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4 The Weekly Tribune THE WEEKLY TKIBUNJt. One year Six months 60 ntw rAnnlrprt in advance. THURSDAY, DE 1 E»IBKR7, 1893 AGENTS EOK THE 1 RIBL'NE. Armnchee -Miss Lillian Watts, Crystal Springs—Mrs. P M. Storey. Caro Spring—T. J Davis. Silver Creek—George Porter. Van’s Valley—B. B Sanders. We will pay 23 cent* each for a tew copies ot The Weekly Tribuneot March IGih. W. O. < OOPEK, Mang AS OTHERS SEE US. The following from The Nation, shows bow our bank bill is regarded abroad: “A committee of the Legislature ot Georgia has taken up the ques tion of state bank notes, and has commenced work on a bill in antici pation of the repeal of the 10 per cent tax. Like most of the state legislatures which have turned the! attention to this subject, this one or this committee, begii.s by tying up the batik’s money in securities of one kind or another —this l»y way of mak'ng money abundant in the neighborhood. The bill proposes that one half of the capital of each bank shall be kept on hand in coin or legal tenders as a redemption fund, and that the other half shall be invested in bonds of the United States or of the state ot Georgia, or of counties or municipalities in the state, which shall be deposited with the state treasurer as security for the circulating notes. Then the state treasurer may issue to the bank three dollars of circu lating notes for every dollar of the coin or legal tenders which the bank has on deposit with itself. The security which the state would bold for the circulating notes, supposing all the bonds to be good, would be S 3 per cent of them, instead of be ing 110 per cent, as it is under the national banking system, since the cash redemption fund is to be under the control of the bank. But if this redemption fund were religiously kept by the bank for its speeia' pur pose, and if the deposited bonds par, the security woulcWßHyat .the rate of SI,OOO for each $I?500of circulating notes, the bank’s capital being wholly im pounded and locked up at the start. The national system furnishes secur ity for circulating notes, but it is wanting in elasticity. The proposed Georgia system would furnish neith er security nor elasticity. It is very strange that the South, which for the most part had good banks before the war, cannot take a leaf out of its own experience, but must needs copy an inferior system, dilut ing even that. There is not much danger ot harm, however, from these attempts, since they all depend up on a repeal of the 10 per cent tax. The chance of repeal are lessened by every state bank act like that of North Carolina and like that which Georgia is now mulling over.” THE GEORGIA BANK BILL. We printed Tuesday an extract from the NaUon, a periodical ot great respectability, which criticised the bank bill drawn by a joint com mittee es the Georgia legislature. That statement of the plan was cor rect as far as it went, but upon ex amination of the bill itself, a copy of which has just been received, we find several excellent provisions which are not reported in the Na tion’s epitome, and are calculated to meet some of its gravest objections. That journal thought that where half the capital was in a coin reserve and half in bonds, the issuance of bills to the amount of three times the coin reserve would only be two thirds secured at any time, and might not be more than one-third secured if the coin reserve were impaired. This reserve is protected by sections 6 22 and 21. The sixth section re quires the fixedness of the reserve, the twenty-second section makes its violation a felony, and the twenty fourth seition requires the cashier to furnish the Governor with a good and valid bond equal to the amount of the coin reserve. Thus the bills are seemed by live distinct safe guards, to- wit: A coin reserve, equal to one-third. State, county or city bonds, equal to one third. The cashier’s bond, equal to one third. The double liability of stockhold ers, more than equal the amount of the bills. The first lien upon the assets of the bank. This seems abundant security, and the fact that part of it is in the shape of coin, equal to half the value of outstanding bills, will make them more immediately convertible than a security consisting wholly of bonds. The other criticism of the Nation is that the Georgia plan lacks elas ticity. That is to say, a currency so issued would iot be of elastic volume. We are inclined to think it would be more elastic than that of the National banks. Their bills, being wholly secured by bonds and by the guaranty of the United States government, are seldom or never presented for redemption. The bills issued by this plan would have enough of the moral risk in their composition to biing them home to roost whenever a redundancy of the currency came about. On the con trary, they would be i-sued in great, quantity when currency became scarce. Precisely this quality was developed in the clearing Louse