The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1914-09-16

cere effort to invest all its deposits in
Vermont securities, bat several years
ego was compelled to go outside the
state for investments. One section OF
act ITO, laws OF 1912, called the Blue
Sky Law" requires the bank commits
sioner to make such investigation OF
out ,of-state investments as would salts
fy him OF their character, and in com
pliance with this section of that law,
during the past year ! have visited nine
western states and examined twenty-five
investment companies which sell farm
mortgages in Vermont, and which are
licensed under the above named law. l
went over a large part of the territory
where these investment companies place
loans, investigated values, conditions
under which loans were made, amount OF
foreclosed real estate during the past
ten wears, amount of overdue interest
upon loans carried on the books, and
many other conditions which l deemed
important in order TO form a Judgment
as to the character OF the companies,
and the safety Of the investments.
consider the farm loans ghich the banks
have in western states, as safe as any
investment which they have and the
investment companies licensed TO sell
such loans in Vermont, entitled to con-
sideration. / urge the banks to use
great care in the selection OF agents, and
insist that every loan shall be Inspected
by the banks board of examiners.
81 urge the banks to meet all legiti-
mate demands of Vermont borrowers.
Under our state law, banks cannot loan.
in all cases, where it is desirable that
the borrower he accommodated, and
there should be some agency created for
financing such cases on such terms as
will be reasona BILE
while deposits in the banks during
the past year have not increased as
much as in the previous year, yet the
growth has been healthy, the banks are
in excellent condition, and my inyestiga
tions convince me that the banks OF
Vermont taken as a whole, are not ex-
celled in strength character of invest
ments, and management, by the aggre-
gate banks of any state. This means
much to the state. The census OF 1910
gives the population OF Vermont as
355, a56 lSs,920 Vermont citizens are
depositors in its savings banks, and if
the deposits in those banks were divided
among the whole population OF the
state, each man. woman and child would
receive over $3.50 This is splendid
showing and the hayit OF saving which II
indicates should be encouraged in every
way.
'The legislature of 1912 passed act
ITO called the "Blue sky Law, which
requires corporations, partnerships,
etc. to be licensed by the
bank commissioner before selling or Of
fering for sale certain investments or
securities. This act went into effect
April |, 1918, and the numDer of invest
lnent companies licensed under that act
and doing business in Vermont, has
steadily increased since the last report
of this department, and there are now
81 investment companies licensed and
doing business in Vermont, list OF
which will be found in the back part OF
this report | think, in the main, the
law has worked we'll. although ! think
there should be some amendments and
changes made by the next legislature,
and / shall make some recommendations
with relation to this matter, and some
few changes in the banking laws, to the
governor, before the opening of the next
session. A large proportion OF the IL
censees sell mortgages upon real estate,
industrial and railroad bonds.
public service corporation stocks and
bonds. and listed securities. There are a
very few companies licensed TO sell their
own securities. A statement IS append
ed. showing the amount of securities of
all kinds sold by licensed investment
in the state. during the past
year. and an examination OF that state
ment must prove interesting to those
who desire to know the character OF in
vestments made by Vermont people. A
large part OF the real estate mortgages
in that list are sold to the banks. al
though quite considerable amount
goes to private investors The depart
ment organized under the BLUE SKY
Law" by the bank commissioner, is self
all the expense of investiga-
tion. clerical work, etc. being paid by
the licensees, and so far the expense OF
this department is considerably less than
the amount Of fees collected. This law
has prevented the offering for sale in
Vermont, OF a large amount Of very
questionable securities
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