The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-13
PROSPERITY FOR
 AMERICAN BANKS Comptroller of Currency Makes
 Annual Report
SHOWING IS VERY GOOD
All Banks, State and National, Enjoy the Benefits of Very Prosper ous Business for the Past
 Fiscal Year

Washington, December 12.-Another year of prosperity and solid growth for American banks is recorded in the an- nual report of the Comptroller of the Currency, presented to Congress today. Not only the national banks which come directly under the control and super vision of the currency bureau are includ- 5 e1 in the comprehensive review of bank ing conditions. but state banks, savings banks, trust companies and other finan- cial institutions-some 15,95o others are represented
 During the fiscal year of 1910 the con,- bined resources of the 1000 national banks of the United States grew to approx trnately $,000Oea,00o. On September last their loans and discounts had reached the immense sum of $5, 400 00o, GOO -an amount never before equalled In the history of the national banking system since its creation in 1864. At the same time they were counting nearly $3o.0oo,O 900 of overdrafts in their assets, practice which there is no law to stop.
 Combining all other banks in the United States and it's island possessions with
 
 ing an estimate for those not reported, 1t is evident from the comptroller's re- port that the banking power of the na- tion has grown in the last 10 years from 13,g7 of all sorts of banks, with capital of s1. .150, 00,000 and individual deposits of $7.6sS. 900, GOO. to more than 270O0 banks with combined capital -oiose to $2.000, ,000 600 and individual deposits of nearly $16,0O0,000, eco. The deposits have more than doubled In f,onr h a 6o and tt, flo same time the combined loans and dis counts have grown to more than $12,O00,- o00, GOO.
 The volume of business Is refectedsin reports which have been assembled from 137 clearing house exchanges, showing combined clearings of $169,000,000,00 for the year ended on September 30, as against s15s, 800, ,O00, 600 for 1909. With the exceptions of Kansas City, Mo-; Houston, Tex; Greemsburg, Pa; Freemont, Neb.; Franklin, Pa. Colorado Springs, Col. and Eicksburg, Miss, the year showed an in- creased volume of business transacted. The New York Clearing House associa- ton represented 60 per cent of the clear ings of all associations of the country and during the current year has reached S1o2, COX, ,000,O00, some sS,000,000,000 greater than in 1909. For those enormous trans actions balances of only little more than s4,0OO 100000 were used.
 
 marked the year. Final stDtlerient of the affairs of IS insolvent banks was made in which depositors received near ,ly S6 per cent. These administrations were made at an average cost of about E. per cent on the collections From the date of the first failure in 1865, 514 na 'tional banks have been placed in >the hands of receivers and 25 of them have beep restored to solvency. More than | S3,300,D00 in dividends was paid to de- positors of insolvent banks during the year.
 | On the whole It appears from the report that national barEng, conser vatively conducted, is z ofitable en- terprise. The net earnil of the 1000 National banks during the year were more than $154,0o0,00c. from which dividends of s1O5,ooo,OO0 were paid at the rate of more than 10 per cent on their capital. The government, too. has profited from the existence of the national associations, for since their beginning 1t has received more than $2O2,000000 of which more than 92 per cent has been for circulation tax on the bank notes they issue.