Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-09-15
BRYAN ON BANK DEPOSITS.
His Stand for Their Guarantee Com =
mended-Aldrich Bill Condemned.

stand taken by Mr.. w. ]. Bryan on
the question of guaranteed bank de-
posits and what he thought of the
general proposition itself. He said:
Mr.. Bryan's speech upon the sub
ject Of guaranteed bank deposits ap-
pears to be as able an effort as that
gentleman ever made, at the same
! time one Of the best expositions of
the subject that has yet been offered
by anybody.
LESS than twenty-five years ago
there were many people who shud-
dered when some one they knew we'll
| proposed to take out life insurance.
Many wife positively objected
for the reason that it seemed to her
like setting his life against money.
All this prejudice has now disappear
ed and the feeling about life insur-
ance Is wholesome and good. Insu-
rance in other lines has made pro-
gress and Is now generally regarded
as very advantageous. This new
movement to insure deposits is as
wholesome and rational as Is life In
surance. The objections made to 1t
are as much based on prejudice as
any ever made against life insurance.
Let us suppose that a widow owns
house. There are none who would
not consider 1t foolish for her to neg
lect Insurance upon the house against
fire, and yet when she sells the house
and deposits the money in the bank,
objection is made to her paying a
very much smaller charge than a
fire insurance premium to insure
against loss by failure Of the bank.
"The claim that insurance on de-
posits would contribute to reckless
banking is wholly erroneous. All
the stockholders stand with the full
amount Of their stock and 100 per
cent liability besides between the Of
icers Of a bank, and any encroach-
ment upon the deposits. The stock
holders elect the officers and these,
together with the government super
vision, constitute protection against
reckless banking The insurance Of
deposits will have nothing to do with
it, The following is from Mr.. Bryan's
address,:
I'm like manner II might be said that
II all people were careful about fire,
fire insurance rates need not be as
high as they are, but the careful have
to pay higher rates than they should
because some are not careful. Life
insurance rates are higher than would
be necessary to cover the actual risk
If everybody took care Of his health,
and here, too, the cautious are bur-
dened because some are careless Of
their health. All insurance Is open
to the same objection, and yet insur-
ance of all forms is growing, and
the insurance Of deposits Is growing
in popularity more rapidly than any
other form of insurance-and, 1 may
add, it yields the largest return on
the investment.
1.-The insurance Of a house against
fire is solely for the protection of the
owner The rest Of the town or city
in such a case is protected by a sepa-
rate fire department.
I'm the case of deposit insurance,
it is not alone the depostor who Is
protected but the community is pro-
tected against panic. Mr.. Bryan gives
two very apt illustrations of how pro-
tected deposits protect the whole
community as follows
"'Compare this failure under the
guaranty system with failure where
there is no guaranty. In Oklahoma
the bank commissioner telephoned
the farmers to come in and get their
money, and the answer was, Il am
busy today with my crop; I will be
in in day or two"
"In Cleveland, Ohio, bank fail
ed about the same time, and the pa
pers announced Twelve hundred In
furiated Italians stormed the closed
doors of the busted banking house
of Costan Liopea on Orange street,
today. The police drove the crowd
back"
"The bankers Of the country who
are opposed to guarantee Of deposits
are surely standing in their own light.
The guarantee of deposits protects
the bank in two ways that are very
important:
First: 1t protects a solvent bank
from runs which create panic.
Second: 1t removes the force of
all arguments favoring the establish
ment of postal savings banks. The
postal savings banks would necessa-
rily have to be handled as a govern
ment proposition. There are a few
who doubt that the working people
would put their savings in postal
savings bank, where it Is guaranteed
by the government at per cent, rath-
er than in any unguaranteed bank at
4 per cent Safety IS what the people
want and they are going to have 1t In
one form or another. This ties up
the money Of the country into the
hanQS OF the government, anu IiiS
guarantee which the government gives
Is naturally the taxes paid by all the
people. If deposits are guaranteed
by the government or otherwise, eth
er all the people or the banks them
selves must pay the guarantee pre-
miums.
Again Mr.. Bryan says:
1.-The refusal Of the banks to per-
nit the passage Of law granting Sc
curity to depositors is responsible for
the growth of the sentiment in favor
of the government savings bank, and
the sentiment will continue to grow
unless something is done to satisfy
the demands Of the people upon the
subject
THE Republican party proposes
the establishment Of a postal savings
bank system; the Democratic party
prefers the guaranteed bank, because
it Is better for the depositor and bet
ter for the banker-it gives the de-
positor the security which he needs
and yet leaves the banking business
in the hands Of the banks. But the