The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-11-01

| ANCW 1OIh5 SCLOOcT Ol.-tGpGC1dl.)--InG
 Comptroller of the Currency. John skel-
 ton Williams, called attention a few days /; ago to the astonishing condition of the
 national banks of the United States, as- tonishing In view of the fact that they contributed so greatly to the success Of
 the first liberty loan of s2,oo0 ooo, coo Briefly summarized Comptroller Will liams' statement calls attention to the fact that if s5, 100000 of deposits were
 drawn from the national banks at this
 time nevertheless the aggregate deposits of the national banks would be nearly $3Go. oo,o0o greater than they were year before the outbreak of the European war.
 Furthermore, although the national banks all over the country aided greatly loan possible and thereby were compelled to acknowledge considerable withdrawal of deposits, nevertheless there was an increase in tho deposits Of the national banks between May 1 and September l of this year of $154,000,000. That is not
 all. The national banks possess resources of S16.50o, ,00o,O00, showing an increase Of nearly s4o0,Ooo.ooO since the time of the
 subscriptions to the first liberty loan and more than s2.0Oo, ,00o0oO in ex-
 cess of the resources that were re-
 ported in September, 1916. Figures of this
 kind are of such magnitude that the
 mind does not fully grasp the meaning fbay, n a flor, Ia nishcd. It would be possible to com press the explanation in few words by saying that the figures show how rapidly new wealth is accommodating in the United States notwithstanding the stupendous expenditures which our par ticipation in the war has made necessary since April, last year.
 One of the best estimates of the yearly business carried on in the United States expressed in dollars has been for several years that it amounts to about $50, OOo,00O,- GOO. Of course, all this Is not new wealth
 and yet a considerable part of 1t does represent yearly increases in the wealth
 of the country. The other day tho de- partment of agriculture at Washington
 made public it's estimate of tho money value of the agricultural products har- vested in the United States this year at
 s21 500 100000. This is assumed to be ab- solutely new wealth. It was taken from the soil. There are also other sources
 whereby our yearly wealth Is increased.
 and of late great increase, as com pared to the figures of earlier years. has been due to utilization of waste products. Now the men of science and the investors who are utilizing the researches made by
 men of science are discovering new sourcs hitherto undreampt of whereby
 great additional wealth can be accumu-
 lated through the utilization of material which few years ago was not even dignified by the name of waste material. It will probably be possible to report within year or two figures which will show very great increases of new wealth. consequent upon the necessity the war has brought to the United States by util- izing resources which heretofore have been neglected. The dye industry will probably soon represent new wealth of the aggregate money value of some s300,- l O00,0OO. That at least was an estimate
 made by some of those who took part in l the recent exposition of the American | chemical industries.
 So, also, science Is teaching methods | by which greater and greater accumula- l ton of wealth can be obtained from hith-
 erto unsuspected properties in coal in coke and in mineral oils
 1 Within another year there will probably | have been created wealth represented
 by the vast fleet of ships which is now
 under construction, in the aggregate far exceeding the appropriation which Con- | gross has made for new ship construc- 1 ton. For, should the war end within
 a year, these ships can be instantly util-
 ized for maintaining and increasing our foreign trade. Without ships in plenty the United States would be badly handi- | capped in the very intense but neverthe- | less peaceful struggle for commercial su- l premacy or equality throughout the world, that will come after the war ends. Joseph B. Pogue, who is in the service of the United States in the division of
 mineral technology, has recently made 1 public references to another source of
 new wealth. made possible through the
 researches oS men of science. which aft