Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-05-15

lar assembly instead of to a body of
men who by nature of their calling are
forced to think on these things l
should pause here long enough to en-
force, IL l could, the necessary distinc-
ton between capital and money There
is much confusion concerning this. L
recently heard very capable business
man, himself a capitalist. say There
| is nothing serious in the situation;
there is just as much money as there
has BEEN He might as well have said
in looking at some half-abandoned pub
| lie work, Nothing the matter here
| look at the wheelbarrows!
while money is a form of capital,
it's chief function is to transfer to hui
man uses the many other forms of
capital-such as food. clothing and the
manifold things which humanity needs
In this regard money does resemble
wheelbarrows. but both may be idle,
unless the directing minds behind them
| possess the power and have the pur-
pose to order them into activity.
Industry Never Ceases
| 1T must not be forgotten that indus
| try never entirely ceases In country
so fertile and full of natural resources
as this the annual production is al
ways in excess of the needs of those
who have just claim upon the annual
| increment, and this excess becomes an
addition to the pre-eXisting stock OF
! capital. Such was the case during the
period of low activity between '93 and
SO. Capital there was-capital unem-
ployed, but its owners were timid-
enterprise was dormant-courage was
low; capital, whether existing in the
| form of grain in the warehouse, mer~
| chandiSe in stock, coal or iron, money
in the bank, dumbly awaited an effi~
cient summons into service. Inspired
as if by a common purpose in 1898. en-
terprise long languishing, labor always
ready and capital sometimes timid and
reluctant, came into hearty co-opera-
ton, and the slow march of the social
| body became a glad quick-step, with
drums beating and flags flying at the
head of the advancing column. Why
then, did not this happy combination,
this march of prosperity, continue in
| definitely? Why were its ranks broken
in 1907? Why have so many been
forced into the camp of idleness? 1t
is to these qeustions my thoughts must
be now directed.
We'll. to make it as short as possible,
the year 1907 revealed the fact that a
crisis had been reached Remember
the definition of the word-a point at
which a change must come from one
| state of things to another Why had
this change come? There were several
| reasons.
"If, In comparison with our own
history, I should cite the banking his
tory of Canada. our modest neighbor
| on the north, we would have further
cause to blush and be ashamed; but
forbear. We must all recognize our
glazing deficiencies. The late cataclysm
re-emphasizes the need for radical re-
form in our banking machinery.
Impressed by Lesson
! Impressed by the lesson to be drawn
from the late crisis, our senators and
representatives in congress assembled
are engaged. to some extent, in con-
sidering by what measures the future
can be guarded from the disasters
which have overtaken us in the past
and present time. Two bills of especial
prominence are offered for approval.
One is known as the Aldrich bill. Of
fered in the senate; the other is known
as the Fowler bill, offered in the house.
| The first named seeks to bring relief
to a financial crisis by providing an
! artificial method through which cur
rency may be issued by the banks in
time of extraordinary pressure. The
! Fowler bill. in marked contrast, betrays
in its author a thorough comprehension
of what may be called the funda-
mentals in banking currency and eX-
! change. It's scope is comprehensive,
and it seeks to establish foundations
so firm that while mild forms of crises
will and must of necessity occur, the
degenerating tendency toward panic
will be next to impossible.
"Meritorious as l think the Fowler
/ bill to be, it is too crude and imperfect
in its details to become a law. In my
opinion the whole subject ought to be
referred to a wisely constituted COM
! mission. The commission should be en-
dowed with ample time and power to
do its proper work, and instructed in
the resolutions creating it to prepare
and bring in a bill at the next meeting
of congress. To accomplish the end at
which such a commission would aim, it
| should be supported in every contribu-
| tory way possible = the bankers of the
United States.
This is demanded out of a great re-
! gard for your own future, and is SOL
EMMY enjoned, when you properly re-
| fleet upon the sacred trusts you hold
and discharge is Intermediates in the
material welfare of ninety millions of
people.
The program at the afternoon session
did not come off as expected, owing to
the failure of Justice Alfred G. Bur-
nett to arrive in time to deliver his adj
! dress as the first on the list of after
noon speakers.
john Glnty, cashier of the French
American bank of San Francisco. in
stead delivered his address on 1.-THE
| Torrens Land Act" which was a vol
luminous paper of technical matters
and statistics of little interest to the
general public.
H. S. Fletcher, president of the Bank
of jacksonville. next read a paper on
"Potpourri of Banking Laconics by an
Old Banker" Mr.. Fletcher made some
very pointed statements, elciting great
applause. He said:
"No Soliciting"
conservative and self-respecting
banks can never approve the practice
of personal solicitation of accounts, or
part of an account.
Bankers who solicit deposits always
convey the impression that they need
the money.
mo person, firm or corporation was
ing but what abused it and went be-
yond the limit agreed upon. This seems
like a broad assertion, yet / have no
doubt but what the experience of my
hearers will warrant my position.
1.-THE loss of an account that is con-
stantly being overdraT1 is a gain to
the bank.
"A bank that allows overdrafts is like
driver who has neither whip nor
lines. The results that are sure to fol-
low to the embarrassment of the bank,
depend solely upon circumstances and
time.
Bankers have found it expedient to