The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-12-12
BECK LAUDS BANKS
DEFENDS c0RTELYOU FOR
AIDING INSTITUTIONS.
Had Metropolis capitulated to Panic,
Ruin Would Have Swept Coun-
try, He Says.

NEW YORK. Dec. PA defense of Sec
rotary Cortelyou's action in coming to thQ
assistance of New York banks during
the financial crisis by former Assistant
United States Attorney-Genera James M.
Beck was the feature at the twenty-second
annual dinner of the Southern Society of
New York last night. Mr.. Beck responded
to the toast, 'The Unity of the Republic -
After emphasizing the thoroughness with
which the States had been reunited. he
said:
The s~ectlonalism of today no longer
has Mason aud Dixon's line as its line
OF d~emarkation. The present line is the
boundary of the Bronx, and there has
been, between New York on the one
hand, and the West and South, a recru-
desteGce u tAA soifll Gl secJionaiisn
1t may be conceded that New York's
vision has TOO often been limited by its
own boundaries, but 1t is equally true
that there has been for at least a
decade a spirit of unreasoning hostility
to the city of New YORK and TO its in
terests.
w know that the brave battle to
maintain the credit of the country,
which has been fought within this city,
was a battle not for New York alone,
but for the entire country. We now
know that the whole country owe an
unreasonable debt to the much
maligned financiers of New York, VINO
threw themselves into the breach and
staked their personal fortunes to stay
the tide of disaster.
w now know from the roll call of
the national banks that it was the
financial institutions of New York
which depleted their reserves over Soo.-
100000 in order to send to other parts
of the country relief.
Nevertheless this spirit of section
alism is manifested by the criticism
that we already hear, that Secretary
(ArfaIx,ass did thu plcf IF Tho Col.pffsf n
wrong in perverting d financial crash
in New York by supplying its banks
with new deposits. In a critical mo-
ment of the battle reserves are hurried
to the spot where the conflict RACES
hottest and where the enemy's attack
is the ~fiercest, and that man is blind
who cannot see that the storm centre
at the time that Mr.. Cortelyou brought
up the reserve forces of the Treas
ury was the city of New York. and
that If 1t had ~capitulated to panicky
fear. = lin would have swept through
the country which would have far ex-
ceeled the deadly ruin of a dozen San
Francisco earthquakes or the Hery con-
vulsion of a Russo-Japanese war.
Remembering the supreme crisis,
which threatened this country a few
weeks ago, and the heavy ~cannofiad-
ing of the forces of panic, which threat
ened to overwhelm the very citadel of
credit. we should at least Withhold
criticism from the act of Secretary
Cortelyou in concentrating every force
that he could to stay the tide
of disaster. All This but teaches us
that an injury to New York is an in
Jury to the West and South, and hat
an injury to the West and South Is
equally an injury to New York. We
are in the position of our forefathers,
who signed the Declaration OF INDIE
pendence, and to whom the ever-prac-
teal and iocose Franklin said We
must all hang together or we'll all
hang separately"
Illness prevented the attendance OF
Woodrow Wilson, of Princeton,
who was to nave been one Of the speakers.