The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1912-06-15
SIX MEN DIRECT DESTINY
OF BIG n. Y. BANKS
Comprise Membership Committee
or AIl-Powerful Clearing

i Comprise Membership COMMITTEES
or AIl-Powerful Clearing
4 House.
i New York, June 15.--Six mel
i direct the policies of nearly 10'
OF the biggest banks and other fl
nancial institutions in New York
i They are;(
Frank A. vanderlip, president o
the National City Bank.
James G. Cannon, president o.
the Fourt National Bank.
Walter E. Drew, president of the
Corn Exchange Bank.
Richard De La Field, presiden
of the National Park Bank.
Otto T. Brannard, president o
4 the New York Trust company.
A. Barton Hepburn, president o.
the New York Clearing House anc
chairman of the board Of the Chase
National Bank
The first five named constitute
the membership of the clearing
| mouse tOIilulllltts liiob esit ~
organization of the New YORK
Clearing House Assn. 1t is the CON
trolling body OF the clearing house,
Mr.. Hepburn is a member or the
committee ex-officio by reason OF
his being president of the Clearing
House association.
This committee directs only IN
name. Behind it's members STAND
the small group of financial giants
who constitute the money trust
now under investigation by the
committee on banking and cur
rency Of the national house of rep
resentatives. Among them are =.
Pierpont Morgan, Thomas F. Ryan,
the Standard Oil interests and Geo.
E. Baker.
The New York clearing house
is law unto itself. There is no
legal check on its great extraordin-
airy powers. 1t actually issues gold
and silver certificates in imitation
Of the paper currency of the coun-
try, which is used by the men,
bers of the association practically
o increase the circulating medium.
IN times of panics it issues clear
ng house certificates at will to
,race up the credit of its men,
,ers, or such Of them as it pleases,
md other financial institutions that |
nay not be members
The clearing house COMMITTEES, /
without let or hindrance, can ruin
my bank or trust company, wheth-
r it be a member of the associa
ion or merely by clearing through |
members, by denying it the priv
eye of clearing directly or indi-
'ectly. Mr.. Sherer admitted that |
40 bank or trust company in New
York-not even the strongest
could assemble sufficient supply
Of money with which to withstand
the sudden run, such as would fol-
low expulsion from the clearing
house.
Should even the strongest bank
or trust company in the city be
taken over by new owners 1t
would not necessarily retain its
membership in the association.
The clearing house committee
could refuse without cause to per-
NIT the old member that had fall
len into new hands to remain a
member.
Thirteen years ago the clearing
house committee arbitrarily fixed
he fees to be charged by all its
members and "non-members" for
he collection of out-of-town checks
The first year of the operation OF
his arbitrary rule yielded $685.
100000 to the money trust. Last
year it yielded round $50, 100000
this for the mere cashing of
checks sent into New York by out
of-town banks.
When the Clearing House Asso-
citation was established in 1853 it
had a bank membership of fifty
two. Its present bank membership
is only fifty, although in the fifty
nine years of the life of the asso-
citation the city's business has been
multiplied by more than twenty.
Two years ago the bars were ler
down a little and seventeen trust
companies We're taken in as Nom
bers, 'tNon-members" to the num-
Der Of twenty-seven are now clear
ing through members.
Every national bank in New
York except the Hartman National
is now a member. No explanation
was obtained from Mr.. Sherer as is
why the Hartman National had
not been taken in, since it meets
the requirements as to a million
| doIIor 90 pit oli,o+;on