Greenfield Evening Republican, Greenfield, Hancock County, 3 December 1894 — Page 4

(CONDITION OP BANKS

Annual Report of the Comp-

DETATT,? r,i»' THE :^U'S L'OiNCrS.

But KHty New P.nnis Wert Orp-anizeO During ilie Fast Year, the Smallest Number Snn:« 1870— Tim Changes Itecomin«!filled to Bo Maile in Our l'reseut 'ational ftr '.vs.

Washington, Doc. 8.—Tlie report of Hon. K. ijckols, comptroller 01 currency, submitted to congress, gives fall information in regard to the organization. supervision aud liquidation of tho natioual banks for she year ended Oct Hi Tt shows that during this poiiod but 50 tanks were organized, with a, capital stock of $5,285,000, the number chartered, ds well as the minimum amount of capital in any one year since 1819. Of these new banks i?Y are in the northern and eastern si.ve.s, 10 in the southern states and 13 in the western or trans-Mississippi division.

On Oct. 31, 1894, the total number of national banks in operation was 3,766, with mi auuiorizeit capital stock of $67^,'-7!,^»5 represented by 7,955,01(3 shares of stock owned by 287,89-i shareholders.

On Oct. 2, 1894, the date of their last rep '-'t of condition, the total resources of the banks were $3,473,922,055, of which their loans and discounts amounted to 122,19.1., and money of all kinds in bank .$422,428,192. Of their liabilities $J .728,418.819 represented individual deposits, $834,121,082 surplus and net undivided profits and $172,831,978 circulating notes outstanding.

The total circulation of national banks on Oct. 31, ib')4, amounted to $207,472,608, a not decrease during the year of $1,741,503, and a gross decrease of $8,t»14,8o4 in circulation secured by bond.?.

During the year 1879 banks with an aggregate capital stock of $10,475,000 passed out of the system by the voluntary liquidation. Twenty-one, including two "u hich failed in 1893, with a capital stock of $2,770,000, became insolvent, and were placed in charge of receivers.

Th*' feature of the comptroller's reit of the currency question, and the defects which are said to exist in the note issuing powers vested in national banks. On this subject he says: "No section of the law should which can not be materially improved upon and no amendment engrafted unless such amendment will work out better results than flow from the existing order of things. From tiie present law it must be conceded it has been successful in every material feature, excepting in the matter of bank note issue, and here the failure has been but a partial one. The notes issued by the banks under governmental supervision have been uniform in appearance, and under any and all circumstances of the full face value which they purport to carry. They have possessed the first requisite of a good 'jank note issue—immediate convertibility in coin upon presentation. "It is probable that, there could be no better plan tor simply insuring the note holder against loss than the present requirfcuieut of a deposit of bonds to secure a Link's circulation, but it is equally -i kov. over, that a method could be devised, not less safe in this respect and in addition thereto possessing that which is essential and is now wholly wanting—elasticity of issue. The complaint, therefore, made against the present .system is that, lacking in elasticity of issue, it fails to meet as fully as it ought the varying wants of the country's v.i.lr. commerce. This defect must attach to every scheme for a currency issued by the banks against a deposit of boado, the market value of which fluctuates while the percentage of issue, ler-.s than the value of the bonds granted the banks, remains unchanged. It must aiso be wanting in such a method because of the delay in the f.ux of a pres.-:k:g occa-siouud by a tight money market or other reasons, in securing and depositing the bonds required aud taking out the circulation thereon. "But, si-H'ious as this fault, and retardful as it is to the business interests of the country, any attempt to remedy it, which should lose sight of or in any wise make less certain the present unquestioned credit and covertibility of •the bank issues of the country, could not b# justified. It is a duty of governments to see that the currency which circulates among the people shall always be of the very highest character, the soundness of which should never be a subject o. inquiry. For 80 years the American jjeople have had such a currency, and having seen the value of it both, acre and abroad they will not be content to have any innovation made unless such new departure insures not only equal but better results. "It is respectfully suggested that not only as good but better results would be attained, ii the present bank act were amended by repealing the provision thereof re uiring each bank as a prerequisit to entering tho system aud insuuig bank note currency to deposit gov«rnmenu bonds. In lieu of auch provisions should be substituted one permitting the banks to issue circulating notes against their assets to aa amount equal to at least 50 per cent of their unimpaired capital."

