Show TRENDS FAVORABLE E IN STATE BANKING recent figures indicate large increases in deposits and invested funds improvement in the condition ot of state banks la in almost every respect during 1934 Is shown by statistics recently as sem bled robert al hanes alanes president Wa wachovia chovie ovle bank and trust company winston salem north carolina points out in an article in banking pub lashed by the american bankers asso elation clation the figures on which this state ment Is 1 based were gathered by the committee on state dank bank research of the association from reports furnished by state bank supervisors throughout the country ever since 1921 the number ol of state stata banks has been declining mr hanos hanes says between 1931 and 1921 1931 the decline was waa rapid figures tor for december 31 1934 showed that the downward trend has ha not yet ended but the decline last year was the smallest in twelve years there are now he says about ten thousand state banks which term includes all state chartered institutions with the th exception of mutual savings banks the article continues even more significant was the ending of the decline of deposits in state banks bank which had been going on since the collapse of the stock market boom in 1929 in recent years lor for which figures are available the drop has been particularly abrupt total deposits in state banks declined fron from a on oa december 31 1931 to on december 31 1 1933 33 the record for 1934 shows a recovery to at the year end of increased deposits deposit it to 1 particularly gratifying to note the expansion of deposits since it was their decline which made necessary the liquidation of investments the calling of loans and all the other phenomena which go under the name ot of deflation and have brought banks so much criticism in recent years it to Is now plain that this was due to efforts of the banks banka to place themselves in the possession of enough liquid assets to meet the growing demands ot of depositors tor for the return of a part of the money which had been placed on deposit that this li Is true is borne out by the movement of invested funds of state banks which has paralleled that of deposits these invested funds loans and discounts plus investments tor for state banks dropped from at the end of 1931 to at the end of 1933 by december 31 1934 however they had recovered to all ali of this gain la Is accounted tor for by the increase in investments during 1934 the expansion amounting to approximately As tor for loans and discounts they registered a slight drop again in 1934 but the rate of decline was much smaller than in previous years which in itself Is progress whereas the drop in loans and discounts amounted to approximately in 1932 and to approximately in 1933 it was less than in 1934 in another respect the balance sheet figures for december 31 1934 were especially ally impressive bills payable and re discounts ot of the state banks which at the end of 1932 had reached a depression high of had dropped by the close of 0 last year to the low figure ot of one must search the records as far back as 1917 to find bills payable and re discounts of state banks at a lower figure moreover it itts Is reasonable to expect a further reduction of such borrowings during the tha current year |