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PUBLICATIONS
OF THE

NATIONAL MONETARY
COMMISSION

SEPTEMBER 1, 1911

W a»hington : Government Printing Office : 1911




NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.

N elson W . A ldrich, Rhode Island, Chairman.
E dward B. V reeland , New York, Vice- Chairman.
* W illiam B . A llison, Iowa.
Julius 0 . B urrows, Michigan.

E ugene Hale , Maine.
5 Philander G. K nox , Pennsylvania.
T heodore E . B urton , Ohio.
♦John W. D aniel, Virginia.
Henry M. T eller , Colorado.
H ernando D . Money, Mississippi

♦Jesse Overstreet, Indiana.
John W. W eeks, Massachusetts.
R obert W. B onynge, Colorado.
? Sylvester C. Smith, California.
L emuel P. P adgett, Tennessee.
George F. B urgess, Texas.
A rsEn s P. Pujo, Louisiana.
G eorge W. P rince, Illinois.

5 Joseph W . B ailey , Texas,

James McL achlan , California.

f P rank P . F lint, California.
James P. T aliaferro , Florida.

A rthur B. Shelton, Secretary.

B oies P enrose, Pennsylvania
A . P iatt A ndrew ,

♦Deceased.
HResigned.




Assistant ^ Commission.

A ct op May 30, 1908, Creating the National Monetary Commission.
[Sections 17 and 18.]

Sec. 17. That a Commission is hereby created, to be called the “ National
Monetary Commission,” to be composed of nine Membem of the Senate, to
be appointed b y the Presiding Officer thereof, and nine Membere of the
House of Representatives, to be appointed b y the Speaker thereof; and any
vacancy on the commission shall be filled in the same maimer as the original
appointment.

Sec. 18. That it shall be the duty of this commission to inquire into and
report to Congress at the earliest date practicable, what changes are neces­
sary or desirable in the monetary system of the United States or in the laws
relating to banking and currency and for this purpose they are authorized
to sit during the sessions or recess of Congress, at such times and places as
they may deem desirable, to send for persons and papers, to administer
oaths, to summons and compel the attendance of witnesses, and to employ a
disbursing officer and such secretaries, experts, stenographers, messengers,
and other assistants as shall be necessary to carry out the purposes for which
said Commission was created.

The Commission shall have the power,

through subcommittee or otherwise, to examine witnesses and to make such
investigations and examinations, in this or other countries, of the subjects
committed to their charge as they shall deem necessary.




3




PUBLICATIONS OF THE NATIONAL MONETARY COM­
MISSION.
On account of the limited number of copies of these documents which
the National Monetary Commission will have for free distribution, authority
has been given the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C., to
place on sale all publications of the commission.

The prices at which they

can be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents are indicated
after documents which have been issued or are far enough advanced to
permit of the assigning of the price.
Documents already issued w ill be forwarded promptly upon receipt of
application.

The other documents may be ordered in advance, to be

forwarded when issued.
HOW TO REMIT.

Remittances should be made to the Superintendent of Documents,
Washington, D. C., by postal money order, express order, or New York
draft.

If currency is sent, it will be at sender’s risk.

Canadian postal

notes will be accepted only when the name of the issuing office is plainly
stamped on the face of the note.

If postage stamps are pasted on, the note

will be returned.
Postage stamps, coins defaced or worn smooth, foreign money, or uncer­
tified checks positively will not be accepted.
No charge is made for postage on documents forwarded to points in the
United States, Guam, Hawaii, Philippine Islands, Porto Rico, or to Canada,
Cuba, or Mexico.

To other countries the regular rate of postage is charged,

and remittances must cover such postage at the rate of 4 cents for each
100 pages.

I.—MISCELLANEOUS.

A ddress by Senator A ldrich. T he W ork
National Monetary Commission. {29 pages. )
Document 406.®

of

the

Senate

Price, 10 cents.

In this address, delivered before the Economic Club of New York,
November 29, 1909, Senator Aldrich outlines the banking systems
of Great Britain, Germany, and France and explains the methods
b y which for more than half a century these countries have been able
« The Senate documents which appear in this list were issued during
the Sixty-first Congress (1909-10).




5

6

PUBLICATIONS OP NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.
in time of financial stress to prevent any general suspension of banking
institutions.

H e states that it is the purpose of the Commission, after

gathering all the data possible, to present a plan which, without
prejudice to existing banking interests, will, it hopes, secure for this
country the same freedom from disastrous panics as is enjoyed b y
the leading commercial countries of Europe.

Suggested P lan fob Monetary L egislation . B y Senator
Aldrich. (SO pages.) Senate Document 784. Price, 5
cents.
I nterviews

on the

B anking

Currency Systems

and

E ngland, F rance , G ermany , Switzerland ,

(541 pages.)

Senate Document 405.

and

op

I taly .

Price, 55 cents.

Contains interviews held in Europe b y delegates of the National
Monetary Commission with representatives of the leading banks and
financial institutions of England, Scotland, France, Germany, Swit­
zerland, and Italy.

These interviews, preserved in the form of

question and answer, as. stenographicaQy reported, cover the essential
features of banking organization and practice in each of these coun­
tries, enabling the reader to get information at first hand on these
subjects.

Statistics

fob

Great B ritain , G ermany ,

and

F rance ,

1867-1908, prepared by Sir R . H. Inglis Palgrave, F. R . S.,
F. W . Hirst, B . Breslauer, Robert Franz, Albert Aupetit,
and M. Lefevre.
Price, $1.

{354 pages.)

Senate Document 578.

This volume contains a vast amount of valuable data, conveniently
arranged, on banking, money, rates of discount and foreign exchange,
and gold movements in Great Britain, Germany, and France.

For

Great Britain the statistics were collected b y Sir R . H. Inglis Pal­
grave, the veteran authority on English banking, and F. W . H in t,
editor of the London Economist.

For Germany they were collected

b y B. Breslauer, of the Bank A rchiv and Robert Franz of the Deutsche
Oekonomist.

For France they were collected b y Albert Aupetit,

chief of the financial archives of the Bank of France and M. Lefevre,
of the archives of the Credit Lyonnais.

For each of these countries

the banking statistics are the most complete that have ever been pub­
lished.

The record of the Bank of England can b e followed from 1844

to the present time; from 1888 to 1909 the returns of the issue and
banking departments are given weekly.




Statistics of the Reichsbank

PUBLICATIONS OF NATIONAL MONETABY COMMISSION.
and the Bank of France are presented with equal detail.

7

General

statistics illustrating the growth of population, wealth, business, and
commerce are given for each country, enabling the student to compare
the country's banking with its economic development.

