TAILOR.
2pCanie.s the latest and moat fashionable uond > of the fall and winter season , iir
suitings , panting , and overcoating , lit * guarantees satisfactory , stylish work , and reasonable
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ite Line Transfer
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V m. M. ANDERSON , Prop.