Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1897-01-02
BANK FAILURES IN IMPROVING
TIMES,

better. financially us well as In other
ways. since the Sd of November. Bank
deposits have increased heavily In Chi
cago. rs in other cities. Loans have In
creased also. Gold has come from |
abroad. and has come out of Its hiding |
places at home. The Treasury reserve
IL gaining rapidly. There are more men
at work IN the factories than there were
two months ago. Hence the slOpkcel-
ers are doing better.
Yet In spite of this marked improve.
have closed their doors. One of them
was the second largest In the city. with
deposits amounting to IL millions. The
Bryanitcs are delighted with these two
closures. They point to them as indi.
cations that there has been no improve.
mcnt ana assert there will In none.
The signs Of better times would have
been more abundant had the election
been held In the spring instead Of the
fall. Winter brings with It In northern
climates n cessation of labor In many
branches Of industry. The building
trades. for instance. are inactive.
Winter IL q hard season even In good
times. There are ~ many men out Of
work then necessarily. that there II nl.
ways complaint of hard times. But had
1t not been for the defeat Of Bryan un,l
free coinage this winter would have
been the worst one this country has
ever known. II would have been u
winter of panic. enforced idlcncss. AMI
starvation.
II was not the APPROACH Of winter
however. which broke the Illinois Ma
tlonal and caused the A,lus tO 90 out of
!, business. Had the last three years not
been marked by panics ana business tie.
preston neither bank would have
closed Its doors. Had they been man
aged more ably and cOnservatlvely
neither would have gone out of busl.
ness.
It IL well known why the Illinois M.
= tlonal bank failed. 1t loaned too much
money on securities which were not and
are not worth the amount loaned on
them. FOrgetful Of the fact that the
essence Of good banking II lending Ia
men who will repay. the hank loaned Il
million To men who We're not likely t.
repay.
The Atlas was not rs badly manage,
az the other bank. but II loaned ~,
much To two or three individuals. i
put too many of It's eggs In one basket
,. That Is always unwlse ana Is pecullarl!
SO when times are hard. But the banl
would have kept on and have been |
l L. 4. hn1 II mt hs,l.I
for an unspOken hui none the less dead
~ lack of confidence concerning II.
Depositors gradually began with
drawing their money ami the bank be
gan to suffer from anaemia. \ yea
ago the deposits were S3,:0OOh
Twelve days ago they were only 81
SOOG0O. The heavy Withdrawals
last week brought them down To alotl
SsGO,OUO. Evidently the only thing let
to do was TO go into voluntary liluld'l
tiOn,
Eut after Looking NJ the assets OF H.
Atlas the city banks agreed tn ndvanc
II SiNO,OGO. which. with the cash II In
on hand, will enable IL To pay OF nll II
ID lepOsitors instantly. When I'll" hsSr'
have all been disposed of there VIII u
something for the stockholders.
In spite of the bad way In which III
Illinois National was run It's resource
are such rs to warrant the clehrll
house banks In declaring that claim
against that bank are ample coila'cr'
security for loans M - per GEN.
their cash value. and In recomm"ndhl
an arrangement by which those ln'i
may he made available to the 'ank
creditors.
In view of the fact that the deposition
In one bank are to get all their mont
at once and depositOrs In the Other c''
get Is per cent. speedily, and Will s.
all In due time, the comments OF son
New York bankers on bad bnnka
methods In Chicago" are rather out {
~ place.
There have been times when u
banking methods of this city have bee
much more satisfactory than those
New York. Three years ago the latt'
hanks, Notwithstanding their weal'
and the alleged ability OF their man
gers. had 10 take refuge behind clearii
house certificates.
This policy may have been agree
ds on TO bolster up some weak siste
which would have gone to the wa