T he Credit of Nations and the T rade B alance of the
U nited States . By Francis W . Hirst, editor of The
Economist, and George Paish, editor of The Statist.
{218 'pages.) Senate Document 579. Price, 30 cents.
Mr. Hirst traces the growth of public debts in England, France,
Germany, and the United States, giving special consideration to
the methods of borrowing, of conversion, and of redemption employed
in these countries.

Tables showing the selling price and net yield

of the bonds of various governments in recent decades are given for
the purpose of comparing the relative credit enjoyed b y each.
Throughout the study the author explains the various influences
which have from time to time affected the value of the government
bonds of the several countries.

Local as well as national debts are

considered.
Mr. Paish explains the various factors entering into the trade
balance of countries, such as investments of capital and interest
payments, freight charges, tourist expenses, and remittances to
friends.

He then analyzes the factors making up the balance of

indebtedness of the United States, showing why this country should
normally export more merchandise than it imports.

An explanation

of the phenomenon of gold imports and exports leads to the sug­
gestion that the United States would be relieved to a large extent of
the financial distress often felt in the crop-moving season if she could
rely upon the assistance of an influential institution like the Bank of
England in keeping up the country's stock of gold.

F iscal Systems of E ngland, F rance , G ermany , and the
U nited States . By J. O. Manson, Chief of Division of
Accounts, Redemption, and Issues. {86 pages.) Senate
Document 403. Price, 15 cents.
A report upon the manner of appropriating, receiving, handling,
and disbursing public moneys in the several countries, based upon
personal investigation in Europe by Mr. Manson.

Attention is given

to the assistance rendered by the banks in the fiscal operations of the
various countries.




8

PUBLICATIONS OP NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.

Notes on the P ostal Savings-B ank Systems of the
L eading Countries. (128 pages.) Senate Document
658. Price, 25 cents.
Contains a large amount of material, carefully arranged, on the
postal savings-bank systems of various countries.

For the United

Kingdom, Canada, France, Italy, Belgium, Russia, Netherlands,
Austria, Hungary, Sweden, and Egypt an account of the history and
organization of the system has been given which has furnished the
material for a comprehensive chart, enabling one readily to compare
the most important features in the postal savings-bank systems of
these countries.

Numerous statistical tables are included in the

volume.
ARTICLES.

T he D iscount System

(43 pages.)

in

E urope .

B y Paul M. W arburg.

Senate Document 402.

Price, 10 cents.

Mr. Warburg lays down as a general principle of sound banking that
“ only that structure is safe and efficient which provides for effective
concentration of cash reserves and their freest use in case of need
and enables the banks, when necessary, to turn into cadi a maximum
of their assets with a minimum of disturbance to general conditions.”
This principle, he finds, is observed b y the European b anking sys­
tem, which, b y the use of the bank-accepted bill instead of the
promissory note, has created an asset commanding the broadest
possible market.

The relation of the central bank to the discount

market, Mr. Warbuig points out, is that b y carefully guarding the
cash reserve of the country the bank always stands ready to lend
accommodation to the .nonreserve banks.

But for the existence of

such prime security as the bank-accepted bill the ability of the central
bank to lend assistance would b e much restricted.
B ank

A

B y Lawrence^ Merton Jacobs.
Senate Document 569. . Price, 5 cents.

cceptan ces.

pages.)

(SO

This article gives a description of the European practice of bor­
rowing b y means of bank acceptances and a critical analysis of its
effects.

The author is of the opinion that the European practice

of permitting bankB to accept time bills of exchange, thereby creating
a supply of first-clasB paper, uniform in quality, has made possible
the development of the great public discount marketB of London,
Paris, and Berlin.




The failure of our national banking law to pro

PUBLICATIONS OF NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.

9

vide for such acceptances he holds, on the other hand, responsible
for the nonexistence of a discount market in New York, for the
instability of the money rate in this country, and for the disadvantage
under which our exporters and importers labor in the matter of
foreign exchange.

American banks also suffer through their ina­

bility to place their surplus funds in an investment which is safe,
remunerative, and easily liquidated, an opportunity which Mr.
Jacobs believes the bank-accepted bill would offer.

II.—UN ITED STATES.

Statistics for the U nited States, 1867-1909. Conipiled by A. Piatt Andrew. (282 pages.) Senate Docu­
ment 570. Price, 55 cents.
.

Contains general statistics illustrating the growth of population,
wealth, business, and commerce, statistics of banks and banking,
of money, gold supply, foreign and domestic exchange, government
receipts and expenditures, bond issues and bond quotations, govern­
ment cash balances, gold holdings, and deposits with the banks.
These figures have been collected from different departments of the
Government, from state bank supervisors and managers of clearing
houses, from many financial journals, and by special inquiry from the
banks of the country.

Special R eport
1909.

from the

(90 pages.)

B anks

of the

U nited States ,

Senate Document 225, Parts 1 and 2.

Price, 30 cents.
Contains tables based on special reports obtained for the Mone­
tary Commission by the Comptroller of the Currency and the state
bank supervisors from 22,491 banks of the United States, including
national, state, savings, and private banks and loan and trust com ­
panies, showing their condition at the close of business April 28,1909,
with the number of depositors, rates of interest paid upon various
classes of deposits, etc.

L aws

U nited States Concerning Money , B ank ­
ing , and L oans , 1778-1909. Compiled by A. T. Huntingof the

ton, Chief of Division of Loans and Currency, United
States Treasury, and Robert J. Mawliinney, law clerk,
5924— 11------ 2




10

PUBLICATIONS OP NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.

office of the Solicitor of the Treasury.
Senate Document 580.

(884 pages.)

Price, 70 cents.

This compilation contains all of the federal laws pertinent to these
O bjects which have been passed sinee the institution of the Federal
Government.

It is divided into four parts: Finance, Banking,

Coinage, and Paper fodhey, and hfcs been edited with marginal
summaries, references, explanatory notes, and a very complete
index.

D igest

State B
L aws . B y Samuel A. W elldon.
(746 pages.) Senate Document 353. Price, 70 cents.
of

This volume contains a summary of the laws actually current in
the various States with regard to state banks, trust companies, and
savings banks.

The statutes are systematized as far as possible under

the head of each State b y division under three general groups—state
bankB, savings barikS, and trust companies.

Under each of the three

groups the following twelve subheads appear:
I. TerriiB of Incorporation—including capital, dividends, surplus,
etc.
I I . Likbilitiefe and duties of stockholders and directors.
I II. Supeirvisidii, including reports and examinations.
IY . Reserve requirements.
V . Discount, loan, and sometimes deposit restrictions.
V I. Investments.
V II.

Overdrafts.

