Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1893-11-14
GOOD TIMES COMING.
Bankers Not 10 Blame For
Financial StrIngenCy.
IT WAS SMALL OEPOSlT0RS
Comptroller Eckels Talks to Boston
Business Men on the Situation.

Def~' hf ft' D II , ~ comp roller Of
the Currency lf' Ills ~ clearer under
lag Of his heores n relation 10 the
p cent busip DIP ii ,u, the Bank
Pre- idents' ass oc ton invited this high
official Of IA 1t. al trcasury to be a
guest at its monthly meeting and banquet
at the Parker House yet day aft iernoon
Previous to tering he banquet hall g
short informal crpi IN uas held in the
parIors, In ord r that the gray haired persi-
ent IN INT nave AN opportunity Of being
presented To Mr.. Ecktls, and as he moved
about among the austere and well-sea.
soned almoners of the east his youthful
appearance was in strange contrast to
them.
He received a cordial reception at the
dinner, which was served at 3 o'clock, and
made speech. Phiness Pierce, presid ent
OF the Continental bank, presided, and,
after dinner had been disposed OF, intro
duced Mr.. Eckels as the gu st aud speaker
of the afternoon. Mr.. Eckels said:
The commanding position which the
banks OF this country occupy in our finan-
cial world cannot be denied, nor tho im.
portance Of onr b hiking institutions over.
esl imated. Estab ished up a safe basis
and honestly conducted upon conservative
for the promotion OF a peoples prosperity,
but stripped OF safeguards or dishonest "
managed, The jury which they bring
upon people Is only liInil ed by the ex.
tent OF their opportunities.
How hanks May Be InJured.
The suprem function W len they fll Is
the distribution of the p op es wealth, 50
as to make 1t ending source Of
benefit TO all.
Take from them, without cause, sun.
port, and inevitably the injury falls upon
all. Demand # them In nome Of
fright the money given in their kept z
that it may find d yment IN hiding
places, and Of necessity the banks must
withdraw this life biool from the arteries
Of trade, and the shop and store aud fac
tory must close and libor 20 unemployed
Between May 4 and Octob Of this year
the Withdrawals in individua deposits Il,
national banks alone were $29y, ,OOJ, 900 and
Of banks n d b ,nkers' deposits TO tho
amount Of $79,000,O0O. total of $685.
100000.
To meet this drain the banks were COM
pelled TO call In loans, thus depicting the
resources II active trade to the extent OF
S,0Oo,UOO, and from banks and bankers
to he amount of $5l, 100000. while to their
borrowings was added $37.OOO,OO0.
Bankers Didn't do 1t.
In the light Of these figures, apart from
the statistics Of like nature which could
be added from state, savings aud private
banks, who can doubt but that the sh rink
age In deposits on the one hand, contribut
ing only to the fund Of boarded money
and the calling in on the other of loans
necessiiated by the demands Of depositors,
withdrawing such vast sums from the &C
tivities of business, contributed more than
all else to the stagnation from which we
have sufferedt
The most serious feature Of the whole
matter was the Withdrawals of small
amounts by positors who were not bor-
rowers, and whose accounts, as is well
known to all bankers, are most valuable
in the banking bus ness, and constitute a
most stable aud important addii ion to The
fixed capital of commercial banks, and Is
the fund which is used to meet the current
demands Of the business Of each commu-
nifty.
This fact alone Is sufficient to refute the
charge that the financial stringency was
the result Of bankers panic, were IL pos.
sible to believe that BODY of intellig mt,
shrewd an prudent business men could
be capable of setting In motion the ma
chinery which would accomplish their
own distress and ruin.
thrust and believe that this condition
of affairs will soon give way to a better
and different order Of things, and in.
dustries now dradened through the action
of an sffrighted people quickeued into life,
Repeal Restored Confidence.
Happily at last the financial measure
which threw so much Of doubt upon our
monetary system, destro yed the conf
dence Of the people In our banks and
paralyzed the activ tiles Of business no
longer remains upon the statute book
to plague US. Its oper alton worked harm
to US abroad; 1t wro ught disaster at
home
Its repeal leaves US at last free TO enter
upon financial legislation that will accord
with those principles of sound economies
which through all the past centuries have,
and in the future will, control the worlds
monetary opera io1s With such leRisla-
tion aiding instead Of retarding the un-
written laws of commerce and trade, the
wealth of the American people must, in
the very order Of things, become as vast as
their energies are unbounded.
In conclusion, permit me to say that the
advocates of und money must Lot rest
content with the vantage ground which
how is theirs The declamer advocating
money cheap an plenty is yet abroad in
the land and - i'll continue 50 long as
there is hope of terms Of compromise or
yielding to his demands.
l AIN not unmindful Of the fact that
cheap money doctrines have time and time
again taken hold upon our people, but
this seeming popularity 10 nett her indca-
tive of their real reugth nor Of their
soundness as financial principles. No er-
rors are so spontaneously popular with
the mass OF the people - financial ones,
and none are 20 easily dispelled IL aggres-
tively a, tackled.