Note 411 — Chapter XIX

There is one further generalization developed in connection with Mr. Wolfe's investigation of the ratio of clearings to "total transactions" which seems to have relevance here, though I am not sure how it should be interpreted. The average ratio, as stated, is about 40%. This varies, however, for different cities. "The rule seems to be that the larger the proportion of bank deposits to individual deposits, the smaller will be the figure representing this ratio. In Cincinnati, for example, it is 31.4% while in Los Angeles it is 59.7%." (Jour. of American Bankers' Ass'n, Jan. 1914, p. 487.) How safely based this generalization is cannot be told from the context, as no further facts are offered. Nor is its bearing on the question at issue, as to whether or not New York clearings bear a higher ratio to New York deposits than country clearings do to country deposits, entirely clear. It would seem to indicate that deposits made by outside bankers in the banks of reserve cities make smaller contributions to clearings than individual deposits do, and this would fit in with the fact that checks on outside banks, deposited for collection by one bank in another, do not get into clearings. What further explanation or significance it has I leave to the reader. It is possible that there are a number of important relevant facts missing regarding New York clearings, and that the conclusions here reached may require later revision.