The comptroller follows this suggestion with the further one for the maintenance of a safety fund to be provided by graduated taxation upon the outstanding circulation of the banks until the same shall be equal to not less than per cent of the total of such outstanding circulation, tMs fund to be held by the government as an agent only and for the purpose of immediately redeeming the notes of insolvent banks. It is immediately to bo replenished out of the assets tf tiie banks, on whioh it shall have a first and paramount lien, and from assessment to the extent of the doable liability on the shareholders.

The comptroller says: "Whatever changes, if any, it would be necessary to make in the present system relating to current redemption of bank notes and the government's position toward the same and kindred matters, it is not necessary to set forth. If the recommendations here made, together with that which will follow, should receive consideration at the hands of congress, a bill drawn after careful study and investigation of the whole subject would necessarily embody all the details inci

IliSSiS

SfSSl

dent tp a change from a bond to a safe* ty fund security as a basis for bank circulation J'

The comptroller then cites such proof and gives such .statistics as seem to him to nvjV* th« pi.in suggested a perfectly eitr vipon. He says: "Tho changes thus outlined will upon investir.",tioi:i. it is believed, prove to be safe a^'ord^ng complete security to the !.. •. hc'.'oi* :uxd _ive to the business interests of the country a bank note issue rcsDOiisive to their needs.''

Continuing, the comptroller says: "The profit upon the issue of circulation to the banks by such change would be so augmented that it is giving to them a franchise, for which it is suggested they should be called upon to make proper return to the general government. This return should not, however, be of such n, character as to defeat the ends sought in the privilege given. The currency redemption of the legal tender issues, and the treasury issues under the act of 1890, and the reissuing instead of cancellation of the same, must always create distrust of the government's credit abroad, aud it will so long as the laws now upon the statute book remain unchanged. "The general government ought to be wholly free from the direct issuing and redeeming of notes to pass as money among the people. No government has ever yet successfully engaged in so doing, and the experience of the government of the United States has proven no exception to the rule. Tiie general cost of loss entailed upon the government, and the repeated periods of uncertainty as to the government credit and the stability of our monetary system have been so great as to make the legal tender and treasury issues of 1890 one of the extraordinary burdens placed upon the people. "These issues ought to be redeemed and cancelled, and tiie government thus enabled to retire from the banking business, a business for which it is poorly equipped. The intention of those who liist authorized the legal tender issues was that it should so retire at the earliest practicable moment. The first congressional enactment signed by President Grant after his inauguration as chief executive was one reasserting the determination of the government to preserve unquestioned the public faith, and the closing clause of it was the United States also solemnly pledges its faith to make provision at the earliest practicable period for the redemption of United States notes in coin.'

In the light of the present condition of liie government's finances, the comptroller continues: "That which ought to have been done when there was a surplus in the treasury can not now be undertaken, and the same conditions must continue to weaken the country's credit and plague the lines of business, unless a means is devised for removing these issues irorn the channel of current redemption until such time as the government finds itself in a position to do that which at first was the intent of all —gradually redeem and cancel them. The ultimate redemption of coin, of oeurae, must all be upon the government, but the embarrassment does not arise from their ultimate, but from their current redemption. "It is therefore suggested that if congress shall repeal the provisions of the present act, requiring the national banks to make a deposit of government bonds in order to secure circulating notes, and substitute there-ore a provision giving them instead the right to issue the same against their assets, it incorporates therein, and as a part thereof, that as a prerequisite to so doing the banks be compelled to deposit with the treasurer of the United States legal tender issues or issues under the act of 1890 equal in amount to the dif-

