The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-01-16
FINANCIAL BILL
 HIGHLY PRAISED United States Treasurer Treat Speaks At Columbia GOOD WORD FOR THE BANKS MT. Treat Declares That President Roosevelt Was Not Responsible
 for the Panic and Also
 Praises cortelyou.
GOOD WORD FOR THE BANKS

CoiunDla, S C.. January 10.-At the an- nual dinner of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce this evening, Hon. Charles H. Treat. treasurer of the United States, was the principal speaker. MT. Treats sub ject was, Some Financial Suggestions
 MT Treat was given a great ovation by the 300 representative citizens from all sections of South Carolina.
 Among other speakers were Governor Martin F. Ansel, J. M. Culp, vice presi- dent of the Southern railway; Hon. John A. Fox of Arkansas and Capt. Person Washington.
 Before taking up the Aldrich financial bill and other subjects. which he dis cussed, MT. Treat paid high tribute to President Roosevelt and Commissioner of Internal Revenue Capers of South Caro- lima. The speaker said that he brought the hearty greetings of the President, who. he said, 'entertains the liveliest in terest In everything pertaining to the de- velopment of this wonderful section of our great republic
 Relief By the Treasury.
 Turning to the question as to how the treasury relieved the recent financial dis turbance and the manner in which the President and Secretary Cortelyou met the panic and prevented "a cataclysm of credit, compared with which the panic of 1893 would have been a mere zephyr the speaker said 1t had been charged by parties not well informed that the Secre- tary of the Treasury showed great pre- ponderance of favor to the New York city banks in making government deposits over those of other sections.
 MT. Treat gave the figures to prove that New York city banks were not unduly favored, pointing out that the percent age of public deposits to capital and suI- plus in those institutions during the months of acute panic was smaller than in some of the southern states. MT. Treat said these figures fairly illustrate that the depositors of the treasury were put where they were most needed to move the crops of the south, and that much of the money deposited in the New York city banks was afterward loaned to southern banks, so that the south got not only the United States deposits but also a portion of those made to the banks of the north.
 MT. Treat said he made this contrast in order to show that southern state men in Congress who insist that there has been discrimination against their sec tion are uniformed and that the sec retary of the treasury does not merit such adverse criticism"
 Panic Cannot Endure.
 The action of those instrumental in preventing the continuance of the recent panic, MT. Treat said, gave assurance that no widespread stringency could long en- dure in q country like ours, when such marvellous business ability and ample capital and patriotic action can be at once thrown into such a situation. Mr. Treat declared the suggestion that Secre- tary Cortelyou issued the Panama canal bonds and certificates of indebtedness at the behest of New York city bankers to be untrue and that not a banker was aware of the proposed issue until all arrangements had been made to that end.
 Defending President Roosevelt from the blame of having caused the panic, MT. Treat said he could not recall the ad- mlniStration of any President which had shown in a personal sense a deeper and more genuine sympathy with the con dition of various kinds of business af- fecting the welfare of the people, than MT. Roosevelt. MT. Treat expressed grat- ification at the Introduction in Congress of the Aldrich financial bill. saying it was step in the right direction. He ex- pressed the opinion that some radical changes should be made to meet the con- ditions with which we are confronted during the crop movement season. He said it was desired that financial legisla- tion should be non-partisan and aim to benefit the whole people.
 AIdrich Bill Favored.
 While the Aldrich bill is not only long step towards the perfection of the national banking system and meets the present pressing need of the day and on the eve of presidential election combines all the amendments that would be ac- oeptabe by Congress-" he said, yet I feel that the time Is close at hand when we should consider the entire readjust- ment of our banking system and the uni formity of the currency"
 As means of preventing a recurrence of existing conditions in finance and bus mess MT. Treat readvocated the plan set forth in his recent speech at Phil adelphia which provides for the gradual of the greenbacks and silver certificates and substituting for the na- tional bank notes per cent banking bond guaranteed by the government, the elasticity of volume of currency being assured by a reserve of sS5O, 100000 of