How far the pause may be regarded as permanent, it might at present be premature to even guess. The movement may have been discouraged through its failure to command public confidence and the consequent accumulation of a mass of watered script which the street is unable to assimilate or it may be that the promoters have already, enough of the sort of reward for their services. It may be that the brief past experience of trusts suggests the wisdom of further trial before making additional applications of the principle. It is undeniable that industry is showing its preference for the old form of independent organization, first by the dissolution of recent amalgamations, and next by the creation of an unusual number of new corporate units with respectable capitals and important competitive ability."

While the centralizing movement appeared to be on the wane, it was only a temporary lull, for the consolidations from Jan. 1 to April 1, 1901, amounted to $1,766,200,000. This total includes the capitalization of the United States Steel Corporation: preferred stock, $550,000,000; common, $550,000,000; bonds $304,000,000. The net total of stocks and bonds of organizations formed in 1899, 1900, and 1901 to April 1, amounted to $4,580,279,000.

"The amalgamation of business capitals still extends at a most surprising rate," writes Rodney Bigelow in "The Chicago Banker," May, 1901. "It began with the manufacturing industries, then spread to the mining trades, then to the railroads, now to the electric industries, and at last is invading the textile distributing trades; with, as yet, no plain indications that the movement is approaching its culmination. Roughly rated it may be estimated that the nominal capitalization of the amalgamations now approximates $7,000,000,000.”

The following table, contrasting economic conditions in the two years, is compiled in part from the summaries given in the New York "Commercial and Financial Chronicle," Jan. 5, 1901. Some of the figures are from other sources. The estimates for 1900 are in a few instances only approximate.

THE GOLD BILL.-The most important piece of financial legislation in late years was the Act of March 14, 1900, commonly known as the Financial Bill. The text is given in full.

"An Act to define and fix the standard of value, to maintain the parity of all forms of money issued or coined by the United States, to refund the public debt, and for other purposes.

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep resentatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the dollar consisting of twenty-five and eight-tenths grains of gold nine-tenths fine, as established by section thirtyfive hundred and eleven of the Revised Statutes of the United States, shall be the standard unit of value, and all forms of money issued or coined by the United States shall be maintained at a parity of value with this standard, and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to maintain such parity.

"Sec. 2. That United States notes, and Treasury notes issued under the Act of July fourteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, when presented to the Treasury for redemption, shall be redeemed in gold coin of the standard fixed in the first section of this Act, and in order to secure the prompt and certain redemption of such notes as herein provided it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to set apart in the Treasury a reserve fund of one hundred and fifty million dollars in gold coin and bullion, which fund shall be used for such redemption purposes only, and whenever and as often as any of said notes shall be redeemed from said fund it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to use said notes so redeemed to restore and maintain such reserve fund in the manner following, to wit: First, by exchanging the notes so redeemed for any gold coin in the general fund of the Treasury; second, by accepting deposits of gold coin at the Treasury or at any subtreasury in exchange for the United States notes so redeemed; third, by procuring gold coin by the use of said notes, in accordance with the provisions of section thirty-seven hundred of the Revised Statutes of the United States. If the Secretary of the Treasury is unable to restore and maintain the gold coin in the reserve fund by the foregoing methods, and the amount of such gold coin and bullion in said fund shall at any time fall below one hundred million dollars, then it shall be his duty to restore the same to the maximum sum of one hundred and fifty million dollars by borrowing money on the credit of the United States, and for the debt thus incurred to issue and sell coupon or registered

bonds of the United States, in such form as he may prescribe, in denominations of fifty dollars or any multiple thereof, bearing interest at the rate of not exceeding three per centum per annum, payable quarterly, such bonds to be payable at the pleasure of the United States after one year from the date of their issue, and to be payable, principal and interest, in gold coin of the present standard value, and to be exempt from the payment of all taxes or duties of the United States, as well as from taxation in any form by or under State, municipal, or local authority; and the gold coin received from the sale of said bonds shall first be covered into the general fund of the Treasury, and then exchanged, in the manner hereinbefore provided, for an equal amount of the notes redeemed and held for exchange, and the Secretary of the Treasury may, in his discretion, use said notes in exchange for gold, or to purchase or redeem any bonds of the United States, or for any other lawful purpose the public interests may require, except that they shall not be used to meet deficiencies in the current revenues. That United States notes when redeemed in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be reissued, but shall be held in the reserve fund until exchanged for gold, as herein provided; and the gold coin and bullion in the reserve fund, together with the redeemed notes held for use as provided in this section, shall at no time exceed the maximum sum of one hundred and fifty million dollars.

