St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1881-08-27
Proceedings Of the American Bankers
Convention.

Treasurer George +. Baker reported the
finances Of the Association in good cUndi-
ton.
An address by Mr.. John Thompson, OF
New York, was read on the subject Of
panics. panics, he said, occurred about ey-
cry decade; this ten-year period is quite
natural; II takes about five Years after re-
Nuslon TO pay up, compromise, or wipe out
Indebtedness; then follows five years Of
prosperity, expansion, confidence in credit,
in fact, "boom;'' the last panic
was in 1873; the present prosperity COM
menced III 1873; we have now had three
years OF extraordinary augmentation of
riches, much OF 1t real and solid, but most
Of it emanatlng from raising prices or
putting up quotations; the signs Of an
approaching ''blizzard, are numerous -
but very, delicate as yet. When the stock
market becomes "mIyed,' and the bulls
and bears become desperate, and when the
courts grant injunctons literally, and the
financial knavery OF the opposing parties
and schcmers is exposed, then capital
and credits in>idousIy notwithstanding il
| considered the best investment, or loans Sc
| cured beyond any contingency, even
at nominal interest, which is akin
to boarding. This species OF tinancie-ing
/ involves contraction; dlstrust follows, and
| the credit system IS annhilated. At present
| there is but one alarming indication Of
| trouble, and that IS in the number and mag.
| nitude Of new enterprises, involving The
issue of millions Of obligations. He advised
caution on the part of bankers in the use OF !
! deposits, that they might always have sure |
and speedy controllabiity ger a sufficient /
amount of assets to meet any - demand OBJ |
ligAtlon,' even in the light Of 4 raging panic |
| lie said: eve are positively going too fast
and it is the part Of wisdom, and | conceive |
1t to be but our duty, to put on the brakes |
that the wreck, when it does come, NAV be |
the less disastrous. Gentlemen, .
am not prophesyiug evil SO do not stone me.
am only ringing the bell to awake tbs
brakeman, for unless we slow up and
guard our assets, nothing in the past will
compare with what is in the future. The
negotIatlons-the issue of stocks and bonds
are fouIfold what they We're i'll 1915"
After the reading of some other papets
and the discussion Of some minor questions
the Convention adjourned for the day
Among the papers read on the 18th was
one from Secretary Window, on "Goyern-
ment Finances in which he gave history
OF the course recently pursued by the Gov
eminent, under the Refundins act of Con-
gress, to provide for the registered bonds O,
maturing loans and the interest payments
on the coupon bonds. Under the plan final.
ly matured and adopted Sis, 055, $50 of the
slX-per-ce bonds had been converted in
to three and-one- half per cents. leaving to
be PAID oil from the surplus revenues, $24,-
III, 400, for which the Treasury has ample
resources. Concerning the five per- cents.
the secretary says The transactions We're not
quite complete, but probably there will be
continued by October l in all about $780,
wv, 0oO OF this loan, leaving to be paid $50, =
IOS,Q50, the remainder of the loan having
already been paid from the surplus revenues
under calls previously made. As Il result of
TINS reminding process, the Secretary says
the annual interest charge, which was,
March l. 1881, ST6.S45, $3.50, will be, OF
October /, 1881, as nearly as can be now
stated, SCI, AS, S42. %.
John Jay Knox, Comptroller of the Cur.
rency, read an exhaustive address on
Banklng and the Currency of the Coun-
try" lie stated that on May l, last, there
was S'99, PSI, 1888 OF paper money outstand~
ing, all OF which was and is readily con-
Vertlble into coin on demand. There was
on that day $520,0V0, coo OF gold coin in the !
country, according to the estimates of the
Director OF the MINT, and about SIP ,0oo,ooe
OF silver coin, which is still increasing a
the rate OF S2,3OosO00 monthly. The total {
amount of coin and paper currency on that
day, including $50 100000 of silver ccrtifi- +
Gates, was sl,430,900,0oo. The amount OF :
gold, silver and paper currency held in the q
Banks, 1923, IA 1888; in State Banks, S4,- /
93J, 924: III Savings Banks, S11,072,6S0. ii
The amount of coin and currency in the a
Treasury and in the banks is deducted from t
The total amounts estimated to be in the S
country, 1t will give remainder of $751; c
5S2,l94, as the amount, May l, IN the hands a
of the people outside of the depostors. c
The report Of the Nominating Committee h
was adopted, and George S. Coe was elected t
President of the Association for the ensuing t
year; Lyman j. Gage, of the First Ma =
lonal Bank of Chicago, First Vice Presi- b
lent; Edmund y. Randolph, Secretary; b
Jeorge W. Baker, Treasurer, and George {
linn
Several papers were submitted without
being read.
On the 18th E. A. Towles, President of the
First National Bank of st. Adams, VT, read %
paper on Bank Taxation, embracing a his II
DRY Of the panics since 1887, remedies for :. :.
uch evils, and deductions made therefrom. !
A paper was also read from Mr. R. Fl. 81
nglls Palgrave, of London, on the Progress u;
i Banking in England, in which he states O.
nat an estimate made in 1910 gives vi
he banking deposits of London, including ST
he Bank Of England, and the country ~
anks of England, Scotland and Ireland, as I'll
icing from e9S, 100000 to f105,000, 200; note az
REGULATION at f400l0,000, and the metallic in
REGULATION at f2G, 100000 to EDO ,Ooo, 900. as
he most recent estimate OF deposits is for M
he spring of 1881, as follows: For the Bank '"
England, 932,onO 900; all other banks in pc
he United Kingdom, E460, 100000 to f470,- m
10000. The amounts with the discount to
ouses are not incl.lded in these last figures, 81,
hitch compare, say, f4s5,500,000 in 1878, ~
nth $4,000, 900 III 1881. IN
report upon banking in Canada was to
resented from Mi. c. Ii. Sorey, of Mon ST.
real, in which he states that there are at on
resent twenty-four joint stock banks in III
ntario and Quebec, with about 70 agencies, W. W..
aving an aggregate paid-up capital of S52,- ur
Il 200, or on an average of s. 204 900 each. all
he banks having their head offices in the HI
rovinces of the Dominion, other than On eli
lrio and Quebec, number about fifteen, We
lth an aggregate capital of some &c. Be
10000. The backs are required to II
lake elaborate returns to Govern dr.
,oi, os W htep lorly per cent. OF al