Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1934-06-14
GETTING DOWN TO
BRASSTACkS

alton IN the country has come to oul
attention than contained in a speech
BY the Hon. j. F. T. O'Connor
Comptroller of the Currency, made
last Saturday before the Chamber Of
Commerce in Fargo, n. Oak, on the
occasion of a visit by Mr.. O'Connol
TO his home state. Believing that il
would interest readers of the Herald
#e are passing on excerpts of the
address TO you:
The general banking holiday ended
less than Is months ago, but we have
made tremendous progress since then
IN rehabilitating the national banks
of the country. On the day following
the termination of the bank holiday
March 16.. 1933-there were 1.417
national banks throughout the eoun.
Try Which were not permitted to re-
spen because of some impairment or
other In these institutions there
was frozen" S2.207. $4,000 of depos-
ifors funds. By the 1 of June, 1920
of these banks had been either re-
opened and licensed. mergered or
placed IN ~receivership. There were
1850 - 4I1fAElStd utIlOIldi DdnkS
on June 4. 1884. and. of these, 81 per
cent or Ito had approved plans of
reorganization. Such institutions. OF
course. will be reopened just as soon
as the terms q the approyals are
fulfilled. The s9.97S.0 900 tied up In
! unlicensed national banks with dis
Observation-Disclosures plans on
June 4. 1854. represents less than
one-naH OF | per cent of the s 2.207.-
s64,na0 tied up in all unlicensed ma.
flonaI banks on March Is, 1888.
Few people realize the extent to
which the Federal Government has
come TO the aid of the banks of the
tnited States. This has been done.
moi With the idea of e%nriching banks
and bankers. but because the coun-
fry cannot exist without banks and
because assistance extended to these
institutions resulted in the r~estora-
ton OF hope and purchasing power
20 the public. Up to June 2, 1884, the
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
mad made loans and authorizations
10 bank and trust companies amount.
ing TO the enormous total of s2.042..
ghH. 1s1- Made without regard TO
whether the institutions held state
or national charters, these loans and
authorizations were made to both
open and closed banks.
Large as the above figures are.
they do not represent the full extent
OF the assistance received by banks
from the United States Government
The Reconstruction Finance Corpora
ton, up TO June 2. this year. has
authorized capital stock aid to banks
amounting to s1,112,625.070. This as
sIstanee-extended because b nks
can promote recovery by greater
lending for worthwhile urposes If
they have additional capital-was
divided as follows. Leans authorized
BY the Reconstruction Finance Cor
poratiOn on preferred stock of banks.
s36r ID. f50; subscriptions to preferred
sspck of banks. s679, s21, $50; purchase
OF dehentures of banks 1929, 420. 800.
and purchase of capital notes OF
banks. 1855, 667 600. In addition. the
President on October Is, 1893 ap-
pointed a committee to assist the
reconstruction Finance Corporation
III making loans on assets in closed
banks The President had In mind
giving immediate relief to depositors
and total Jams have been authorized
70 aId In the reorganization or liqui-
datiOn of closed banks, both state and
In the sum OF $7S3, 298.OO0.
OF June |. 1884.
The Improvement in general bank
ing conditions throughout the coun-
try. now so apparent, has been large
fE due to the inauguration OF Federal
Dfp0sI Insurance on January /, 1884.
Through the medium of the Temper.
airy insurance Fund, now in effect,
accounts in insured banks are pro
up to a limit of $500 per de-
positOT- Since the insurance became
effective. deposits in all types OF in
sured banks throughout every section
OF the country have been increasing
due to this protection.
boarding has ceased, runs on sol
vent institutions no longer occur. and
best of all, public confidence in banks
has been revived. There are Ia. 983
banks throughout the country which
are enjoying the benefits of deposit
insurance, and 1875 OF these institu.
are in North Dakota. Insured
accounts In the entire United States
number nearly $4,000, 900, whit in
deposits for the entire cul4-rY
are SIS, TO0.9 17 .2s9. For the United
as a whole, the ratio insured
to total deposits is more than Al per
cent
During the first five months OF
operation the Insurance Fund, not a
bank closed its doors. Sincel
then. however. two small, indepen-
Dent banks have encountered difficult
lies. and may prove to be a claim
the Federal Deposit Insurance
However, Ii this proves
% be the case, The Insurance Corpor-
Is prepared to meet promptly
is committed liability to depositors.
The record of no failures OF insured
banks during the first five months OF
1894 represented a pleasing contrast
with the experience of former years. {
the period 1923-1932, inclusive I
no less than 3,745 banks failed In the
United States during the first five /
months of such years alone, involv. |
IHg deposits OF 1926 101 900. Thus |