The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-05-13
GOOD FOR TEN-YEAR ERA
 |ND|STR|CT SIX.
Federal Reserve Bank Direc- tors Agree in Optimistic Statements and Hard-
 ing's Guiding Hand

1hCst VI llOiiOI WdS w. ing governor of the federal reserve board Plates were laid for the offi- cers and directors of tic Birmingham banks that are members Of the clear Ing house.
 Prior to the dinner meeting was held of the Sixth district board with Governor Harding in executive ses- sion. at which affairs of the district bank were discussed. It was a stated meeting and was held here incident 10 the visit of Governor Harding to bis home town.
 Following members of the district board were here M. B. wellborn, James A. McCord. chairman of the board; Oscar Newton of Jack son, Miss; Leon C. Simon of New Or leans; J. Fl. McCrary of Decatur. Ga.; w A. Hartford of Nashviile; Lindsay Hopkins of Atlanta; W. H. Ketting ol Birmingham. who Is also chairman of the local branch bank, and John K. Otley of Atlanta.
 Col. Tom O. Smith. vice president of the Birmingham Trust. whose new banking house was visited by the board and highly praised by them, was toastmaster Thomas Bowron. president of the Clearing House as- sociation. was chairman of the com mittee of arrangements. Luncheon was served in a delightfully."- cool din- ing room.
 McCord Optimistic
 MT. McCord said: "The Sixth dis trict contains the second largest dat xxH . T., than any district and among them are two of the largest in the coun- try. We went through two stenuous years, but now we are on terra firma with recovery here. The pro- cess is slow and gradual, but it is sure.
 q have noted with special satisfac- ton this spring that farmers have been buying fertilizer for cash. Our acreage in cotton Is being increased 10 to 15 per cent. If the boil weevil lets us alone We will fare finely and cur grade of cotton will be the best in years. I see an era of 10 years of prosperity ahead. Much of the sue cess with which ws have emerged cut of the depression in good form Is due to the guiding hand of MT. Hard ing.
 OnIy TWO
 We are proud to be able to show there were only two bank failures among member banks of the Sixth district bank since January. 1919. one in Alabama and one in Georgia. One ef these, the Alabama bank. has since paid back In full and the other will do so. The district has a good record and we should be proud of It."
 What Bank Did @a
 MT. wellborn also paid tribute to Mir. Harding as the guiding star or the federal reserve system. The de- pression Is not passing; 1t has passed. The sun of prosperity shines over our district There have been few fail ures Owing to the liquidating or debt by borrowers the reserve of the Sixth district bank has reached Sl ger cent compared with one of l9 per cent That the bank served to US utmost is proven by the fact that IL lent first all it's capital, then all us surplus and reserves and then bor- rowed nearly s5o,o00,ooo of other banks to help the district tide over the difficult period and care for the situation"
 "Most Maligned Man-
 Colonel smith, in introducing MT. Harding. spoke with feeling of his having been the most maligned man in the country" He declared that when the country was at height of it's danger, God in His wisdom had come to Alabama and ge etten the man most needed in the financial crisis then at hand.
 MT. Harding was greeted with cor dial recognition by his friends and associates in former days and sev- eral times in his address referred feelingly to his old home and de- ci red that he would eventually come back here. He gave a graphic de- scription of tho status of this country eight years agu when in the flash of an eye it found itself the mainstay of the allied forces.
 The hour came with a small army and lack of every preparation for war. but the crisis was met through the inherent strength of peace-lov- ine nation Who would have thought" he asked, that we would raise s25, 1000. 100000 in two years? Who could have conceived us in a record space of time furnishing the men. the arms and the food neces- sary to carry on and win that great fight?'
 MT. Harding .hen rapidly went over tne QllIlCdliicS dttSndi . lne rem statement of the machine of peace, which is opposite to that of war. In passing he referred to the flexibil- ity of such terms as shortage of product taken in connect1on with de- mand, showing that demand does not always follow a shortage.
 Banks Are Trustees
 When the crisis arose, the banks of the country had to handle 1t with the money entrusted to them in fi- duciary capacity. The situation was most difficult. In the panic of 1919 loans and discounts ol all the national banks in the country amounted to only s50,000 900. In the two hard years of the post-bellum depression the loans and discounts of the Sixth federal reserve district alone reached $2o0 900, ,000." The officials of the Sixth Federal District bank demon strated their ability to handle q very difficult situation"
 The speaker verified the state- ments of Messrs. McCord and We'll born with regard to status of the Sixth District bank and its services and then made a brief reference to his homo city, which he said is fast taking on a metropolitan aspect"
 He realized that the world was familiar with Birmingham as a pro- ducer of iron and steel products, but he wished 1t knew more about Bir- mingham in what it is with respect to it's schools, In it's social life and in it's home life. Closing he said Bir- mingham's' residential section was the nucleus of one of the most beau tiful in the country.
 MT. Harding and the other visitors were entertained at huffet lunch last night by MT. Harding.