Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 107, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 May 1919 — TAKES EXCEPTION TO ATTACK ON INDIANA STATE BANKS [ARTICLE]

TAKES EXCEPTION TO ATTACK ON INDIANA STATE BANKS

Otto L. Klauss, auditor of state, and Charles W. Camp, head of the 4tate bank department under the auditor, have written a protest to John Skelton Williams, controller of the currency, against what they say is on continual effort on the part of the controller to discredit state banks in favor j>f national banks. “As an official of Indiana, charged for the time being with supers vision of all the banks and trust companies of this state, other than the national banks,” wrote the auditor, “I resent the efforts that are continually being made by your office, through the press, to discredit our state financial instiutions by lauding the standing of the national banks. “il am of the opinion that the state banks of Indiana —779 in number — taken as a whole, are as ably managed and supervised as are the 240 national banks, and give as my reason that while four of our ’ institutions have been closed in the past four years, no loss has been sustained by any depositor. “In view of the fact that our banks have stood shoulder to shoulder with the national banks in the purchase of each issue of Liberty bonds and United State certificates of indebtedness, I am inclined to believe that your comparisons are odious and ill-timed.” Newspaper dispatches of last Saturday reported that the controller issued a statement directing attention to the fact that only two national banks had failed in the last sixteen months while between fifty and sixty state supervised institutions had failed the fifteen months ended April 1, and that twenty-four of the state supervised banks had failed within the three months ended March 31. Mr. Camp said that statements of the same character frequently have been issued by Mr. Williams.