cer tificates last summer. They were good enough for anybody during the panic, but they disappeared when it was over. The interest of the bill holder and the stockholder noth tend to withdraw the bills from circulation when money becomes plentiful, and the same interests force bills out when money is scarce There is no denying the proposition that some moral risk is necessary to elasticity. The c.auses to which we have re ferred give the bill a different as pect entirely, and so shaped, we think it will grow in favor as it is studied. „ THE INCOME TAX. Th" following from the Nash ville Banner gives the report of a United StateaCoosul on the in come in Saxony: Consul at Chem nitz, makes a report on the income tax in Saxony. Incomes of less than 300 marks ($71.40) are not taxed. In Prussia exemptions are under 900 marks ($214 20). Saxony wants to exempt all below 800 marks ($190.40), which would abolish the lowest five grades as at present. The taxes on the smallest three grades are very shall, from 19 to 47 cents. Their removal would relieve 43 per cent of all persms taxed, and re duce the total income tax only three per cent. All those paying the grades of tax above the lowest three grades are voters —that is, all who pay on incomes of $142 80 or o er. To take the tax off incomes up to $166.60 or off the lowest five grades would relieve 66 per cent of all those taxed and cost the state only 7£ per cent of the total income tax. “The tax comes heaviest cn the middle classes. Incomes of $785 pay a tax of $lB, and incomes of $1,499 a tax of sls. ‘Teachers, snrail tradesmen and mechanics, the oackbone of the nation,’ Consul Monaghan saya, pay a tax of $5, $6 and $lO. The Conservatives in Germany propose to abolish the tax on the middle classes and leave the very high and very low rates. It is proposed to cover losses by reduc lions on these rates by increase in the higher rates on incomes above $2,284.80. Last year taxes on in comes above this amount yielded 36 per cent of the total income tax, the rate being 3 per cent on the in come. An increase to 4 or 4| on those grades would cover deficits on lower grades and this proposal is said to be acceptable to the cotieer vatives- The imposition of an im perial income tax on top of these royal or dual income taxes, as has been proposed, could hardly oe col ected, Air. Monaghan thinks, and would drive capital from the coun try. In Saxony small incomes pay from 1 5 to one per cent, while the the rich pay no more than 3 pi r cent. The Consul says: ‘lt has worked very successfully and has, in the main, yielded safe and certain re sults, with little loss ami less com plaint.’ “The total revenue from incomes THEWEIKLY TKlbUNtt. J tWbtilMY, DEC LAI BEU 7 lUSB in Saxony is $4,565,711, the sum her taxed being 1,398,686. Under the bead of income everything that comes yearly on the credit side ot a man's account is taxed. Each de duct interest on debts, insurance and repairs.” From this it wnd appear that a man is to be taxed in the ratio of ability or energy, seeing that incomes are ultima.ely reaoiv able into one or the other of these But is to be observed that “all those paying the grades of tax above the lowest three grades ..re voters.” that is to say, a man must possess some thing more than the lowest class ot attainments before he can vote, oi that to a certain extent, he must work for his vote. It appears that ihis class constitutes 43 per cent of all those “taxed,” or nearly hall. This, of course, falls on the laboring class, who, while they work, don’t work hard enough to be allowed a vote. The isemae tax idea is based upon the sain? principle as the old Jewish plan of titheing. except that, in those days men ascribed their success to other than individual es fort and gave the credit where they thought it due. The Government, being ecclesiastical, their ac knowlegement went in the shape of an income tax to cany or. the Govern ment. It seemed to work well then, and while the idea, as applied in Saxony, apparently works an injus tice to a large proportion of the tax paying population it ia certainly worthy of careful consideration in the present problem before ( ongress of raising internal revenue to supply the place of that lost by tariff re duction. THE PRESIDENTS MESSAGE. The presidents message of which we print a synopsis this morning, is a very long document, reviewing the different departments of the government and giving com paratively little space to the ques tions which have lately been topics of heated discussion. Hawaiian affairs are not given the importance which some attached to them, and whde much space is given to foreign affairs in general, they contain no subject of commanding importance. Naturally the first place is given to tariff reform and the President takes the trouble to defend the in cidental protection of the new schedule. He thinks free raw material will give steady employ ment to labor, and it is to be hoped that