The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1908-10-02
The AMERICAN
BANKERS IN SESSION
TwENTY-FoURTH ANNUAL CON.
VENTION BEING HELD IN
DENVER OF AMERICAN
BANKERS ASSOCIATION - RE-
PORT OF THE SECRETARY
OF THE ORGANIZATION.

Denver, Sept. Bottle American
Bankers association in their twenty
fourth annual convention being held
in this city today received reports OF
Its officers and various committees
and listened to the scholarly address
made by B. e. Walker, president OF
the Canadian Bank of Commerce, of
Toronto, and by Woodrow Wilson,
president of Princeton university.
One of the most important COM
mittees was that of the committee on
express companies. The committee
told of the efforts being made to pre-
vent express companies from going
further into the banking business
and to compel them to give up the
money order business.
Federal legislation committee ask
ed for further time and will make re-
port tomorrow afternoon. 1t is re-
ported that this committee will rec
ommend that resolution on guaran-
tee bank deposits will be introduced
and discussed.
The report Of the committee on
amendments to constitution was al
80 postponed until tomorrow.
The organization OF secretaries of
state bankers association met i'm
mediately after adjournment of the
association this afternoon. About
twenty-five secretaries were present.
After reports and addresses the en-
tire session was taken up with brief
and informal addresses by nearly all
the secretaries present. The ad-
dresses were for the most part on
subjects Of interest only to bankers
and bank employees.
The following is the address deliv-
cred at the convention by B. e. Wal
xer, president OF the Canadian Bank
of Commerce, his subject being, cab
normal Features of American Bank
ing:'
A series Of large banks, (Which
could perform every good feature of
centralized banking and still pre-
serve that chief safeguard Of the peo-
pie In Industrial matters, viz: com
petition" was the remedy proposed
by B. e. Walker. president Of the
Canadian Bank of Commerce, for
what he termed the abnormal fea-
lures OF American banking. He had
discussed the so-called fixed reserves,
clearinghouse certificates and re-dls-
counts, the present treasury system.
and bank-note issues and their
bearing on the recent financial panic.
He found something Of good and
much Of evil in all of them. His pro-
posed solution Of the currency ques-
ton in the United States, after a
study of all these conditions, he out
lined as follows:
"a series of large banks which
could perform every good feature OF
centralized banking and still pre-
serve that chief safeguard Of the peo-
pie in Industrial matters, viz: com
petition.
In order that reform may be per-
manent and effective the new species
of bank should be able to create:
Il. A sound credit currency with
effective daily redemption.
Q. A distribution of capital for
lending, SO that 1t shall not be idle
and congested in one locality and
scarce or nonresident and proper
itionately dear in another. ~
SO. "A condition where the gid
and other cash reserves o. the coun-
try may be more effective and doubt
less be minimized in quantity.
Where in time Of trouble the
capital Of the country may be mo-
bile and capable of being centralized
wien necessary.
5. Where there may be b. s ks
capable of doing the entire ending
business Of your merchants and man
snfactiirers, except where these are
unusually large, when they could be
idivi.'ed by arrangement between two
or three banks.
ss5''6. Where great Internal al
banking business may be created I'd
you may do justice to your owe ca
possessions, to the great ports OF *
port and import, to your merca e
marine, and to your position a1-is,f 8
the great nations of the earth.
This state of things can, I think,
only be brought about by your per-
uniting the creation of banks in the
United States similar to the banls Of
other countries, g said Mr.. Waiaser.
Gas I have tried to show; the liere
creation Of one central bank will not
change the defective character OF ~
eight or ten thousand other banks.
II should think that banks ha Z
power to establish branches through.
[ out the whole Of the United States
and its oversee possessions should
{ have 9 larger minimum capital than
IS, 200. 900. This. Of course, pro.
4 poses asset-currency. and / am aware
or the arguments which have beer
5made against It. But no elective
& argument has been made other thar
stks difliculty Of apply ping; It to- thous:
Eands OF relatively smallf bankss and
Il scting that DALI red mptio,
III u indispensable. That II cal
fSly be applied To- III tndiyidaa
h nth; branches With 4 pifa
81 no 10 90 and over hAye i,
81 M II 4 \ II q sxtse =