ference between the percent^^^ tiieir

capital stock of issuos granted against

cap their assets and the total of such capital stock. "The deposits thus made ought to remain with tho treasurer until the bank ceased, eitlior through voluntary or involuntary liquidation to do business, and in either case the government ought to then redeem and cancel such treasury issues deposited. As against this deposit of legal tenders and treasury notes so made there should be issued to the banks dollar for dollar national bank notes, either of tke same or different design as might be deemed best. The percentage of the bank notes issued against this deposit should be free from any taxation imposed upon circulation and ought to be such percentage as is deemed equitable to be used as a part of the bank's legal reserve held against deposits. "The government should not undertake or in anywise become responsible for the current redemption of these notes. Its responsibility should eud with its redemption of the notes deposited to secure such circulation when the bank ceases to exist. At present a current redemption fund of 5 per cent of the outstanding circulation is found sufficient, and it is probable that in the future no greater amount would be required. "The elasticity of issue in the national bank circulation will "be found in the percentage of issue agaiust assets subject to the necessary rates of taxations and insured by an adequte safety fund to guarantee the note holders against lo3s. The government will be aided, the bank given in exchange a dollar for every dollar deposited, and thus relieved of the loss incident to depositing an amount of its capital stook in excess of the return in notes granted it. No violent contraction of the currency would follow such a course, but whenever cantraction occurs it would be not less gradual than at other times the expansion incident thereto. 'It is suggested that as a necessary element to the securing of proper elasticity of issue in our bank note currency Section 9, act July 12, 1892, regulating the retirement and issuing of circulation to banks within a fixed period of time, should be repealed and also that an amendment should be made to the law necessitating the banks keeping ia the office of the comptroller of the currency a sufficient amount of blank notes as will enable them to securo circulation at ence instead of after a period of delay. "Suggestions have been received from many eminent sources that the" whole question of a banking and currency system ought to be referred by congress to a commission to be created by law, appointed by the president, and clothed witli proper authority. A commission, non-partisan in its character, composed of men of eminent Abilities, could unquestionably devise a currency system sound in every part, and one whioh would commend itself to every interest of the country. It could largely take the question out of politics.

S®

ISlSlfl

i§®t§

life

THE TATTLER.

Ellen Dortsch is to be governor's secretary in Georgia, and the appointment carries a major's commission.

Mrs. Deborah Brown and daughter of Toronto "vir»Ya oi- rna oi v:i.-katj-tion. Tho mother is 118 years old and the daughter 84.

The wife of the nev* donn of .3 litiLiUi, uuuf Of Philadelnhte, the youngest- •laughter of the late fanny Kembie.

Miss Francos E. Willard thinks that women have more backbone than men and accounts for it by saying that Eve was made out of man's backbone.

Dr. Y. May Kin, practicing in Kobe, Japan, was tho first Chinese lady to receive a medical degree in America, and the first scientifically educated feiualo practitioner in Japan.

Mine. Robert Armstrong, whose "Alcazar" was known to everybody who knew Havre, France till the establishment was burned down in 1890, died in poverty a couple of weeks ago. |pjw 111

Countess Gianotti, one of the favorites among the ladies in waiting to the queen of Italy, is an American and a daughter of Francis Kinney, the cigarette manufacturer of Newark, N. J.

Miss Susan B. Anthony's next birthday (her seventy-fifth, and she doesn't care who knows it) falls on Feb. 15 next, and already the Political Equality club of New York is arranging to observe it.

Mme. Casimir-Pericr is an economical woman, for all her husband's great fortune. She patronizes the small dressmakers, buys her own materials and looks wonderfully well in her economical gowns.

Miss Jennie Dean, to whom the Manassas Industrial School For Negroes, in Virginia, owes much of its success, was born a slave, but now owns her home of 50 acres, near Dudley Springs, paid for by her own earnings.

Florence Blythe-Hinckley has virtually come into possession of tho large estate which contestants in the California courts so resolutely tried to wrest from her. Generally speaking, it is worth from $4,000,000 to $5,000,000.

Miss Katherine Sharp is in charge of the department of library science in the Armour institute, Chicago, and has proved a rtTl remarkably successful instructor. Seven

out of the ten students under her charge last year have already secured places in various libraries.

Dr. Mary Walker delivered a lecture in Fancuil hall, Boston, on a recent Sunday evening in favor of abolishing capital punishment. She appeared on tho platform in a full suit of black, with Prince Albert coat, a black four-in-hand tie stuck with several scarfpins and white gloves.

THE ANTIQUARIAN.

Preserved fruits, hermetically sealed in earthenware vessels, have been found in both Herculaneum and Pompeii. When opened, they were comparatively fresh.

The steelyards found in Herculaneum are constructed on exactly the same prin ciple as those of today, with a pan and a bar, with a graduated scale, along which a weight was moved.

The wine jars, or amphorae, of the Romans resembled our demijohns, with the curious exception that the bottom tapered to a point, which was thrust into the sand that covered the floors of the wine vaults, and thus the vessel was held upright.

