Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1920-12-14
BANK RESOURCES
IN j. s. DOUBLE
WITHIN SIX YEARS
WONDERFUL lNcREAsE NOT ALL
NEW WEALTH, BUT ARISES
PARTLY FROM SAYINGS.
WAR MADE PEOPLE THINK
invested In Liberty Bonds Through
Patriotisrn--Now Buying csrtifi-
Gates, Realizing Value.

invested In Liberty Bonds Through
Patriotism-Now Buying csrtifi-
Gates, Realizing Value.
Some very significant figures have
been given out by the Comptroller OF
the Currency with regard to the ma
tienal banks OF the United States, says
the st. Louis Globe Democrat in its
editorial columns, March 18th.
During the past six years their re-
sources have increased S11, 100000,
being 100 per cent. This is a greater
increase than they made during the
entire previous 81 years of their ex-
istence, continues the Globe.
Those who can carry their minds back
to the period embracing the first 20
years after the establishment of the
national banks during the Civil War
and remember the intense, the almost
fanaticai, opposition to them, and the
prophecies that they would ruin the
country, can now understand what
triumph of far-sighted craftsmanship
their establishment was. They carried
MS through the reconstruction period
utter the war, when, had we con-
banks previously existing, validating
would have wrecked our whole finan-
cial system. They also carried us
through the period OF resumption OF
specie payments, when the greenback
dollar was made equal in value to the
gold dollar by the promise Of the gov
eminent to exchange a gold dollar for
1t on demand, which promise was
claimed but seldom, because of the
confidence the people had in the
financial stability OF the government.
Yet those who passed through those
resumption days and remember the
wild rawlings of the greenbackers can
best appreciate what the national
banks did for the country. They
placed banking on solid foundation.
They upheld the credit Of the country.
They financed the government. They
restored confidence in banks, badly
shattered by the multitude Of failures
in the unregulated state banks of the
period preceding the war and up to
the time necessary war financing led
10 the prohibition of issuance of bills
by such institutions.
In spite of all this, however, the
banking system of the United States
was not satisfactory. There was no
way in which the financial power of
the country could be co-erdinated and
Inassed for national purposes. Banks
were competing instead of pulling to-
gether. For years this weakness was
recognized and efforts made to over
come 1t. During President Taft's ad-
ministration decisive steps were taken
10 frame a banking system for the
country which would assemble the
banking resOurcessin cooperation and
make available for industrial and COM
1nercial use through bank loans the
credit of individuals based upon their
activities.
This resulted in the framing of the
act establishing the Federal Reserve
Bank System, with it's regional and
subordinate banks which became a law
early in President Wilson's admins
tration. This brought together the re-
sources of all the national banks and
Of such other banks as allied them
selves with it and provided the means
for expansion of currency circulation
whenever needed, based upon the in.
dividual credit of citizens thus as
sembled in the banks instead of upon
the credit of the government itself.
This system had scarcely been we'll
established when the hurricane of war
burst upon the world, and because Of ii
the United States weathered the storm
without financial panic or wreckage.
The result has been as given above,
an increase of 100 per cent in national
bank resources during a period of but
six years. This is not a creation OF
new wealth entirely, but an assembling
of the savings of the people in more
tangible and disable form. Great saw
ingS were made to buy bonds and
finance the war, and these show in the
bank resources largely. Great invest
ments were made in new industries
and enterprises, and these also are
shown in the condition of the banks.
We are a great nation of more than
1OO,OO0,OOO of people, and when we
turn en- maSse to economy and saving,
as we did during the war, it takes but
a few dollars each to make a ire
mendous whole. During the last year
this addition to the resources of the
national banks only was $2,67O. 000, coo.
making a total of $a2,711, 37a,OO0. Ii
we We're to add to this the resources
of the state banks the savings banks
and the trust companies, now rendered
secure by state supervision, which in
total considerably exceeds those of the
national banks, we would have a grand
total of banking resources exceeding
$5lO00000,0a0, more than twice our
war debt and one7qparter of the war
debt of the entire world.