The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-01-05
WANTS MORE POWER.
.+roller Eckels' Authority
Over National Banks
n,s POSITION IS MERELY ADVISORY


Rev. .,od-The Comptroller Can Only
HE Cannot Enforce His wishes
liabilities and Assets
washington, Jan. b.-lSpeciai' l-ihe
- numerous bank failures III INC "eaO
ie''H s,ryed 70 call attention to the impor-
ha'o'e - the supervisory work of the comp
tapU0 tbo currency. The comptroller
uUH ,.y given supervision OF all the ma
.,onol banks in the country ms pow1'
ILL., chem Is not great enough TO enable
w. V,'l 70 compel them to obey the law pu'
mn and does exercise strong influence
ho .hom AS was shown in the case OF
upO. ooort failure of the National Bank OF
.nU Mt Chicago, the comptroller had
i'i"O'' n, ,,orned the officers and directors
OF 'nas a. their loans. The officers prom
,sed to reform, but ala not 10 80. ny
nromised to diminish the amounc VI ioans
- members of their own directory pu' III
steod increased them VI course such
Santinp methods, such disregard OF the
,rarnings of the comptroller, couio nave
brt one ending, and that was ialiure' us
honor and rum
Wants the Law Amended.
r.bo comptroller had been given by law
.,over 70 enforce his demands, II he
,,ora sometbing more than mentor OF tne
SanI,ng officers of the country, perhaps
.I,. Illinois failure would not have occur
.od COMPTROLLER Eckels has time and
s.a,n asked congress for greater power In
dsaiiro with national banks, for authority
~ orforce his demands, but congress mas
~ot no vet seen fit to amend the law In the
d,roction asked for There cnn be no
donbt that after some of the recent expert
orces in western banking methods, which
have shown the value of the comptroller s
checks mon the operations of bank officers,
congress Is more inclined than it ever was
boforo 70 Mace power in the hands of the
federal supervising officer.
The Importance of the Office of comptrol'
,or Of the currency may be Judged by the
fact that he has supervision of 1910 ma
tional banks. Their shareholders number
nearly 300, OOO They have notes in circu-
laton TO the amount of $40, 900, 600. Their
total resources are SO, go, 000 900, and their
deposits amount to the enormous sum OF
Il 600 00O. 900. or twice the national debt,
less cash, III UD6 treasury ihio ioee ~ -
shows how close are the relations between
the comptroller's Office and the business OF
the country. If bank failure occurs, bust
ness men are the chief losers. One failing
bank pulls down another, and there Is
trouble throughout an entire community.
1t is the duty Of the comptroller to so guard
and supervise the operations of the banks
that failures shall not occur, If possible.
He must give warning when bad business
methods lead to danger sss.--,v m
Losses In the Past.
But the comptroller can only warn. lie
has no power to enforce his wishes. he
may, it Is true, blast the credit Of any bank
bya public announcement of its weakness,
but this would only serve 10 precipitatG
the disaster, which it is his duty to avert
There is no longer any anxiety concerning
loss TO the holders of national bank notes
In the old days of wildcat banking note
holders never knew whether they were sai'
or not Often bank failures subjected then
to great losses. But under the new ma
tional bank law in force since 1868, III
holder Of national bank note has lost ;
penny, All such notes are protected b.
deposits Of United States bonds, which
preclude the possibility Of loss
The comptroller's chief duty now Is t
guard the rights Of the depositors and o
the business community in general Thi
Is great and a delicate responsibility. l
be is lax in enforcing the law, danger viii
creep in. If he is too tyrannical, bank
will be forced into failure when littl
more patience and tolerance might saw
them and all the interests involved. 1t !
apparent that much more depends upol
the fidelity with which bank officers dis
charge their duties than upon the zeal O
the comptroller. If they are prudent an
honest, there will be no trouble. If Their
is trouble, IL has been brought about be
fore the comptroller can know anything G
It, and despite all he can do there may b
no way of correcting the evil.
The chief trouble with national banks
that their officers persist in making loan
to relatives and to personal friends VIII
are engaged in enterprises of doubtfr
value In this way bank after bank ha
been wrecked. The temptation to help on
ones relatives or personal friends has bee
the undoing of many fine reputation
There Is one quality which national ban
officer must have If he Is to be success,
he Is to avoid humiliation and disgrac,
10 opio w Soy INO. Aho W.
man, the good natured man, the kind
man, has no business in bank, whel
other peoples money and the prosperity {
city are intrusted to bis care.
Since the present national banking la
was passed, in 1868, there have been repor
gu 10 the comptroller of the currency l, Ii
national bank failures. That was up
oct' last year. The total liabilities
,nese failed banks was $l99, 200, 900. Whe
sneir affairs were finally settled up, it wa
iouhd they were able to pay 500, 500, 600
dividends, or about AZ per cent. This
not bad showing, considering that mo-
Vi the bank failures have been In times
panic, when values Of securities were fal
ing fast.
Bank Failure Waves.
Inc failures Of national banks ha'
come In waves Between 1868 and Is
, ,nvre were only A failures, and their Ii
o'hties were small. But in the next S
years-lS73 to 1878, inclusive--there we
zoo failures, with liabilities aggregatii
ABOUT s70,000,O00. That was the pan
period of 1874
between 1878 and 1898 there were g6'
many failures, aggregating 825 in numbe
out as rule, their lin bilities were snIa