he moy not be too sanguine in that pred ction. As to the prospective deficiency in revenue consequent upon a heavy reduction of the tariff, the President thinks it will only be temporary ano approves slight changes in the in ternal revenue tax with the income tax on corporations reported by the ways and means committee. He says nothing about an individual income tax and leaves it in doubt whether he opposes or approves such a measure. Concerning the currency, Mr. Cleveland says, wait till the clouds roll by. He thinks wecan see better if we stop and think awhile before they revamp our system of national finance. Judging from the nature of the bill drawn by the Georgia Legislature, this is not bad advice. O . ' It is noteworthy in this connection that the President asks authority to call an international conference whenever in his opinion, an agree ment on coinage may be reached. The message is a broadside of the puplic business, in singular contrast with his single shots on the tariff and the repeal of the Sherman act. It is encyclopedic rather than argu mentative, and will not go down to history as his best state paper. It is notable rather for what it does not say than for what it does say. Perhaps at this juncture such a doc ument is most timely. THE PANIC OF 1696. An incident in New York has brought out an interesting historical parallel of the panic through which we have just passed. It will be remembered that Presi dent Tappen, oi the Gallatin Nation al Bunk, as chairman of the clearing house loan committee, is the man wno managed the issue ol forty millions of certificates which :.o re lieved the tension of affairs. The ot her day the members of that com mittee presented to Air. Tappen the identical silver tankard which was presented to Sir John Houbloti, the first governor of the Bank if Eng and, at the close of the panic of 1696. Matthew Marshal of the New York Sun gives the history of that crisis, when Sir Isaac Newton was called to take charge of the mints. The situat on was in many respects similar to that through which we have recently passed, and the result this time promises to be as happy as was then. The article is so instructive tlia- we quote it at sone leigth: When t,im H oik of Er.g'and was estab, lislied, in 1694, there was no dispute in Great, Britain, as there is with us now, about the relative values of gold ami silver, nor was there any fear of an over-issue of paper money, because no paper was in cir culation and the currency consisted almost ,-xc usively of silver coin. Nor were, there any banks, properly speaking, the only custodians of other people's money being the London goldsmiths, who, in a crude, primitive fashion, did all the banking bus iness that was done. What the nation suf fered from was the clipping of i s silver coin by dishonest hands and its consequent depreciation. As fast as the Gov-rnment could turn out from the mint n>w half crowns, shillings, and six-pences of full weight they were either melted down or hoarded, thus leaving the field entirely to rhe light weight, clipped coins, which every day were made lighter and lighter. Finally, when the weight of the coins had been so reduced that twenty shil lings con tained no more silver than eleven or less ought to contain, the evil aroused tile Govertim nt into seeking a remedy for it. At. first it was proposed to issue without notice a proclamation that the clipped coins should at once be accepted in pay ment of taxes at the Government offices not by count, but by weight only. This project was abandoned because of the im possibility of obtaining for it the sanction of Parliament without so much delay and publicity as to give some holders ot the depreciated coin an advantage over others, ."inally, in January, 1696, an act was passed fixing the fourth of May following as the brtc’t' .dale up- to which clipped money should be payable to the Govern ment by count. In order to provide for the filling with good crowns and shillings of the vacuum to be created by the withdrawal of the bad, the mint was at once set to work at its ut most capacity. But its machinery was antiquated, and its management inefficient, and when the fatal fourth of May came and a flood of the old coins poured into the exchequer to bo melted down, there was a scarcity of the new coinage intended to take its place. The distress that ensued and the expedients adopted to relieve it were notably like those which marked our recent currency f amine. Employers could only with extreme difficulty pay their workmen. Wealthy men discharged their debts with promissory notes, which passed from Hand to hand as money among those who knew them. The new Bank of Eng land and the moneychangers of Loin bird street issued their notes aud put them into circulation. The Government, also, fortu nately possessed authority, and made use of it to emit interest-bearing notes of five pounds and upward. In order to hasten the production of the