Page 58 - Industries_of_San_Antonio

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SAN ANTONIO-HER TRADE,
thousand years ago Phcenecia availed herself of the financial aid of her
citizen bankers; 2,500 years ago the state of New Ilium sought financial
aid from the State Bank, paying 10 per cent. for the use of the money.
In 1171 Venice was in dire straits for money, for the necessities of the
government; the difficulty was overcome by the establishment of the Bank
of Venice. The Bank of Amsterdam performed like good offices in 1609.
In 1694 the English government, during the war with France, had ex-
treme difficulty in raising funds. That great financial corporation, the
Bank of England, was established, and it obviated the difficulties by loan-
ing money to the government. In 1864, during the late war, the Congress
of the United States enacted a national banking law, to strengthen its
credit and render banking throughout the country more uniform. So the
banking system is neither new in its origination, in its modes and laws,
nor in the manifest benefits it confers on all classes—nations, states, cities
and individuals. From 1840 to 1864 all banking institutions in this coun-
try were chartered by states. The development of the resources, increase
in the natural products and the demands of our commercial and manufac-
turing interests, bringing about a system of exchange, rendered the State
system crude and slow, necessitating an improvement in facilities and a
uniformity in the banking operations of the country. To this end the
national banking system was enacted in 1864, and, in the opinion of finan-
ciers of great experience and marked ability, it is a decided improvement
on the old systems of this country and of Europe. The national banks
invest one-third of their capital in the bonds of the national government,
and, by a deposit of these in the United States treasury, are authorized to
issue notes for circulation. They receive from the treasury a proportion-
ate amount in bank notes, countersigned by the treasurer and register,
thus providing for circulation among the people of an issue guaranteed by
the credit of the national government. Unity and uniformity of circula-
tion are secured, and bank notes circulate freely and at par all over the
country. These banks are, from their characteristics and functions, the
most popular, and they have been organized and established in all trade
centers of this cow itry. Among the banking institutions in every city,
some one must, in the natural order of events, take a position, in impor-
tance, in advance of its cotemporaries, and in this rank the San Antonio
National Bank must be placed. It is without any idea of depreciating the
position, influence, management or ability of the other financial institu-
tions of the city that we accord it this rank; we argue from the stern logic
of fact, and give it the most prominence by virtue of its history, the mag-
nitude of its operations and the unexceptional ability and success of its
management. This bank has now been in existence nineteen years,
having been established in 1866, and every consecutive year adds strength
to its popularity and reliability. The present capital is $125,000; surplus,
$250,000; undivided profits, $80,000; making the available capital, in reali-
ty, $455,000. This bank has been managed with rare financial ability and