Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-01-30
BANK SUSPENSIONS
REPORT FOR 1904 SHOWS NUMER-
GUS FAILURES.
Largest Total Since 1S97-Not as I'm
portant, However, as
1908 Record,

Bradstreets report just issued shows that
financial suspensions were numerous during
the calendar year 1904, more so, I'm fact,
tnan In any of the six years preceding. They
did not equal in Importance those of 1903,
however There were ninety-six suspensions
OF national, state, savings and private
banks and loan and trust companies, as
against a combined total of ninety SUCH
institutions in 1903. twenty nine In 1902 and
ffty-six in 1901. 1t is necessary to go back
to 1897, when 105 such concerns failed to
find a total exceeding that of the present
year. 1t is to be noted. however that 1896
had two failures for every one in 1904 and
1893, the panic year, had six times as many.
Some: Irregularities in the returns are
shown accordingly as the different classes
of bank failures are considered. For IN
stance. the numbers of national and saw
ings banks failing show increases not only
back to 1897. On the other hand fewer
state and private bank and trust COM
pany suspensions are noted than In 1903,
though the number of these exceed any
preceding year since 1897.
Better Showing Than in 1908.
When liabilities of failing Institutions are
considered, the showing is rather better
than in 1903. One inference is that the
strain was more severe on the smaller and
weaker concerns than it was in the preced-
ing year
The total liabilities of failing banks in
1904 aggregated 800 269. 36G a decrease of
"a per cent from 1903. The 1904 liabilities
however exceeded those of 1902 by nearly
four to one, and it is necessary to go back
to 1899 to find larger liabilities than those of
the year just closed. The national bank
liabilities were II per cent smaller than in
1903 despite an increase, In number The
savings bank liabilities were, however,
heavily increased. though the average
amount was small Private bank suspen-
sions show "a per cent less liabilities, but
the really striking decrease in liabilities
from 1903 is In the item of loan and trust
companies, which are less than one-sixth
those of the latter year.
Regarded as Misleading.
Averages are sometimes misleading. but
in this case a good test is afforded by the
fact that ninety-si concerns suspending in
1904 showed average liabilities of $232 3D.
whereas in 1903 ninety such concerns aver
aged 1919, 463 each in Liabilities. The ma
tional bank suspensions in 1904 averaged
S4S5, 464, against 1855, 654 in 1903, or only
about one-half, and the same reduction in
size of liabilities, and, presumably, in i'm
portance of failure. is shown in all the
other classes of bank suspensions. with the
exception of the state banks, which aver
aged $1S9,6Il in 1904, as against $4,000 in
1903.
Percentages of assets to liabilities in the
case of failing banks are usually higher
than in the case of failing mercantile con-
Germs. This was true of 1904. which showed
II per cent of salvage in the shape of as
sets, as against 20 per cent in 1903. In
1902 the percentage of failing bank assets
to liabilities was 60. These figures, OF
course, point to the greatest stress being
felt by banks in 1903 when a larger than
normal percentage of assets was indicated
by failing concerns. In 1904 the percentage
of assets to liabilities of all business fail
ures was 52.7, as against 5i.5 in 1903 and
AS in 1862 Excluding the bank liabilities
and assets of those years, the proportion
of purely commercial assets TO liabilities
was 49.G per cent, against 41.3 per cent
in 1903 and 1862.
Banks Increase.
1t is well known that the number of ma
tonal banks has largely increased Of late
years. The report of the controller of the
currency for 1904 shows that there were
5,331 national banks reporting TO him in
that year. while there were . 519 other
banks, making a grand total of IA $50
banks. OF these, it will be seen. only nine
.y-sx suspended In other words the an
nual mortality in 1904 was in the neighbour
hood of sixty-four- hundredths of / p r cent.
The annual business mortality in all lines.
including banks was eighty-hundredths of
per cent, which figure illustrates the rela-
lively superior security of the banking busi-
ness as opposed TO all other lines OF mer-
camille endeavor.