new coins Sir Isaac Newton was appointed warden of the mint, and by the introduction of improved machinery and the establishment of branch mints, he immensely increased its coining capacity. These measures and the use of so much of the old coins as had escaped the shears of the clippers tided over the emer gency, and by August signs of improve ment in the condition of things were mani fest. .Nevertheless, a complete relaxation of the monetary stringency was hindered by an agitation for a reduction of the weight of the new crowns and shillings, so as to make them of no greater value than the old clipped coin, and very much the same arguments were used in favor of the prop csition as those now advanced on behalf of the silver standard- Pending the set tlement of the controversy the new money was hoarded, because no one who could help doing so would pay it out at a valua tion which might be ultimately increased by its receinago into smaller coins. T.ie House of Commons, however, stood firm, and, late in October, 1696, declared with out a division that the standard of British money should not be altered in fineness, weight, or denomination. This turned the tide, the hoarded coins came out into circulation, the foreign exchanges im proved, the public credit revived, and by March, 169 r, the crisis was completely passed. MAJOR BACON’S PLATFORM. Hon A. O. Bacon has introduced in the House of Representatives a 1 resolution favoring the unlimited coinage oi silver and gold, limited only by the capacity of American mines, an income tax state banks and customs duties for revenue only. ■This is understood to be the plat form on which his candidacy for tTTt Senatorship will rest. Major Bacon has heretofore advocated in a writ ten communication to the Atlanta Constitution, the abolition of the internal revenue tax. That would necessitate either a high rate of du ty on imports, or else an income tax to supply the deficiency in the rev ue—unless, as some claim, low rates of duty will so increase imports ai to swell the revenue, Major Bacon’s position with re- 1 spect to the unlimited coinage of gobi and silver is all very well, but we suspect that he would find some difficulty in putting it into etlect if he were Secretary of the Treasury. Men may resolute till the cows come home withoutdoing much harm, bi t when they ure charged with authori ty and have to act, with great pos sibilities for evil depending upon a seemingly small divergence in their course, they become at once more conservative and cautious. To take a man as an agitator and then take him in executive office is like ap pealing from Philip drunk to Philip sober. It may be that the course of events in 'he next two years will make the way clear for the unlimited coinage of gold and silver, without even t he restriction to the product of American mines. If that should happen, Major Bacon would be tn great luck and would probably be elected senator. On the contrary, the logic of events, which is after all, the only irresis ible logic, mat make such a lourse impossible. In such an event, Major Bacon would be boss oe combat. Major Bacon is the most distin guished and easily the ablest of the men now in the race for Senator, but we fear he has already handi apped himself. Still, «e greatly respect his candor, and hope his opponents will be open and fair. THE TARIFF. We print this morning the full text, of the tariff bill framed by the Democratic members of the Ways and Means Committee. It is a heavy reduction, amounting to an average of about 20 per cent on the whole list, and on some articles of ordinary use like steel rails aud pocket cut lery, the reductli n n is fifty or sixty per cent. We advise our readers to cut out the document and lay it aside for future reference. It will be the issue of the coming session of congress, and after that, will be come the principal issue l.etwee” the Democrats and Republicans for years to come. This bill, if passed, as it probably will be, is destined to affect the business and the com merce of this country more pro foundly than most people imagine. Trade which has been hedged about by artificial barriers will find mar kets hitherto unknown, and to use the expression of President Harri son unhappily applied’fco reciprocity, “our flag will float on unfamiliar seas.” Manufactures are narrowed by the ta-iff. Our industry is more local than that of any other country, and necessarily so as long as the Chinese wall of protection remains. Three years ago the protectionists had their inning. Now the people have an inning, and the odious class legislation of the McKinley tariff must give way. The Manufacturer’s Record says: The industrial activity of the Southern States has materially in creased during the past week end ing December Ist. A large number of manufacturing companies and other concerns of an industrial na ture have beeu announced, the lum ber m Ils, flourmills, and mining en terprises being