"Sec. 3. That nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to affect the legal-tender quality as now provided by law of the silver dollar, or of any other money coined or issued by the United States.

"Sec. 4. That there be established in the Treasury Department, as a part of the office of the Treasurer of the United States, divisions to be designated and known as the division of issue and the division of redemption, to which shall be assigned, respectively, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may approve, all records and accounts relating to the issue and redemption of United States notes, gold certificates, silver certificates, and currency certificates. There shall be transferred from the accounts of the general fund of the Treasury of the United States, and taken up on the books of said divisions, respectively, accounts relating to the reserve fund for the redemption of United States notes and Treasury notes, the gold coin held against outstanding gold certificates, the United States notes held against outstanding currency certificates, and the silver dollars held against outstanding silver certificates and each of the funds represented by these accounts shall be used for the redemption of the notes and certificates for which they are respectively pledged, and shall be used for no other purpose, the same being held as trust funds.

"Sec. 5. That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury, as fast as standard silver dollars are coined under the provisions of the Acts of July fourteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, and June thirteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, from bullion purchased under the Act of July fourteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, to retire and cancel an equal amount of Treasury notes whenever received into the Treasury, either by exchange in accordance with the provisions of this Act or in the ordinary

course of business, and upon the cancellation of Treasury notes silver certificates shall be issued against the silver dollars so coined.

"Sec. 6. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to receive deposits of gold coin with the Treasurer or any assistant treasurer of the United States in sums of not less than twenty dollars, and to issue gold certificates therefor in denominations of not less than twenty dollars, and the coin so deposited shall be retained in the Treasury and held for the payment of such certificates on demand, and used for no other purpose. Such certificates shall be receivable for customs, taxes, and all public dues, and when so received may be reissued, and when held by any national banking association may be counted as a part of its lawful reserve: Provided, That whenever and so long as the gold coin held in the reserve fund in the Treasury for the redemption of United States notes and Treasury notes shall fall and remain below one hundred million dollars the authority to issue certificates as herein provided shall be suspended: And provided further, That whenever and so long as the aggregate amount of United States notes and silver certificates in the general fund of the Treasury shall exceed sixty million dollars the Secretary of the Treasury may, in his discretion, suspend the issue of the certificates herein provided for: And provided further, That of the amount of such outstanding certificates one-fourth at least shall be in denominations of fifty dollars or less: And provided further, That the Secretary of the Treasury may, in his discretion, issue such certificates in denominations of ten thousand dollars, payable to order. And section fifty-one hundred and ninety-three of the Revised Statutes of the United States is hereby repealed.

"Sec. 7. That hereafter silver certificates shall be issued only of denominations of ten dollars and under, except that not exceeding in the aggregate ten per centum of the total volume of said certificates, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, may be issued in denominations of twenty dollars, fifty dollars, and one hundred dollars; and silver certificates of higher denomination than ten dollars, except as herein provided, shall whenever received at the Treasury or redeemed, be retired and canceled, and certificates of denominations of ten dollars or less shall be substituted therefor, and after such substitution, in whole or in part, a like volume of United States notes of less denomination than ten dollars shall from time to time be retired and canceled, and notes of denominations of ten dollars and upward shall be reissued in substitution therefor, with like qualities and restrictions as those retired and canceled.

"Sec. 8. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to use, at his discretion, any silver bullion in the Treasury of the United States purchased under the Act of July fourteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety for coinage into such denominations of subsidiary silver coin as may be necessary to meet the public requirements for such coin: Provided, That the amount of subsidiary silver coin outstanding shall not at any time exceed in the aggregate one hundred millions of dollars. Whenever any silver bullion purchased under the Act of July fourteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, shall be used in the coinage of subsidiary silver coin, an amount of Treasury notes issued under said

Act equal to the cost of the bullion contained in such coin shall be canceled and not reissued.

"Sec. 9. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to cause all worn and uncurrent subsidiary silver coin of the United States now in the Treasury, and hereafter received, to be recoined, and to reimburse the Treasurer of the United States for the difference between the nominal or face value of such coin and the amount the same will produce in new coin from any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

"Sec. 10. That section fifty-one hundred and thirty-eight of the Revised Statutes is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

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'Section 5138. No association shall be organized with a less capital than one hundred thousand dollars, except that banks with a capital of not less than fifty thousand dollars may, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, be organized in any place the population of which does not exceed six thousand inhabitants, and except that banks with a capital of not less than twenty-five thousand dollars may, with the sançtion of the Secretary of the Treasury, be organized in any place the population of which does not exceed three thousand inhabitants. association shall be organized in a city the population of which exceeds fifty thousand persons with a capital of less than two hundred thousand dollars.'

