The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-11-06

essary to retain the subtreasuries of the United States.
 Almost all of those who have given study to banking and fiscal subjects have been persuaded that the ideal banking sys- tenn of the United States would be based upon a central or unified bank. Such dif- faculties as were created when the war in Europe began could have been more easily met and more speedily overcome had the federal reserve system been In operation, and it's keystone been een- tral or unified bank. Such bank would have made unnecessary much of the vol untary cooperation in which the banks of the United States which operate under federal charters participated. This CO operation entailed highly artificial method of dealing with original problems. central or unified bank which was un- der the control of the federal reserve board at Washington would nave pos sessed the authority and the resources which would have made quick mobilization of credit resources and gold possible.
 The oountry's experience since the early days of August this year will by and by surely teach the advantage which Is to be found in a unified or central bank under the control of the federal reserve board. Since it became known that suo- stantially all of the national banks of the United States would become members of the federal reserve system, good deal of discussion, not public but among men of financial authority, and also, it is un- derstood, among members of the admin istration at Washington. has been under way so that there could be obtained sound fr.+ 1rS nff aoif afafr
 ing the subtreasuries of the United States after the new system Is in opera tion. This discussion frequently hinged upon the history of the subtreasury sys-
 tenn. It has often been spoken of as
 brilliant piece of financial constructive work made necessary by the fact that the old Bank of the United States went out of existence. Something had to take the place of that bank and Martin Van
 Buren has received whatever credit Is due for conceiving the subtreasury system and securing its adoption. Had there been central bank the subtreasury system
 would have been unthought of because anything of that kind would have been unnecessary.
 The history of the relation of the sub treasury to the financial operations of the government at New York in the days of the civil war contains a story of marvel lous achievement. Even greater respon- abilities were placed upon the subtreas-
 ury system after the era of industrial,
 commercial and transportation expansion
 began a few years after the close of the civil war. In the panic of 1873, to some ex- tent in the panic of 1884 and again in the panic of 1907, the subtreasury at New York furnished the convenient and satis- factory method by which in part these emergencies were overcome.
 The Present Emergency
 Since August 1 the subtreasury at New merely or chiefly to bankers, but to American business and financial life It made possible the comparatively easy and speedy concentration of gold which was occasioned by the formation of the
 called gold pools. one exclusively for New
 York city and one for the benefit of Amer ican merchants, manufacturers and others who owed money to Great Britain, aggre-
 gating at least $3oo,0o0.ooo when the war began.
 It was by means of the subtreasury that resented our payment to France for the Panama canal franchise and material was skillfully and easily carried on so that so far as the public was concerned there was no visible demonstration of this move ment. In the same way, the subtreasury facilitated the easy movement of gold to Europe with which to make payment to Spain of $20,00o,Oo0, so that the obiga- tions of the peace treaty between Spain