The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-10-08

 William J. Gilpin. who was at the be- ginning of the clearing house year last week re elected manager of the asso- citation, in speaking incidently of the ] annual report which the association i was able to make on October 1, said that it was interesting to know that
 the total transactions for the 12 months
 ending Sepember 30 were nearly equiv i alent to the estimated aggregate wealth of the United States. Some have l estimated the total wealth of the l United States as high as s250, 900 ,000,00 ], but the estimate commonly accepted as l approximately correct fixes the value i of our wealth expressed in dollars at about s2o0, 900, 900 OoO MT. Gilpin was able to point to the figures which re- ported the transactions in the clearing house for 12 months ending September 30 in support of his statement. These figures reach the enormous total of nearly s190000,000 000
 In the brief statistical statement issued by the Clearing House associa- tion is to be discovered, when study is made of the figures, some illustra- tion of the unsurpassed movements that have characterized American finance, industry, commerce and trade in the fiscal year of the clearing house. Clearings alone aggregated little over $180,000, 900, 900 and approximately SIP 600, 100000 were utilized in the set clement of balances Notwithstanding the enormity of the figures, neverthe- less the relation of cash payments to | liquidate balances is approximately the very small average percentage of ball. ances which has been maintained for many years.
 Large as s12,ooO, 100000 is in itself, nevertheless it is comparatively trivial when it is referred to the actual ex- changes which have been made in 12 months in the clearing house. So small | an amount of cash as that was all that l was needed in order to perfect the eN- | changes. This of itself shows to how great an extent exchanges of credit are facilitated through cooperation and how, in mornings hour, the co | ordination into a single unit of the banks of New York city can be accom- plished. Other cities which maintain clearing house associations are able l in this way to illustrate the highly skillful and yet perfectly simple
 methods by means of which the ex- change of commodities and the ex-
 change of credits can be secured. VERY GREAT INCREASE l Another feature discovered in this report is the increase of clearings in | the association's fiscal year just ended over the total clearings for the pre- l vious year. This increase in round num- 1 bers amounts to about $40,000, 900, 900. 1 Tn the early years of the clearing house association it was looked upon as a wonderful thing that 1t was able to report that in the five years that fol- I lowed it's organization the exchanges amounted to little over $30,000, ,000, 900. Now the increase in single year is $10,000,0 100000 greater than that amount.
 1 Undoubtedly this increase Is in part explained by the astounding financing which the war has entailed possibly some of it may be explained by the relation of the banks to the subscrlp- tions made to the first liberty loan. But | 1t is the opinion of the members of the l clearing house that the increase in great measure reflects the remarkable speeding up of American industry due chiefly to the demands made by the government and our allies for war | munitions, equipment and material of all kinds.
 A NATIONAL INSTITUTION l If it were possible to make exhaus- tive analysis of the checks, drafts and other items which were exchanged by
 the Clearing House association in its latest year 1t would undoubtedly be
 shown thereby how truly the New York Clearing House association is a national institution. So far as the city of New York itself is concerned. con sidered merely as an individual munich l pality, the transactions completed Tn l the Clearing House association each I lyear are, relatively speaking. of minor Importance. But these billions of dol l lars reflect not only the extraordinary ] conditions made by war but also nc small part of the agricultural activi- ties of the country, very large part l of the cotton marketing and export, as | we'll as export of metals and the trans 1 actions of the greater industries of the l United States. Ultimately much of the
 negotiable instruments of credit which
 facilitate the exchange of commodities
 find their way directly or indirectly
 through the New York Clearing House
 association.
 ITS INDIRECT AID
 Only in an indirect manner has thu Clearing House association aided tht stupendous transactions of the past 1; months notwithstanding the enormity of many of them, 1t has not been found
 necessary, as in the past it has been