Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-11-10
Financial News Letter
By ". q. Nicholas.

SpcSieA Correspondents Oh ne oteA-
NEW YORK, November 8, 1907.
Tho crisis Is over and the sick man u
On the way to recovery. ConvaIescehce
will be slow. however. as the patient was
desperately III and was very much weak
ened by the struggle. 1t Is entirely too
much to expect entire restoration 10
health at once.
Market and money conditions are still
far from normal. and indications are that
tbs county will suffer from scarcity
OF actual cash for several weeks. prob
ably until after the return OF the year
Tens of millions Of dollars were with
drawn from the banks and trust com
panies and hidden away IN safety vaults,
This Cancelled treasure will not como
out OF It's hiding places Immediately. Some
Of it. OF course. will be redeposited with
the banks. but the mass was put away
as insurance and much Of It Will be al
lowed to remain until the banking situa-
ton clears.
Selfishness, fea- and indifference to the
demands OF commerce and of general wei
fare inspire tens Of thousands of people
to pursue the narrow policy OF boarding
their funds until the storm passes away.
although the very process delays the de-
sired result. The miser practice of
secreting money does not amount to much
in q few individual instances. but where
there Is an epidemic of fright the aggre-
gate amount withdrawn from channels of
business cuts a very important figure.
1t has been the chief cause Of the acute
money famine in New York and in many
other OF the larger communities through
out the country. Withdrawals in the city
OF New York are said to have been pro-
portionateiy much heavier than in any
other city. This was due la -gely to the
discovery that insiders In the Knicker-
booker Trust Company had drawn down
their own deposits on the day OF the sus-
pension OF that institution. fact which
aroused suspicion that officers and favor
ed customers of other banking concerns
might be doing the same thing. 1t then
became question Of getting mine first, >"
The banks of this city have been forced
to "bs very hard and unrelentng in their
self-preservation obliged them to get on
as near a general credit basis as possible
and to refuse to pay out Cash on checks
unless absolutely driven to it. Rigid ad-
hersnce to this policy was attended by
many hardships on members of the bust
ness community. but it seemed to be for
the general good and the cases Of individ-
ual suffering had to be borne with the
best grace.
h Il
The run on the Trust Company Of North
America was the most sensational fea-
ture Of the week in the banking situation
The story Of how that institution made
its heroic fight will long stand out as an
extraordinary performance. The fight was
conducted under the generalship of Oak
leigh Thorne against seemingly imposs.-
BILE odds. The result shows the company
to have been admirably handled and to
have been in most excellent shape. Other
wise It could not have withstood the de-
mand The record Of $s5oOO,ooO in cold
cash paid out over the counters OF the
banks in two weeks of agon1zing stress
out Of a total deposit account OF about
SIS. 900 makes a case OF endura l,.s
out parallel. An effort was made to drive
Mr.. Thorne out of the presidency of the
trust company as the price OF assistance
by other banks. a.,
battle. however, and that this demand was
not only unjust. but that It indicated
purpose on the part Of the banks making
the demand to engage in a piece OF piracy
and hoggishness which would not be toi-
Grated. He fully believed that certain
rivals In the field were bent on getting
hold OF tho assets OF the company for
fraction of their value, and destroying An
institution which was In every way soi.
vent. He accordingly backed up against
the wall and tod his assailants TO 80 10
the devil" His nerve having been pre-
yiously tested, the wrecking ana savage
crew abandoned their raid and concluded
to let the fighter alone
+
A market incidence OF first importance
was the swallowing Of Tennessee CoaA
and Iron by the United States Steel Cor
poration. Tho corporation had had III
covetous eye on the Tennessee Coal ana
iron for years, but the opportunity was
never before presented OF getting hold
Of the property on what was eon rs moee
representatives of tho Tennessee Coal ana
Iron pool made overturss to sell the prop.
proposition was turned down BY Judge
Gary as being preposterousiy high; a.
though John w. Gates and his associates
manfuiiy contend that the stock is we'll
worth 500 share The nis steel sea,. tf ,qoo
a share, which Mr.. Gates says 10 the
bargain Of the century. An int interesting q sas
feature OF the deal 10 the fact that II mas
the personal approval Of President Rooss-
welt. who was consulted about Il bsfors
tho trust officials would give their aD-
rrNval