V III . Branches.
I X . Occupation of the same building.
X . Unauthorized banking, savings banking, or trust-company
business.
X I . Penalties.
X II.

Depositors* guaranty system.

T he F irst and Second B anes op the U nited States .
B y Dr. J. T . Holdsworth, of the University of Pittsburg,
and Dr. Davis R . Dewey, of the Massachusetts Institute
o f Technology. (811 ■pages.) Senate Document 571.
Pride, 30 cents.
Doctor Holdsworth examines all available materials concerning the
organization, practices, and history of the First Bank of the United
States.

H e gives special attention to its relations to the Government,




PUBLICATIONS OF NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.

11

stating that its affairs were administered in the main with an eye
single to business and profit and that it never became embroiled in
political controversies.
Doctor Dewey has likewise made an exhaustive study of the Second
Bank of the United States, describing its organization, development,
and experiences.

He declares that the conditions under which the

Second Bank developed were so different from those existing to-day
that “ it is difficult to find in the experience of this institution any
lessons of importance which may be of special service in the prepara­
tion of a plan for a national central bank at a later period, when busi­
ness methods have been transformed by the railroad, the telegraph,
and by the development of corporate enterprise, to say nothing of
the change in banking law through the general substitution of national
supervision for state control.”

State B anking B efore the Civil W ar . By Dr. Davis R.
Dewey, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and
Dr. Robert E. Chaddock, of the University of Pennsyl­
vania. {888 pages.) Senate Document 581. Price, 50
cents.
Doctor Dewey traces from original documents the organization
and growth of the banking systems of the several States in the period
when note issue was allowed, describing both legal provisions and
actual practice.

The scope of the study is very broad, covering

such subjects as the paying in of capital, the distribution of stock,
the length of charter, scope of business, note issue and redemption,
system of voting, liability of directors and of stockholders, branches,
loans and discounts, deposits, and reserve.

Of particular interest

is the description of the evils arising from a depreciated note issue
and of the methods adopted by the banks of New England and of
New York to secure redemption.
Doctor Chaddock has made use of all available material in writing
a history of “ The safety-fund banking system in New York State,
1829-1866.“

Banks chartered under this system were required to

contribute to a fund held for the guaranty of their combined note
issues.

All went well, the author relates, until the banking failures

of the early forties, when the fund proved inadequate on account of
imperfections in the original law.

Though these were remedied as

time went on, the fund was already too heavily mortgaged to the
past to render effective service in its later years.




12

PUBLICATIONS OF NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.

State Banks and T rust Companies since the P assage of
the National-B ank A ct. By Dr. George E. Barnett, o f
Johns Hopkins University. (S66 pages.) Senate Docu­
ment 659. Price 45 cents.
Doctor Barnett has made a critical study of the development of
state banks and trust companies since the' civil war, pointing out the
direction of the growth and analyzing the conditions and forces
which have determined it.. In Part I, the author has summarized
state bank and trust company legislation under the head of capital,
liability of stockholders, restrictions on discounts and loans, reserves,
branch banks, and supervision.

State banks, which did not begin

to recover until after 1870 from the prohibitive tax imposed upon
their circulation by the law of March 3, 1865, have at the pres­
ent time essentially the same powers except in the matter of
note issue as they exercised before the civil war.

Trust com ­

pany legislation shows two main tendencies, the elimination of
the insurance powers, w hich the institution at first enjoyed, and
the development of banking privileges.

Doctor Barnett finds,

moreover, a recent strong tendency to make the provisions of the
banking law apply not to banks or trust companies as such, but
to certain classes of business, whether carried on by banks or by
trust companies.
In Part II, devoted to a study of the growth of state banks
and trust companies, the author discusses the relative advantages
enjoyed by these institutions as compared with those enjoyed by
national banks, seeking in this manner to explain particularly the
very rapid growth of the state banks in the South and West.
Detailed statistics will be found in the appendix.

B ank L oans

and

Stock E xchange Speculation .

By

Dr. Jacob H. Hollander, of Johns Hopkins University.
(In preparation.) Senate Document 589.
An examination of the relations in this country as compared with
conditions abroad.




PUBLICATIONS OP NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.

13

T he Origin of the National B anking System . By
Andrew MacFarland Davis. {2Jfi pages.) Senate Docu­
ment 582. Parts 1 and 2. Price, 30 cents.
The author has made a study from original manuscripts of the
motives which led to the creation of the national-bank system.
The hopeless condition of our currency in 1860, the necessities of
the war, the gradual development of Secretary Chase’s plan, the
securing of Senator Sherman’s aid in the final passage of the bill,
the slow progress of the national-bank system until the passage of
the act of March 3, 1865, laying a tax of 10 per cent on the circula­
tion of state banks—these steps in the establishment of our nationalbank system are all carefully traced. The prevailing motive in the
mind of Secretary Chase was, according to the author, his “ desire
to secure a uniform currency which should be more controllable
than would government notes emitted for the same purpose.

His

method of obtaining this currency brought with it the benefit to the
market for bonds, the securing of depositories and fiscal agents, and,
above all, the guaranty that in the future there should be no banks
capable of furnishing credit to revolting States.”

H istory of Crises under the National B anking System .
By Dr. O. M. W . Sprague, of Harvard University. (484
pages.) Senate Document 538. Price, 50 cents.
This volume contains the most complete summary which has yet
been prepared of the experiences of banks in the great crises of 1873,
1884,1893, and 1907.

In addition to a careful analysis of the banking

and financial history of these events the author also presents in an
appendix several of the most authoritative articles which have here­
tofore been written on these subjects by Secretaries of the Treasury
and Comptrollers of the Currency and by such specialists as Mr. A. D.
Noyes, of the New York Evening Post, and Dr. A. Piatt Andrew,
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

The lesson to be drawn from

the panic of 1907, in the opinion of the author, is the need of ener­
getic united action at such times.

“ Somewhere in the banking sys­

tem of a country there should be a reserve of lending power, and
it should be found in its central money market.

A bility in New

York to increase loans and to meet the demands of depositors for
money would have allayed every panic since the establishment of
the national banking system.”




14

PUBLICATIONS OP NATIONAL MONETARY .COMMISSION.

T he U se op Credit I nstruments in P ayments in the
U nited States . B y Dr. David Kinley, of the University
of Illinois, (j888 pages*) Senate Document 399. Price,
25 cents.
This statistical study, based on a special report obtained b y the
Commission from all national banks as to the relative use of coin,
paper currency, and credit instruments, shows the preponderant
extent to which checks and other “ credit instruments” take the
place of cash in the ordinary business of the country.

