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CHAIN WITHDRAWALS WORSE HOARDERS
Hoarders Money Eventually Returns But Hoarders Never
It is against the law of the Government to hoard gold according to the act passed by Congress in an effort to solve the banking problems of the country. In this proclamation closing the banks, the President also utilized the constitutional powers vested in him any financial transactions by banks, investment companies, the etc. in order to conserve the money of country. That indicated very definitely a serious condition but what difference is there between hoarding on the part of the people and wfhtdrawal of business and profits from communities by the chain systems? Taking money out of banks to be hoarded naturally reduces the available supply but in the end this money will be returned to circulation in the town where it was withdrawn from the banks. There is difference between hoarding money and chain store operations as they withdraw not only money but business from local concerns, manufacturers, wholesalers, banks, employment, etc. That disappears and none of it ever returns except the skimmed milk which hey leave for low taxes, rents on which they are now welching, the small salaries they pay to their employes and the little business they leave locally which is usually placed at no profit because of concessions demanded.
Withdraw All Money The chain system of hoarding is far more reprehensible, therefore. But in this emergency they have shown their true patriotism (?) to the communities in which they do business by withdrawing all of the cash. they take in and cart it off to sette of the large cities. They have even withdrawn from the banks and placed in in safe deposit vaults, while in other instances just as soon as the scare asserted itself they instructed their executives around the country to take their money out of banks. Of course, the effect of that was to reduce the amount of currency in banks. That could not result otherwise than in hastening the closing of banks by declaring holiday. The illustration from South Bend, Ind. published last wek where the Citizens National Bank, a $10,000,000 institution, was forced to close because of the heavy withdrawals of commercial accounts by large firms, especially the chain stores, which transferred their accounts to Chicago" is a concrete illustration. That tells the whole story of the disloyalty of the chains to the communities in which they operate stores as also to the banks. This condition does not apply to South Bend alone, but as pointed out last week it was done in Ohio, where they withdrew their deposits February 23 before the Moratorium was declared. This demonstrates their policy of selfishness as they were not concerned over the trouble they were not concerned over the trouble they were making for these banks and the people. The Public Pays the Bill To what extent the chains contributed to the bank holiday will never be known but it is self evident from their actions in withdrawing their cash that no bank can operate on basis where money of town immediately transfered from it. The only opportunity for bank to recover is thru other tocal concerns whose busines the chain systems covet. Thev strain every way to take that from them and of course the banks must suffer the penalty. The public pays the bill when it patronizes any these chains because they are giving them their money which they earn locally and the chain stores immediately withdraw it from local circulation Aside from this the public is to blame also for aiding and abetting in destroying local business among manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers as that automatically reduces the number of jobs available. In other words the public is cutting off its nose to spite its face. This calamity which has overtaken the country is directly traceable to the chain system. That $10,771,000,000 which the chains obtained in 1929 according to the Government Census figures has hurt. When the past 12 years are taken into consideration the sum total of these withdrawals represent not less than $60,000,000,000. In addition there is the transfer of that business from local businesses to the chains which has added to the trouble. The cumulative result, as consequence, is more than even the United States could stand.-Interstate Gro-
