450 WILLIAM BARRET RIDGELY 



of the New York state banking department, says in regard to 

 reserves in trust companies for March, 1904: 



" After mature consideration of the subject and a study 

 of the existing conditions, I am of the opinion that the whole 

 matter should be regulated by statute. Before this is attempt- 

 ed, however, the banks and the trust companies should agree 

 upon the provisions of any proposed legislation in this di- 

 rection. All feelings of spite and selfishness, if any exist, 

 should be forgotten. The interests of any particular institu- 

 tion, except as it may be in harmony with the interests of all, 

 should not be considered. The law should be general in terms, 

 and, if any class of deposits are exempted from its operation, 

 sound reasons should be given for the exemption. 



"I am well aware that many trust company officials, and 

 some bank officials, will not agree with my view. Some think, 

 and perhaps not without reason, that they are able safely and 

 conservatively to conduct the affairs of their institutions with- 

 out interference of this or any other kind ; but others will some- 

 time take their places, and then perhaps a less experienced and 

 less conservative management will be in control. The whole 

 matter should be adjusted with exclusive regard for the needs 

 of the situation, and with the sole purpose of conserving the 

 interests of all concerned. In the meantime, it should be re- 

 membered that trust companies and banks alike are in the 

 main founded upon the same general principles and are 

 dependent to the same degree upon public confidence for suc- 

 cess." 



In his annual report for 1904, Mr. Kilburn also says: 



" The right of domestic trust companies to hold stocks in 

 private corporations might wisely be definitely defined, their 

 right to engage in underwriting schemes unqualifiedly denied, 

 and the obligation imposed upon them to carry a legal reserve. 

 As a part of this latter proposition, I am confident that it would 

 be advisable to require also that these institutions and the 

 state banks in New York make weekly reports similar in scope 

 to those submitted by the clearing house banks and the non- 

 member banks to the clearing house association." 



Whatever regulation or control there is to be of the trust 

 companies must come, for the present at least, from the state 



