Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1896-09-19
tLh&.H. ;!l.t NO BANK.

ALASKA ;!UJ NO BANK.
III. ...nd.., -. haze. Are Not Favorable
I, the Is .sincss.
Tscre is ~ banl, in Alaska. A
few years ago ore was started i'll
Jun. eau, but it was weak affair and
soon suoponded Cperations. Several
paopl> lost little by the failure,
an! business men now look with sus-
yicicn upon any banking scheme.
This lack Of confidence is not the
main obstacle in the way of estab-
fishing an Ala, kan bank. If such
bank we're established, it would be
'lvcC ssary 10 locate it III Juneau, as
that is the only town whose size
wonid at all justify the enterprise
AT this place the absence of u bank
has compelled Il half dozen leading
merchants to enter certain depart
ments of the banking business.
These mcro 'lnuts keep as little mon-
oy as possible at juneau. Their
main places of deposit are Seattle
and San Francisco. Upon these de-
posits they issue personal checks.
Such checks are free of exchange and
are generally accepted all along the
coast as tie equivalents of drafts.
If bill is to be paid in New York
by Juneau merchant, he takes the
ferry across to Douglas island, five
miles distant, and buys a Treadwell
mine check, which is good the world
over for its face value. The ner-
chants and miners adopt this plan of
selling checks in order to keep mon
ey in the country. They therefore
charge no exchange for such checks.
Thus ono of banks sources of
revenue would be cut off. Mer-
chants have also adopted another
means of clipping a banks wings.
Men are usually paid in checks.
Formerly merchants charged one
quarter of 1 per cent, and nothing
less than % cents, for cashing these
checks. Ono man began cashing
these checks at their face value, and
thus forcod other merchants to do
the same. Now, if a laboring man
wants to get his check cnshed, all he
has to do is to enter store, buy a
small article and present his check.
If issued by man who is known to
be good, the check passes without
question as 50 much money. An
other difficulty with which an Alas
kan bank must contend is the cost
of getting currency.
The steamboat companies charge
1 per cent for shipment. Add to this
the time element, and this difficulty
becomes serious. Except during tho
tourist season, there is but one regu-
lar steamer to Alaska. This makes
trip once III two weeks. There are
no railroads, no telegraph lines, and
but two of the towns Duncan ard
Douglas City, have telephone con-
nection. The place is yet too isolat-
ed. To my mind, the greatest trou.
bic with which II bank would he
obliged TO contend is the inability to
secure good security for loans. It
must DO remembered that Alaska is
not even an organized territory. 1t
is simply district AS the result of
this there arc no village, town or
city governm ents. Taxes are not
levied, and even fire protection and
streetmaking are paid for by volun.
tary contributions.
More serious, however, is the fact
that the ocoupier of land has no title
to his real estate. He cannot, there
FORE give mortgage security that
is of much value. Evon chattel
arc of little worth in
handbook town without fire protec-
ton or fire insurance. AS there are
no territorial laws, and the laws of
the state of Oregon apply only in
general and indistinot way, there
are thousand and ono means of es-
Gaping collections. 1t is, in fact, a
paradise for knavery. Under such
conditions it is not strange that
those who loan money receive from
1 to s per cent interest per month.
Exchange.