of any bookseller or of Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, who are large importers of English books. It describes cooperative banking as it exists in various countries of Europe.) The Tariff Question. It is a little curious, but it seems to be the fact that there is no strictly modern, non-political, American book, of moderate price, by an able man, which takes the side of "Protection" in the tariff controversy. As stated elsewhere, the non-political writers all seem to be free traders. A few such books which have been written seem mostly out of print. The best I can find is the following, written by an Englishman:— SOPHISMS OF FREE TRADE.-By Sir John Bernard Byles. Henry Carey Baird & Co., Philadelphia, 1884. Price, $1.25. A good book on the free trade side is— PROTECTION, OR FREE TRADE.-By Henry George. Doubleday & McClure Co., New York. Price, $1.00; in paper, 25 cents. The Single Tax. Doubleday & McClure The leading book favoring the single tax is, of course- Another good book on the same side is NATURAL TAXATION.-By Thomas G. Shearman. Doubleday & McClure Co., New York. Price, $1.00; paper, 25 cents. On the opposite side there is a great dearth of good books, although in this case the great majority of the social and financial lights oppose the single tax. Their utterances, however, must be mostly looked for in the periodical literature of a few years back, which is hardly accessible, except in public libraries. Property and Progress," by H. W. Mallock, is a reply to Mr. George, and may be found in many libraries, but now seems to be out of print. Perhaps the best "reply" in book form is that of the Duke of Argyle, which first appeared in the nineteenth century for April, 1884, and is republished in this country, by Mr. George's publishers, with Mr. George's rejoinder. The title of this book is THE LAND QUESTION.-Doubleday & McClure Co., New York. Price, $1.00; paper, 25 cents. Excellent books to read on the general subject of taxation are: ESSAYS IN TAXATION.-By Prof. E. R. A. Seligman. The Macmillan Co., New York. Price, $3.00. Also a smaller work EQUITABLE TAXATION.-By Walter E. Weyl and others. T. Y. Crowell & Co., New York, 1892. Price, 75 cents. Currency. The best book for popular reading, on the gold side of the money question, is SOME FACTS ABOUT MONEY. By. Prof. J. Laurence Laughlin. The publishers of this book, however, are not now in business, and I can not find that the book is in print. The following, however, will be found satisfactory : THE CASE AGAINST BIMETALISM.-By Robert Giffen. Co., New York, 1892. Price, $2.00. The Macmillan A good book for those who wish to see an impartial discussion of the subject is INTERNATIONAL BIMETALISM.-By Prof. Francis A. Walker. Henry Holt & Co., New York, 1896. Price, $1.25. Those who wish to see the silver side presented by a strong man who will not stoop to misrepresentation should read— AN HONEST DOLLAR.-By President E. Benjamin Andrews. The Macmillan Co., New York. Paper, 75 cents, plus 10 per cent for postage. It is claimed by some that, conceding the appreciation of gold, it is more than offset by the depreciation of interest. Those who would like to look into this are referred to APPRECIATION AND INTEREST.-By Prof. Irving Fisher. The Macmillan Co., New York. Price, 75 cents, plus 10 per cent for postage. Trusts. A good book about "Trusts" is TRUSTS OR INDUSTRIAL COMBINATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.-By Ernst Von Halle. The Macmillan Co., New York, 1895. Price, $1.25. The Referendum. THE SWISS CONFEDERATION.-By Sir Francis Ottiwell Adams. The Macmillan Co., New York, 1894. Price, $2.50. THE REFERENDUM IN AMERICA.-By E. P. Oberholtzer. The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1893. Price, $1.50. Socialism. Out of a great mass of literature it seems to me that the following is as good a selection as can be made for the general reader: THE COOPERATIVE COMMONWEALTH.-By Laurence Gronlund. Lee & Shepherd, Boston. Price, $1.00. (Socialistic.) THE QUINTESSENCE OF SOCIALISM.-By. Dr. A. Schaffle. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. Price, $1.00. (Socialistic.) SOCIALISM.-By Prof. Richard T. Ely. T. Y. Crowell & Co., New York, 1894. Price, $1.50. (Impartial.) THE TYRANNY OF SOCIALISM.-By Yves Guyot. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1894. Price, $1.00. (Anti-socialistic.) ANARCHISM. By E. V. Zenker. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1897. Price, $1.50. (Anti-anarchistic, and showing the opposition of Anarchism to Socialism.) The "labor question" will be found quite sufficiently covered in the foregoing works on Socialism. The foregoing list has been prepared for the benefit of those who wish to inform themselves upon the topics considered, but do not have access to large libraries, or any convenient means of finding out what books to buy. It is hoped that it will be found helpful. Profit on national bank circulation, based on deposit of United States four-percent bonds, as compiled by the government actuary: The above is based upon the estimate of six per cent interest received by the banks for currency loaned. The account for 1897 is made up as follows: Profit by circulation, above what could have been made by Or .246 per cent per annum. (Compare the rough statement figured out in the text, page 144.) $1,869,000,000 It should be evident that the profits of national banks are mainly derived from loaning this vast amount of money deposited, rather than from the trivial profit on circulation. Net earnings of national banks for a series of twenty-eight years, computed on capital and surplus: From the above it will be noted that as the country grows richer and money With all the risk of loss, it more abundant, the profits of banking decrease. evidently pays best to lend money to poor people. ing profits immediately following the panic years of 1873 and 1893. This was partly due to losses from bad debts in those years, and partly because people were restricting their business operations, and not borrowing money. It is also important to note the very large number of shareholders in national banks, and especially the number of women. This shows that the owners of national banks are not all rich men, but largely comparatively poor people, depending upon the earnings of their money for a livelihood. The comptroller of the currency is unable to obtain from the state banks and trust companies such detailed reports of profits as the law compels national banks to furnish, but of five hundred fifty-seven banks and one hundred sixtyseven trust companies reporting, the banks averaged seven per cent on their capital, and the trust companies seven and eight-tenths per cent. Had all reported, the average rate of dividends would doubtless be less, as it would usually be the least successful concerns that would dislike to report. Their average earnings are doubtless about the same as the national banks. 3. STATE LOAN AND TRUST COMPANIES. Loan and trust companies are usually banks receiving deposits, but not transacting the collection and other minor functions of a bank, and in most cases confining their business to large operations. Number of loan and trust companies reporting to comptroller 1896-7. The ownership of the capital of the state banks and trust companies is doubtless distributed among small and large stockholders, like that of the national banks. There are no general statistics upon this point. The above is not a complete statement of the business of the loan and trust companies, as many, not being so required, failed to report to the comptroller. Returns gathered earlier in the year by the New York Financier and quoted by the comptroller, are as follows: In this case, also, complete returns of earnings were not made, but the dividends paid by the companies of New York City averaged, for the previous year, fifteen and one-third per cent, which shows the enormous profit attending |
