Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1906-01-12
A Gibralter in Financial Power.

Seldom does a business wreck of
any sort call attention to a country's
financial soidity in such striking
degree as does the failure of the three
banks in Chicago. Not ripple has
been created on the country's none
tary sea by these suspensions. OF
course, the Chicago clearing house
went to the rescue of the wrecked
institutions at once. Clearing houses
have been doing this for many years.
1t is a practice which would naturally
suggest itself to the bankers of any
community. The financial institu
tions rally to the support of the un-
fortunate member of the fraternity
in every business center. They do
this for the protection of themselves
and of the community. In doing it
they safeguard the interests of the
innocent persons who would other
wise be injured by the failure of a
bank, and they prevent runs on SOL
vent institutions. Chicago, in guar
anteeing the depositors of the Walsh
banks followed an old and beneficent
precedent.
1t is fact, however, that the
country was never in sounder tinan-
cial condition than at this moment.
With total product which has
passed the $4,000, 900, 900 mark for last
season, the farmers of the United
~
before, and as they are still the most
numerous of the country's wage
workers, their prosperity is a large
asset in it's financial strength. Both
exports and imports are making new
records, and as these are only about
tenth of the aggregate domestic
trade, which will pass the 1925, ,OOO,-
600, 600 line for 1905. they call atten-
tion to a state of things which is
very encouraging. The present rate
of production Of pig iron is 25,OO0, 600
tons year, The actual output for
1908 will be in the neighborhOod
Of 23,OO0.000 tons, but it is increasing
with great rapidity. We are now not
only beating all our best records in
iron manufacture, but we are sur
passing that of Great Britain, Ger
many and France in combination.
Our gold mines will turn out about
800, 900, 900 of the metal in 1905, which
will be slO,O0O,OO0 in excess of the
largest previous year.
Here are few of the reasons why
the country showed no nervousness
over the wreck of the three Chicago
banks. We are by far the strongest
of all the countries in financial sta
bility. With only twentieth of the
worlds inhabitants, we have two
thirds $4,000, ,OOO,OOO) of the worlds
banking power-capital, surpluss, de-
posits and circulation. Moreover,
this supremacy has come within the
past score of years. Since 1890 the
worlds banking strength has increas.
ed los per cent, while that Of the
United States has grown LIS per cent.
Our stock of gold-more than
81, 300, 900, ,OOO-is far greater than that
VI ally OlilCl dilu ~ 10 III
creasing. A larger and larger part
of the worlds borrowed cash comes
from this side of the water. AL.
though France and England are
credited with larger subscriptions tc
the Russian, Japanese and other gov
eminent loans of recent years, in the
aggregate, considerable part of the
money has been drawn from the
/ United States. We are the ultimate
lenders, and have a large stock Of
available cash for prospective Dor
roWers The earnings of the railway:
and the transactions of the bank.
are larger than ever before, and the
tendency in each is upward. Ameri
cas- industries, financial institutions
and distribution agents never entered
j new year with greater confidence