Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1915-11-10


president of the Orange National
Bank, president, to succeed David H.
Merritt, president of the National
Newark Banking Company; Thomas
w. Stephens, of the Bank OF Mont
clair, first vice-president; Frederick
W. ERner, of the Fidelity Trust Com
pany, second vice-president; A. f. r..
Martin, of the Essex National Bank,
treasurer. The secretary will be ap-
pointed, and will probably be Rufus
Keisler, 1r., of the Ironbound Trust
Company. Alexander S. Ward, of the
Howard Savings Institution, was
elected a member of the executive
committee for three years, and Presi-
dent William I. Cooper. of the Ma
tional State Bank, was elected for the
unexpired term of G. IL. Clark, re-
signed.
Conditions Here.
Responding to those who would crit
icise the presidents course in building
up an adequate defensive army and
navy, Mr.. Pierson said:
sIf a man is strong it does not nee
essarily mean that he is bully. We
must understand the position this
country is in today before the coun-
L1ltS dUIOdOs FfC must ASeAAA@C '"
much money there is in this country
today, the enormous sums that were
expended here long before any loans
were asked for. When the war Is
over and we have supplied the rest
Of the world with it's needs we will
find ourselves in an enviable position
only II we have kept our heads and
made proper provision for our de-
fense.
when this carnage is ended the
nations of Europe will be envious of
us because of what we have accom-
plished and because of the wealth that
has come to us. This alone would be
an argument In favor of the presi-
dents policy Of preparedness"
The advice that bankers make an
effort to have representatives in the
| Legislature came after the statement
by the speaker that a banker, like
an automobilist, cannot do anything
without breaking the law" Mr.. Pier
son said that in an interview with
Governor Fielder the other day the
governor had advised that test case
be instituted to show that the comp
troller of the State has no right to
| demand that consents be obtained
from his department before money
could be paid to a surviving owner
on a joint account.
"It is not very pleasant to be q
law-breaker, and yet we cannot be OF
much use to the community unless we
are charged with violating the stat
utes," continued Mr.. Pierson. And II
we want the laws changed we have
got to go down on our knees to men
\ to whom we would not go across the
street to see about discounting a note
Most of the men Ia re Legislature
now are lawyers, and why should We
not have bankers? A banker must
! be a man of intelligence, of deer
! thought; in fact, he Is the backbone
Of the community in Which he does
! business. And yet we must, If we
want anything from the legislatures
go by way of back DOORS"
Mr. Pierson also advised his hear
ers to institute system of charges
for the return of checie marked "not
good" and to put the minimum of q
| deposit balance on which interest will
be paid as high as possible.
Federal Reserve.
Pierre Jay, chairman of the board
of directors of the Federal Reserve
Bank in New York, explained the
workings Of the institution. OF the re.
serve he said
"The institution is not a part of the
government nor safe deposit vault
but 1t is your bank. 1t is not an alier
institution, but one which you your.
selves have formed and for which yot
are responsible.
"It can absolutely prevent the oc
currence of another currency panic. i
provides more currency and a better
system than the Aldrich- -Vreelanc
system. Should panic ever star
the reserve system could operat,
smoothly to prevent its extension"
Mr.. Jay went into the operations O.
the reserve bank at great length, anC
said that the new system would com.
pei country banks to keep larger re-
serves than they have been doing be.
cause they will be governed by the
reserve agent. This means that tn,
country banks will have to Absorb
| by keeping the moneys now sent t.
city correspondents. This, he said
would compel country bankers to an.
| aly2e accounts to see whether they
will pay the cost of exchange. The,
will then compel depositors to main
tain balances sufficient to compensat.
the banks for the cost of fiotation.
I'VE are now doing what the Euro
pean banks and doing under stress o
war" said Mr.. Jay, but we are doin,
1t in quiet, unobtrusive way, and |
we continue in this fashion for tw'
or three years we will have S400,
100000 which can be paid out withou
depicting our gold reserve"