Jasper County Democrat, Volume 22, Number 89, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 February 1920 — CREDIT THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM [ARTICLE]

CREDIT THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

Reports of bank earnings for the year 1919, just following the close of a war that rocked the world for almost half a decade, are a new and eloquent tribute to the federal reserve system under which the financial institutions of the country have been operating since 1914. That there should have been no failures or panics or depression in a period when the country was turning from the business of war to the pursuits of peace; when the immense debts incurred in the conflict with Ger<many were at their maximum; when four millions of men were being replaced in the industries from which they were drawn to fill the army and navy, is without parallel, but that this very time was one of prosperity and soundness beyond comparison is no less than marvellous. The figures are the most startling testimony at once of the federal reserve system’s incalculable value and of the nation’s wonderful position. Gross earnings of Che banking instit twtions, the comptroller of the cur-

rency reports, were $1,000,000,000 in 1919. In the same twelve months their net profits were approximately .<300,000,000, These figures testify not only to the healthfulness of business and industry in tbe ipast year. They are an earnest of the prosperity of the year to come. Who of all the critics of the federal reserve system when it was in the process of creation would propose its disestablishment now in the face of the facts?