CONCENTRATION OF BANKING INTERESTS 425 



Yorkers are pondering upon these questions, and not infre- 

 quently printed remarks are made about the "money Trust." 

 If this expression were heard only in the region of the hun- 

 dredth meridian its interpretation would be obvious; but with- 

 in the sacred precincts of Wall Street, such words cannot fail 

 to produce a certain impression. At least they serve to sug- 

 gest some concluding remarks. 



It is sometimes said that the weekly statement of the con- 

 dition of the New York banks is being manipulated for specu- 

 lative purposes, and that it can be made favorable or unfavor- 

 able, according to the market position of the larger interests 

 in finance. If, for example, it is desired to depress the prices 

 of stocks, it is thought that large sums are withdrawn from 

 the Clearing House banks, in order to reduce the surplus re- 

 serves which are commonly accepted as the index of the con- 

 dition of the money market. This charge is, from the very 

 nature of the case, extremely difficult to prove or disprove. 

 Such transfers of money might certainly be made; but in the 

 absence of positive proof, one cannot assert that they are of 

 frequent occurrence. 



Other disagreeable rumors concern discrimination in ex- 

 tending or withdrawing loans by which, it is said, certain con- 

 cerns that have attempted to compete with some of the trusts 

 have been forced to inevitable ruin. Here, again, decisive 

 proofs are hard to obtain. The withdrawal of bank accom- 

 modations has always been a possible means of commercial 

 reprisal, but it is usually conceivable that some other reason 

 exists for the action of the banker. Doubtless the concen- 

 tration of great power in few hands increases the dangers that 

 may be apprehended from this practice; but up to the present 

 time the evil is probably more potential than the actual. 



The question of greatest interest, however, is: How far 

 is the process of concentration to go? If two groups of mag- 

 nates control to-day nearly one half of the banking capital of 

 New York, what is to prevent them from establishing a practi- 

 cal monopoly of the business? There can be no doubt that 

 money is now held much more tightly than formerly, and it is 

 not strange that the situation has caused some apprehension. 



In considering the matter it is possible to stay one's judg- 



