The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1909-12-12
AN OPPORTUNITY TO
STUDY IS OFFERED
Monetary Commission About to
Publish Many Volumes
on Banking.
WORK DONE IN PAST YEAR
SYSTEMS OF LEADING coUN-
TRIES OF WORLD COMPARED.

TRIES OF WORLD COMPARED.
Washington, Dec. Authorization OF
unique value TO the financial world and
70 all students Of economies, regarding
the monetary and banking systems of
all the civilized nations. including the
United States, viii be made available
during the coming year through score
or more of volumes prepared BY the
leading authorities in America, Eng
land, and Europe, and to be published
under the auspices OF the nalloAai
monetary commission. 1T viii eonsu-
tute a library of banking without pa
ralIgl ia the literature Of any country
and will supply what is at present pldc-
ideally an absolute lack OF information
I'm the English language regarding tle
development during recent years Oh 'i1
financial systems of the world.
The monetary commission issued mere
tonight a statement outlining the scope
of the forthcoming publications and the
exhaustive investigation which result
ed I'm the compilation of the material.
The commission urges all bankers, bus
mess men and students of finance to
avail themselves of the opportunity
thus offered to study the conditions and
experiences of other countries as Wen
as of our own. From this statement II
appears that the commission for a year
and a half has been engaged IN collect
ing Information about the banking anu
currency system of the leading coun-
tries of the world. and a list has re-
Gently appeared of the publications
which the commission now has in press
is 1rfr1 for 1a which
viii be available for the public in the
near future.
Task Of Commission.
In the summer OF 1905, when Senator
Aldrich and the commission set about
the task intrusted to them of informing
themselves as to the best means tOI
modifying our banking and credit sys-
TEN, they were surprised to discover
the lack of literature dealing with the
modern development OF banking and
the recent changes made in many for
eign banking systems. With regard "a
banking ia France and Germany and
other European countries, there was
scarcely anything in English which
dealt with the practical operations and
relations of the banks, or which dis
Cussed anything more than the history
of banking legislation. Even in the
dealing with the English banking sys-
TEN had appeared for more than gen.
Grafton, and the whole modern use of
credit instruments and the evolution CT
check and deposit banking, which has
so changed the character of the system
from what it was in the middle of the
nineteenth century remained undis-
Cussed. The only considerable work
upon the English system which had
been published in more than thirty
years was by a Greek professor and
written in French. (This work Of An
dreades has subsequently been trans
lated into Englsh0
With regard to banking in the United
States. no coherent and comprehensive
history had been written which covered
more than CursOrily the significant de-
velopments in banking during the half
century since the civil war. If the
banking problems confronting the
United States today were to be studied
I'm the light of the worlds experiences
and with any satisfactory knowledge
of existing conditions in the United
States. il was necessary 10 enter upon
a series of investigations much more
thorough and far-reaching than had
ever been made before and to postpone
any attempt to formulate a plan for
recognizing the system until this in
Vestigation had been completed.
information Abroad.
The commission has sought to secure
the facts concerning the existing sys-
TENS of banking and currency Ia the
leading commercial nations of the
world 1t has secured comprehensive
information from England, Germany
France, Switzerland, Sweden, Belgium
M hae i'm az
considerable material with regard to
banking in Mexico, Russia, Austria
Hungary and holland. The list of pub
locations which mas recently been given
10 the public conveys an impressive pic
ture of the substantial way in which
this effort has been carried out and of
the encyclopedia scope of the commits
sion's Investigations
one of the early volumes to be pub
lished, and one which viii contain ma
terial of the greatest practical interest
is volume of interviews held by rep
-resentatiyes of the commission in the
leading countries of Europe during the
summers or 1905 and 1909. These inter
views with the managers or directors
of most of the large banks i'm England
France Germany, Switzerland, Italy
and Scotland were stenOgraphically re-
ported and constitute a volume of more
than 500 pages, covering not so much
the banking legislation of these coun-
tries, which had often been treated be
fore, but the actual practices and Gus
toms governing the operations of the
different sorts of banks. For England
,neTe is a transcript of interviews held
with the governor and directors of the
Bank of England and with the man
ayers of many joint stock banks, such
as the London CITY e. Midland the
Union of London and Smiths. the Lon
don & Westminster and PARIS bank.
land with the heads Of discount compa-