Doctor Kinley

concludes that from 80 to 85 per cent of the total business of the
United States is done b y the. use of credit instruments—from 50 to
60 per cent in the case of retail trade and over 90 per cent in the case
of wholesale trade.

In the transaction of so large a volume of our

business b y checks he finds an element of danger in times of mone­
tary stringency.

“ In such times the uncanceled balance of credit

transactions creates a larger demand for money, but the habit of
settling b y check has meantime kept the available amount of money
at a minimum.

Consequently there ought to be some means of

supplying additional currency when credit as a means of payment
diminishes.

This currency ought to be as safe and as uniform as

the ordinary currency, and it should b e capable of being quickly
emitted and recalled.

That is, it should possess elasticity.”

T hes I ndependent T beasuby System

op

the

U nited

States and its R elations to the B anks op the
Country . B y Dr. David Kinley, of the University of
Illinois. (870 pages.) Senate Document 587. Price, 45
cents.
In this volume, which is a revision and continuation of his earlier
work, Doctor K inley follows the policy of the Treasury with regard
to the keeping of the public funds throughout its history—its employ­
ment at the outset of the First and Second Banks of the United States
and of the state banks as depositories, its absolute divorce from the
banks from 1847 to 1864, and its gradual return to their use since the
establishment of the national banking system.

A study of the actual

working of the Independent Treasury system and of the policies which
Secretaries of the Treasury have followed in their attempts to relieve
the money market leads Doctor K inley to the conclusion that the
harm done b y the system is greater than the good.

He believes that

the advantages of occasional assistance in time of crisis are more than




PUBLICATIONS OF NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.

15

offset b y the continued disturbance to the money market resulting
from the action of the Independent Treasury in periodically withdraw­
ing and then disbursing a large part of the country's circulating
medium.

^

Seasonal V ariations in the D emands for Cu r r e n t
and Capital . B y Dr. Edwin W . Kemmerer, of Cornell
University.

(517 'pages.)

Senate Document 588.

Price,

60 cents.
This statistical study is based upon data for the period 1890-1908,
so far as data for this period are available, obtained, in part, from
clearing-house associations, from individual bankers, and from
public officials, and also, in part, compiled from government re­
ports and from financial journals.

A study of tables giving interest

rates, bank loans, deposits, and reserves, domestic exchange rates
and interior currency shipments, foreign exchange rates, and the
movement of gold, has enabled the author to determine the regu­
larity and extent of seasonal variations in the demand for money.
Statistics concerning the volume of various kinds of money in cir­
culation and the course of bank clearings are used b y Doctor K em ­
merer for the purpose o f determining the degree to which our cur­
rency and credit system responds to these seasonal fluctuations.
He finds no evidence of elasticity in the currency system of this
country—no inclination to expand and contract as the demand
for moneyed capital increases or diminishes.

Deposit currency, or

check circulation, as shown b y the clearings, is, however, in Doctor
Kemmerer’s opinion, the one truly elastic element among our media
of exchange.

A study is also made of the relation of seasonal varia­

tions to prices, to business failures, and to panics.
The volume contains an elaborate compilation of index numbers
for the various subjects considered, and many diagrams.

Clearing H ouse Methods and P ractices. By J. G.
Cannon, vice-president of the Fourth National Bank,
New York.
45 cents.

(SS5 pages.)

Senate Document 491.

Price,

This monograph, which is a continuation of Mr. Cannon's earlier
work, offers much new material in regard to clearing houses.

The

account of the devices adopted during the panic of 1907 to tide over
the deficiencies in our currency system gives the book special




16

PUBLICATIONS OP NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.
interest.

A description of the clean ng-house system, a history of the

clearing-house loan certificates issued in times of panic, chapters on
the clearing houses of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, and
St. Louis, and mi account of recent developments in the field have
been included i5y Mr. Cannon in this study.

The frequent use of

cuts to illustrate banking devices w ill be found of great value to the
general reader.

Mr. Cannon finds a tendency, very marked in recent

years, to include within the legitimate field of clearing houses all
questions affecting the material welfare of the banks and the com­
munity as a whole. H e devotes much attention to this subject, giving
an account of such growing practices as the fixing of uniform rates of
interest on deposits, of uniform rates of exchange, and of uniform
charges on collections, and the appointment of special clearing-house
bank examiners.
S u g g ested Ch a n g es

in

N a t io n a l B a n k in g L

ment 404.

Adm

in is t r a t iv e

aw s.

F eatu res

(874 pages.)

op th e

Senate Docu­

Price, 40 cents.

This volume contains the replies of representative bankeretoaeircular letter of inquiry sent out September 26, 1908, to all national
banks, and also the statements made, on the same subject b y prom­
inent bankers and government officials appearing before the Com­
mission on December 2 and 3,1908.
The Commission sought light on such questions as the advisability
of subjecting bank examiners to civil-service rules, of providing a
force of assistant examiners to work in cooperation with examiners in
the larger places, of permitting any officer to borrow from his own
bank, of amending the law so as to prevent the operation of another
banking institution in the same building with a national association,
and of increasing the lim it to the number of small bills a bank may
issue.




PUBLICATIONS OF NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.

17

ARTICLE.

H istory of the N ational B ank Currency . By A. D.
Noyes, financial editor of the New York Evening Post.
{20 pages.) Senate Document 572. Price, 5 cents.
In tracing the history of our national-bank currency, Mr. Noyes
explains the causes of changes in the volume of circulation and
considers whether the system has been responsive to the periodic
changes in the demands of business.

He finds that the provision

requiring the deposit of government bonds as security for notes
issued has made the volume of bank-note circulation not only
inelastic, but very apt to move in a way opposite to the demands
of trade.

During the later eighties, a period of business activity,

increasing revenues gave the Government a surplus to use in the
purchase of bonds.
circulation.

The banks sold their bonds and reduced their

During the depression of the early nineties a govern­

ment deficit led to bond issues and an increasing national-bank
currency.

The inability of the note issue to contract after the panic

of 1907 is also emphasized by the author.

III.—CAN AD A.

T he H istory
ridge.

of

B anking

{810 pages.)

in

Canada .

By R. M. Brecken-

Senate Document 332.

Price, 30

cents.
This volume, replete with facts and statistics showing the growth
and present condition of the Canadian banks, is a continuation of
Mr. Breckenridge’ s earlier volume published some twenty years ago.
The author traces the development of banking in Canada from the
earliest efforts to introduce the practice into the British North Ameri­
can Provinces in the eighteenth century to the most recent banking
legislation of 1908.

The monograph gains importance from the fact

that the Canadian banking system, with its highly developed organi­
zation of branch banking, its large freedom of note issue, and its cir­
culation-redemption fund has for many years attracted attention in
this country.




