APRIL 30, 1903.
THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT.
THE USELESS DAILIES
Vr. Tu VorhU Showa Hew the- Cmp
troller Abstracts r Reported
Financial Situation Grave
(By mistake Mr. Van Vorhis' letter
was addressed to Lincoln .Indiana,
and reached The Independent too late
for last week's issue.)
Editor IndeDendent: During the
time that intervenes 'between the ab
stracts of the condition of national
banks, issued by the comptroller of
the currency, it Is almost impossible United States deposits 13,090,900,
the loans and discounts are reported
to have been decreased $15,902,900 and
the deposits $20,407,700. The bankers'
surplus was increased $357,025, and
the United States deposits $350,325.
L'uring the week ending March 21,
it 13 reported that loans and discounts
were decreased $12,953,000 and the
deposits $15,479,600. The bankers
surplus wa3 increased $2,156,400, and
United States deposits $2,167,500.
During the week ending March 28,
the loans and discounts are reporte l
to have been decreased $6,948,200 and
deposits $6,422,400. The bankers' sur
plus was increased $3,100,500, and
to eet information from whicn tne
real condition of the New York na
tional banks can be determined.
Since the enactment of the national
bank law in 1863. two additional cen
tral rosfirve cities have been created.
Nevertheless, the New York national
banks are the head and center of the
national , bank combination, and we
must look to that city, and to tne ior
tv-fivA national banks in it,' for indi
cations from which to determine fu
tii re financial conditions.
Tho last, abstract issued by the
During the week ending April 4, it
is reported that the loans and dis
counts were decreased $614,300 ; and
the deposits $5,447,700. - The bankers"
surplus was decreased $4,150,075, and
Unired States .deposits $4,298,025.
.A iring the week ending April 11,
the loans and discounts were de
creased $1,030,400 and the deposits
$3,391,500. The bankers' surplus was
increased $1,610,455, and United States
deposits $1,030,400.
These reports show an' Increase of
"mans and discounts, and of deposits,
eomntroller was of the condition of during the first three weeks of Feb-
. . . T71 I - T i Al - 1 x 1 AA
ruary. uunug ice iasi weeiv ui mai
banks at the close of business on Feb
ruary 6 as reoorted by them. This
was not issued until February 26,
and was not available for informa
tion until some time in March.
It is announced that the comptrol
ler has called for reports of the con
dition of banks at the close of busi
ness on April 9. The abstract of these
renorts called for will probably not be
issued until about the last day Of the
month, and cannot be obtained for
public information before the middle
of May. The official, iniormation wnicu
the public receives is always from 30
to 6 j days old. Press reporters have
earlier access either to the abstracts,
or to the reports to be abstracted, and
mihlish inferences, deductions ana
conclusions long before information is
given out" officially and in a complete
form. When the official abstracts are
month, there was a sharp and sud
den decrease of deposits and prac
tically no increase "of loans. , During
the first week of March, there was a
I'Kirked decrease of both loans ami
deposits, and there has been a con
tinued decrease ever since. The aggre
gate result is. that between February
1 and April 11, the New York clearing
house banks decreased their credits
about $25,000,000 and lost over $35,-
000,000 of their deposits. - - ,
On February 1, these banks held a
bankers' surplus of about $20,000,000;
but, on April 11, it was down to con
siderably less than $4,000,000, and
would have been less than $3,000,000
if the government had not made an
increase of deposit loans to them dur
ing that week. It will be seen, from
the above statements, taken from the
finally given out, the press regards published reports, that the bankers'
them as old news and no mention at
&11 is made of them.
This would not be a serious omis
sion if the earlier press reports were
the thorough consideration of well
understood facts, and were the care
ful analysis made by men possessed
of sufficient knowledge of financial
economics to correctly consider the
farts and make the analysis; As a
rule this is not the case. Most of such
Tenorts are sufficient in themselves
to disclose that they were made with
out sufficient knowledge to make cor-
lect inferences even possible, or with
out sufficient honesty of purpose to
make correct conclusions desirable.
This results, as ought to be expected,
in keeping the public in ignorance of
the real situation.
On every Saturday a report is made
surplus would often have been com
pletely wiped out, if the government
had not made deposits of public funds.
It appears that about February 1
the national banks belonging to the
clearing house held about $38,000,0o
of government money. During the
time between this and the 11th of
April, the deposit loans to them by
the government were reduced to a lit
tle over $13,000,000. Under this state
of facts the condition of the stock
markets is. not difficult to understand.
