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CHANGE THE BANKING LAWS.
Very many inquiries have come to the In
vestigator concerning what should be done in
regard to the financial situation. No one can
doubt that the panic was caused by the bank
ing situation, and efforts should be directed
to amending our banking laws.
These laws were drawn by Wall street
bankers who expected to profit by them. The
whole plan was to force as nearly as possible
all money into Wall street, and that has been
at the bottom of our present difficulties as
well as former disasters. To remedy that,
the following amendments to the law should
be made:
First —The section in regard to usury should
be amended, so that a penalty would be at
tached that would prevent the Wall street
banks from charging and collecting from 20
to 120 per cent interest. The present pen
alty is altogether inadequate.
Second —Banks should be prevented from
depositing their reserves with other banks.
There is abundant profit in banking aside
from drawing interest on reserves.
Third —No officer of a bank should be al
lowed to borrow money from it. The attempt
to do such a thing has every indication of
fraud on the face of it. If an officer of the
bank has the right kind of security he can
borrow money of any other bank as cheaply
as from his own, if he administers his trust
as it should be administered.
Fourth —Greater publicity should be re
quired. A bank is a public institution and
the depositors are really partners in the con
cern, furnishing most of the capital, and
every depositor should have all the privileges
\and rights of a partner. He should have the
right at any time, under proper regulations,
to know the exact condition of the bank, how
much money it has on hand, what are the
nature of its securities and the amount of
loans made to any individual or corporation.
Fisth —To that end every bank should be
forced to display in a conspicuous position
every morning what is known as the “cash
ier’s slip,” which is a statement of the exact
condition of the bank at close of business of
the day before. If such a law was in force,
there would never be a run on a solvent bank.
Sixth —The law should be enforced prohib
iting loans on any security in the nature of
real estate. That business should be carried
on by other concerns. A commercial bank
should handle only such loans as automatical
ly return to the bank. If a business man bor
rows money from a bank when he sells his
goods the money automatically returns. That
is not the case with real estate loans or loans
made on stocks and bonds. Stocks and bonds
are evidence of part ownership in real estate
• and money loaned on them does not auto
matically return to the bank as loans made to
men engaged in commerce.
Such provisions as the above would have
a much more far-reaching effect than would
appear at the first glance, and banks operated
under such regulations would be absolutely
safe, providing that ordinary good judgment
was exercised in making loans.
Hugh McCullough was the best banker that
this country ever had. No bank upder his
THE JEFFERSONIAN.
supervision ever failed. It is said that the
bank over which he presided in Indianapolis
was the only one that did not suspend specie
payments during all the disasters that fol-
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X “H we (the South) begin NOW by supporting HOME INSTITUTIONS
of merit it is naro to estimate the benefit that will accrue from such a policy
egft in the next ten years.”—Richard H. Edmonds,
I Übe Georgia IHome ::
1 Insurance Co. t
* of Columbus, Ga., is a HOME INSTITUTION J
4* ORGANIZED 1859 NEARLY A HALF CENTURY OLD 4-
———— — ■"
2 Total Assets Over One Million Dollars
j Surplus to Policy Holders Over One-Half Million Dollars s£»
X Losses Paid Since Organization Over Five Million Dollars 4*
J Patronize the Georgia Home and Help IT to help YOU Develop X
X the Infinite Resources of Dixie Land. T
1 1111 n 111 " . —~ I —l . ———■!!■■■■ | ■ Mil , 18, I , y(j
AGENCIES THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH X
t• . i
HEALTH IS WEALTH
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ATLANTA. GA.
lowed the breaking out of the civil war. His
principles of banking were perfectly sound,
but he came near wrecking this country be
cause he had false ideas concerning money.
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