18

PUBLICATIONS OP NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.

B y Dr. Joseph French
Johnson, of New Y ork University. (191 pages.) Senate
Document 583. Price, 30 cents.

T h e C a n a d ia n B

a n k in g

System .

In this study, based upon personal investigations made b y the
author in Canada, Professor Johnson gives an account of the present
banking practices of the Dominion.

Attention is also given to

Canada’s economic development, which, the author believes, has
been promoted in no small degree b y the excellence of her banking
system.

Special attention is given to Canada’s bank-note issue,

which, unprotected b y the deposit of securities, has, in Professor
Johnson’s opinion, proved entirely safe and# has given Canadian
currency that elasticity which is so much to be desired.

He ascribes

the strength of Canadian banking to this elastic quality of her note
circulation and to the solidarity or unity of her system.

I nterviews o n the B anking and Currency Systems o p
Canada . (219 pages.) Senate Document 584. Price, 25
cents.
This volume preserves in the form of question and answer the
result of interviews held b y a subcommittee of the National Monetary
Commission with leading Canadian bankers.

The investigation

brings out many facts as to thq aptuaj \yorlpng of the Canadian bank­
ing fystem, particularly ^ ith regard to the subject of note issue.
Questions relating to the currency of the Dominion have been
answered b y the office of the Canadian Minister of Finance.

IV.—ENGLAND.
T h e E n g l is h B a n k in g S y s t e m .

B y Hartley Withers, Sir

R. H. Inglis Palgraye, and others.
Document 492. Price, 35 cents.

(294 pages.)

Senate

This volume contains a study, entitled “ The English Banking
System ” b y Hartley Withers, one b y Sir R . H . Inglis Palgrave
on “ The History of the Separation of the Departments of the Bank
of England,’ ’ and one b y Robert Martin Holland on “ The London
Bankers Clearing House.’ ’

Mr. Withers gives a description of the

mechanism of the London money market in its relation to the Bank
of England, the joint-stock banks, and the discount houses.

He

enumerates the distinctive functions of the Bank of England and




PUBLICATIONS OF NATIONAL MONETABY COMMISSION.

19

explains the methods it employs in fulfilling its obligations to the
English banking world.

Sir R. H. Inglis Palgrave traces the motives

which led to the separation of the departments of issue and banking
and gives statistical tables and the opinions of various authorities
as evidence bearing on the working of the system.

Mr. Holland

follows the evolution of the London clearing house from its rude
beginnings in the eighteenth century to the highly developed organ­
ization of to-day, giving an account of the present working of the
system.

H istory of the B ank of E ngland. By Eugen Philippo­
vich von Philippsburg; with an Introduction by H. S.
Foxwell, of the London School of Economics. (SOI pages.)
Senate Document 591. Price, 40 cents.
It surveys the development of banking in England, with especial
reference to the history of the relations between the Bank of Eng­
land and the Government.

This volume is a translation of a new

and especially revised edition of a scholarly work whieh has been
familiar to German students of banking for several years.
V .—F R A N C E .

Evolution of Credit and B anks in F rance . By Andr6
Liesse, professor in the Conservatoire National des Arts
et Metiers.

{267 pages.)

Senate Document 522.

Price,

25 cents.
This monograph contains a review of the manner in which the Bank
of France has attained the dominating position which it occupies in
French finance and an account of its relations to the joint-stock banks.
Professor Liesse takes up the evolution of banking in France in three
periods, from 1800 to 1848, when the business of the Bank of France
was restricted largely to Paris; the period from 1848 to 1875, when the
bank became truly a national institution b y the absorption of the
departmental banks of issue, b y its aid in the extension of the railway
network, and by its masterly conduct of the negotiations for the pay­
ment of the great war indemnity to Germany; and from 1875 to the
present time, a period in which the Bank of France has become a
center of gold supply not only for the great system of joint-stock banks
in France but also for the London money market.

B y making loans

of gold to the Bank of England and more recently b y the liberal dis­
counting of foreign paper the Bank of France has made itself an




20

PUBLICATIONS OP NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.
important factor in the international market.

The monograph gives

particular attention to the developm ent of the great joint-stock banks
and the part they have played not only in developing French indus­
tries bu t also in placing abroad French savings to the amount of over
thirty-odd billions of francs.
The B

ank op

F rance

in

it s

R

e l a t io n

to

N a t io n a l

and

B y Maurice Patron. And an
article on French Savings, by Alfred Neymarck, editor of
Le Rentier. {181 pages.) Senate Document 494. Price,
I n t e r n a t io n a l

C r e d it .

20 cents.
M. Patron shows how the Bank of France acts essentially as a public
institution, pursuing the essential objects of building up and pro­
tecting the national gold reserve rather than seeking profit for its
shareholders.

W ith its $700,000,000 in gold it has become, in the

opinion of the author, practically the reserve reservoir of gold for the
financial world.

M. Patron describes the support which the bank

has given to foreign money markets at various times, especially in
the crisis of 1907.

He discusses the suggestion of Signor Luzzatti,

formerly Italian minister of finance, in regard to an international
agreement between banks of issue and government treasuries for
mutual support.

From such ah agreement, M. Patron believes,

France, financially the strongest country, would have little to expect
from abroad, while it would find its aid urgently solicited at the least
alarm among its neighbors.

The bank’s reserve, he concludes, affords

not only an insurance against crises, but also, because of the financial
strength it gives to the French Nation, the surest guaranty against the
recurrence of great wars.

M. Neymarck gives an account of the

enormous annual savings of the French people and of the great sup­
port these have given to the Bank of France and to French credit.




PUBLICATIONS OP NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.

21

T he H istory and M ethods op the P aris B ourse. By
E. Vidal, editor of La Cote de la Banque et de la Bourse.
(276 pages.) Senate Document 573. Price, 30 cents.
In this monograph M. Vidal, traces the development of the French
money market, describes the organization of the Paris Bourne, ex­
plaining in great detail its methods and regulations, and considers
its influence upon French credit.

In France the profession of

stockbroker is a monopoly, the Bourse consisting of a limited number
of individuals appointed by the State with the sole right to negotiate
government and certain other securities.

Throughout its existence

the Bourse has fought for the abolition of the curb, which, growing
up outside of it, has dealt in securities not under the monopoly of
the Bourse and, by toleration of the Government, in French rentes, as
well.

The competition of the curb, in the opinion of the author,

has secured for the French money market many necessary liberties,
not at first enjoyed.

He thinks, however, that its functions could

be still more efficiently performed if the profession of stockbroker
were made entirely free.

VI. —GERMANY.

T he R eichsbank, 1876-1900.
ment 408.

($62 pages.)

