The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-10-03
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9. 1903.
RICHMOND CONSERVATISM.

RICHMOND CONSERVATISM.
Tha neople of Richmond should 1eei
nroud OF their banking institutions ana an. o.
+ha men who conduct them. Richmoro
hoe always been noted for Its conserVa-
.,sr, ana IT'S bankers are to be reckoneo
Among the safest and most CONSERVATIVE
ananciers of the country. During VIC
mast few years there has been III ''iis
section heavy demand Tor money ~
business purposes and for specuia'iVe
nnrnoses. The Richmond banks nave oeeh
1,hera1 toward all customers engaged III
,ee,,,mate trade but they have always
DISCOURAGED anything like wildcat specu-
lation. and have refused to aid sucli spee-
,,lators In their schemes SeVeral mohIh'
ago our bankers saw that trouole was
utely 70 occur, and began to prepare
themselves for any emergency. they TOOK
care of their customers who needed money
in their business, but they look cate ~
their depositors and their stocKholoe's
ms we'll. They strengthened themselves at
every point and put themselves IN an ul'-
assailable position. They let 1t be known
through the public print and otherwise
that their resources were abundant. ana
that they were prepared for any CRISIS
which might arise. AS result OF tins
wise policy, when the crisis came tney
weer prepared for it. the people
knew that they were prepared for
1t and so yesterday there was
No excitement, there was no sem
blance of panic, there was no APP
pearance Of a run on any banking lnstl-
tuition. This speaks we'll for the banks OF
Richmond, for the confidence which the
people have in them, and for the conserV-
atlsm of the Richmond public. But even
~ there had been run on any one of the
hanks the other banks were prepared to
come to the rescue and restore confidence
at once.
Richmond has suffered, as other cities
have suffered, from the abnormal and un-
precedented slump in the price of all
classes of stocks and bonds good ana
bad and many fortunes have been i'm
raired, but Richmond is no exception to
tho rule. The same conditions exist every
where, and some Of the wealthiest men
in the country have had all that they
could do to take care Of themselves IN the
storm Some people seem to think that
all the trouble which such men have fallen
into was due to speculation, but such Is
far from being the fact. Some men have
been hurt by speculation, but many 9TH
ers engaged iirlegitimate trade have been
hurt by this shrinkage in values. for in
this way their fortunes and their credit
have been impaired. Where money was
borrowed on stocks and bonds at fair
valuation. and prices continued to 90
down, the banks called their loans, or
called for a reduction of the loans, and
the money had to be raised
Messrs. John L. Williams and Sons, OF
Richmond. are not SPECTATORS They
have not been engaged In wildcat schemes
but in legitimate development. They have
built up one of the greatest railroad lines
in the South. they have built UP num-
Der of valuable street car properties; they
have built UP a mott useful electric plant
In Richmond they have built up banking
institutions and 1t Is not too much tc
say that they have been public bcnefac
tors. They have been successful in their
operations, but while making money fol
themselves, they have also assisted many
of their friends, and they have helped al
communities in which they have operated
They are not wreckers, but builders, ant
they deserve every consideration. The,
find themselves in temporary embarrass
ment through no fault of their own
through no effort to wreck properties
through no wildcat speculation, but be
cause in carrying on extensive enterprise
OF a quasi public character they have bee
caught in the whirl Of financial storm
and are not able to realize lmmediate
or their assets, which are said to be ia
ir excess of their liabilities We do no
undertake to speak for them, for we ar
not authorized to do so, but we voluntee
To say that it would be bad morals an
bad policy to press such men to the wal
70 catch them by the throat and deman
immediate payment, to force them int
bankruptcy, when all that they ask
little time and little Indulgence thf
they may pull themselves together. rca
ize on their assets and meet their oblig'
tons. Men of this character. who US
their talents and their money in CONNIE
cial and industrial development are to |
encouraged. and not 10 be destroye
Such men are the country's mos. valuab
assets.
One word more In times like this M
are apt to indulge in silly and m!schievo
gossip. They seize upon every little r
NOR that gets ahoat, and sometimes tn
manufacture or exaggerate rumors; tn
whisper their msgiyings one to the othe