The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1884-05-15
PANICKY.

Accci ding to our telegraphic dis
patches Wednesday was one of th'
most exciting days ever witnessed
in the great financial centre o
America. Half a dozen banks closer
their doors, and there were 'runs'
on others; while matters in the
Stock Exchange were wild. Fol
eleven years at least, 30 such panic
has occurred, and it is doubtful il
the financial break up Of 1873 had 81
exciting beginning. At this time
it is impossible to do no more thar
venture guess as to what will BIZ
the extent of the crash that seems
to have come; if The HERALD were
to guess it would be to predict that
ne such trouble as that Of eleven
years ago will cone now
While some of The heavier institu-
tons have gone down, or at least
are for the time abandoned, there
seems to be a feeling that the troub' e
is due less to the inherent weakness
OF the concerns themselves than to
present inability to make use OF
their abundant assets. Besides,
there appear to be wiser heads
directing affairs than figured In the
former crash. The action Of the
Clearing House in accepting sec RI
ties for IS per cent. of their par
value will help the really solid inst
tutions which are members of the
association oyer any difficulty
that may arise through the
excitement; and the agreement of
bank managers to stand By each
other through the crisis will not
only sustain some that might other>
wise go to the wall, but maintsin
confidence; while the prompt action
Of Secretary Folger in anticipating
the redemption Of called bonds
more than a month will at once re-
lease a large amount of money
Should this prove insufficient the
secretary also announces his inten-
ton to issue q call for the immedis
ate redemption of bonds Do the
amount Of s11,OOO,0OO. It is true,
that all banks and financial institu-
tions will suffer from the shock, and
the weaker concerns will go down,
but no good reason is shown for the
belief that anything like gel eral
crash will occur. It is worthy of
note that so far only speculative
institutions have been con- PEELED to
close their doors. People who nave
noted the stock reports for the past
few weeks, will not be surprised
that the holders Of shares dealt in
by speculstors are being tightly
There has been a
steady fall in railroad and
other stocks for some time
and while the intrinsic value of
many of those shares may be as
great as formerly, the shrinkage in
the market or commercial value
to many millions Of doll
lars; hence the straits of those con-
Germs whose assets are represented
in these shares.
Inquiry among the city banks
develops the fact that none of their
New York correspondents are found
in the list Of those that have sus-
pended; hence the failures that
have occurred so far will not
affect our local banks. Nor
is it thought that the home insti.
tutions will be materially hurt
whatever may occur in New York.
1t is known that for some
time past the local banks
have been exercising extraordinary
caution and preparing for the storm
which everybody saw was impend>
ing, and they are generally under
stood to be in good condition for
just such an event as Is
new transporting. It is quite prob
able that the city banks have con-
siderable balances in New York, but
they are less now than ordinarily
and go far as known are with the
more solid institutions, whose ability
TO Withstand the tempest has not
vet been doubted. We look for little
Or no trouble at home, except the
incidental annoyance or stringency
occasioned through sympathy.