The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-06

a perfected system as that which the fed eral law represents is impotent to prevent
 concentration of financial strength and great reserves in one leading financial cen ter. For if 1t were not New York it would
 be some other city, perhaps Chicago, which would concentrate reserves and se- cure and maintain financial supremacy. This has been recognized by many bank CTS who do not live in New York as, for instance, a banker of Boston Is quoted
 by the Boston News bureau as having pointed out recently the complete failure of the purpose-if there were really such a purpose-in the minds of those who drafted the federal reserve law to under mine New Yorks financial supremacy and decentralize the millions of reserve there held. With respect to these reserves and financial strength the greater minds in the banking world recognize that New
 York is not to be considered locally bet is really national in the sense that London and Paris are national. The Boston bank CT calls attention to the fact that the New , York reserve bank now holds or held a few days ago 130.000,000 of the aggregate deposits of almost s3O0 900 carried by all the federal reserve banks. That is nearly 45 per cent of the entire amount held by the 12 federal reserve banks.
 Governor Strong of the New forfN
 bank has now deposits which are in the aggregate not merely twice as large as
 
 those of Chicago or of Philadelphia, but
 twice as large as the combined deposit
 of the reserve banks of those cities. Nor
 mally and in obedience to sound finan- eial and economic principles there have
 flowed to the New York institution de- posits greater than those carried by the reserve banks of Chicago, Philadelphia.
 St. Louis, Boston, Cleveland and San Francisco combined. One deposit in the
 New York institution of $l1900o.000 is to the credit of the National City bank. This bank is now occupied to a far greater
 extent than any other national bank and probably any other banking institution, chartered or private, in the United States, with international financing. Many per-
 sons estimate the strength of this insti- tuition by reference to the fact that it has esta blished branch banks in South
 America. And yet all that it has done in South America is trivial in comparison
 with it's association with various financ-
 ing in Great Britain and in Europe. Therefore, 1t has been able to demon strate the national financial character of
 New York city. It Is not a local place nor are its boundaries so far as ln-
 fluence Is concerned to be defined, upon
 the map. It is national in finance ex- actly as Washington is national in poll tics and administrative government.
 Begin Rediscounting Soon
 The Boston banker is inclined to think that the manner in which the southern
 reserve banks are loaninG themselves up
 on an easy money market and before crop moving demands are calculable, makes it safe to presume that the
 strength of our present reserve system lies chiefly in New York, whose in- huences on American money marKets can never be diminished. It is, in fact, pos sible that the New York bank will be redscounting for other reserve banks sooner than most people think likely. Present conditions now seem to make it
 clear that New York Is destined to be-
 come the worlds money center, and If it
 gains that supremacy 1t must certainly
 be and remain the financial center of
 the United States.
 Yet the New York reserve bank is a
 part and very important part of the reserve system of the United States. The authority over 1t which is possessed py the executive board at Washington is complete so that in that sense the in stituton is national although it's place of business is in the financial district of New York. It Is as truly national as is the sub-treasiry or the assay of flee. Two incidents of the past 10 months