Senate Docu­

Price, 35 cents.

This volume is a translation of a work published in Germany under
the auspices of the Reichsbank in 1900, upon the occasion of the
twenty-fifth anniversary of that institution.

It relates the circum­

stances under which the bank was established, describes the organi­
zation of the institution, and follows its operations through the first
quarter century of its history.

Of special interest is the account of

its relations with the other banks, and the services which it renders to
them, and the means which it has adopted to build up its gold reserve.
Much attention is also given to the provisions of note issue, wherein
Germany sought the safety of her bank notes without impairing their
elasticity.

Notes may be issued without a covering of cash in excess

of the legally stipulated maximum only upon payment of a 5 per
cent tax to the Government.

All circulation not covered b y cash

must be covered by discounted bills, and the note issue can in no
event be more than three times the cash reserve.




22

PUBLICATION'S OP NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.
I m p e r ia l B a n k in g L a w s . Edited by Dr. R.
K och, former president of the Reichsbank. (880 pages.)
Senate Document 574. Price, 35 cents.

G erm an

The laws given in this volum e include the original bank act of
March 14, 1875, which brought unity out of the heterogeneous mass
of notes and banking systems of different types in Germany, and the
subsequent laws b y which the charter of the Reichsbank has been
amended at intervals of ten years.

Among the latter are included

the law of June 1, 1909, which resulted from the special inquiry
instituted b y the German Imperial Government during the year
1908.

In an introduction to the compilation Doctor Koch traces

the development of Germany’s monetary and banking system,
showing how the Reichsbank has come to be the stronghold for the
credit of the country.

The tex t of the laws and regulations govern­

ing stock-exchange operations in Germany, which have attracted
so much attention in recent years, has also been included in the
volume.

The use of copious notes and the addition of an index to

the banking laws much increase the usefulness of the work.
T he
in

Great

G erm an

C o n n e c t io n

B anks

w it h

th e

and

E

C o n c e n t r a t io n

t h e ir

c o n o m ic

D

evelopm en t

(1,050 •pages.)

B y Dp. J. Riesser.
Document 593. Price, $1.00.
Gebm any.

of

Senate

This monograph is the third edition, completely revised and
enlarged, of a work fiifet published in 1905.

The author, a distin­

guished German banker and financial authority, traces the growth
of the large joint-stock banks of Germany from 1848 to the present
time, and also describes this economic development of the nation
in so far as this development exercised a determining influence on
the growth of Germ&n banking.

In

the introductory chapter

Doctor Riesser lays down the many and important tasks which
Germany looked to her banks to perform, and shows how the banks
have rendered effective Service in the development of the economic
forces of the nation.

The capital for the large-scale enterprises of

the last century; Doctor Riesser holds, could only have been obtained
b y the creation of great financial institutions, the joint stock banks,
which made stock issuing and flotation in Germany a part of the
regular banking business.

The monograph not only treats the sub­

ject of banking development in a general way, but devotes atten­
tion to the separate history of each of the great banks.
banking statistics w ill be found in the appendix.




Valuable

PUBLICATIONS OF NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.

23

(478

M iscellaneous A rticles on G erman B anking .
pages.) Senate Document 508. Price, 50 cents.
This volume contains the following articles:

I. T he Statistical H istory op the German B anking Sys
tem, 1888-1907.

By Robert Franz, editor of Der Deutsche

Oekonomist, Berlin.

II. T he Organization op Credit and Banking A rrange­
ments in

Germany. By Geh. Oberfinanzrat Waldemar

Mueller, director of the Dresdner Bank, Berlin.
III. T he Method of Payment by Means op B ank-A ccount

T ransfers and the Use op Checks in Germany.

By

Max Wittner and Siegfried Wolff.
IV. Director’ s F ees in Germany.

By Dr. Carl Melchior.

V. T he Land-Mortgage A ssociations (L andschapten). By
Dr. J. Hermes.

VI. A gricultural I mprovement B anks (L andeskultubR entenbanken). By Dr. J. Hermes.
V II. T he G erman Savings B anks .

By Dr. Seidel.

V III. T he H istory of Savings B anks in Germany.

By B.

Breslauer.
IX . T he State and Communal Savings Bank L egislation
op

R ecent T imes. By Dr. Robert Schachner.

X . T he P reussische Central-Genossenschafts-K asse, ob
Prussian Central B ank for Cooperative Societies.
By C. Heiligenstadt.
X I. Cooperative Credit Societies (R aipfeisensche Dar lehnskassenvereine).

By Hans Cruger.

X I I . Special-L oan Banks (D arlehnskassen).

By W. Lotz.

T he G erman B ank I nquiry of 1908. Stenographic Re­
ports. (Vol. I, 1,162 pages.) Senate Document 407.
Price, 90 cents. ( Vol. 11, 886 pages.) Price, 80 cents.
These volumes contain stenographic reports of the proceedings of
the German Bank Inquiry Commission of 1908.

The commission

consisted of 25 members and was a thoroughly representative body,
including leading bankers, merchants, landed proprietors, and pro­
fessors of political science.

They took evidence from nearly 200

authorities and they themselves engaged in a discussion.

It is this

discussion upon the six questions laid before them which will be found




24

PUBLICATIONS OF NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.
in these two volumes, the first five being considered in Volume I,
the sixth in Volume II .

The questions which were made the basis

of the proceedings of the commission were, in part, as follows:
I. Is an increase of the capital of the Reichsbank desirable?

If

so, in what measure?
II. Is it desirable that the tax-free note contingent be increased?*
If so, in what measure?
• I I I . What means are available to the Reichsbank for promoting the
drawing of gold from foreign countries, and for obstructing the
outflow of gold to foreign countries?
IV i Is it desirable to endeavor to bring about an increase of the cash
holdings of the Reichsbank out of the channels of domestic
trade?
A. B y conferring upon the notes of the Reichsbank the quality
of legal tender?
Would such a measure be to the interest of general business?
B. B y an increased issue of 50-mark and 20-mark Reichsbank
notes?
C. B y diminishing the need of circulating media through exten sion and intensification of the deposit and transfer (giro)
check and clearing system?
V. Is it desirable to take into consideration a diminution of the
demands on th e.Reichsbank:
A . Through a diminution of the credit-demands of business,
especially at the quarterly periods?
What measures might be taken to cause a spreading out of
the quarterly requirements b y altering the time of pay­
ments (mortgage payments, salaries, rents) which tradi­
tionally fall due on the first day of the quarter?
Would it be desirable to enhance the cost of obtaining money
from the Reichsbank on collateral security, at the close of
the quarter, b y increasing the number of days for which
interest is charged?
I}. Through a diminution of the credit demands of the Imperial
Government?




