St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-01-01

end. From now on dividends will be
| declared semi-annually.
! Wednesday the directors of the Mer-
| chants National bank met and declared
| a per cent Semi-annuai dividend.
! Friday afternoon the directors OF the
| National German-American bank de-
] clared an per cent Semi-annual diVi-
! dend.
| Yesterday the stockholders Of the
| Bank Of Minnesota declared an per
cent semi-annual dividend.
And so every bank in the city, with
the exception of two or three, which are
| they. with the surplus, shall equal tile
capital stock. have declared Semi-an-
nual dividends ranging from to s per
| cent.
The stock of about every bank in the
| city stands on the market way above
| par, and that of several of the banks
cannot be bought for twice and a half
! its par value.
The banks included in the large table
accompanying are the principal banks
doing general banking business. 1t
[ must be remem bered that the CONNER
| cial bank was reorganiZed Sept. IL, and
| the showing for that is only from that
| date. 1t is a good showing considering
the time. Several of the banks had not
! figured the amount of their exchange
sold during the year, hence vacancies
III the exchange column ofthe table.
| There are a good many savings banks
! in st. Paul. But one of these conducts
! a general banking business, and that is
| the one placed in the table. Most of the
| savings banks which do not appear in
| the table are mutual concerns, having
no capital stock, and being conducted
under the direct supervision of the pub
| lie examiner. Some OF them have
capital stock, but do not deal in eX-
change. Several of these concerns are
mentioned below the table. Beside
these general and savings banks there
are several loan and trust companies
which do almost everything in the
banking business except deal in eX-
change. Then there are good many
brokerage concerns.
Following are the interviews of the
various bankers concerning the bank
ing and general business outlook:
Bankers Interviews
Hon. William Dawson. Bank of Minnesota
With regard to the outlook in our city and
state, much depends, of course, upon the
action of the government with regard to cur
rency legislation. The great problem seems
, TO be to settle the question of the relative
value of silver and gold. The discovery in
Africa OF immense deposits OF gold, and the
railroad that is now being constructed from
the seabOard to the mines i'll the interior of
that country. Will enable goldseekers 10 reach
! the fields; and from the best authority that
have been able to consult on the matter, it is
confidently expected that these fields are
! richer than were those of California and
! Australia in their palmest days. If the above
discoveries are found TO be as rich as antici-
| pated, 1t would help to settle the question as
| to the purity of gold and silver
Co far &c T
cannot take anything but chez rfnl view OF
! the future. The recent disturbance. or
| furry, of the finances i'll New York, which
was brought about on account of the export
| of gold to Europe, shows to my mind that
| the government ought in some way TO make
| provision for an elastic currency; it ought
not to be III the power of clique i'll New
| York, or any other part of the United States,
| TO raise the rate of interest," even for a day,
| to ~ per cent perannum.
do not think it would be wise at the
present time to repeal the so-called Sherman
! law because of the necessity for the circula-
tion. lind that within the last ten years
currency issued by national banks has BEEN
, decreased about 0,00J,0J0, while the total
| increase in silver certificates Qncluding those
| issued under tha act of Feb. 2S. 1873. known
| as the BLAND act:" and those under the act
! of July II, 1899, called Treasury Notes'O is
: about So S00l0J0; while the total increase in
The enI.e circulation of the country his
been nearly $!S5 100000. From these figures
itican readily be seen what, had it not been