especially noticeable. Two projects of much importance to the South have taken form at Cincinnati! in the shape of a $1,000,- 000 company to develop Virginia’s marl beds on the coast, and a $2,- 000,000 company to inaugurate de velopments on 40,000 acies of tim ber and coal lands in West Virginia. Alunicipal improvements projected during the week also present a fair showing. The demand for machinery of all kinds continues steady, re ports showing that for the past six weeks there has been more machine ry wanted than at any time during the year. Photography played an important part in a suit at Cincinnati, says the Indianapolis Journal. lhe suit is one of local standing involving the title of 1,500 acres of valuable farm lands. It is based on a deed made nearly seventy-five years ago by the owners of the land, and turns on the point whether the deed bad five signatures or only four. In order to test this question, it was decided to have the deed photographed, and the clerk of the court was ordered to give the matter his personal su pervision. For that purpose it was taken to Washington and submitted to an expert photographer of that city. Ihe original deed, discolored and yellow with age, showed traces of four signatures and a space where there might have been a fifth, but no trace of it Ihe photographing was done in the presence of the clerk of the court, who refused to let the deed go out of his sight. The negative revealed traces of the miss ing signature, and when it was en larged ten times the entire name be-] came as plain as when first written. Tne court pronounced the evidence conclusive, and the result will be the r* versal of a former decision and a change in the ownership of the land. Here is Archdeacon Farrar’s working day, as he describes it him self in McClure’s Magazine for De cember: “We 1,1 an at work at halt-past eight in the moruincr. I have a large mail, as a rule, and when that is sifted and answered, I work at one thing or another till ten in the evening. 1 do a good part of my work at the Atlreneum Club in the afternoon. But, of course, the chief part of it is done in this study, and at this tall desk by the wiidow. You have probably noticed that I prefer to stand while writing An hour or two before bed time I devote to reading. Then, of course, as Chaplain to the Speaker, I am bound to regular atttendance at the House of Commons.” Prof. Garner, who is to sail for America in a few days, is quite dis consolate over thedeath of Elishaba, the most intelligent chimpanzee ever found. Garner made the acquaint ance of Elishaba and her husband, Aaron, in Africa, aud induced them to come north with him. The death of the poor creature in Liverpool, on Thursday, was quite pathetic. She died in the arms of poor Aaron, who had been assiduous in his attentions during her whole illness. Prof. Garner was pt esent during her last moments, and when he put his hand to her heart t<> see if it had ceased to beat, Aaron put his hand there too, looking in the Professor’s eyes and inquiring if that was a’l he could do. Aaron would not permit his dead companion to be taken from him. The sadness in Aaron’s coun tenance could not have been more clearly portrayed on the face of a human being. His grief was incon so'able. When the Professor visited his protege, Aaron was not content until he had put his hand in that of the Professor, aud by signs and sounds was telling him his distress. The Oklahoma Statehood Conven tion assembled in Kingfisher will ap peal to Congress, at the opening of the session, for the admission of the Territory into the Union, as a State. The Governor of the Territory fur nished the Convention with statis tics to justify the claim lor State hood. He estimates the population of the Territory, including the Cher okee, at 251.000, and he sustains this estimate in away which is not wholly unsatisfactory. The value of the taxable property of the Ter ritory is given as $15,000,000, and the Territorial Government is free from debt. There are several hun dred churches in the Territory; there are thirty banks; there are public schools, and there have been 2,372,000 acres of farming land taken up. he various kinds of grain grow there and the ordinary kinds of fruit; cotton also can be grown. “Oklahoma,’’ says Gov. Renfrow, “possesses vast re«oui ces, and, with its genuine American in habitants, it will make a State equal to any other in lhe Union.” FROM SENATOR CORPUT. Atlanta, Ga., Nov. 28, 1893. Editor Tribune: In your issue of Nov. 28, you criticize that portion of the proposed amendments to the registration law providing that the voter shall prove the payment of taxes by “evi dence other than his oath.” Allow me to say t hat I consider this one of the wisest provisions of the-bill, and prevents the honest, but mistaken ignorant person who otherwise might nerjure, himself from do ingso, it absolutely removes the possibility of prosecution for false swearing. Felix Coitrur.