Is it desirable for this purpose— •

1. To endeavor to increase the working resources of
the Imperial Treasury?
2. To change the methods in use in the giving out of
Imperial Treasury bills?

And if so, how?

PUBLICATIONS OF NATIONAL MONETABY COMMISSION.

25

V I. Does it seem warranted in the public interest (and upon what
grounds) to take care, by way of legislation, of the security
and fluidity of the investment of deposits and savings?
What measures to this end should be taken under consideration
and what effects might be expected from them?
In particular, would a provision of law be desirable that should
impose on those institutions (banks, cooperative institutions,
and savings banks) that undertake to receive deposits the
obligation—
1. With reference to the covering of these moneys, to
subject themselves to fixed regulations guaranteeing
not only security but also fluidity?

If so, what

should these regulations be?
2. To make and publish, within definite periods of time,
detailed balance sheets of prescribed forms?
what should those periods be?
quarterly, monthly?)

If so,

(Yearly, half-yearly,

And how should the forms of

the balance sheets be constructed so as to serve
the purpose in view?
R

enew al of

R

e ic h s b a n k

Document 507.

Ch a r te r .

{268 pages,)

Senate

Price, 30 cents.

In this volume the commission publishes additional material
bearing on the renewal of the Reichsbank charter.

The collection

includes discussions in the financial press b y such authorities as
Dr. R. Koch, former president of the Reichsbank, Prof. W. Lexis,
and Dr. Moriz Stroell, director of the Bayerische Notenbank; the
reasons given by the legislative committee for the changes recom­
mended in the charter; and the law of June 1,1909, which amended
the bank act.

The principal changes in the bank act, made upon

recommendation of the inquiry commission, were the raising of the
amount of the tax-free note contingent for the Reichsbank from
450,000,000 marks to 550,000,000 marks, with the provision that at
the beginning of each quarter the uncovered issue might be permitted
to rise to 750,000,000 marks, and the making of the notes of the bank
legal tender.




26

PUBLICATION'S OP NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.

V H .—SW ITZE RLA N D .

The Swiss

B a n k in g

L aw.

the Swiss National Bank.
ment 401. Price, 30 cents.

B y Dr. Julius Landmaim, of
(269 pages.) Senate Docu­

This monograph contains a study and criticism of the Swiss legis­
lation respecting banks of issue $nd especially of the federal act of
October 6, 1905, which established the Swiss National Bank.

Dr.

Landmann traces the history of the unsuccessful experiments made
to restrict circulation and to regulate exchange and tells how they
were finally abandoned for a central bank.

His account of the

organization of this national bank brings out the fact, that although
the law establishes no maxinuim in the matter of note issue it does
require metallic coin, for at least 40 per cent of the circulation.

For

the remaining 60 per cent not covered b y metal there must be a cover
consisting either of Swiss discount bills or foreign bills.

Moreover

the bank must keep all short-time liabilities (i. e., liabilities falling
due or demandable within ten days), covered b y their equivalents in
legal tender, gold bars or foreign gold coinB, Swiss discount bills or
foreign bills.

The appendix contains the text of the law of 1905

and abstracts from recent articles and reports upon the operation of
the act.
VEPC.— IT 4 .D Y .

B y Comm. Tito Canovai, gen­
eral secretary of the Bank of Italy, and Carlo F. Ferraris,
of the University of Padua, together with the text of the
Italian banking laws. (845 pages.) Senate Document
575. Price, 36 cents.

I t a l ia n B a n k s

op

I ssu e .

Comm. Canovai describes in striking manner Italy’s straggle to
attain a sound banking system—the limitation of the privilege of
issue to the six bankB of the Oonsorzio in 1874, the disastrous building
speculations which brought the Banca Romana to ruin in 1893, the
founding of the Bank of Italy in the same year, and the successive
steps b y which it has attained a position of great financial strength.
The author holds that the establishment of sound banking in Italy
was made possible b y the recent improvement in her economic and
financial condition brought about b y the constructive legislation of
such men as Giolitti, Luzzatti, and Sonnino.




PUBLICATIONS OF NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.

27

In a much shorter monograph Signor Ferraris gives particular atten­
tion to the organization of the Bank of Italy, the largest and most
influential of Italy’s three banks of issue.

The bank must hold a

metallic reserve amounting to 40 per cent of its outstanding notes.
A maximum limit to the circulation is also fixed, which can not be
exceeded unless the notes are covered by cash or made subject to
the payment of a special tax.

IX. —SWEDEN.

T he Swedish B anking System . B y A. W . Flux.
pages.) Senate Document 576. Price, 25 cents.

(248

This volume, prepared for the Commission in Sweden, describes
the country’s experience with independent banks of issue and
explains the reasons which recently led her to transfer the privilege
of issue to the Royal Bank, the central banking institution of the
country.

The author describes the development of the Swedish

banking system from the granting of the charter to the Royal
Bank on November 30, 1656, down to the present, giving an
account of the organization and working of the Royal Bank,
the joint-stock banks, and other banks.

The notes of the Royal

Bank are legal tender and are redeemable in gold.

A minimum

reserve is fixed at 40,000,000 crowns ($10,720,000), or 40 per
cent of the authorized circulation of 100,000,000 crowns, but any
additional amount may be issued when fully covered by gold or
foreign balances.

A supplementary chapter on the banks of Den­

mark and Norway is included.

In the appendix, which is devoted

to statistics of note issues and the text of various banking laws, w ill
be found a chart showing for the Bank of Sweden the amount of
notes in circulation, the inland bills discounted, and the gold held
in Sweden on the last business day in each week and in each month
of the years 1904 to 1909.

X.
T he N a t io n a l B a n k

(238 pages.)

of

—BELGIUM.
B

e l g iu m

.

By Charles A. Conant.

Senate Document 400.

Price, 25 cents.

This monograph gives the origin and history of the National Bank
of Belgium and describes its actual operation.

The bank was estab­

lished in 1850, following the collapse of the system of issuing bank




28

PTTOLIOATIONS OF NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.
notes through banks, which engaged largely in financiering, instead
of basing their issues upon liquid assets.

It has served as a model

of the revision of the charter of tjhe Bank of the Netherlands and of
the National Bank of Japan, when she abandoned her unsuccessful
experiment with the system of independent banks issuing notes on
public securities.

The basis upon which the notes, unlimited in

amount, are issued is convertible commercial paper maturing within
short terms.

The proportion of reserve to notes, left b y the charter

to be fixed b y mutual agreement between the minister of finance
and the bank, is placed at 33} per cent, but the minister of finance
has power to suspend this requirement in an emergency.