On the wall of a grocer's store in Pompeii was found tho following inscription: "IIX. ID. I\ L. AXVNGIA. PCC. ALIV. MANVPLOS. CCL.," which has been interpreted to mean, "On July 25, hog's lard, 200 pounds garlic, 200 bunches." Whether these articles wero bought or sold does not appear.

., .. The skeletons of small dogs, closely re

sembli our have beon £ound at

j&i

ism

th«

Pompeii, proving that tho Roman ladies had pets other than the domesticated sorpent3 that frequented the houses, and which in hot weather were used as live boas and were curled about the ladies' necks for tho sako of tho coolness of the writhing bodies.

GREATER NEW YORK.

Greater New York has come. It probably will take Chicago five years at least to surpass her big eastern rival again.—Chicago Dispatch.

New York will be tho second city in the world in population, with an area covering about 400 square miles of land and water.—Chicago Herald. 4

With Greater New York now more than a possibility, there is nothing for Chicago to do but to annex St. Louis, Cincinnati and Detroit.—New York Tribune.

Chicago has but 1S2 square miles and includes many farmers, but New York proposes to beat it in the production of crops as well as population.—Baltimore Sun.

New York thus becomes the second city in Christendom in the matter of population, as she has long been the second in commerce and manufacture.—Louisville Times.

By the simple device of annexing Brooklyn and its environment, together with Staten Island and the region above the Harlem, New York will attain a population beyond the dreams of Chicago's avarice.—Providence Journal.

THE SCIENTIST.

The next transit of Venice will take place in tho year 2004. The timo is coming when by methods already foreseen we Bhall store and make use of the heat of the sun.

The meteorologists tell us that the high clouds, even on the hottest summer days, are wholly composed of fine crystals of snow.

It is computed that every year the earth receives about 146,000,000,000 of shooting stars, which fall on its surface, thus slowly adding to its mass.

The most rapidly moving star known in space does not move with one-thousandth part of tho speed imparted to the light which it radiates, and by which alone we become aware of its existence.

WOMAN.

Sh "x*

It sometimes takes tho finest gown in town to satisfy the vengeance of a woman.—Galveston News.

Don't believe that your wife asks your advice because she thinks you know.— Cleveland Plain Dealer.

A woman is more disagreeable to the man who has told her he loves Tier than to any other man.—-Atchison Globe.

The women cyclists of Santa Fe aro wearing bicycle bloomers publicly and unmolested, and not so longsinco a plug hat was a legitimate target for revolver practice in that region.—New York Sun. SSSStg®

licitors or call at the

"C'ly

islii

•|,iri1V»IM

[y/r~R

THE DAILY EVENING REPUBLICAN

£h

4? 49 It 49

FOR ONLY

DELIVERED AT YOUR DOOR.

Every one is acquainted witli tlie Xews and know what a magnificent newspaper it is. It gives all the news of Indianapolis, Indiana', the United States, America, and the whole world for io Cents a eek. fro

IV Tirni Ll

will give you all the news of Greenfield, such as personal, society, club and fraternity notesr police and court-house news, in fact, all the daily happenings in Greenfield and Hancock county. In addition we will publish a general summary of State and National news, with a number of "Special Features," all for 10c a week, but our Grand Combination Offer is, The Daily News and

EVENING!and REPUBLICAN

REPUBLICAN OFFICE,

14 S. PBNN. ST.

Tiie Spring Bed Factory bids lair to become a permanent fixture in Greenfield, in wliich case many well-disposed persons, who now have no place for their hands but their pockets, will find profitable employment pleasant business, both as salesmen and manufacturers, It is constant work, which supplies constant necessities. Why compel yuor sons and daughters to leave home and seek employment in populous cities, where there are temptations and alurements of city life. You now have 6? an opportunity of building up a home industry that will give employer and employee a lasting business that knows no failure. My bed is the property of both continents, and carried with it

Gold Medals, Diplomas and State Premiums from all the great marts of trade, and hence is not here as an experiment, but as preminently the best Spring Bed in the world. Your presence and pat- 8 ronage is requested. 8

D. EDGAR, Patentee.

Gant Block, West Main St.,

Grrecnilcld, Indiana.

N y-V OFFER

v_y

AND

for only 15c a week. Subscribe with our so

eios

4? 6) 0 0 &

(19 ilf 0

I 8

ff)

69 62 (fl

69 0 69

6? 0