Birmingham state herald., 1897-07-29
BUILDING AND LOAN MEN Holding Their Fifth Convention
 at Detroit. VERY LARGE ATTENDANCE
I..enty States With Branch Organizations
 Have Delegates Present
THE SEcRETARY'S ANNUAL REPORT
Shows Large Accessions to the Ranks and Great Increase of Capital Invested Topics of Vital Importance
 Freely Discussed.


 States League of Building and Loan as- sociations opened F,s fifth annual meet l ing today in the city council chamber,
 with fair repres ntatfon of all the states, about twenty in number, which l have branches of the organization.
 Af.er the convention was called 70 order by President Brown, Mayor Maybury was ] introduced and welcomed the league 70 l Dstroit.
 | Freefdent Brown appointed a commit l tee with Irwin B. Rich as chairman on l credentials and one on resolutions, with l Charles H. Dexter as chairman. The 1 commil.ee on credentials repor ed fifty 1 six delegates entitled to participate in the
 convention. Ohio, Illinois and Pennsyl- | vania are the states most heavily repre- senIsed.
 Secretary Colarius, of Cincinnati, pre- 1 sen;ed the secretary's annual repori- It | showed that the total assets of the build | ing and loan associations represented in | the league was s5oS, ST, ,695, an increase of | ST. 760 930 during the past year. The total number of local associations in ,he eev- cral states is 4776, i.hedr membership 1,- 160,300 am increase of 65,171 during the year, The highest proportion of gains were made in eastern and central states, where laws are more fayora bic to build ing and loan associations. The secretary present-d a summary of legislation in Ehe different states affec ing building and loan associ aiions In Mich igan, however a bill authorizing com panies to borrow up to 50 per cent. of their assets and issue properly paid up and dividend be airing stock, although passed by both houses, did not become law by reason of Its failure 70 secure Gov. Pingrees approval. In New York nearly all of the bills which were passed by the l legislature affecting building and loan associations included number favorable l to them except one requiring associations I to deposit with the superintendent of ] banking sums from $25 900 to $50, 900 to be 1 applied O the paymsn'. of any assessment made upon them by the banking depart mont, which was passed. Illinois In- l diana. Wisconsin, Colorado, Connecti- cut, Alabama and Tennessee passed laws favorable to the maintenance and per manen'ce of associations. The report of the treasurer showed a small balance on hand. Addison Burke. of Philadelphia read a i brief address on Security Found in To- 1 cel Building Societies. | The delegates listened to d few remarks from United States Senator ForaSer, of 1 Ohio, who was escorted into the hall and introduced as an able friend of building l and loan associations in the senate. Senator Foraker spoke of building as soiciations as doing more than any other
 
 ! return to prosperity und the new tariff bill 5erctor Foraker was loudly ap- plaudsd.
 An address on "Economy and Sys- tematic Saving" prepared by J. Warren Bailey. of Somerville Mass, was read by J. w. Hayes, of Mass achusetts.
 At the afternoon session Judge J. H. c. Royce, of Terrs Haute, Ir,1., read a paper on The Value of Permane nee and s "a bility in Building and Loan -Assoc.a- tions," principles which he said find illus trations in all Eaes of human activity, while the transient man and institut.oa is l regarded with suspicion, He deprecated organizing building as- sociations on the running out plan," the permanent plan he advocated as better | than the trial plan on account of its psr- | manerce.
 "A Pointer in Civics" was the subject of paper read by E. B. Lighter, of l Three Rivers, Mich. the assistant treas rlrer of the league. He spoke of the
 building association and its influence on citizens.
 When they supplant improvidence
 and the home drives out the bar" said
 he, the national problem will be solved and the first step in this direction is the 1 building associations.
 MT. A. T. Bee read a paper deunciatory
 or the alleged extraVagance of some i members of the building association Within the past three years" he said,
 "the people have been cheated out of
 $3OO, GOO, 900 by various classes also called ' building associations They bore the
 mask of cooperation and as result of
 their operations state after state has en-
 acted laws against the buildings asSo- s ciations. It was a death struggle in
 which honesty triumphed. The plan
 to enlarge upon the plan of the local as sooiations has proven disastrous to the work of building and loan associations. The locals must, therefore, strife to gain the public confidence shaken by the na.- tionals."
 William c. Shepard, of Grand Rapids, Mich, spoke on collective capital He thought it probable that the tendency to centralizat on of capi al was so mark q throughout the world and will receive no decided check until it has reached the full limit of human endurance.
 He said: Let the concentrated capital of savings banks, trusts and investment companies make a rate of interest slight ly lower than that now current and ac- cept smaller payments on their loans and the cooperative savings and loan asso- citations would fall before it."
 Three Fundamental principles of build ind and loan associations were given by the speaker, viz: The collection of small capital into a common fund, the control og the funds by representatives and the equitable distribution of the gains.
 The delegates enjoyed two hours of recrca ation in the form of trolley ride around the city at the close of the af- tcrnoons session.
 Politics tonight cast ripple of dis cord over the annual conent ion of ithe United States League of Building and Loan assoclat!ors. The dis.urbi ele mcnt crept out in what was considered an injudicious expression in President Browns address in which he said ''free trade and low tariffs were decided in- jury 60 the coun;ry's trade. These re- marks did not take wcal with tn. demo- crats present. They said nothing about it at the time, but after the session had begun tonigh. a resolution was offered to