The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1908-04-11
AN EXCELLENT RECORD
FOR TRUST COMPANIES

Under the above heading one of the Vow
magazines for March says N
Give months have elapsed since rHc OWL
of panic appeared in our midst and dirao,. s,'''
unreasoning frenzy against banks and tr,,.. s
panies As class, the trust companies ro..
iected to the greatest strain because of The
sion of the Knckerbocker Trust Comma. F'"
several conspicuous runs This d;sor;r,;.., a''
was however, largely confined to New Yo-. ~.
Certain contentious in regard 10 tlr cash r.,.-
of trust companies and other mi7coucant;o,,.
ceived added prominence. The runs were cb.,.,,
by the magnificent demonstration of strength
bility and resourcefuness made by the tr,s.
panies Today the Knickerbocker Trust Conn.
is a solvent and going concern. The Union t.
Company of Providence, r. l.. has been iudo.l
declared solvent and will resume business ~
minor trust companies. which suspended oDa..
tions following the outburst of panic. in vo,;
parts of the country. have either roopered f.
business or are in process of liquidation with sr
assurance of canceling all liabilities Practic,r-
the only trust company failure which carries MI.
it loss to depositors is that of San Franc,.
which tells its own peculiar story of human fr,7.
and criminal practice. The trust company fsfr,.
have, therefore, been less numerous than anon.
banks and the net liability is reduced to i,
significant figure.
Throughout the length and breadth of the 1
there is a strong conviction shaping itself I'M
minds of all thoughtful people that the trust o-.
panies. being subjected to a supreme test. emeryF
with the cleanest record; that as an institution a
trust company represents the most enduring and
strongest of any type of financial or banking Or
ganization. 1t is becoming generally recognize
that trust companies were created in this court-
long before the National Bank Act was passed
and that their phenomenal growth was due to t5a
fact that they are not the creatures Of legiss.
tive body, but form necessary part of the eeono.
mic and financial development of this country
80 far as the proper development of the trust
is involved the recent trial was in reality
a blessing. II will eradicate tendencies exhibited
IN the management of trust companies here and
there to depart from the strict letter and spirit
ultra-safe trust company management. It viii
make them stronger and worthy of a still greater
degree of confidence in the public estimation The
danger to which all banking and financial organ-
cations are liable because of dishonesty or incon
Detence in the individual, will be guarded against
by the enactment of better laws and the creation 0;
more effective machinery of supervision"
Utah has taken the lead in this respect and has
the strictest trust company laws of any state in The
Union, one section of which is as follows:
ANY corporation organized or existing under
his chapter shall keep Its capital in money Oh
land, deposit in solvent banks. or invested in
he bonds of the United States, or of this STATE,
n of any county, municipality, or school distric,
hereof or in first mortgages on real estate stu
tied in Utah, the amount invested in any mort
rage not to exceed fifty per cent of the value Of
he land so mortgaged."
There has never been a trust company failure
II Utah, and such failure is practically impOsal-
he. The trust companies here are prosperous and
re aiding materially in the upbuiding Of the city.
Of Io IL some