The Colfax gazette. [volume] (Colfax, Wash.) 1893-1932, 1902-11-21
WHATOP THR FUTURE
Mr.. Fanderlip, A New York
Banker, Gives Warming.
The United States Treasury Nav
NOT Always Be Able to Save
Wall Street From Panic.

While the country is humming with
sounds of prosperity and most of the
people are talking of even better days TO
come, there are heard here and there
voices OF warning, says the San Fran
cisco Call. The men who utter them are
not pesslmlsts or calamity howlers but
conservative business men, who have
seen many boom collapse and have
Weathered many financial storm. They
speak with wisdom gathered from q
large experience when they urge upon
the American people the Importance of
Strengthening out our financial system
at once before coming to the days of
strlngency that are inevitably approach
ing.
One OF the latest of these warnings
comes from Mr.. Vanderlip Of the Ma
tlOnal City Bank in New York. He says
danger menaces this country from "the
movement to aggregate industrial es-
tabllshments into single great corporate
units and to convert the evidence of
ownership into corporate securities
which have entered actively into the
stream OF financial operations" That
ls one OF the evils of trusts to which but
little attention has been given by any
except expert tnancIers. Mr. VanderIip
asserts that to keep up the prices OF
these vast quantities of new stocks that
have been put upon the market it has
been already found necessary to make
large borrowings. He then goes on to
say: "ls it not well to ask, What of the
future? Ii hundred million dollar i'm
portation of gold can serve as a basis
for an expansion OF so many millions of
deposits and loans, what will the ex-
portatiOn OF one hundred millions mean?
Will not the answer lead us to ponder on
the probable effect of future gold move
ments? Does our foreign commerce give
promise of trade balance great enough
again to induce gold to flow in this
direction?"
At the present time our financial sys-
TEN is such that any sudden pressure
upon New York can be met only by re-
lief granted through the United States
treasury. Up to this time that relief
has been ample and saDguine Optimists
doubtless sincerely believe it will always
be so. Those who are in a position to
know are, however, more than doubtful
on the subject, and some of them do NOT
hesitate to assert positively that sbonJd
such an emergency come as Mr.. Wander
lip forecasts, the treasury would not be
dDIe 10 save w dii sIFeeG from q StrinQeDcV
that would affect industry all over the
country.
A summary Of the annual report of
Treasurer Roberts is by no meaGs en-
couragfng when the figures are consfd-
cred in the light Of past experience and
present needs. The report shows that
the available cash balance in the treas
ury was at it's highest July l, 1902, and
has steadily decreased ever since. At
that time it Amounted to 1862, 1877 ,361.
By October l it had declined to $221,-
253, 1894, and, owing to the large meas
ures for the relief OF the money market,
it was reduced by November to $780,
42l $40. OF this sum SAG, ,SS5,012
was in national banks.
1t will be noted that all of the avail
able cash balance on the beginning of
this month was in the hands of the banks
with the exception of about $50, 100000.
An eastern authority says that the sum
lis regarded al little if any more than
fair working balance. On a pinch this
balance might be reduced with safety to
$50, 900, 900 or $4,000, 900, but no sec
retary OF the department likes to see it
fall much below $50,000,000. II the
department from now on returns to the
market through deposits in the banks
all current surplus revenue collections, it
cannot be fairly asked to do more"
1t thus appears that the government
has about reached the limit of aid it can
be reasonably expected to give to Wall
street, and such being the case it is GER
tainly high time for congress to set about
the task of providing the country with
rational and safe banking and currency
system. 1t would be foolish to wait for
the storm to strike us before we prepare
for it. Currency reform will be the chief
duty resting upon congress at the COM
ing session.