The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1912-11-14
TWO PANICS.
Some Financial History of an Inter.
esting Character.

have occurred in the United States.
One was the rich mans or silent pan
ic, so called, which followed the enor-
nous promotion of industrial corpor-
alton combinations and the termin-
alton of the mighty struggle between
James j. Hill, Mr.. Morgan at his
right hand, and E. H. Hartman, in
the spring of 1901, for the control of
the Northern Pacific Railroad Com
pany.
In the height of that panic the
quotations for securities of all kinds
were very low.
Then again, in 1907, another, due
to complete impairment of confidence
and the fear lest our money supplies
were totally inadequate to sustain
the credit and the business Of the
country, caused business demorali-
zation which was continued for more
than a year! There was a spasmodic
revival of business in the year 1903,
but that was followed by relative COL
lapse. Yet in spite of these two Sc
rious disturbances the material prog
ress of the United States was not
greatly impaired. This is regarded
by those whose judgments are worth
needing, both in this country and in
Europe, as furnishing unquestionable
proof that the United States has en-
tered upon an area of wise, highly
economic and very great develop
ment of it's prodigious natural re-
sources. Political agitations, the at
titude of the people toward the COM
binations known as trusts and the
rigid enforcement of the law which
forbade combinations of that kind
have not served appreciably to dimin-
&sh the development of our natural
resources.
This is really the important fact
lying behind the enormous aggregate
of statistics which have just been
furnished by the bureau of statistics
in Washington. The development OF
our great natural resources in the
past twelve years is chiefly the in
flaence which lies behind the unpre-
Fcedented increase in the money now
in circulation in the United States
as compared with the figures that
tell of that circulation ten or twelve
years. ago. 1t is reasonably accurate
TO- sly that the money in circulation
in the United States in the present
year is almost exactly $1,O0O,000,-
900 in excess of the money in circula-
ton ten or twelve years ago. The
increase is much greater than the
increase in population, measured by
per centage figures, for while the
population increased by about twenty
per cent. the money in circulation in
creased a little under fifty per cent.
This increase in actual money re-
fleets new wealth created since 1900.
No small part of it is the wealth
which has come from the develop
ment of our mines of precious metals.
The latest figures descriptive OF
the loans and discounts OF national
banks in the present calendar year
put the aggregate at a little under
S6,OOO,O00,O00. Ten or twelve years
ago the aggregate was a little over
s3,OOO,O0O,OO0. These figures tell
the story of the high development OF
natural resources which has been Sc
cured since 1900. That development
has made possible an increase in the
deposits of savings banks in the past
ten years, approximately, of about
a billion and a half. The total depos-
it's in the year 1911 were S4,2l2,-
100000.
There can be no escape from the
inference that these stupendous ng-
ures which report savings bank de-
posits, tell of fairly reasonable dis
tribution among the wage earners OF
the United States of the new wealth
which has been created through the
development of our natural re-
sources. Almost all of these de-
posits of $4,000, 100000 have been
utilized in industry, commerce, and
especially in real estate improve