HEW-YORK CLEARING- HOUSE.
1’ POWERFUL ORGANIZATION BAC‘KED
BY SKfl-FIVE OF THE CITY'S
LEADING BANKS.
mm TOTAL TRANSACTIONS FOR THE YEAR FOOT
UP' INTO THE‘BILLIONS—THIS is THE snooan
, FINANCIAL CENTRE IN [POINT OF IM-
: PORTANCE “IN ,THE WORLD.
" " The'vaSt commercial and financial interests
centred in New-York City easily make it the
most important centre of the Western Hemi-
sphere, and second in this regard throughout
the 'world. Its hundreds. of banks, savings
banks and trust companies are the most promi-
nent factors in its commercial life. The amounts
of deposits, the extent of loans, the rate for
money are'all watched with careful scrutiny
by the small army of investors and speculatérs
who go to make up the Wall Street' district.
The number of accounts in the banks of New-
York City is estimated ' at 1,200,000, with
a. combined surplus of $70,000,000. Of the en-
tire number of banks in the city, sixty-five are
members of the New-York Clearing House As-
, sociation, for the exchange of their checks and
bills. The remaining numerous financial insti—
tutions which do not-belong to this powerful
organization arrange for the handling Of their
paper through those banks which are members.
The New-York Clearing House 'Association
owns and occupies an imposing building of
handsome architecwral design at No. 77 Cedar-
St. This magnificent structure -was completed
about two years ago. It was carefully planned
. "to meet every requirement of the association
and is-admirably fitted for the work that is
daily accomplished within its walls. It ls‘ a
matter of regret that a building of such magnifi—
cent proportions and imposing appearance
should have its lustre dimmed by being crowded
into the seclusion of a narrow side street.-~ The
only advantage claimed for this location is that
the officials and clerks who are‘engaged in the
studious 'task of computing the millions of dol-
lars’ worth of paper which daily passes through
the office are less subject to disturbing ele-
~ merits.
IMPREGNABLE FASTNESSES.
The massive vaults of the Clearing House,
constructed from chrome steel, are an example
of workmanship at once invulnerable and in—.
tere-Sting, even in a great city like New-York,
with its many safe-deposit companies, which .
own some magnificent vaults for the safe-keep-
ing 'of valuables, stocks, bonds and other securi—
ties. Nearly two years were required for their
construction, and they are really three great
chrome steél safes, which practically form one,
affording an interior space of 24 feet wide, 20
feet in depth from front to rear, and 12 feet
ceiling height. However, each of the three has
its own special entrance door, weighing ten
tons; That is the outer door., There are two
others within, and the three are» fitted with time
and combination locks. The triple vault rests
on piers of solid concrete masonry and railroad
iron about seven feet high. In their turn these
piers rest upon a solid bed of concrete six feet
thick. The outer walls _of the vaults are of
steel, six inches in thickness. In addition, a
further precaution is taken. by the presence in
front of the doors of steel platforms, which,
when the doors have been closed and locked, are'
raised against their fronts, preventing any ap-
proach to the locks. Again. around ”the vault
I. steel fence has been erected, the bars. of
which are three inches in diameter, and only
a, hand breadth apart. The fence stands four
feet from! the faces of the vault, and watch-
. men parade about, keeping an eye on all sides
and top of the vault, at all hours of the night
and day, from without the fence. The fence
bar's extend downward to the very bottom of
the foundation and above the floor to the ceil-
ing of the vaultroom. The vaultroom is con—
nected with every part of the building by means
of the most modern and clever electrical con-
trivances. There are connectiOns with the en-
gine-room by means of pipes such that at a
_. moment's notice the vaultroom can be-fimded
with water or steam. Should any one make-
bold to attempt to overcome all these obstacles
and break into the stored treasure, it is com-
. farting to know that the power Of the electric
current is so strong that electrocution would
be sure to follow. The interior of the trio is
' filled with compartment safes having 8. ca-
. pacity for storing $500,000 each. The total ca-
pacity of the vaults is $105,000,000 in gold, and
their weight is 315 tons.
