New-York tribune., 1908-01-20
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
BRY4N'S P4N4CE4 AGAIN.
Correspondent Fauors Government
Insurance of Bank Deposits.

! Te the Editor of The Tribune.
| Sir: Your editorial DIR. Bryans Panacea, IL
seems to me- treats a serious problem with a
levity that hardly comports with the usual dignity
OF your great paper. To start with. Mr.. Bryan
| IS not and does not claim to be the originator OF
! the idea of government insurance of bank de-
| posts. The writer is Bryan man. The only
Presidential candidate the Democratic ticket
that he ever voted for the founder of The
| Tribune.
This subject is too big to be -poohed a
| fppant Bryanism. Let a bit. Com
| paratvely few residence properties burn in the
| course of a year-but always some. The insurance
rates this class of property are generally very
reasonable, and most people keep insured. because
when fire does occur Ii may mean the loss OF all
to the poor householder. The fire insurance policy
provides for another home in event of loss and
| this means peace Of mind to the holder regardless
of results.
A certain cent of banks do fail every year
some years more than others. The aggregate loss
TO depositors the country over when compared to
the deposits is very insignificant, I admit-less
than one-tenth of l per cent. But when it does
strike community the loss and suffering gen.
orally much greater than from a disastrous fire.
National banks under the exclusive supervision
OF the government. In spite of periodical In
spections these banks do fail and often the de-
positors receive back but the smallest fraction Of
their savings.
In one case under my personal observation q
national bank closed its doors owing s65O,O0O to
2,G00 depositors average you say of 1895, not
poorest lost the most. In fact some old people
had their all in this bank. More than one-half Of
these depostors supposed that the government
stood between depositors and loss in every nation
al bank. Result: Several suicides. number Of
others sent to premature graves and many others
handicapped for life. Shall permit the repeti-
tion of these tragedies just because the and
simple remedy happens to have the sanction of
Mr.. Bryan. who is of our party?
Your suggestion that if there demand for
deposits.
furnish it, seems absurd Why not let private
enterprise do the whole thing and abolish all bank
ing legislation? Thele have been several COM
panies started to insure bank deposits, one in
Cleveland and in New York if I'm not mis-
taken. Their literature aroused fear than
it alayed by suggestion. The query at once was,
If my bank account needs insurance, who will in
my insurance company? It is true. you
say, that there is not enough business to war
rant private enterprise to hold this field The ag
gregate losses being small they are means
that the premium tax be so light as not to
be Objectionable. With absolute immunity against
less by depositors there would be such an era
Of confidence and good will that easier and cheaper
money would be inevitable. This, 1 fancy, is an
objection with some bankers.
VIII you kindly give US editorial the real
merits and demerits of government insurance of
deposits In plain facts and figures give the OBJ
jections.
I hope It is not because the newest state, OK
lahoma, has such a law, or because the rich and
wideawake Republican state OF Kansas Is no"
assembling its Legislature in special session to en-
act duplicate of the Oklahoma law The friends
Of this measure demand fair field and no favors.
We think the opposition must furnish better rea-
sons than those given in your Sunday editorial
if they expect to defeat this legislation
E. C. BICKEL
Sea Cliff, Long Island, Jan. lS, 1908
I'VE have in other articles than the to
which our correspondent refers given sufficient
reasons for opposing the insurance plan. The
chief objection is that ii gives support ana
encouragement to speculative banking. The
analogy with fire insurance is false Fire in
surance, being in the hands Of private COM
panies is proportoned in its charges to the risks
involved If private company similarly wrote
policies on bank deposits, charging according
as the banks were managed by conservative
bankers or by Spectators ii would have
a tonic effect on banking. The proposed scheme
would have on the contrary, a demoraliZ1ng
effect. Mr. Bryan seems to US to lay claim to
he the originator of the idea" He told the
Oklahoma Legislature that the plan occurred
TO him" as a result of bad bank failure in
SC u