OCR Text |
Show TIIK NATIONAL HANK BILL, Although tho bill "to promote the safety of national bevnks" psMed tho house by a very iIitUKhI uuijority, nuil was not considered as a party measure, still it met with some opposition auil limy not receive the sanction uf the sen-ate. sen-ate. One of tho strongest objections urgi .1 ugaiusl il w :is I hul of Mr I'a t ldk of Ohio, who claimed that the bill would interfere with the practical business busi-ness of a bank in that it required meetings meet-ings of tho boards of directors whenever when-ever applications for loans were made by certain persons, whereas the power to act promptly should bo lodged in two or throe officers. It was explained that this provision only applied to loans to bank officers, those to outsiders not being interfered with so far as existing methods are concerned. The original bill prohibited loans to active otlieer of the bank under auy guarantees and in its modified form it has the approval of several banker who are members of the house committee on banking. In reporting the bill the committee expressed the opinion that tho purpose sought to be accomplished to-wit; the preventing of the misappropriation of the funds of tho bank by officers actually ac-tually engaged in tho duty of handling them, could be attaiued by making it unlawful for them to borrow any money from the bank except after Ihe making of the loan had been requested of and approved by the board, or by the executive committee of such board, and by requiring that tho comptroller tif tho currency shall bo fully informed from time to time of the extent of such liabilities and of the persons to whom such loans aro made. 'The committee furthor said that the mischiefs to bo prevented havo arisen mainly, if not entirely, in cases in which the loan- to directors and employes have been systematically sys-tematically concealed from the board, und that no case existed in which tho majority of tho board permitted loans to its officers in amounts sullicicnt to render the bank insolvent. |