The

circulation exceeds 800,000,000 francs, deposit accounts amount­
ing to only about 200,000,000.

The bank acts as a central institu­

tion, regulating the money market and performing the fiscal functions
of the treasury.
X L —M E X IC O .
The B

a n k in g

(284 pages-)

Syste m

op

M e x ic o .

B y Charles A. Conant.

Senate Document 493.

Price, 35 cents.

In this monograph w ill b e found an account of the banking ex­
perience of Mexico under the administration of President Diaz.
Before the law of 1897, which brought about unity of system, Mexico
had a few banks, largely financed from abroad, having special con­
cessions, and subject to no uniform requirements as to circulation,
reserves, and other obligations of sound banking.

The reform of 1897

which took away the monopoly of note issue from the National Bank
of Mexico, the most important banking institution, provided for banks
of three types—banks o f issue, issuing notes payable to bearer on de­
mand; mortgage banks, issuing mortgage bonds to cover loans on real
estate; and banks of finance or promotion, issuing treasury bonds to
. cover loans to industry and agriculture for short terms.

A t the center

of the banking system stands the National Bank of Mexico, deprived
of monopoly of note issue but still exercising the functions of a central
bank of rediscount and of collector and custodian of the internal rev­
enue. Mr. Conant gives an account of the successful way in which the
bank met the demand for credit and currency in the autumn of 1907.
This success, he believes, throws light on the question whether the
function of a central bank in regulating the exchange and the move­
ment of gold can not be successfully performed, even though it does
not control the entire circulation of paper currency.




PUBLICATIONS OF NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.

29

X II.—OTHER FO REIG N B A N K S.

B anking
J apan ,

in

R ussia , A ustro-H ungary , H olland ,

(j214 pages. )

Senate Document 586.

and

Price, 25

cents.
(а)

Organization op Banking in R ussia. By Profeasore Idelson
and Lexis.

(б) T he A ustro-H ungarian Bank .
(c) T he B ank op the Netherlands.
( d)

T he Banking System

op Japan .

By Robert Zuckerkandl.
B y R . van der Borght.
By Marquis Katsura, Premier

and Minister of Finance of Japan; Baron Sakatani, Ex-Minister
of Finance; S. Naruse, Financier, and Dr. 0 . M. W. Sprague,
of Harvard University.
The history of banking in Russia centers around the Imperial
Bank, which after years of financial instability has within the last
two decades been established on a sound basis.

The building up

of a gold reserve under the direction of Count Witte, the resumption
of specie payments in connection with the adoption of a gold stand­
ard in 1897, and the acquirement of more liquid assets are evidences
of this reform.

Notes may now be issued up to 600,000,000 rubles on

the security of a 50 per cent gold reserve; above 600,000,000 the
circulation must be fully covered by gold.
Professor Zuckerkandl describes the development of banking in
the dual monarchy, the establishment of the Austro-Hungarian Bank
in 1878, and its services in bringing the gold standard into actual
operation in 1901 b y instituting in that year the redemption of its
notes in gold.

In recent years its laige dealings in foreign bills have

enabled it to maintain stable exchange rates, and thus keep intact
its large gold reserve.
The central bank of issue of the Netherlands, the Bank of the
Netherlands, was created b y the royal decree of March 25,1814.

The

provisions regulating its note issue, fixed b y royal ordinance, require
the bank to keep a metallic reserve amounting to 40 per cent of its
bank notes and all other demand liabilities as well.
Marquis Katsura describes Japan’s endeavors to find the banking
system best fitted to render assistance in her economic and financial
development.

The system of independent banks, patterned after

the American model, was given up in 1882 for a central bank of
issue, when the Bank of Japan was established.

The organization of

this bank was copied from the Bank of Belgium, though the regula­




30

PUBLICATIONS OP NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.
tions as to note issue

resemble tile Gutman provisions.

Up to a cer­

tain amount issue is permitted upon the security of commercial bills
or national bonds; Above that amount n ot® can only be issued upon
specie security o f subject tb a tsk of not
annum.

less

than 5 per ceut per

Marquis Katsura’s description is supplemented b y the

opinions of various authorities on Japanese banking.
X m . —P O R T F O L IO O F D IA G R A M S .
F in a n c ia l

D

ia g r a m s .

Prepared by A. Piatt Andrew.

($4 dlitiffitM i in Colot, bound in cloth.)
50§.

Senate Document

Price, Il.tS .
These diagrams present in graphic form the operations and growth

of the different kinds of banks, changes in the money supply, move­
ments of money and merchandise, rates of discount and of foreign
and domestic exchanges in the United States and other countries
during the last forty years.
The volume contains the following diagrams:
1. Number of national and state bankB and

trust com panies,

1867-1909.
2. Capital (including surplus) of national and state banks and
trust companies, 1867-1909.
3. Average capital of national and state banks and trust companies,
1867-1909.
4. National-bank circulation as compared with national-bank
capital and United States bonds outstanding, 1867-1909.
5. National bank note circulation, monthly, 1864-1909.
6. Circulation of national banks of New York City, other reserve
cities, and nonreserve cities at date of each report, 1879-1909.
7. Principal items of resources and liabilities of the national banks
at date o f each report, 1863-1909.
8. Net balance of United States Treasury and Treasury deposits
in the national banks, 1864-1009.
9. Discount rates in Berlin, London, Paris, and New York, 18881908.
10. Official discount rates in France, England, and Germany,
1878-1908.
11. Discount rates in England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1888-1908.
12. Average net price of bonds of England, France, Germany, and
the United States, 1878-1908.




PUBLICATIONS OP NATIONAL MONETARY COMMISSION.

31

13. Average price of bonds of England, France, Germany, and the
United States reduced to a 3 per cent basis, 1878-1908.
14. Real interest earned upon European, English, and American
government bonds at their average market price, 1878-1908.
15. General stock of money in the United States, 1867-1909.
16. Money in circulation in the United States, 1867-1909.
17. Net imports and exports of merchandise and gold, 1867-1909.
18. Foreign and domestic movements of money to and from New
York City, weekly, 1899-1909.
19. Monthly movements of cash between New York clearing-house
banks and interior during 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, and average
year.
20. New York exchange rates, high and low, on London, Berlin,
and Paris, weekly, 1899-1908.
21. Exchange rates on New York from Chicago, St. Louis, New
Orleans, and San Francisco, weekly, 1899-1908.
22. Loans, deposits, actual and required reserves, and circulation
of the New York clearing-house banks, weekly, 1869-1909.
23. Individual and total deposits in all national banks and in
national banks of New York City, 1867-1909.
24. Average gold holdings of Reichsbank, Bank of England, Bank
of France, and United States Treasury, 1878-1909.




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