Conservative *
out in the United StutoH , bankers not
excoptod. I inn loth to admit , but it is
true that bankorH as a class are not
posted on this subject. They are the
class that the people look up to , for an
opinion and very properly ; but they
are divided in opinion , it is said ; and
this is ouo of the principal OXOUBOS of
the politician for inaction. Ho says :
"Why , the bankers themselves are at
cross purposes as to what should bo done
and you must not expect us to go ahead
until authorities agroo. " Now the
reason why bankers , when they can begotten
gotten to express any opinion at all , are
not united , is because they do not know.
They have not mastered the subject.
These are sad words but they are trno
words. If four hundred of the brightest
business men in this country can moot
iu convention for the purpose of ascer
taining , what action on the currency
question is best , and how to bring about
such action ; if these 400 can agree posi
tively through a commission on the first
proposition , aud meetiug one year Inter ,
do unanimously agree ou a report ,
pledging earnest cooperation in carrying
out its provisions ; I say if business nieu
agree in this way ou this great question ,
bankers would do the same if they took
interest enough in it to make a move.
Now the bankers are the natural guar
dians of these interests , and it is their
duty , and has been for many years , to
take the lead , but they have not done it ,
aud the result has been lamentable.
A Leader Outside the Kauks.
Suppose the bankers fifteen years ago ,
or ten years ago , thoroughly convinced
as some of them were of the extreme
peril of the country because of our unsafe -
safe currency laws , had arisen as one
man , and had persisted , insistently , day
aud night , in. season , and out of season ,
that the currency laws must be ad
justed , do you suppose we would have
had a ' 93 or a ' 96 , and I believe if the
bankers had had knowledge they would
have done this , but they have met the
situation , with ignorance or else a strange
indifference , and it has come to pass
that out of the dearth of leadership , and
out of the wilderness of apathy aud
ignorance , there has come forth a
prophet a leader on. the money ques
tion , not from the ranks of financiers or
bankers or statesmen , but from that
splendid body of men who after all , on
all of the great questions in this Ameri
can nation , shape public opinion , decide
the issues , and carry them to action 1
mean the business men of the United
States. Oufc of the ranks of these , out
of the middle West , and from the busi
ness walks of your own prosperous and
progressive city , has come a man for the
emergency , Mr. H. H. Hanua , oi
Indianapolis ; for it is ho who , with in
telligence and tact and unremitting
perseverance , took up the question when
some politicians were ready to drop it
after it had given them the victory in
1800 ; it was ho who created the Indian-
vpolis Monetary Conventions of 1897
and 181)8 ) , resulting in the Monetary
Commission aud its remarkable report ;
t is his leadership that has kept the
matter before the people and the poli
ticians , until today the party in power
is at bay , ready to acknowledge that
something must bo done on the money
question or defeat will threaten in 1900.
This has boon the most unselfish work of
one man that has been carried on in this
generation without a single taint of
effort for personal gain or personal honor
absolutely for the good of the people
steadily directed towards the correct
solution of the most important qiaestion
in the United States today.
Hunker' * I > uty.
What is the banker's duty in this
matter ?
As an educator it is to educate his
representative at Washington to action
in the 56th congress , action which shall
bo final , at least as to the gold standard
aud the greenback , placing the firm
foundation ( which is the least the busi
ness world has a right to demand ) under
our prosperous commercial structure ;
action which has already been too long
delayed , perhaps more than for any
other reason because the bankers have
not done their duty in informing them
selves , educating others , and insisting
on the righteous settlement of a ques
tion which is so thoroughly within their
province.
OL1 > HOME AVKJ5K IX NEW 1IAM1'-
SU1KE.
EDITOU OF THE CONSERVATIVE :
Old Home Week in New Hampshire
was generally observed by the sons and
daughters of the Granite State the
accommodations and facilities afforded
by the Boston aud Maine railroad were a
great contrast with former methods of
locomotion aud transportation , pleasant
and available to non-residents to visit
again the old homesteads and renew
fraternal relations with , relatives and
friends. To a uou resident of 70 years
the changes have been marked by
progress aud decay. Manufacturing
interests have largely developed , subject
to the vicissitudes of demand and sup
ply , but in the main have been satis
factory and progressive.
Nature has been lavish in her adapt
ability to the industries and happiness
of the people her mountains and hills
ore water-sheds , her valleys and ravines
reservoirs for the accumulation and
storage of the rains and melting snows ,
overflowing into brooks and streams ,
diverging again into inlets and beautiful
bays , then rivulets and rivers , rushing
over rapids and falls , with artificial
dams , water ways and canals , furnish
ing a motor power for countless spindles
and mechanical industries.
Views of matchless beauty , o'er hill
aud doll , forests and fields , reflecting
ights and shadows of dazzling mirrored
lakes , forming kaleidoscopes of pan
oramic beauty aud lovliness unexcelled
in the world. Successive generations of
families have not kept pace with oppor
tunities and improvements. I think
there is not a schoolmate of mine living
in the old school district their records
are only found in the numerous family
graveyards ; a few of the third gener
ations only are owners and occupants of
the old homesteads. From the first
settlements of the present century , now
nearing its close , the aims aud efforts of
the inhabitants were simply for a com
fortable sustenance. The distances ,
isolation and expenses from and to mar
kets rendered it unprofitable to raise
excessive crops. The farms in New
Hampshire are as well adapted for all
varieties of deciduous fruits as cereals
and other farm products , but as every
farmer had his apple orchard of natural
fruit at an outlay of only planting the
trees and gathering the fruit needed for
cider and family use , there was no fur
ther inducement to improve quality and
variety. Home consumption was the
only requirements of the farm. It
wouldn't pay to haul to Portsmouth
market , 60 miles , nor Boston , 100 miles ,
consuming three and five days' time and
corresponding expenses. But now , how
changed ; all farm products command a
market in three and five hours instead
of 3 and five days. Railroads have come
and wherever built and honestly
managed , not charging "all the traffic
will bear , " have multiplied and added
to the convenience , comfort and pros
perity a thousand-fold.
This is the half anniversary of the
Concord and Montreal railroad ( now con
solidated , the Boston and Maine ) which
runs through a portion of the old home
stead "Dug Hill , " now Wiona Station ,
all the way down hill , only a quarter
mile distant. This corporation , by its
superior management , every equipment
and appointment the best , every atten
tion for the comfort , pleasure and satis
faction of its passenger and traffic
patronage , mutually promoting not only
its own , but the state's and people's suc
cess and prosperity. Notwitstanding
these increased facilities the farms have
deteriorated instead of improving and
increasing production and value. Daniel
Webster said : "New Hampshire is a
good state to emigrate from. " I say
today New Hampshire is a good state to
emigrate to. For the want of space I
cannot comment nor commend as I
would like to , but I must avail myself
of this opporturtunifcy of making my
acknowledgments and thanks to the
citizens of Concord and the state for
courtesies extended me at the closing
ceremonies of Old Homo Week , August
80th. The unexpected grand demon
strative representation of the farm , the
mill , the manufactories , trades and in
dustries of the state were all object
lessons. JOHN E. ROBINSON.