*the'cost of these vaults amounted to $70,000,
but that so large a sum was expended in this
Idlrection is admitted by even the most skepti-
cal to be a wise precaution. An institution
which stands as the representative of New-
York’s supremacy in the realm of finance should
protect its vast treasure by the most solid and
invulner-able steel and stone. . ' ,
THE PRESENT OFFICERS.
I For the year ending October 3, 1898, the Clear-
ing House Association has witnessed a change
in its officers. There is a rule that the president
Shall be eligible for only one term of two years,
and this does away with renominations and re-
I'Ielections. and brings fresh blood into the exec-
utive chair at stated periods. The officersa’nd ,
committees at the present time are as follOws:
President, James T. Woodward, président of the
.Han0ver National Bank; secretary, Francis L.
”Ellie, cashier First National Bank; manager,
William Sherer;'assistant manager, William J.
Gilpin; Clearing House Committee, William 'A.
Nash, president Corn Exchange Bank; George
G. Williams, president Chemical National Bank;
James Stillman, president National City Bank;
Edward H. Perkins, jr., president Importers and
Traders' National Bank, and Edward E. Poor,
‘ president National Park Bank. Conference Com-
It is understood that,
METROPOHTAN Home: SUPPLEMENT.
THE ,SUBaTRE-ASUBY.-
mittee, Alexander Gilbert, Horace E. Garth,
Oliver S. Carter, Scott Fosterand H.IB. Brun-
drett, Nominating Committee, Richard L. Ed-
wards. Alexander H. Stevens, Henry C. Tinker,
J arries M. Donald and Charles H. Fancher. Com- ,
mittee on Admissions, Frederick B. Schenck.
president Mercantile National Bank; Edward
Townsend, Cashier Importers and Traders’ Na-
tional Bank; Stuart G. Nelson, viCe-pr'esident
Seaboard National Bank; William H. Gelshenen,
mesident Garfield National Bank, and A. s.
Frissell, president'Fifth Avenue Bank. Arbitra-
tion Committee, Edwin Langdon, president Cen-
tral NationalBank; Theodore Rogers, president
‘Bank of the Metropolis; Dumont Clarke, presi-
dent American Exchange .National Bank;
Stephen Baker, president Bank of the Manhat-
tan Company, and George M. Hard, president
’Chatham National Bank. .
No article on the Clearing House would be
complete without figures, and the following are
‘extracts from the manager's annual report:
Largest daily transactions on record, Febru-
ary 28, 1881; exchanges, $288,555,98158; bal-
ances, $7,265,440 79; total, $295,821,422.
Largest balances, July 2, 1898, $17,009,341.
The debit balances were paid as follows: United
States gold coin, $86,802,000; United States
bearer gold certificates, $40,000; Clearing House
gold certificates, $1,109,050,000; United States
Treasur notes, $856,000; United States legal-
tender gertificates, $613,075,090; _Unlted States
legal-tenders and change, $528,106,016; total,
$2,338,529,016. _'
The transactions of the United States‘As-
sistant Treasurer at New-York were as follows:
Debit exchanges, $339,954,830; credit exchanges,
$170,910,793; debit balances, $194,511,313; credit
balances, $25,527,276; excess of debit balances,
$169,044,037.
