The Portland daily press., 1900-01-19
Deposits and Depositors
Are Increasing.
Condition OF Loan and Building
Associations.

of Bank Examiner +. L. Undertake the
following extracts are made:
Tho number, GLASSES and assets Of all
State banking Institutions are ~ follows:
81 Savings Banks. q, Ell, lgI. Va
II Trust and Banking Co, ll,s02 25as9
80 Loan and Building Asso, 1915. 7l8 ~
100 Total, sD. 900, 165.sl
The number Is the same as that report
ed for 1893, while the aggregate assets
have increased from $40. $40, $500 to the
amount given above, being a gain of s.,
92a, 627. 12 during the year. The dspositors
In savings tanks and trust and banking
companies, and shareholders In loan and
building associations, have inores I'D
from 1872. 625 In 1898 until they now mum
Der s02, 5b2-a gain Of 8. 927 in the patrons
of the State banking institutions since
the date Of the last report.
During the year they have paid to De
positors and stock holders s.. SIS GAO. 70 In
interest and dividends, and increased tbs
amount Of their reserve and undivided
profits 1881. 1858. IA. The average rate Of In
come to depositors on interest bearing de
posits and to shareholders In all Of these
nati iti,s has been 8.45 as against 8 6s
last year.
PRIVATE BANKING.
Banks have come TO be quasi public in
Of conducting business they perform a
service that makes their stability mat
ter OF public consequence The aggregate
OF the small suns OF money deposited 10
Its taDk or banks ~ individuals. be
comes to large extent the capital Of a
community. The accumulation Of such
capital has made the wonderful develop
banking system OF a country is the foun-
dalton upon which rests its financial
prosperity. 1t is important that the pub
lie have the most implicit onfdence In
the ability of all these institutions to
meet every liability, The name "bank"
should be synonymous with integrity,
solvenoy and absolute safety. Anything
that lessons the confidence Of the public
In them, does more harm than oan be
measurd by the mere loss to individual
patrons.
Many dspositors know little Of the din
erent banking systems or the methods OF
condu citing banking business. They dc
not fully understand and appreciate the
difference between the private tank and
the chartered institution. The routine
of business in the one is SO much like
that in the other that many are not
aware of the difference. They assume
that both are reg nlstsd by law, are under
some official supervision and are equally
safe, until they discover the difference in
the liquidation of the affairs OF the pri-
vate banker. 1t is true that chartered
banks sometimes meet with Losses and
are forced into liquidation, yet the dspos-
itoTs rarely lore more than a small per
centage of their deposits; while the con-
ditions under which the private banker
does business are such that, II he fails,
his depositors are likely to lose . large
portion of their deposits.
All chartered banks are not only sub
ject to supervision and regulation, out
also contribute to the public revenue by
paying state or municipal taxes. Pri-
vate bankers are not subject to such su-
pervision, and pay no taxes excepting
what municipalities may levy upon their
personal propsrty. The assets Of private
banks consist largely Of that class Of prop
erty which to some extent escapes taxa
ton. 1t is reaso nable, therefore, 10 as
sumo that private bankers pay but little
tax 10 proportion to that paid by char
tered banks.
The recent unfortuna to failure of pri-
vate nanking house in this State, has
disturbed public confidence nearly as
much as though IL had been a chartered
banking institution. Such failures lead
depositors to withdraw money from char
tered institutions, and prevent others
from depositing therein. This is a dis
tinct loss to the State, to the public and
to the depositors. The State loses directly
the revenue that it would receive In tax
es were the money deposited in our saw
ings hanks; the public. the good that
would result from the employ ment of the
capital II thus accumulated and the de-
positors, the income they would receive
from the money, and also in many cases
the money itself, by reason Of lack of the
experience necessary to make safe invest
ments for themselves.
For these reasons 1t becomes apparent
that the State has the inherent right to
interfere and regulate the business Of
banking IN whatever way may seen to be
for the best interests of the general pub
lie. 1t Ia unfortunate when existing oon-
ditions make Ii necessary to Interfere
with the legitimate business Of any indi-
vidual. All new laws regulating business
affairs are likely at first to interfere, to
some extent, with the interests of private
individuals. Public policy seems to de-