The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1913-01-01

shows that the banking capital of
thirty-nine other States has increas-
ed more rapidly than that of New
York, and that the banking resources
of forty-one other States have in
creased more rapidly than those Of
New York. There exists, therefore,
no statistical ground for the popular
belief in a growing concentration of
banking assets in New York.
1t is, of course, obvious that the
units of the banking business in New
York, as in all financial centres, have
of late been growing larger. Growth
and consolidation in banking have
been inevitable accompaniments of
the growth and consolidation which
have been taking place in manufac-
ture and transportation. AS the
business of the country has come to
be conducted upon larger and larg-
er scale, it has required credit facili-
ties in larger and larger units; but
it is unquestionable that the size of
the banking units in this country has
increased less rapidly than the size
of the concerns engaged in industry
and transportation.
Number OF Banks More Than
Doubled in Twelve Years.
The Controller reports for 1912
with regard to no less than 25, ,176
separate banks, number nearly two
and half times the total of such
institutions in existence in 1900,
only twelve years ago. This means
rate of increase almost double that
of the population during the same
period. In other words, while there
was in 1900 bank for every 1857
people, these institutions have so
multiplied in the interim that now
there is a bank for every 3,788 of
the population.
Such a situation and such a ten
dency are without counterpart any
where else, but, in order really to ap-
preciate this fact, and in order thor
oughly to grasp the significance of
these American figures, one should
place beside them he record for
other countries. In 1908 the None
tary Commission collected banking
statistics for Great Britain, France
and Germany, upon the most thor
ough scale that had ever been at
tempted.
New York Far Behind Other Bank
ing Centres.
ohS hdo Ouly W CODlpdIc Ju0
ber and size Of the banking units in
New York with those of the financial
centres of other and much smaller
countries to realize how laggard has
been the movement towards concen-
tration and consolidation in the
United States. In New York there
are only three banks or trust COM
panies with resources in excess of
5000, 100000. In London there are
ten such institutions. In Berlin
there are five, in Paris four, in Rome
two. In England in 1908 ten Lon
don banks held 63 per cent. of the
| total commercial deposits of the en-
tire country; in France, four Paris
banks held S5 per cent. of the total
deposits, as reported; but the ten
largest financial institutions in New
York to-day hold only 7.6 per cent.
of the deposits of the United States.
The Clearing House Question.
1t is interesting in passing to OBJ
serve that the charge sometimes
made that the Clearing House in
New York City is excessively limited
in membership and is tending to con-
| centrate the banking power of this
| locality in a few hands, is scarcely
| confirmed by comparison OF its
membership with that of the clearing
| houses of other financial centres.
The fact is that the number of banks
belonging to the New York Clearing
House exceeds by SO per cent. the
| aggregate of all the banks belong
| ing to the clearing houses of Lon
don, Berlin and Paris taken togeth-
er. The Clearing House of London
has eighteen members, that of Paris
eleven, that of Berlin nineteen, max
ing total of forty-eight, while the
Clearing House of New York has a
membership Of sixty-four distinct in
stitutions.
Those who think that the banking
business of the United States is be-
coming dangerously concentrated in
New York should consider numerical
facts and take heart.