No

"Sec. 11. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to receive at the Treasury any of the outstanding bonds of the United States bearing interest at five per centum per annum, payable February first, nineteen hundred and four, and any bonds of the United States bearing interest at four per centum per annum, payable July first, nineteen hundred and seven, and any bonds of the United States bearing interest at three per centum per annum, payable August first, nineteen hundred and eight, and to issue in exchange therefor an equal amount of coupon or registered bonds of the United States in such form as he may prescribe, in denominations of fifty dollars or any multiple thereof, bearing interest at the rate of two per centum per annum, payable quarterly, such bonds to be payable at the pleasure of the United States after thirty years from the date of their issue, and said bonds to be payable, principal and interest, in gold coin of the present standard value, and to be exempt from the payment of all taxes or duties of the United States, as well as from taxation in any form by or under State, municipal, or local authority: Provided, That such outstanding bonds may be received in exchange at a valuation not greater than their present worth to yield an income of two and one-quarter per centum per annum; and in consideration of the reduction of interest effected, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to pay to the holders of the outstanding bonds surrendered for exchange, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, a sum not greater than the difference between their present worth, computed as aforesaid, and their par value, and the payments to be made hereunder shall be held to be payments on account of the sinking fund created by section thirty-six hundred and ninetyfour of the Revised Statutes: And provided further, That the two per centum bonds to be issued under the provisions of this Act shall be issued at not less than par, and they shall be

numbered consecutively in the order of their issue, and when payment is made the last numbers issued shall be first paid, and this order shall be followed until all the bonds are paid, and whenever any of the oustanding bonds are called for payment interest thereon shall cease three months after such call; and there is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to effect the exchanges of bonds provided for in this Act, a sum not exceeding one-fifteenth of one per centum of the face value of said bonds, to pay the expense of preparing and issuing the same and other expenses incident thereto.

"Sec. 12. That upon the deposit with the Treasurer of the United States, by any national banking association, of any bonds of the United States in the manner provided by existing law, such association shall be entitled to receive from the Comptroller of the Currency cirulating notes in blank, registered and countersigned as provided by law, equal in amount to the par value of the bonds so deposited; and any national banking association now having bonds on deposit for the security of circulating notes, and upon which an amount of circulating notes has been issued less than the par value of the bonds, shall be entitled, upon due application to the Comptroller of the Currency, to receive additional circulating notes in blank to an amount which will increase the circulating notes held by such association to the par value of the bonds deposited, such additional notes to be held and treated in the same way as circulating notes of national banking association heretofore issued, and subject to all the provisions of law affecting such notes: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to modify or repeal the provisions of section fifty-one hundred and sixty-seven of the Revised Statutes of the United States, authorizing the Comptroller of the Currency to require additional deposits of bonds or of lawful money in case the market value of the bonds held to secure the circulating notes shall fall below the par value of the circulating notes outstanding for which such bonds may be deposited as security: And provided further, That the circulating notes furnished to national banking associations under the provisions of this Act shall be of the denominations prescribed by law, except that no national banking association shall, after the passage of this Act, be entitled to receive from the Comptroller of the Currency, or to issue or reissue or place in circulation, more than onethird in amount of its circulating notes of the denomination of five dollars: And provided further, That the total amount of such notes issued to any such association may equal at any time but shall not exceed the amount at such time of its capital stock actually paid in: And provided further, That under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury any national banking association may substitute the two per centum bonds issued under the provisions of this Act for any of the bonds deposited with the Treasurer to secure circulation or to secure deposits of public money; and so much of an Act entitled 'An Act to enable national banking associations to extend their corporate existence, and for other purposes,' approved July twelfth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, as prohibits any national bank which makes any deposit of lawful money in order to withdraw its circulating notes from receiving any increase of

its circulation for the period of six months from the time it made such deposit of lawful money for the purpose aforesaid, is hereby repealed, and all other Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent with the provisions of this section are hereby repealed. "Sec. 13. That every national banking association having on deposit, as provided by law, bonds of the United States bearing interest at the rate of two per centum per annum, issued under the provisions of this Act, to secure its circulating notes, shall pay to the Treasurer of the United States, in the months of January and July, a tax of one-fourth of one per centum each half year upon the average amount of such of its notes in circulation as are based upon the deposit of said two per centum bonds; and such taxes shall be in lieu of existing taxes on its notes in circulation imposed by section fifty-two hundred and fourteen of the Revised Statutes.

