Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 November 1907 — $150,000,000 CURE FOR MONEY ILLS. [ARTICLE]

$150,000,000 CURE FOR MONEY ILLS.

President Approves Sale ofCanaJ Bonds a«d Government Notes to Swell Currency. " \ ■ ’ CALL FOR BIDS IS ISSUED. Small Denominations Adopted So General Public Can Buy; Financiers Eager for Entire Lot. President Roosevelt has taken bold measures to end the financial stringency from which, the country Is suffering. He his directed Secretary of the Treasury Cortelyou to Issue $50,000,000 worth of Panama canal bonds, bearing Interest at the rate of 2 per cent per annum, and $100,000,000 of 3 per cent interest bearing government notes. Of this immense sum $50,000,000 is to be deposited in the south and west to facilitate the moving of the crops. ”"“S?T"faT~fts-the_resourceß and the demand for the products of the'country are concerned, there has never been the slightest doubt that they are as great, If not greater, than they ever have been. But there has not been sufficient currency to meet the situation. - - From all sections have come calls for currency, and these became so Insistent that the President concluded that it was desirable for him to take fur--thnr woHnn -. _ Following the cabinet meeting on Friday, he discussed the situation with Secretaries Root and Cortelyou and Postmaster GeneraljMeyer. Mr. Cortelyou had just returned from New York, where he had received appeals from bankers in that city. Friday night another conference occurred. Two councils were held Saturday, and the final conference took place at 6 o’clock Sunday evening, when the President approved the circulars prepared by the Treasury Department calling for bids for the bonds and certificates.

President’a Seal of Approval. The plan adopted was submitted by Secretary Cortelyou and was approved by the President in the following letter : —— The White House, Washington, D. C.— My Dear Mr. Cortelyou: I have considered your proposal. I approve the issue of the $50,000,000 of Panama bonds, which will be immediately available as the basis for additional currency. I also approve the issue of $100,000,000, or so much as you may find necessary, of SSO 3.. per cent interest bearing government notes, The "proceeds of. the sale of which can be at once deposited by you where the greatest need exists, and especially in the West and South, where the crops hi ve to-be-moved. _ I have assurance that the leaders of Congress are considering a currency bill which will meet in permanent fashion the needs, of the situation, and which I believe will be passed at an early date after Congress convenes, two weeks hence. Country’* Prosperity Unequaled. What is most needed just at present is that our citizens should realize how fundamentally sound business conditions in this country are, and how absurd it is to permit themelves to get into a panic and create a stringency by hoarding their savings instead of trusting perfectly sound banks.

There is.no particle of risk involved in letting business take its natural course, and the people can help themselves and the country most by putting back into active circulation the money they are hoarding. The banks and trust companies are solvent. There is more currency in the country to-day than there was a month ago, when the supply was ample; $55,000,000 in gold has been imported and the government has deposited another $60,000,000. These are facts; and I appeal to the public to co-operate with us in restoring normal business conditions. The government will see that the people do not suffer if only the people themselves will act In a normal way. Crops are good and business conditions are sound; and we should put the money we have into circulation in order to meet the needs of our abounding prosperity. No Analogy with ’O3 Condition*. There is no analogy at all with the way things were in 1893. On Nov. 30 of that year there was in the treasury but $161,000,000 in gold. On Nov. 14 of this year there was in the treasury $904,000,000 of gold. Ten years ago the circulation per capita was $23.23. It is now $33.23. The steps that you now take, the ability of the government to back them up, and the fact that not a particle of risk is involved herein gives the fullest guarantees of the sound condition of our people and the sound condition of our treasury. All that our people have to do now is to go ahead with their normal ousracss in a normal fashion, nnd the whole difficulty disappears; and -this end will be achieved at once if each man will act ns he normally does act, and as the real conditions of the country's business fully warrant his now acting. , THEODORE ROOSEVELT. The Hon. George B. Corteiyou, Secretary of the treasury.