SECURITY OF NATIONAL BANKS.
Downsville, Wis.
Are the notes and deposits of the National Banks well secured? What is the rate of loss suffered through these banks?
S. S. C.
Answer.—The currency issued by National banks is amply secured by the deposit of registered bonds of the United States with the Treasurer of the United States. The Comptroller of the Currency makes frequent inspections of these institutions, and whenever the market value of the bonds thus deposited falls below the amount of the circulation issued for the same, he is authorized to demand additional security in United States bonds or money to the amount of such depreciation. National bank notes are all printed by the government, and furnished to the banks only in such quantities as they are authorized to circulate. As a consequence there can be no over issues. In case of the failure of a bank to redeem its circulating notes, the holders may present them for payment at the Treasury of the United States, where they will be redeemed. The government is protected against loss by holding a first lien on all the assets of such banks. Depositors in cases of failure do not always realize the full amount of their claims, but the history of banking shows no parallel to the excellence of this system in respect of the small proportion of loss suffered by depositors. The loss to all creditors of the United States National banks from the passage of the act of Feb. 25, 1863, to Nov. 1, 1882, amounted to only about $400,000 per annum on an average capital of $450,000,000, and annual deposits averaging $800,000,000, so that the average loss to depositors during a period of nearly twenty years was but one-twentieth of 1 per cent per annum.
GOVERNORS OF IOWA.
Anamosa, Iowa.
Please give a full list of the Governors of this State from the organization of Iowa Territory, with the years that they were in office.