The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-01-08

mon sense business. There is not a
| single argument advanced by the most
pronounced protectionistS in favor OF
1 protecting any American industries
that does not apply with double force
] to the protection of this most hopeIul
| and worthy of all our new industries
1t touches the farmer. the agricul-
| tural class, who while benefciaries OF
| a protective policy in general, are
/ usually the indirect rather than the
| direct beneficiaries of this policy. Here
is an Opportunity to apply this prin-
! ciple to them and to their interests oil
! rect, and 1 do not believe it wise to
| rob these American farmers OF the
| benefit of a protective policy whlch.
| they have generously and freely ac-
4 corded to other American interests.
| There are peculiar reasons why every
| patriotic and loyal Kansan, at least,
| should take this position II is no.
narrow; it is not provincial; it Is not
selfish; it is broad gagged and right
| Bank Commissioner.
| have made incidental reference else
where in this message to the admir-
able report of Bank Commissioner Royce
and to the salient facts presented in that
report. Mr.. Royce makes numerous
| recommendations for the Strengthening
| of his department, which am sure are
wise and to which, doubt not, you Will
| gladly respond. The growth of Kansas
| banking interests demands an increase
| of the bank commissioners field and OF
| flee force, fact which l am conhdent
will appeal to your favorable consider
| alton.
Banking Insurance.
The evolution of the banking BUSH
ness in the United States has more than
kept pace with the marvellous progress
! of this country in other directions The
| business has grown to gigantic proper
| lions, aggregating, it is said, Is billions
| of dollars, as against 19 b1li1ons IN all
| the rest of the world. The banking sys-
| tenn of this country is to commerce
what the arteries are to the human
4 l. kI,nxr 10
| more honorable or conscientious men,
as a rule, grace any profession than
those who manage these great financial
institutions. Considering the great
army of men engaged in this bust
ness, the number of those who disgrace
the profession and prove recreant to
their high trust is remarkably small.
The banking business in Kansas is par
ticularly well managed, by exceedingly
high class men. Our laws are up to
date and wholesome; but perfection in
this field of human endeavor has not,
of course, been attained, and the one
weakness which has long been recog-
nized by all those familiar with the
subject is the insufficient security to the
banker. stockholder and depositor alike
against the occasional panic or run
which periodically occurs, often without
sufficient cause, but none the less dis
astrOuS on that account. How to guard
against these occasional occurrences has
long taxed the best minds and evolved
many proposed plans. None has ex-
cGeQ6Q n, L X,
gested by Mr.. John Q. Royce, state
bank commissioner, in his admirable re.
port, with some notifications, perhaps,
that do not affect the principle involved.
The proposition is a simple one, viz,
that the banks shall set aside a certain
specified amount from their deposits as
an insurance fund to depositors. This
fund is to be deposited in the state
treasury until 1t aggregates one million
dollars, and to become permanent Sc
curity fund The plan was ably dis
cussed in paper read before group 2
of the Kansas Bankers association
meeting held in Lawrence, Kan, No
vember 16, 1906, and reread before group
8 of the same organization at a later
meeting in Kansas City, Kan. by Mr..
G. L. BrOkaw, ex- president of the Kan
of the Commercial National bank of
Kansas City, Kansas, published in the
December number of The Southwest
ern Banker, and seemed to meet with
the unanimous favor of the bankers
present: The paper is a splendid con-
tribution to banking literature and in
a remarkably strong, logical manner
sets forth fully about all the objections
to the plan, with answers that must
commend themselves to every student
of the subject If Kansas can evolve a
plan by which bank failures can be
averted, It will contribute the greatest
boon ever conferred upon the banking
business. A bank failure does more to
lamity that can befall a community. 1t
takes years for a community to re-
cover from such calamity, and moth
ing is more pitiable than the suffering
which follows one of these failures. The
anguish of small depositors, whose all
is frequently lost in these financial
wrecks, is heart-breaking. Suicides
are of frequnt occurrence from this
cause. In these periods of PANIC con-
scientious bankers walk the floors In
Isle of dRV6lOD-
ments. The suggestion that such law
would put the poor banker upon an
equality with the good one is selfish in
it's character and unsound in Its con-
clusions In the first place is ignores
the interests of the depositors entirely,
and their interests are of primary con-
Germ to the state. A bank is a quasi
public institution. The banker Is an
agent of the state, authorized TO 90
business for the people. He cannot do
business without the states authority.
The state hedges him about with num-
erous limitations in the interest OF the
people. It examines his BOOKS II
scrutiniZes his securities. 1t closes MS
doors when the interests of the people
demand it. All these precautions nave
already been taken to protect deposl-
tors and public interests. But these
precautions have not been enough, as
countless financial wrecks sorrowfully
attest Again, no one needs this pro-
lection against the poor banker more
than the good banker, and no one mas
more reason to feel the force of this
suggestion than the excellent gentle
men now doing banking business in To-
peka. since their experience with the
failure of the First National or this
CITY last year. When citizen borrows
money from the bank the banker wise |
ly compels him to give ample security.
When the bank borrows money from
me citizen in the form of deposits, why
should NOT the same rule obtain, and
the bank be compelled to give the de-
nositor ample security? That this has
not been done or is not adequately pro-
1-tded for under our present system, all