The Clearing House transactions for the year‘
have been as follows:
Exchanges .........................,....$39,853,413,947 74
Balances ................................ 2,338,529,016 43
Total transactions ._ .................... {$2,191,942.96417
The average daily transactions:
15585251::1::::::::::::::::::::::::::;;::$‘3%:iii:3ii32
~ Total .................................... $139,247,336 51
Total transactions since organization of Clear-
ing House (forty-five years):
$1,174.055,187,727 90
€233.38“. I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I III I 55,554,373,735 59
Total .................... . ........... $1,229,609,561,463 49
Largest exchanges on any one day during
the year (Janaary 4, 1898) ......... .. . ..:..$230,731,264 67
Largest balances on any one day during the
year (July 2, 1898)... . . . . . .. . . . .d. . . Id. rIng 17,009,341 08
Largest transactions on any one ay u 1
to? year (January 4. 1898) ............. ‘. .. 247,280,252 20
Smallest exchanges on any one day during _ P
the year (July 25, 1898) ................... 67,411,191 08
Smallest balances on any one day during the
year (August 15, 1898)... ................. 3,004,13071
Smallest transactions on any one day during
the year (August 22, 1898) ................ 72,284,742. 57
The clearings for the last ten years have been
as follows: .
Average
Clearings for. year, daily clearings.
1888 .................. $30,863,686,609 $101,192,415
1889 .................. 34,796,465.528 114,839,820
1890 ................ . 37, 660, 686, 571 123,074, 139
,698,770 111,651,471
118,561,781
113,978,083
79,704,425
92,670,095
96, 232,442
, ‘ 103,424,953
1893. . . . L ............. 39,858,413,947 131,529,418
It will be seen that in both columns the year
1898 shows a big gain.
BALANCES PAID IN MONEY FOR TEN YEARS.
Fiscal No. of
Aver— ' Bal—
years end— mem— 1331— age daily ances to
ing Sept.‘30. hers. ances for year. balances. clear‘ gs
. . ..... . 64 1,570,198,527 78 $5,148,191 89 5.08
18% 64 Isl,757,637,473 47 5,800,783 74 5.05
1890 . .. . 65 1,753,040,145 23] 5,728,889 36 4.65
1891 . . .. 64 1,584,635,499 88 5 195,526 21 4.65
1892 .. . 65 1,861,500,574 56 6,083,335 18 5.13
1893 . . . . . . . . 65 1,696,207,175 52 5,616,580 05 4.92
1894 . . . . 66 1,585,241,633 52 5,214,610 63 6.54
1895 ........ 67 1,896,574,349 11 6,218,276 55 8.71
1896 . . 66 1,843,289,238 66 6,043,571 27 6.23
1897 ........ 66 1,908,901,897 67 , 6,300,~ 6.01
1898 ........ 65 2,338,529,016 2'3 7,717,917 04 5.87
0f the sixty-five banks that compose the
Clearing House, Association forty-five are Na-
tional banks and nineteen State banks. There
are .besides thcse seventy-eight banks and
trust cornpaines which are not members. In
addition there are seven foreign banking houses,
with a total Capital of about $40,000,000, which
are actively represented in the business pur-
suits of the city.. Of these four are Canadian
and two English. On the Brooklyn side of the
river will be found about twenty-five National
and State banks with a combined capital of
$5,000,000. New-York has twenty—five savings
banks and Brooklyn fifteen. Out of the total
amount of money deposited in the savings
banks of the United States, estimated at $2,000,-
000,000, N ew-York State represents about, $700,-
000,000. Looking carefully at the population of
New-York City and the large number of
these financial institutions, it will be seen that.
as a class the inhabitants of the Island of Man—
hattan and surrounding territory are inclined
toward economy, frugality and saving.
A QUESTION SETTLED.
The last year has seen the honorable discharge
of the trustees of the New-York Clearing House
Association, which has had charge of the funds
arising from the sale of the Pine-st. property
formerly owned by the association. Some of the
trustees have served continuously since .1875.
There, was a friendly suit brought in .the courts
to determine the disputed points arising from the
sale. This having been settled and the duties of
the trustees fully carried out, the association
voted their discharge with thanks and a deep
appreciation of the valuable services rendered.
On accOuntof'the payment on the war bonds the
supply of gold has been decreased in the vaults
of'the association, and the reserves of the asso- ;
'c'iated banks were naturallyfl'r‘cédlic'ed. so .much
so, in fact, that the Weekly bank. statement was
watched for and ,the course of the. stock market
was affected temporarily underthe influence,_
the bearsusing this as an argument for ham-4
mering down prices. The associated banks in
New-York have had on hand a. large; surplus of
funds, and money for a great part of the year
has ruled extremely low. Bankers have, been
among the first to predict a return of pros-
perity, and the Clearing House and all the great
financial institutions back of. it standprepared‘
to do their part in restoring the business of.the.
country to its former successful standard.