"Sec. 14. That the provisions of this Act are not intended to preclude the accomplishment of international bimetallish whenever conditions shall make it expedient and practicable to secure the same by concurrent action of the leading commercial nations of the world and at a ratio which shall insure permanence of relative value between gold and silver.

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'Approved, March 14, 1900."

The main clause in the Currency Act of March 14, 1900, is the one prohibiting the reissue_of greenbacks to meet deficiencies of revenue. The evident intent is to prevent the artificial inflation of the currency, such as led to the operation of the "endless chain" in the nineties and the exports of gold. The net exports of gold in 1891 amounted to $67,000,000; in 1893, to $87,000,000: in 1895, to $30,000,000: and in 1896, to $78,000,000. It is to be noted also that during these years there was an increased demand from the Treasury for gold in exchange for greenbacks. The redemptions of greenbacks in the eighties were small in comparison with those of the nineties. In 1890, only $6,000,000 were redeemed in gold; in 1891, $9,000,000; in 1892, $102,000,000; in 1893, $84,000,000; in 1894, $117,000,000; in 1895, $158,000,000; and in 1896, $78,000,000.

During these years (1890-1893), there were large additions to the monetary circulation of the United States-$150,000,000 in treasury notes as a result of the Sherman Act, and the output of the gold mines of the country, amounting to about $100,000,000. A great deal of money was lying idle, large enterprises were not undertaken, factories were closed, and dull times prevailed.

Under the new law, both greenbacks and treasury notes are redeemable in gold. Its provisions on this point are specific and clear, and the reserve fund is to stand at $150,000,000. When the redemption fund is depleted, that is, falls below $100,000,000, the Secretary of the Treasury must sell bonds sufficient to increase the supply of the gold fund up to $150,000,000. It is hoped that these bond sales will prevent the recurrence of the crisis of 1895, that they will tend to check gold exports and make up the deficiency of the

revenue.

On Nov. 1, 1900, it is said that $500,081,162 worth of silver dollars had been coined, of which $71,361,740 were in circulation. Silver certificates, therefore, have become the pocket money of the people. The policy of the government is to maintain the parity of the standard silver dollars, through their exchangeability with treasury notes.

The Financial Bill has been criticised because of the changes affecting the national banking system. Professor J. F. Johnson, in the "Chicago Banker," January, 1901, calls attention to some weaknesses in our monetary system. Some of his points are quoted. He says:

"Inasmuch as experience has shown that the National bank note has been incapable of performing the important service which justifies bank note issues, it is difficult to find any good reason why provision should be made, as is done in this law, for the enlargement and perpetuation of the system. In fact, advocates of the measure in Congress advanced no reasons whatever. It simply was taken for granted that, since the security would be adequate, the bank note must be good, and that the measure needed no further justification. Doubtless the desire of the republican leaders to refund a large part of the national debt at a low rate of interest is at the bottom of the changes of the National Bank Act. It is morally certain that the United States could not sell two per cent. bonds at par unless they carried with them special privileges. Just as the system was established during the Civil War for the purpose of creating a market for government bonds, so now it appears to have been amended for the same purpose.

"In support of the amendments two arguments have been urged which are worth examining. In reference to the increase in circulation which will naturally result, it is claimed that this is desirable, because it will economize the use of gold and at the same time supply the country with additional money when most needed. With the experience of 1895-96 so fresh in memory, one would hardly expect to find Congress deliberately planning. to lessen the gold base of our monetary system. In 1896 it was estimated that our stock of gold amounted to $600,000,000 but the real amount in the country was probably less. At the present time there is supposed to be nearly $1,000,000,000 of gold in the country, although the officials of the treasury are unable to locate over $750,000,000. The proportion of gold is less than fifty per cent. of the total money supply. Doubtless this proportion might be safely reduced except for the fact that the bulk of the credit money is government obligations which depends for its parity upon the United States Treasury, an institution having no normal connection with business. If, for example, our fiduciary currency were issued by a large banking institution, like the Bank of England or the Bank of France, or if it were under the control of a few large banks, as is the case in Canada, it is quite possible that the gold stock of the country might safely be kept at less than one-half of the total money supply. Unfortunately. however, our monetary system is most awkward and most easily disturbed. Of all the great civilized nations of the earth which are using gold as money the United States has the worst system and is at the most disadvantage. The gold standard is maintained here artificially and by main force. In France, Russia, Austria, and Germany the responsibility falls upon a single bank in each country. That bank, being in close touch with business, is able to note the slightest change in the financial barometer. Through a gradual contraction or expansion of its circulation, it averts peril before the community is aware of the menace."

It remains to be seen whether the new Cur