empowered to prepare, upon the passage of this Act, bank notes for the
respective banks applying for them without the following superscription
upon them: "This note is secured by bonds of the United States or other
securities," but in all other respects like the bond-secured bank notes
now in use: _Provided, however_, That the notes delivered to any bank
for issue and circulation shall have in bold type, first, and to the
left of the centre, the number of its zone, and, second, to the right
of the centre, the number of the bank by which it is identified in its
zone.
COMMENT:--This section provides a true bank note by erasing that
barbaric superscription that makes our present bank notes a bond
speculation; and by bold numbers identifies every bank note with a
zone and with the bank issuing it, thereby greatly facilitating the
quick redemption of the notes.
MR. MERCHANT: How much more economical would this currency be than a
currency furnished by the Government or purchased from some central
bank or other central institution?
MR. BANKER: It would cost just one-fifth as much, or the difference
between _par_ that would have to be paid for the currency purchased
and the average reserve carried; or about 20 per cent. The average per
cent of gain to the banks would be about 5 per cent upon the amount
of notes outstanding (approximately $1,250,000,000) or $60,000,000.
Of course, this gain would come to the people, sooner or later; in
the end, the expense of the bank is borne by commerce. The present
enormous cost of shipping currency to and fro across the country would
be saved also, and this amounts to several million dollars a year, to
say nothing of the added trouble of shipping commercial paper with
which to pay for it.