THE NATION’S FINANCIAL REPRESENTA-
TIVE IN. NEW-YORK A MOST IM- s
PORTANTJNSTITUTION.
THE TOTAL BUSINESS FOR. THE [YEAR ENDING
LAST JUNE AMOUNTED T0 32.500.000.000;
TONS OF GOLD AND SILVER COIN
HANDLED—A VALUABLE ME-
DIUM 0F DISTRIBU-
TION. '
The New-York Sub-Treasury, the most im-
portant ' of the nine branches of the United
States Treasury Department at'Washington,
stands at the corner of Wall and Nassau St5.,
in the centre of the financial district. The build-
ing is one of the old landmarks of the city, and
possesses many features of great historic sig-
nificance. The out-of—town visitor, —in~his round
of sight—seeing,“ never'fails to stop at the Sub-*
Treasury, where he is shown through the great
main office, with its dome-shaped ceiling and
the vaults and other departments where the
chink of silver and gold and the rustle of paper
money are almost never—ending. Each year the
sums of'money handled in the cour'se Of the'reg-
ular business of the Sub—Treasury are So enor-
.mods as to be almost beyond the grasp of the
ordinary individual. For the fiscal year ending
June 30, 1898, the total business of the Sub-
Treasury amounted to about $2,500,000.000.
By amplification of thought the Sub—Treasury
is the Nation’s bank, handling. a large prOpor-
vtion of_the paper issued by the Department at
Washington, and occupying a most important
' place as distributing agent. The money received
is contributed by customs, redemptions of cur-
renCy, Postoffice accounts and many lesser de-
partments of the Government, while the dis-
bursements consist of pension payments, inter-
est, Postofficedisbursements, payments on ac-
count of bullion_ purchases at assay offices,
and miscellaneous payments, which foot up into
the hundreds of millions. Special transactions
are oftentimes arising in the course of a year's
business to relieve themouotony. For example,
during the present year the Sub—Treasury has
received about $25,000,000 from the sale of the
Union Pacific and about $40,000,000 from the
sale of the new Government 3 per cent war
bonds. '
‘ PAXMENTS .MADE HERE.
The army of clerks in the various-departments
at Washington and outside in offices away from
the capital have their salary vouchersissued to
them through the Treasury Department 011 New-
York. For this there is a very sufficient reason.
New-York exchange is as good as gold any-
where. It takes the place of money. Again, the
NewsYork Sub—Treasury is the disbursing ofiice
for the paymasters of both the Army and the
Navy of the country, ‘as well as for the Quarter-
master's and Commissary’s departments. The
medical staff of the Army and of the Navy
utilize it along with the Engineer Corps. The
cannon that frown from fortresses everywhere
along the coast almost are paid for with drafts
on the New-York sub—Treasury. Coast—defence
accounts. after being passed upon, are referred
to New-York for payment. Indian agents over
the country are paid with New-York exchange,
as well as the employes of the Agricultural De-
partment, including the Weather Bureau. The
Commissioner of Labor draws his vouchers
against New-York. United States Marshals ex-
pect their funds for salaries, witness fees and
general court expenses to come by way of N ew-
York. .
