TABLE 15.-Average size of failed banks compared with average size of active banks, 1920 to August, 1925-Continued Doctor WILLIS. Now, then, bank failures are a bad thing from a community standpoint, of course, but they are also very bad from the standpoint of the individual depositor, and consequently I have made as careful an investigation as possible of liquidated banks and the results of liquidation. The figures are extremely unsatisfactory for the reason that bank failures require a long time to liquidate in a good many cases. Yet we have had the practice in many of our States of having the bank failures handled by the local courts and of never having any reports turned in to an examining authority, the result of which is that we have had to follow these bank failures into the county courts, and to compile statistics under very difficult conditions. I wish to file here the figures relating to bank liquidations without commenting on them, merely remarking that they are worthy of extremely careful analysis from a legal standpoint because of the high cost of legal expenses and the great length of time required in closing insolvency. The CHAIRMAN. Doctor Willis is now referring to a file of papers collectively marked 10, which will be incorporated in the record. (The tables referred to are here printed in full, as follows:) TABLE 4.—Summary table showing the number and resources of national and State banks that have failed, that have been restored to solvency, and that have been thrown into liquidation from January 1, 1900, to August, 1925 NOTE.-The letters a, b, c, etc., appearing in the number columns signify the number of banks included for which no resources are given: a, 1; b, 2; c, 3; d, 4; e, 5; f, 6; g. 7; h, 8; i, 9; j, 10; k, 11;, 12; m, 13; n, 14; o, 15; p, 16. 1 State bank failures occurring in Kansas and Connecticut have been omitted from this summary because of lack of data; also true of two countries in Illinois. 2 The banks restored in 1908 have been deducted from the 1907 failures because they had failed in that year. 3 Data for 1925 include national banks failing prior to July 1, and State banks failing prior to August. Include 93 banks for which no figures of resources are available. 6 Includes 118 banks for which no figures of resources are available. |