Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-03-11

| mnlt, tn3l-iIls I'iif'i No ~ ''''''
of one week ago on the enormous proi
its OF national banks and trust c"ihph
| rios nave aroused objection, not 10 *''N
omen criticism and resentment, in GER
| tain quarters.
| Friends of mine identified with frall-
,.iaI establishments have assumed 4
gray. expre ssion and said TO me sol
| cmnly that ! should not attack Suci
| solid and venerable institutions. Wliiit
| many letters have reached my Once
| advising me that something hWiu
| wouId hlppcn to m"--that the goblIns
| would certainly get me if ! did not look
| cut.
Some good, kind, btld-headei gen
tlcmen with shares of bank stock hid
away in private vaults, perhaps issued
| in fictitious names TO avoid the tax col
| lcctor have explained to me that the
| sort Of information which am printing
broadcast is calculated to destroy pub
| lie confidence.
| Well. all of this; hue and cry is anus
ing to me- If | have made an attack
on banks or trust companies. am thor
| oughly unaware of tn" fact. | did not
| know that ! had attacked anybody or
anything | merely printed ill my col
| umn some figures which ! dug out of
| thoroughly trust worthy books of au-
| thority at the expense Of Il great deal
| of labo, and research. | merely threw
out some facts in connection with the
enormous profits which are made for Il
| few people in the banking business,
| while the countless thousands who fur
nish the money for the banks 10 do the
business with receive only a small per-
centaSe of the whole.
And while the publication of these
facts and figures has brought about
my head vigorous protests from inter-
ested quarters. nobody has disputed a
| single statement madc-nobody has
| pref ended To deny that certain banks in
| this country pay their Stockholders
| from ," per cent. to $50 per cont. in an
| Iual dividends, while paying only >
| pei cent. 20 3 per cent. to their dojjoSi-
| tors for the ISc Of the money. which
makes these enormous dividends posi-
| bic.
| Somehow or other ! cannot help but
| feel that il the truth cannot be SPOKEN
about our great and glorious system Of
BANKS and banking-if it is hurlful and
calculated to destroy public confidence
to print in clear type the profits made
and being made by these institutions,
| then something must be wrong with the
| system ana il ought to be aired day and
| night until the complete story becomes
an open book. And l give notice now
| to the ultra conservative who have
s1uirmcd and filed objections to my lit
| tie curtain raiser of q week ago-I
serve notice now that the half has not
Yet been told.
| shall. in the future have much to
say about banking III general--about
| 'ational banks. about trust companies.
about savings banks and their picay-
ulIeish treatment Of the men and wom-
IN vino lug deposits to their vaults l
have asserted. and shall keep on as
SertinG that there are securities of in
dustrial corporations as sound as any
savings bank ever formed. paying in
honestly earned dividends. rates vary
ing from per cent to l. per cent.
against the ) per cent. 81: per cent.
ana per cent. allowed for deposits by
savings banks throughout the country
| shall not abandon my purpose. or
in any manner weaken i'll my efforts to
show the public how it should be paid
Tor the us, of its money. | shall 30 on
with more energy and heartincss than
before. ! am all the more eager be-
cause better than anyone else | real
ne that my work has only just begun
have barely scratched the surface of
financial facts. and promise that Whn1,
| III 1,
INN" worth talking about. The say
inEs [" the people III better rates FOR
their money will lac great. while the
profits to tho few who handle tho poo-
l'"s money will he less and that will
he as i, should be-
IN III" language Of the President OF
IL" United States, | shall plead for "a
square deal Cor the masses of TIL.
people when ii comes to reaping the
reward of their .rugaiity and honesty
l am not yet done with drawing COM
Parsons between ;h",r meg ger returns
and those Of the men who handle their
funds
| have said that there are nlanv forms
Of Juggling with the peoples money in
which the people get the small end of
IT," deal. Banking is emily one of them.
In due time I snail give attention to
TIE system of our great insurance COM
panIes. with then insignificant capita,-
ization. and Their colossal business on
tfrprSfS, with their enormously high
rates Of insurance and their small re
turns To those who Lake their exiS-
tencc possible. shall give attention
to the fabulous salaries which insur-
ance companies pay their officials. !
shall examine carefully some of tn"
intricate machinery. and point out how
it has been possible for twenty shrawd
business men to gather within their
control the wealth of an empire in tn.
short space Of forty years. | shall
point out the fat that the stock of a
d0Zen or more big insurance companiA,
with combined capitalization of little
more than sl.G0000O. but with total
assets of nearly 500. 900 900, which were
subscribed and paid for originally at
$3.50, or less, per share, are now worth
from $1,000 to $4,000 per share. and
shall explain in my plain. uncouth
manner Just how thu peoples money
has made this insurance stock so valu-