名人演讲：TheBankingCrisis

1、名人演讲： The Banking CrisisFranklinDelanoroosevelt:FirstFiresidechat"Thebankingcrisis"myfriends:Iwanttotalkforafewminuteswiththepeopleoftheunitedst atesaboutbanking-totalkwiththecomparativelyfewwhou nderstandthemechanicsofbanking ， butmoreparticularlywiththeoverwhelmingmajorityofyouwhousebank

2、sforthexxxofdepositsandthedrawingofchecks。Iwanttotellyouwhathasbeendoneinthelastfewdays，andwhyitwasdone ， andwhatthenextstepsaregoingtobe。Irecognizethatthemanyproclamationsfromstatecapitolsandfromwashington， thelegislation，theTreasuryregulations，andsoforth，couchedforthemostpartinbankingandlegalterms

3、，outtobeexplainedforthebenefitoftheaveragecitizen。Iowethis， inparticular，becauseofthefortitudeandthegoodtemperwithwhicheverybodyhasacceptedtheinconvenienceandhardshipsoftheban第1页共11页kingholiday。AndIknowthatwhenyouunderstandwhatweinwashingtonhavebeenabout ，Ishallcontinuetohaveyourcooperationasfullyas

4、Ihavehadyoursympathyandyourhelpduringthepastweek。Firstofall，letmestatethesimplefactthatwhenyoudepositmoneyinabank， thebankdoesnotputthemoneyintoasafedepositvault。Itinvestsyourmoneyinmanydifferentformsofcredit-inbonds， incommercialpaper，inmortgagesandinmanyotherkindsofloans。Inotherwords，thebankputsyo

5、urmoneytoworktokeepthewheelsofindustryandofagricultureturningaround。Acomparativelysmallpartofthemoneythatyouputintothebankiskeptincurrency-anamountwhichinnormaltimesiswhollysufficienttocoverthecashneedsoftheaveragecitizen。 Inotherwords，thetotalamountofallthecurrencyinthecountryisonlyacomparativelysm

6、allproportionofthetotaldepositsinallthebanksofthecountry。what ， then ，happenedduringthelastfewdaysofFebruaryandthefirstfe第2页共11页wdaysofmarch?becauseofunderminedconfidenceonthepartofthepublic，therewasageneralrushbyalargeportionofourpopulationtoturnbankdepositsintocurrencyorgold-arushsogreatthatthesou

7、ndestbankscouldn'tgetenoughcurrencytomeetthedemand。Thereasonforthiswasthatonthespurofthemomentitwas，ofcourse ，impossibletosellperfectlysoundassetsofabankandconvertthemintocash，exceptatpanicpricesfarbelowtheirrealvalue。bytheafternoonofmarchthird， aweekagolastFriday，scarcelyabankinthecountrywasope

8、ntodobusiness。proclamationsclosingthem， inwholeorinpart，hadbeenissuedbythegovernorsinalmostallthestates。ItwasthenthatIissuedtheproclamationprovidingforthenationalbankholiday，andthiswasthefirststepinthegovernmentsreconstructionofourfinancialandeconomicfabric。Thesecondstep ， lastThursday，wasthelegisla

9、tionpromptlyandpatrioticallypassedbythecongressconfirmingmyproclamationandbroadeningmypow第3页共11页erssothatitbecamepossibleinviewoftherequirementoftimetoextendtheholidayandliftthebanofthatholidaygraduallyinthedaystocome。Thislawalsogaveauthoritytodevelopaprogramofrehabilitationofourbankingfacilities。An

10、dIwanttotellourcitizensineverypartoftheNationthatthenationalcongress-republicansandDemocratsalike-showedbythisactionadevotiontopublicwelfareandarealizationoftheemergencyandthenecessityforspeedthatitisdifficulttomatchinallourhistory。Thethirdstagehasbeentheseriesofregulationspermittin gthebankstoconti

11、nuetheirfunctionstotakecareofthedis tributionoffoodandhouseholdnecessitiesandthepayment ofpayrolls 。Thisbankholiday，whileresultinginmanycasesingreatinconvenience，isaffordingustheopportunitytosupplythecurrencynecessarytomeetthesituation。rememberthatnosoundbankisadollarworseoffthanitwaswhenitclosedits

12、doorslastweek。Neitherisanybankwhichmayturnoutnottobeinapositionfo第4页共11页rimmediateopening。ThenewlawallowsthetwelveFederalreservebankstoissueadditionalcurrencyongoodassetsandthusthebanksthatreopenwillbeabletomeeteverylegitimatecall。Thenewcurrencyisbeingsentoutbythebureauofengravingandprintinginlargev

13、olumetoeverypartofthecountry。Itissoundcurrencybecauseitisbackedbyactual，goodassets 。Anotherquestionyouwillaskisthis:whyareallthebanksnottobereopenedatthesametime?TheanswerissimpleandIknowyouwillunderstandit:Yourgovernmentdoesnotintendthatthehistoryofthepastfewyearsshallberepeated。wedonotwantandwilln

14、othaveanotherepidemicofbankfailures 。Asaresult，westarttomorrow，monday，withtheopeningofbanksinthetwelveFederalreservebankcities-thosebanks，whichonfirstexaminationbytheTreasury，havealreadybeenfoundtobeallright。ThatwillbefollowedonTuesdaybytheresumptionofallotherfunctionsbybanksalreadyfoundtobesoundinc

