White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1912-12-29
ABOUT BANKING
CONCENTRATION
FINANCIAL STATISTICS SHOW
THAT PRESENT TENDENCY II
TOWARD DIFFUSION OF
CAPITAL AND RESOURCES.

The following letter lfrom which
the appended figures are taken) en-
titled Facts About Banking Coneen-
tration." was published in the New
York Evening Post Of December It'll.
from the pen OF A. Piatt Andrew.
formerly assistant secretary of the
~treasurey Of the United States:
Sir:-An impression seems TO have
become current that the tendency OF
banking in this country is toward
concentration and monopoly. It has
been widely voiced in the press on
the stump, and in the halls of c9n-
gress. II has been popularity accept
ed. and. as frequently happens with
popular ~bugbears. no one seems to
have taken the trouble TO submit II
10 the sober tests OF facts.
A Tendency Against Concentration.
An examination of the reports OF
the controller Of the currency for
the current year in connection with
those of earlier years suggests pine
conclusions. however. that are wide
~ at variance with the prevailing
Eiews. The controllers figures, in
fact. show that. contrary 10 the popu-
lar belief. the actual tendency dur
ing recent years among our banks
has been toward the rapid multiple
cation OF their number and an e
widening diffusion of their capital
and resources.
Banks More Than Double in IL Years
The controller reports for 1912
with regard TO no less than 25,176
separate banks. a number nearly two
and a half times the total Of such in
{ stitutions in existence in 1900. only
twelve years ago. This means a rate
of increase almost double that OF the
population during the same period.
In other words, while there vas in
1900 a bank for every 1857 people,
these institutions have so multiplied
in the interim that now there is a
bank for every 3.7SS of the popula-
ton.
Such a situation and such a en-
dency are without counterpart any
where else, but, in order really TO
appreciate this fact, and in order
thoroughly to grasp the significance
of these American figures one should
place beside them the record of other
countries. In 1908 the monetary
commission collected banking stats
tics for Great Britain. France and
Germany, upon the most thorough
scale that had ever been attempted.
Situation i'm Great Britain Compared.
The figures for Great Britain. Sc
cured for the commission by Eng
lands leading authority-Sir r. II. l.
Palgrave, the editor of the London
Bankers Magazine-and editor and
staff of the London Economist, show
that in the entire United Kingdom in
1908 there were lie separate bank
ing institutions, or only one TO every
3Ss,003 of the population. These
lie banks had $685. branches, and
the number of distinct banks was
less than in 1900, when 147 banks
were reported with 5,60s branches.
What France and Germany Show.
The British figures are of particu-
lar interest, because British condi-
tons and practices are in general not
dissimilar from our own. The fig
ures for Germany were colleced by
equally competent authorities, yet
the most painstaking Investigation
reveals for 1907 only 490 banks, with
1,73O branches mot including of
course. the municipal and state saw
ings institutions and the co-opera-
tive or credit societies. which per-
form some of the functions of
banks.)
In France the most complete COM
pilation which the commission could
obtain included only 81 banks with
1852 branches not comprising, how
ever. the government savings bu-
reaus and the Offices for agricultural
credit.
Not only are the banks of the Unit
ed States far more numerous today,
both absolutely and relatively, than
they have ever been before (and
then they are in any other country
but their capital and are
more widely distributed. One very
often hears the belief expressed that
the capital and of the
banks of New York City, are grow
ing more rapidly than those of the
rest Of the country, and the con
clusion Is drawn that banking power