Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-11

privileges, agreed to loan the republic
$50 600 900 francs for the term of the char
ter without interest; to pay a tax on Its
productive circulation equal to one-eighth
of l per cent of the discount rate, and
whenever the discount rate is above . per
cent, to pay three-fourths of the excess into
the public treasury. The present legal
limit Of the banks circulation is $780,
1000 francs. but the limit is constantly
being raised.
The German Bank.
''The capital of the Imperial Bank of Ger
many" said Mr. Roberts, like that of the
Bank of France, is all supplied by private
shareholders. The authority of the govern
ment is exercised by a board of directors
appointed by the emperor, at the head of
which is the chancellor, prime minister.
of the empire. His acting representative
is the responsible manager of the bank
None of these officers may own stock In
the bank. The stockholders are repre-
scented by a central committee of fifteen
members. which assemblies at least once
a month. This committee reviews the
conduct of the bank. makes Recommended
lions and looks after the interests Of the
shareholders generally. continuous ana
special oversight in the interests. OF the
shareholders is exercised by speciai CON- com,
mittee of three. chosen from the centrai
committee and known as the deputies:
These deputies are authorized to attend
all meetings of the imperial board, WIN
advisory votes, and are expected TO DC
present during business hours ana take
cognizance of the routine business, inspect
the books, audit the accounts, have knoWi-
edge of the cash; etc. The profits or the
bank are divided between the shareholders
and the imperial treasury as follows: FIRST
81 per cent to the shareholders; OF all ao-
ditiona profits one-quarter to the snare
holders and three-quarters to the treasury.
There is no legal limitation upon the note
circulation of the bank except the pro-
vision that one-third of its circulation
must be covered by coin and bullion. and
that tax of 5 per cent must be paid on
all issues above certain limit, when mas
been raised from time to time.
These institutions provide the machinery
through which the treasury departments OF
Germany and France perform their appro-
pirate functions with relation to the publc
funds and the supervision of the circulating
medium. They are properly dual in man
agement because on the one side they nave
official responsibilities, while on the other
They enter directly into the business life OF
these countries Through them the govern
ments come into closer and more practical
relations with the business world than they
could in any other way. The scheme is in
no sense an experiment. In both countries
it is an unquestioned success.
Bank Proposed by Mr.. Roberts.
"a central bank" continued Mr.. Roberts,
"for this country which served only as
connecting link between the treasury and
existing state and national banks would
not hold the commanding position of the
two institutions described, but the general
plan upon which they are organized Sug-
gests how most of the objections to such
an institution could be met. Suppose its
stock to be held by the national and state
ban.j in proportion to their capitalization;
allow the stockholders to select board of
directors similar to the board of regents of
the Bank of France but let them be selected
by territorial districts. that every part
OF the country would be represented in pro-
portion to its holdings; create an executive
board of. say. five, of which the Secretary
of the Treasury, the controller of the cur
rency and the treasurer of the United States
would be three. the other two to be chosen
by the directors, the executive board to de-
termine the general policy of the bank.
Let the executive officers be named by the
Secretary of the Treasury from list sub
mtted by the board of directors; require
the bank to have at least one Office in every
state and let the stockholders within
defined territory tributary to. each branch
select an advisory board for that office and
submit a list of names from which the
manager should be appointed; let a corps
of inspectors or auditors be appointed in
part by the Secretary of the Treasury and
in part by the board of directors to exam
inc all offices at frequent intervals.
Need for Action.
1.-The operations of the treasury said
Mr.. Roberts in conclusion, ARE growing in
magnitude every year, and the difficulties
of taking of our surplus revenues be-
come correspondingly greater. The annual
receipts and disbursements are now nearly
a billion dollars If this vast sum flowed
through the treasury In steady stream
and went back into circulation fast
it was paid to the collectors of
toms and internal revenue it's management
would be a comparatively simple matter,
but the larger its volume the greater are
the possible fluctuations and the difficulties
of keeping the money in circulation