The Postoifice of New-York City draws out al-
most .as much as it pays in to the Government
repository, for the reason that this institution
of the Government is not as yet on a. money-
making basis, or, to be exact, is not self-sus-
taining. The customs service is dependent upon
the New-York Sub-Treasury, both as a depos-
itory for its receipts and as a means of paying
its running expenses. The Internal Revenue
Department, the life-saving service and the
lighthouse service alike depend upon New-York
to honor their drafts. I Thousands and thousands
of dollars of mutilated currency are redeemed
every month, and last, but nOt least, the major
part of.,C_ongressmen receive their pay in New-
York exchange. In addition to all these things,
the Sub-Treasury receives reports from about
fifteen hundred postmasters in the territory“,
reaching as far West as the Mississippi. .These
send in their reports, and the detail of the in-
stitution is increased from the fact that these
reports, principally from the sales of stamps,
run as low as 75 cents. From that they range
upward to $1, and some on to $20 This in-
volves, as may be readily anticipated, an inter-
minable amount of expert bookkeeping.
‘ . ' INCREASED BUSINESS. '
The late warwith Spain caused an increase
in the duties of the employes at the Sub-Treas-
ury. The transfers for the accounts of the dis-
bursing officers of the Government were in-
creased from $149,000,000 in 1897 to $200,149,000
in the present year. The difference of $51,000,—
000 represented the sums paid to quartermas-
ters, paymasters and the. various other war 'de-'
partments. These .paymasters increased during
the war from 450 to 800. Inzthis connection
-‘there"have been many amusing "incidents over?
the transfer of. coin and currency which was in-'
tended for the troops at different-points of the
country. In the routine of business there have'
been days when millions of dollars were trans-
ferred from the Clearing House to the Sub:
Treasury without attracting the slightest atten-
tionin the streets. On the othershandgseveral
of the paymasters of the volunteer regiments,
when removing paltry sums of $50,000 or $100,-
000, have been accompanied by a strong guard,
who kept guard over the l'ron'boxes containing
the treasure. , The scenes in: the offices of the
'Suh- reasury have taken on all' through the
summer, and even at the present time, a military
appearance. _ Officers and privates have been
constantly coming and going in the course of
drawing their pay -- There has been one 011109
where‘special desks were provided for t‘ ’e use of
Army paymasters, who came with th lr order
on the Sub—Treasury, and who, upon receiving
the pile of greenbacks, would sit down. to count
it all over to make sure it was correct. '
The, fact that the Sub-Treasury is a member
of the New-York Clearing House Association
enables it_ to accept drafts from out-of—town
banks which have payments to make to the Gov-
ernment. These drafts are simply put through
the Clearing House for collectiou, and in this
way a great deal of trouble and delay is avoid-
ed. An example of the great help this arrange-
_ment is to those in different parts of the coun-
try is shown in the' case of a banker in Texas. ~
for example. Let it be‘supposed that the time
has come for getting in the cotton crop. Thou-
sands of pickers are employed, and these, as a.
rule, are paid off in silver coin of different de-
nomination. . The customers of the Texas bank
advise it that about $10,000 in silver wilt be
needed on such a day. The bank sends a draft
for this amount to the New-York Sub-Treasury,
accompanied by a request for thesilver.‘ The
draft is put into the Clearing House for col-
lection, and the Sub—Treasury at New-Orleans is
given an order by mail to ship the coin to the
Texas bank,'which is done free of charge. The
cost of the transaction to the bank is only two
cents for the postage stamp on the letter to the
New—York Sub-Treasury. Should there be any
great urgency for coin at any centre, the trans-
action can behurried through by the use of
telegdrams, the cost‘of which the bank must
s an
SHIPMENTS OF MONEY.
The case above cited is only=one in a.thou-
sand. The local Sub-Treasury ships coin direct
from its own vaults to all the big manufacturing
towns in New-England, New-York and New-
Jersey free of charge. Small coins, such as
dimes, nickels and pennies, are sent in the Same
way. Everything is evened up in the course of
time.
