"Under these circumstances, with what suspicion and jealousy will every act of the central bank be watched! Localities will become envious of localities. Cities will bitterly attack their neighboring cities. Nine-tenths, if, indeed, not ninety-nine out of every hundred, of the banks will imagine spears in needlecases, and, right or wrong, fling their accusations upon the wings of the wind; and we will be living in a commercial world of unrest and constant controversy surpassing in suspicion, envy, jealousy and bitterness anything this Republic has ever witnessed. The consequences no man can prophesy; no imagination can paint."
These words were spoken by Hon. Charles N. Fowler, March 29, 1908, just two years before Mr. Aldrich made his report to Congress upon his National Reserve Association.
Mr. Laboringman: You know I said that I had heard that the Aldrich Bill was dead; for one, I hope so. If the people ever get a lick at it they will finish it for certain.
Mr. Farmer: You are right, and you bet that if they ever get a chance to discuss this banking bill question, they will come mighty near settling upon the right proposition in the end.
Mr. Banker: I agree with you, and furthermore I am thoroughly convinced that we shall never reach a satisfactory conclusion until we have had just the same kind of a hand-to-hand fight over this question that we had over the gold standard.
Mr. Manufacturer: It looks so to me. That gold-standard fight taught me that you could trust the American people to make a wise decision, if you would only have a country store, schoolhouse, cornfield debate, in which every man in the country got into the game—preacher, lawyer, teacher, farmer, merchant, manufacturer, laboringman, townfolks and country folks, all alike.
Mr. Merchant: Nothing more true has been said since we have been talking about this question than that remark about the importance of a public discussion of this whole matter. I know any number of men who when this Aldrich scheme came out were ready to swallow it, but who now realize what a fatal blunder it would have been. The reason was, that they knew absolutely nothing about the question and they were living in such a state of terror on account of the panic, that they were ready to take anything that would shield them from experiences such as they had just passed through. The Aldrich scheme was the only thing in sight, because hundreds of thousands of dollars had been spent in promoting it. They are just beginning to study and think about the subject. Our hope of wise action by Congress rests upon a red-hot debate among the people, exactly as you said.
Mr. Banker: Well, it will be easy enough to show them what the real reforms demanded are.
The reforms we demand are these:
First: Holding companies in the banking business must be completely wiped out.