The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-06-29
BY Asks New
Drop Collec-
ion Fees.
CITIES On RED
Win Be Presented to
|lg House Committee
4 Saturday.

al to ssThe Jersey City News."1
ION. June %, 1S99.-Representa-
the bankin institutions of the
half of New Jersey have pre-
letter, to be addressed to the
brk Clearing House Association
$that their banks be put on the
&onary list in the matter or coiiec-
Yes charged on checks not payapie
IN York City banks.
rule will nave been in effect three
Shs on July 5. Under it checks drawn
IN New Jersey towns outside OF New
Jersey City, Hoboken and Bayonne
te been forced to pay a tax OF one
TIL of one per cent, the same rate as
charged on all checks, excepting those
New York City and those on the eX-
mpt list, drawn on banking institutions
East of the Mississippi River.
The petition, which is addressed to the
Clearing House Committee, is now being
circulated among the banking institutions
of northern New Jersey for signatures.
IT is expected that it will be presented
to the committee on Saturday OF TINS
week.
United States Senator John Kean OF
, Elizabeth. Theodore Little of Morristown,
General Bird w. Spencer of Passaic'
Donald Mckay of Englewood and Ed
ward C.. Sokes of Trenton have been
named as a committee to resent the Pc
tition. which reads as follows
The undersigned committee, represent
ing the banks and trust companies of the
northern section pf New Jersey, from
Trenton inclusive. northward, most earn
estly request such a modification OF the
New York Clearing House rule of March
Is. 1899. as will place the commercial cen
tres in this territory above mentioned on
the discretionary list, as provided Tor IN
section 2 of said rule.
Eve assume that the charge of one
tenth of 1 per cent. on points payable at
points outside of the free cities is made.
not with a view to arbitrary taxation, but
is merely designed to cover the actual cost
of collection. 1t would seem therefore
that those banks that are so located that
they can remit promptly, and at par,
ought not to be subject to a charge for
an expense. which, in their case. is not
incurred by the collecting bank in New
York. otherwise this charges does amount
to an arbitrary tax, arbitrarily levied.
rather thar a legitimate charge for an
expense actually incurred in the course OF
business.
moreover. in view of the fact that the
change upon items payable at points IN
Kentucky, Wisconsin, Missouri or Maine
is one-tenth of 1 per cent, a similar
charge Upon points within the immediate
suburbs of New York is unjust and ex-
cessive. If it costs but one-tenth of l per
cent. to collect from points Loco to l,oOo
miles distant from New York City, 1t
certainly costs less to collect from Tren-
ton. Paterson. EPassaic, Elizabeth, Orange
East Orange, Morristown, ETC., located
within messenger distance of the metrop-
oils. We submit that under the present
rule OF the Clearing House the CONNER
cial transaction of Northern New Jersey
are unjustly Disseminated against, as
compared with the transactions IN the
South and West and North.
1.-THE section of New Jersey represented
by the undersigned committee, is, in a
business way. q part of New York city.
New York is both its banking and shop
ping town. Many of the New York bust
ness men live in this section of the coun-
try, and have banking transactions in
New York as we'll as dn New Jersey, ana
q large proportion of our citizens make
their purchases there. A tax, therefore,
upon these transactionsson the part OF the
New York Clearing House is practically
a tax upon the patrons and customers
who desire to do business in your city,
eand uhose patronage add to her import
ance and prosperity.
ssFor years New York has been our re-
serve city. and the country deposits con
stitute a large portion uf your financial
capital. Can 1t be hat you will insist
upon such restrictive rules as will compel
us to withdrew a large part of our de-
posits and seek other cities as our reserve
centres? This we are loathe to believe.
"Yet how can we explain your treat
ment of our institutions upon any other
theory? For the undersigned committee
cannot understand why the institutions
which they represent, located almost at
your doorstep, friendly to your interests
and patronizing your institutions, should
not be accorded the same privileges as
those which you have accorded to more
distant places.
we therefore, respectfully urge that,
should you decide to continue the present
Clearing House regulation, you SO modiIy
its scope as to make it as equitable ano
fair in it's action upon our several cities
as 1t IS What New YORK ac-
cords to Troy, Albany, Boston and Balti-
more, she ought surely to grant TO the
neighboring cities that contribute to hel
banking reserve and that help to make
her the banking centre of the Nation.
I'm view of the important interests af-
fected by your present regulation, we,
the undersigned, representing those inter.
ests and standing in the capacity OF your
patrons and business clients, earnestly
appeal to you for a hearing before the
Clearing House Committee in~the neal
future before final action is taken upor
this question"