Charles Arthur Conant was an American journalist, author, and economic adviser. During his career, his work was associated with various periodicals and served as a treasurer of the Morton Trust Company, New York.
Background
Charles Arthur Conant was born on July 02, 1861 in Winchester, Massachusetts, United States. He was the son of Charles E. and Marion (Wallace) Conant, and direct descendant in the ninth generation of Roger Conant, acting governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1632.
Education
Conant was educated in the public schools and by private study.
Career
Conant early entered journalism on the Boston Post and from 1889 to 1901 was Washington correspondent of the New York Journal of Commerce, Springfield Republican, and other newspapers, specializing in finance and banking. He was also early interested in politics and in 1893 was the Democratic candidate in his district for Congress and in 1896 delegate to the Gold Democratic Convention.
Throughout his journalistic career he was an earnest advocate of “sound currency” and in opposition to the silver wing of his party. He enjoyed the acquaintanceship and confidence of treasury officials and international bankers. In 1901 he was selected by Elihu Root, secretary of war, and appointed by President McKinley to investigate and report upon the monetary system of the Philippines, recently acquired from Spain. His recommendations were adopted by Congress and the system so established is still in effect. The new silver pesos of the Philippines were long called Conants, ” and at one time the paper currency issued carried his vignette. His interest in the Islands was further seen in his service on the Board of Directors of the Manila Railway, and a journey in financial diplomacy brought him into relations with the Vatican and a personal interview with Pope Pius X with reference to compensation for the friars’ lands in the Philippines.
From 1902 to 1906 he served as treasurer of the Morton Trust Company, New York, but he was constantly being called upon for service in public affairs. In 1903 he went to Mexico as an adviser in changing the monetary system from a silver to a gold basis. In the same year he was made member of the Commission on International Exchange which was constituted, at the request of the governments of Mexico and China, for the cooperation of the United States in an effort to bring about a fixed relationship between the moneys of the gold-standard and silver- standard countries. The report of this Commission was published as House Document No. 144, 58 Congress, 2 Sess.
Three years later, in 1906, he was chosen a member of the special committee of the Chamber of Commerce of New York on currency reform which made a report advocating the establishment of a central bank. His active interest in sound monetary practise was again shown when he was an official delegate of the United States to the International Conference on Bills of Exchange held at The Hague in 1910 and 1912. His report of the conference of 1910 was published as House Document No. 768, 61 Cong. , 3 Sess.
For many years he was editor of the department devoted to foreign banking and finance of the Bankers Magazine, and in addition to a continuous flow of articles in magazines and proceedings of conventions and associations, he wrote A History of Modern Banks of Issue (1896), which passed through five editions; The United States in the Orient (1900); The Nature of the Economic Problem (1900); and other works.
Politics
Conant was a member of the Democartic Party. He was an earnest advocate of “sound currency” and in opposition to the silver wing of his party.
Membership
Conant was a member of the Société d’Économie Politique de France.
Personality
Conant had a strong personality, was modest, very diligent in application to his duties, enterprising, a devoted public spirit, and witty. His independence was shown in bolting the Democratic Bryan ticket in 1896.