The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1907-11-05
MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS.
A LUCID EXPLANATION
OF THE BANKS PLAN.

At Las Vegas last week after the
banks had organized a clearing house
for the purpose of keeping money al
home, a meeting of business men was
held and tne whole plan publicly ex
planned and endorsed by over two
hundred merchants and others. A. A
Jones, banker, who acted as chairman
of the public meeting, made a speech
from which the Record takes extracts
which are considered applicable to
the Roswell situation. In view of the
fact that our local bankers neglected
to explain their action fully until af-
ter their plan was completed, we
deem it advisable that the general
public should have a better under
standing of the matter, and according
ly reproduce from the Las Vegas OPP
tic the following extracts from the
speech of Mr.. Jones:
LAS you nave observed, the inan-
cial situation in New York has been
somewhat strained for several days.
1t vas not supposed that the West
would be seriously affected by that
trouble, and that superstition still X
lists. But a situation has confronted
us here, and it has become necessary
to take some measures to prevent the
business of the West from suffering
from the conditions East.
"'The West is exceedingly prosper
Gus; the banks of the West were new
er in as good condition as they are
today. The East seems to nave gone
wild in speculation, but the West. in
stead of being a borrower for the pur.
pose of speculation, has been prosper
Gus in every way, and its fnacial in
situations are sounder today han ever
before in the history of this country.
In the year 1898 that was not the
case. The West at that time was a
great borrower of eastern money, so
when the East got into trouble, and
the country at large became shaker
in its confidence. the West was drawn
upon by the East in order to get back
the funds which had been loaned tc
the West.
Just the opposite of that condition
exists today.
Il do not know of a single ban in
the West that is a borrower in the
East. On the other hand the eastern
banks have been discounting their pa
per with the western banks. u S how
this present trouble o in New
York l am u~nprepared to say, except
in a general way. But it is sufficient
for us to know that the banks in New
York, or some of them, have got into
trouble, INT they have decided there
not to issue currency in payment o.
their deposits, or in payment of the
clearanceS as between the banks, as
we'll as their larger depositors. That
simply can this: hat they will is
sue clearing house certificates in pay
ment of their obligations. Under the
national banking laws it is made the
duty of every national bank to keep
a certain per centage of its deposits
on deposit with Nome correspondent
in the larger cities, that correspondent
to be approved by the treasury de
partment of the government. The re-
suit is hat every national bank has
on deposit with an eastern bank, an
approved correspondent, a certain per
centage of it's deposits. Now, that
eastern bank, through the clearing
house association, has decided that it
will not pay out currency in payment
of these deposits. The banks of New
York have done that, the banks of
Chicago have done that, the banks of
St. Louis, Kansas City, Minneapolis.
Omaha. Pueblo, Galveston, and New
Orleans, and all the larger cities of
the country, have taken that step, and
announced that they will not ship out
currency in payment of their obliga-
lions. The result of that decision is
this: That the banks here il Las We
gas, (same in Roswell-Ed.) while
they have on hand today as much or
nor currency or specie than they ev-
e. had before in their history, if they
were to pay it out they would have
absolutely no means to get any more
currency or specie from any of the
other banks of the country.
THE banks of Las Vegas have a