The secretary of the treasury has
reached the limit of his ability to
give large assistance by deposit loans,
and has been compelled to draw out
about $25,000,G0O of the deposit loans
already made. This limit of ability
is also shown by reference to the
public debt statement for February.
ty the New York clearing house, but, Exclusive of the gold reserve and de
ar, all national banks in tne city are
rot members of it, and some members
of it are not national banks, no cor
rect comparison can be made of the
comptroller's abstracts of the reports
cf national banks with the clearing
bouse reports. It is difficult to make
correct deductions from the clearing
house statements, as their reports ap
pear not to be the condition of the
banks at the close of business on bat
urdav. or any particular day, but to
be reports of averages during each
week. Some approximate Interences
mav be made, however, and some
approximate conclusions be reached
During the week ending February
7, the clearing house banks are re
oorted to have increased their loans
and discounts $20,447,900 and their de
posits $8,401,200. They decreased their
bankers' surplus ?y,3b,iuu ana men
' United States deposits ?9.3o5,50u.
During the week ending February
14. the loans and discounts are re
ported to have been increased $1,-
274,800 and the deposits $12,131,000
During this week there was a de
ctease of bankers' surplus amounting
to $3,016,000 and of United States de
posits $3,009,975.
During the week ending February
21, there is reported to have been
$13,975,000 increase of loans and dis
counts, and $10,909,200 increase of de
posits. There was a decrease of $648,
00 in the bankers' surplus, and in
United States deposits of $6,475,723,
During the week ending February
28, the loans and discounts are re
ported to have been decreased $52,
400 and the deposits $7,012,900. The
bankers' surplus was decreased $3,
089,775, and the United States deposits
$3,089,100.
During the week ending March 7,
It is reported that the loans and dis
counts were decreased $10,563,000 and
the deposits $19,566,700. The bankers'
surplus was decreased $5,284,925, and
United States deposits $5,272,750. Dur
ing this week the surplus of the clear
ing house banks is reported to hava
been down to $666,975;
During the week ending March 14,
posit loans made to national banks,
the statement shows about $75,000,000
said by the statement to be available.
Of this amount $21,900,621.41 is sil
ver bullion that, of course, is not
available until coined, and reduces the
amount of really available money. It
may be safely stated that the amount
of really available money held by
the secretary of the treasury does not
exceed $50,000,000. .
In the face of such facts, it is idle
for New York bankers, or any one
else, to make light of the situation.
Of course, the withdrawal of money,
whether government or individual de
posits, has compelled the banks to
decrease their loans and discounts,
but this they were not able to do with
sufficient rapidity to save the bank
ers' surplus. They are now relying
upon a flow of money from the mid
dle west to replenish their reserves,
and to give them a surplus.
It does not require a very profound
knowledge to understand that there is
danger in the present condition of the
eastern banks, that under the banking
law are the head of the national
banking system.
The banker who talks to a reporter
grandiloquently about , this being the
"greatest country on earth," and about
the "tremendous prosperity" we are
enjoying, and tells us not to worry,
is an ignoramus, or worse.
FLAVIUS J. VAN VORHIS.
Indianapolis, Ind.'
Tlte May Outlook
The May magazine number of The
Outlook contains many noteworthy
portraits of persons prominently be
fore the public just now among oth
ers, one of Mr. Edgar E. Clark, who
is to be the assistant secretary for the
new department of commerce; of
Judge Grosscup, whose recent deci
sions In important cases have at
tracted so much .attention; Mayor
Jones of Toledo, the "man without a
party;" Sargent, the portrait painter,
and President Castro of . .Venezuela.
The special illustrated features of
Ul
PIPfPr
mm U Willi
in
SEASON IS ON
III
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Wagon Paint, per gallon i.ao
Carrivge Paint, per gallon 1.80
Graphite Pdint, per gallon. 90
Shingle !-tain, per gallon 60
. Wood Filler, per gallon 1.25
Oil stains, per gallon... 1.20
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Japan Dryer, per gallon 65
Boiled Linseed OH, Woodman Brand
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this issue are, Mr. Hamilton Wright
Mabie'a "Emerson and Concord,"
with several fine original drawings
by Miss Roberts; Prof. John C. Van
Dyke's "Sargent, the Portrait Paint
er," with several fine reproductions of
Sargent's portrait work; an install
ment of ex-Secretary Long's'The New
American Navy," dealing with the
blockade of Cuba; a particularly pic
turesque and readable account of life
in Venezuela, "The Land of Stand
still." by Mr. James Barnes, who went
to Venezuela as The Outlook's corre
spondent during the recent imbroglio;
a novel paper about "The First Chil
dren's Farm in New York," by Mrs.
Parsons, who planned the interesting
experiment; and an installment of Mr.
Stewart Edward White's charming
out-of-door series of papers called
"The Forest," dealing with canoeing.
Not so very long ago one star anl
one popular down sufliced to fill the
bill with a first-class circus. The
great Adam Forepaugh and Sella
Brothers' circus comes to us on May
15 with twenty-four of the world's
greatest male and female bareback
equestrians and forty of its funnies i
fools. Shades of Jimmy Robinson and
Dan Rice, what a contrast!" The
twenty-four artists referred to appear
simultaneously in three rings, in sin
gle principal end double and quadru
ple somersaults, carrying,- Jockey, hur
dle and travesty acts, and are as not
able for talent as in numbers. In its
other departments the circus with
which they are associated is propor
tionately 6trong.'
if