ways, the elevated roads, the newspapers anC
others, which take'in large amounts of this
“chicken feed," come to the Sub-Treasury and
deposit it, receiving in return bills of large de-
nomination. On the other hand the big depart
ment stores and many other retail houses and
the factories, as has already been mentioned,
send down big bills‘to have them exchanged for
the little pieces of coin. In this way tOns upcn
tons of money are handled in transmission, and
the Sub-Treasury becomes akind of- institution
for exchange. '* '
This brings up an interesting bit Of informa-
tion. These coins, as they are brOught into the
Sub-Treasury, are all examined for counterfeits,
and it has been found during the present year
that there has been a wholesale manufacture of
spurious pennies. This curious condition of af-
fairs has been a mystery to the Officials of the
Sub-Treasury, and especially so to the Secret
Service officers, into whose hands the matter has
.been placed. In some months, especially during
the height of the war. when so many- extras
were sold, it was found that no less than seven
thousand counterfeit pennies were discovered
among the coin that found its way into the
hands of the clerks of the Sub-Treasury. In
every case the spurious coin is cut in two on
the spot, at the loss of the depositor. The muti-
lated coin is then passed over to the Secret
Service Department. During late months the
number of bad pennies‘found, while large, has
been falling off, and this would indicate that
the Secret Service men had been getting in some
good work. As for nickels, it is said that there
are not so many counterfeits made. They are
too easy to detect. In a similar manner there is
a. constant watching for bad bills. Paper cur-
rency that has been worn to a point where it is.
no longer suitable for the purposes of trade is
sent to Washington, where it is destroyed.
TREMENDOUS TOTALS. 1
For the year ending: in June, 1898, the ac:
counts of the Sub-Treasury show some interestr
ing figures. As has already been shown, the
total business was about $2,500,000,000, of which
the receipts equalled} $1,199,000.000 and the pay:-
ments $1,291,000,000. Among the items of ro-
ceipts the following have been selected as of
leading importance: The customs contributed
$105,573,000, the redemption of currency $207,;-
696,000, and the Postoffice $13,664,000. As for.
the distributions, the pensions amounted to 573,-.
000,000, about the same as the year before:
transfers of funds for the account of disburs-.
ing Ofl‘icers, $200,149,000; payments on interest
accounts, $27,000,000; on account of PostOffico
disbursements,$13,500,000; redemption of Icur- .
rency, $207,250,000; disbursement on account of
bullion purchases by the assay offices, $71,500,-
000, and'for the account of miscellaneous dis-
bursing officers, $100,000,000. which last includes
all the different persons above enumerated as
looking for their salaries from the New-York
branch of the Treasury.
The feature of the Sub-Treasury during the
summer just passed was the payments upon the
new war bonds. Over $40,000,000 passed over
the counters of the tellers at the Sub-Treasury,
and of the total $25,000,000 was in gold, which
weighed about forty tons, the handling of which
represented considerable work. As a general
thing the Sub-Treasury is obliged to ship every
fall about $50,000,000 in currency to the country
banks to assist in the moving of the crops. This
fall has been an excep_tion,‘for the amount re-
quired has been only about $20,000,000. This is
accounted for by the fact that the interior banks
all had on hand a good supply of cash. '
The Operations of the Sub-Treasury requ1re
the services of abOut one hundred and twenty
men. This number includes Assistant Treasurer
C. N. Jordan, Deputy Assistant Treasurer and
Cashier M. L. Muhleman and the watchmen
within‘th'e gates. The Department chiefs are:
Assistant cashier and chief'clerk, George W.
Marlor; assistant cashier and vault clerk, Ed-
ward W Hale; _chief,of the check-payingdepart-
ment,,F. Kain; chief paying teller, S. BJTerry;
chief of the' receiving department, W. P. Col-
gate; chief of the coin division,- P. D. Gulager; .
chief ”of the minor. coin department, R. C. Haff;
chief bookkeeper, Thomas H. Byrnes: chief of
the check division, George W. Yates; chief of the
bOnd division, C. M. 'Wiley; superintendent of
building, E. Bottger. The building wherein the
treasury is stationed is historic, and presents an
appearance at once impreSSive and interesting
to a degree. In front of it stands the heroic
statue of General Washington—and adjoining it
is the Government Assay omen.
The big eon‘cerns,- like the street rail/ I
Norwalk Chronicler