Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-09-25
BANKERS URGE NATIONWIDE
THRIFT MOVEMENT TO WIN WAR

peiligerent, the goods and services Of the
oetnserent Governments were definitely in
I,,.sSu Iiesseu oy the sale Of securities through
A',ierlca' or by loans in America
II Is stu possible for the United King
uom TO SELL and for the United States 10
uuy' securities previously held in the United
Nnsdom and the Government Of the
Chi'ed states is, OF course. making large
ati anu hoeral loans to Great Britain and
Ulhefs OF the Allies. But now that the
Cni'eu states Is a belligerent this process
'las become mere transfer Of the COM
,ilahd over goods and services from one bell
iIgerent to another. II does not in itself
Increase the goods and services available
LOT tne Alles, including the United states
IN lighting the war
In other words. now that there ar. scarce
y any neutrals left. the time has come when
ihe war must be paid for out Of new say-
ings, and new savings alone. The citizens
OF the United states can sell securities 10
each other and they can buy securities from,
"reN brtain and France, but in doing So
while they may be assisting greatly in mall
ing the machinery Of finance do its work
,hey are not providing new goods and serv-
Ices for the war,
, me problem for those who are fighting
the battle for freedom and self-Royernment
and the upholdng Of public right i'm the
mOIIu Is 10 bring to bear all their resources
i'''''oit them
70 win the war. These resources cannot
De increased by any juggling of finance.
IL does not matter to the gunner ,yhetber
me smell which he is firing costs half as
% r%luch or twice as much, as it would have
cost in 1918.
What matters is that bc ebo,,tl I,,,-
the she'll" ''o
SAVINGS BANK LOANS
The granting OF loans by savings hanks
on plans which call for the gradual nav
inent OF the principal as well as the in
.eIeSt' SO that the entire debt may be can
Celed IN certain number of wears win Inc
discussed this afternoon by ey.,iovcrnor
Myron T. Herrick. Of Ohio former United
states Ambassador to France who il presi-
uent OF the Society for Savings. Of Cleye-
lahd' .. His address will he followed by
discussion of the subject by Leonard q
fSooihson. president Of the Federal Land
Bank Springfield. Mass
OIher speakers at the afternoon session
VIII be Lawrence Chamberlain, New
York banker who will speak OH Savings
Bank Bonds in War Times" and Or. II. IT.
wheaton specialist in immigrant education.
department Of the Interior who will present
a plan for IAN America first campaign
Tor American savings institutions.
simultaneous afternoon session will
take up the relation of trust companies to
the Federal Reserve banking system
Papers are TO be presented by Franl, w
Blair, president of the Union Trust Com
pany. Detroit and Breckenridge Jones.
president Of the Mississippi Valley Trust
Company, ST. Louis. The attitude of trust
companies toward the Liberty Loans and
the necessity for readjushntnts i'm clerical
forces during the wartime will also be
taken up.
Ranking with the Importance Of the pos
slDle use Of savings bank deposits in the
purchase OF Liberty Bonds are two other
subjects being discussed by the bankers
one is the decision of the Executive Council
Association to appoint three bankers as a
committee to confer With similar commit
tees from the Chamber OF Commerce of the
United states and the National Credit Mems
Association upon ways and means to iuduce
Il wider general use Of trade acccptances as
a means of expanding the commercial credit
OF the business men of the nation.
The other is the effort being made by
smaller banks. particularly those Of the
West, South and Southwest to induce the
association to urge Congress to amend the
Federal Reserve act so that they may con-
tinue to enjoy the privileges of charging
collection fees on their depostors' checks, a
custom which costs jobbers, mail order
houses and firms doing widespread busi-
ness hundreds of thousands of dollars an
nually in the aggre ate
The wider use of the trade acceptance
as negotiable instrument was suggested
last week before the National Chamber of
Commerce convention by =. W. C;oebel
president of the Bankers Association, and,
Of course, his recommendations were
greeted with general approval one
banker here pointed out yesterday that the
wider acceptance of such papers as coll
lateral for loans would release not less than
10 per cent of the capital of Industrial con-
Germs, so that It might be used for the eX-
tension of production. Safeguarded prop
erly. wider acceptance of such paper as Il
basis for extending credit would do nuch
toward providing the capital now so ur-
gently needed by American business to
meet the heavy demands put upon it by the
war