The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-12-17

They Have Aided With Their Ire
sources In Staying tho Course
Of tire Panic

To the Editor The enclosed clip.
ping from tse Manufacturers Hssc"Fa
IS 50 timely and 50 sloarly expresses
nv own views and the views or mAns
conservative men OF this ecHon thA'
| think IL worthy OF a place IN YOU
columns and Of the widest carcal2-
ton.
During the progress 81 the panic
many tf.ags have been SAID ana VII
tan with the apparent urp OF us
crediting the New York hankers-o1
such utteyances have come AetsstS
from those who have not taken dEee
10 investigate. and To get a thoroaEh.
intelligent view OF the IN"
fact is that New York has fad 10 pear
the brunt Of the panic. The mll!lohs
or money tina nave been brought info
the ountry through the agency 81 ~.
bankers of the metropolis. have pasSei
through their hands. "a tnrough a
seive, more than one hundreu ms
lions Of cash having been sent ~
them into the interior. While other
cities. and even the smaller towns Ike
our own in North Carolina. have
strengthened their reserves, and are
today carrying two and three times a.
much as necessary. ~ New YORK
banks, with a public spirit ths l.
commendable have suffered their re-
serves 10 become depleted TO the ex-
tent of some seventy millions Of dol
lars. in their effort to sustain all the
varied business interests of the coun-
try.
L have no brief for the defense OF
the banks of New York. They are
abundantly able 10 take care OF them
selves. but right is right and we
should give honor TO whom honor i
due"
Very truly.
JOSEPH G. BROWN.
Raleigh, y. G. Dee. IA. 1907.
IL olsADSn- ana1nGA1 ~ hT
Brown, who is president of the Citizens
National Bank, and a member of the
executive board of the National Bank
ers Association. and which is axe
from the Manufacturers Record, Is as
follows:
Honor and Integrity Dcmanded
The mayor of a leading Alabama
city, which in times past had seriously
injured its credit by not meeting its
bonds, IL week ago, in espons to an
in Quiry as to the cause of delay IN
making q remittance with which TO
meet maturing December 1,
wrote to a leading banking house in
the East as follows:
It is occasioned by our inability
to get money from our local banks
because OF the New York Gam
blers Banker panic.
That is a sample Of n spirit which
we are glad to say is not very pre-
valent III the South, but too prevalent
for its own good. In the first place,
1t is based ON false premises, in the
second place, it shows in incompre-
hensible lack of business sense and
judgment. Any man who could write
such a letter is not fit to be mayor of
a crossroads village, much less to be
the chief executive of an important
city. OF all the in the country
which have struggled the hardest 10
meet recent financial conditions, sure
ly the banks of New York AVE more
done their duty. They have stood
the brunt of the fight. and while pay
ing out to q pOin that carried them
far below their reserves in order to
prOtecr the business of the whole eoun-
try. bankers in many other sections,
especially in some of the great cities of
the West, nave more than doub,e1 the
reserves required by the national
banking law. Any bank which under
the conditions Of the last few weeks
has a greater cash reserve than is re-
quired by law, in that very tact proves
not the ability of its officers to its
community and its clients. but a very
narrow conception of the duties Of
bankers to the public. The New York
banks at least have been free from
that position, and instead Of the panic
being one Of the New York Gamblers
Bankers making. it had a far different
origin, and much Of it is due to the
work of men of the type of the mayor
OF this Alabama city. Some day tllat
city will want to sell bonds again, but
how can its business men-and 1T has
many OF very high staadilg-cver ex-
pect a. yh1dy to have faith in its Sc
Curitics2