La Junta tribune., 1898-01-22


Paws.
For several years the feeling hiss
been spreading In the West. ~ well -
In the East. that speculative invest
ments are seldom desirable for wage
earners or people Of moderate means.
and men and women Of this class have
been turning their attention to safe.
regular and legitimaie business invest
mentx. In view Of this fact II speaks
well for building and loan associations
that during this period they have
steadily increased their membership
and capital. while the business OF other
kinds OF financial corporations has
greatly decreased.
According to recent official reports,
the national banks have an aggregate
paid-up capital OF 1864. .O0O.O 600, owned
by 2SS.OOO stockholders. while the
building and loan associations have Q
paid-up capital OF 1907 900. 900. owned
by 2,5OO, 900 ekholdcrs. The number
Of stockholders In the latter exceeds
those in the former nearly ten to one.
The comptroller Of the currency
shows that during the past four years
the capital stock Of national banks has
decreased more than $40. .OOO. 600. while
their assets decreased <2i6, 400, 5S4, and
the records In most lines of business
show IA greater decrease than In the
case Of national banks.
How Is It with building and loan ns-
xOcintions. There are fourteen states
that issue official reports, representing
more then IS per cent. Of the active as
socintions Of the country. In his bulle-
tin, issued In May, 1897, the commits
sioner OF labor says:
Comparing the figures for fourteen
states for the period covered by the
ninth annual report OF the commission
or OF labor. the fiscal yenr Of the nsso-
Citations ending nearest TO January !.
1898, with the figures for those four
teen states ms shown by recent state re-
PORTS for 1S05-G. n growth Is shown In
every item. The number OF
associations reporting. which repre-
scnts practically all active associations
year old or over. had increased from
4 .i43 to 5.531. or . per cent. The shares
outstanding had increased from 9.JOO.-
$50 to 0.0s5 BOD. or ; Lilo per cent; and
the instnllment dues paid In. plus paid
up and prepaid stock. and profits had
6I3. 3.O4S. or q i-1O per cent"
Notwithstanding this great increase
In assets. these associations during the
past year have paid to withdrawing
members and on stock that has ma
turcd, more than 1884. .O0O. 600.
Since 1903 the records show that li0
national banks failed. involving $685.
13i.3S1 In assets and So, ,745.O20 In
capital During the same time 13a
building and loan associations have
failed. involving assets OF $14.2l1. 900.
or &5l. .381 iess than was Involved
II the l4O national bank failures. An
other feature shows a still greater dis
crepancy. The stockholders OF the
failed national banks, out of &S4, ,Sa2,-
n00 Of paid In capital and assessments.
have only received In cash the sum Of
81, III .3S4. which Indicates that their
holdings have little or no value In the
event OF failure. On the other hand,
the assets OF the associations. which
are almost exclusively invested In first
rnorteaEes upon real estate. are tangi.
bic and usually repay to shareholders,
In any event, lnrge per cent. Of their
investment.
Since 1893 there have been 523 fail
ures Of this class Of banking institu-
tlOns, involving assets Of &S4, ,3O0, 74J.
They have paid their depositors less
than . per cent. while in nearly every
instance the loss OF the stockholders
has been total
The records Of the national hoard OF
drc underwriters show TINT 827 Joint
stock fre companies have failed within
the past few years. involving paid -up
capital Of &117.312.633 and aggrexate
assets Of $191 .S7S, ,452. and the most Of
these companies failed to nay their
creditors In full. while their stockhold.
ers met with total loss. Compared
with these the losses Of building and
loan associations are insignificant.
The records show that during the
past four years 1I7 railroads and ~.
$50 miles OF track have failed and that
the stock and bond liabilities Of these
roads amount to 1880, ,5O0, 600, or il
0ther words, that these failures involve
TWENTY-FIVE per cent Of the aggregate
capital stock OF all the railroads In the
country.
/ The commercial failures during the
past four years have been enormous.
Dun's review shows thnt during l0O8
the ratio Of dcfaulted liabilities to
jelenrinE house exchanges was $4.3S per
| $1,000 and that the ratio In 1893 was
$R8o per $1,000, with losses almost as
great for the two Intervening years,
These statistics show that the fall
| area Of national banks during the past
four yeArs are about Ave times greater
than those Of building and loan asao-
lclefions, and tina; the percentage In 9th
| = Hines II very much greater.
a careful review Of recent legislative
enactments and decisions In state and
| federal courts shows that building and
lloan associations nre constantly coming
INTO high favor. Laws are made for
~ expfpes purpose Of promoting and
| foetetlng them.
m auditoF cf public accounts In II.
ilnois, b his annual report for leD6,
1ays. ssThere y no more safe and peo.
ntan1e Investment for those having
~ Suns 10 deposit periodically than
lheae esDociations.~
1be a16ociatio0s ofker one Of the beet
n1ale npcn8 which 10 borrow money.
N eints ~ loan = constantly reauced