The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1914-09-26
SECOND NATIONAL
CONTINUED from Page one.)

to the charge Of carrying thirty-five
per cent reserve but we emphatically
deny that we are guilty Of carrying
any greater reserve than is necessary
to protect our depositors. We fully
agree with the department that 1t IL
cash to legitimate business in order
to hoard the reserve. We. however,
have refused no loans to anyone
worthy of credit and have bought good
commercial paper even since the out.
break Of the war. And, as a general
rule. the statement of your department
may be correct but we believe that q
close analysis of the affairs of each
bank will disclose the fact that the
conditions under which that bank
operates should determine the amount
of reserve which 1t holds. Some banks
face different conditions than others.
For instance, one bank may have
some large depositors who require
large sums OF cash in the transaction
of their business and may have made
deposits with the understanding that
this cash would be on hand any time
to be our case. Another bank may
who require large amounts of cash on
demand
1.-The banks of Richmond, for great
many years, have had the policy of
carrying a sufficient reserve to pro-
tect their depositors at all times and
for this reason during the panic of
1907 the banks in this locality passed
through that crisis with as little diff
Guilty as any of the banks in the cOun-
try Depositors were not restricted in
Withdrawals, and currency, not clear
ing house certificates. was in all
cases paid We think that if you will
make an investigation of the individ-
ual requirements of the banks, you
will find that the Second National
Bank has done no more than would
safeguard it's depositors at all times.
Every respectfully,
wv C. SEEKER,
Cashier"
Reserve So Per Cent.
Under the recent call of the treas
ury department the Second National
Bank showed reserve of 30 per cent.
The two other Indiana banks named
by Secretary McAdoo and the reserves
they held at the time of the call fol-
low:
First National Bank, Mays, SO per
cent.
Peoples National Bank, Rushville,
81 per cent
Although Secretary McAdoo claims
he has the names of other Indiana
banks which he thinks are carrying
too high reserves he did not give them
any publicity, stating he believes he
can force the other offenders against
his ideas of what constitutes proper
to reduce their reserves by the pub
licity given the three he singled out.
Secretary McAdoo does not want the
national banks to carry reserves in
excess Of the legal minimum require
ment of Is per cent. Richmond bank
erS have never carried so low a re-
serve as Is per cent even though they
are allowed to do so by law. AS a rule
the reserves of banks here have been
around rs per cent, the local bankers
feeling that this figure is safer one
than that proposed by the secretary
of the treasury.
Adhere to Standard.
The two other national banks show
ed their adherence to this Richmond
standard at the last call of the secre-
tary of the treasury as both the First
National and the Union National had
reserves of over 20 per cent. This
figure is in excess of the reserves of
were also criticized by Secretary Nc
Adoo in his statement
r. G. Leeds, depositor at the
Second National Bank said today:
"The criticism of the secretary of the
treasury is really a very good adver-
tisement for the Second National. His
! statement calls attention to the fact
that this bank now as in 1907 is in a
position to properly safeguard the in
terests of it's depositors.
In 1907, as everyone remembers.
| when most of the banks of the country
| were limiting illegally the amount de-
positors could withdraw and were pay
ing them off in this manner in illegal
money, clearing house certificates, the
banks of Richmond. thanks to their
foresight in providing adequate re-
serves for their deposits, were not re-
stricting withdrawals and were paying
all demands in legal currency or cash.
1T was this action of our banks
that suggested the motto that was
later adopted for the city of Richmond,
The Panic Proof City
THE secretary of treasury believes