15、itieswhere第5页共11页therearerecognizedclearinghouses。Thatmeansabouttwohundredandfiftycitiesoftheunitedstates 。 Inotherwords，wearemovingasfastasthemechanicsofthesituationwillallowus 。onwednesdayandsucceedingdays ，banksinsmallerplacesallthroughthecountrywillresumebusiness ， subject ， ofcourse ，tothegover

16、nment'sphysicalabilitytocompleteitssurveyItisnecessarythatthereopeningofbanksbeextendedoveraperiodinordertopermitthebankstomakeapplicationsforthenecessaryloans，toobtaincurrencyneededtomeettheirrequirements ， andtoenablethegovernmenttomakecommonsensecheckups 。pleaseletmemakeitcleartoyouthatifyour

17、bankdoesnotope nthefirstdayyouarebynomeansjustifiedinbelievingthatitwillnotopen。Abankthatopensononeofthesubsequentdaysisinexactlythesamestatusasthebankthatopenstomorrow。Iknowthatmanypeopleareworryingaboutstatebanksthatar第6页共11页enotmembersoftheFederalreservesystem。Thereisnooccasionforthatworry。Theseb

18、ankscanandwillreceiveassistancefrommemberbanksandfromthereconstructionFinancecorporation。 And，ofcourse ，theyareundertheimmediatecontrolofthestatebankingauthorities。ThesestatebanksarefollowingthesamecourseastheNationalbanksexceptthattheygettheirlicensestoresumebusinessfromthestateauthorities，andthese

19、authoritieshavebeenaskedbythesecretaryoftheTreasurytopermittheirgoodbankstoopenuponthesamescheduleasthenationalbanks。AndsoIamconfidentthatthestatebankingDepartmentswillbeascarefulasthenationalgovernmentinthepolicyrelatingtotheopeningofbanksandwillfollowthesamebroadtheory。Itispossiblethatwhenthebanks

20、resumeaveryfewpeoplewhohavenotrecoveredfromtheirfearmayagainbeginwithdrawals 。Letmemakeitcleartoyouthatthebankswilltakecareofalln第7页共11页eeds，except ，ofcourse ，thehystericaldemandsofhoarders，anditismybeliefthathoardingduringthepastweekhasbecomeanexceedinglyunfashionablepastimeineverypartofournation 。

21、Itneedsnoprophettotellyouthatwhenthepeoplefindthattheycangettheirmoney-thattheycangetitwhentheywantitforalllegitimatepurposes-thephantomoffearwillsoonbelaid 。peoplewillagainbegladtohavetheirmoneywhereitwillbesafelytakencareofandwheretheycanuseitconvenientlyatanytime 。Icanassureyou，myfriends ，thatiti

22、ssafertokeepyourmoneyinareopenedbankthanitistokeepitunderthemattress。Thesuccessofourwholenationalprogramdepends，ofcourse ，onthecooperationofthepublic-onitsintelligentsupportanditsuseofareliablesystem。rememberthattheessentialaccomplishmentofthenewlegis lationisthatitmakesitpossibleforbanksmorereadily

23、toconverttheirassetsintocashthanwasthecasebefore。moreliberalprovisionhasbeenmadeforbankstoborrowonth第8页共11页eseassetsatthereservebanksandmoreliberalprovisionhasalsobeenmadeforissuingcurrencyonthesecurityofthesegoodassets 。 Thiscurrencyisnotfiatcurrency。Itisissuedonlyonadequatesecurity，andeverygoodban

24、khasanabundanceofsuchsecurity。onemorepointbeforeIclose。Therewillbe，ofcourse ，somebanksunabletoreopenwithoutbeingreorganized。Thenewlawallowsthegovernmenttoassistinxxxthesereorganizationsquicklyandeffectivelyandevenallowsthegovernmenttosubscribetoatleastapartofanynewcapitalthatmayberequired。Ihopeyouca

25、nsee ， myfriends ，fromthisessentialrecitalofwhatyourgovernmentisdoingthatthereisnothingcomplex，nothingradicalintheprocess。wehavehadabadbankingsituation。someofourbankershadshownthemselveseitherincompetentordishonestintheirhandlingofthepeoplesfunds 。Theyhadusedthemoneyentrustedtotheminspeculationsandu

26、nwiseloans 。 Thiswas ， ofcourse ，nottrueinthevastmajorityofourbanks，butitwastrueinenoughofthemtoshockthepeopleoftheunit第9页共11页edstates ， foratime，intoasenseofinsecurityandtoputthemintoaframeofmindwheretheydidnotdifferentiate，butseemedtoassumethattheactsofacomparativefewhadtaintedthemall。 Andsoitbeca

27、methegovernmentsjobtostraightenoutthissituationanddoitasquicklyaspossible。 Andthatjobisbeingperformed。Idonotpromiseyouthateverybankwillbereopenedorthatindividuallosseswillnotbesuffered，buttherewillbenolossesthatpossiblycouldbeavoided;andtherewouldhavebeenmoreandgreaterlosseshadwecontinuedtodrift。 Icanevenpromiseyousal