RECEIPTS
County tax for 1836 Three percent fund License fees Fines and recognizance Jurors' fees From Henry County	$2,164.70 1,003.50 252.50 15.00 42.00 4.87
Total	$3,482.57
- 449 - 450 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY
DISBURSEMENTS
Treasurers' fees Jury and witness fees Auditor's fees Assessor's fees Roadviewers, etc. Delaware Creek bridge Swan Creek bridge Road building and repair Salaries, county commissioners Salaries, common pleas judges Prosecuting attorney's salary Sheriff's salary Clerk's salary Elections Locating county seat Coroner's inquests Office rent, stationery; etc. Blank books, etc. Rent of court room Miscellaneous	$ 171.55 151.05 361.63 265.67 244.04 350.00 82.00 250.00 139.37 47.50 40.00 40.00 20.00 86.72 156.00 67.03 73.37 172.90 20.37 239.27
Total	$2,978.47

At that time the assessed valuation of the property for tax purposes was $956,852, nearly one-half of which was in Port Lawrence Township, which included the City of Toledo. The rate of taxation was $1.22% on each one hundred dollars' worth of property, divided as follows :

State and canal tax County and school tax Road tax Township tax	.32 1/2 .50 .30 .10
Total	$1.22 1/2

Back in 1837 the county treasurer did not wait for the people to come to his office and pay their taxes. About the middle of August Sanford L. Collins, the county treasurer, caused to be published in the Toledo newspapers a notice announcing the dates when he would be "at the usual place of holding elections" in each of the ,several townships for the collection of taxes. The notice also stated that, after the tour of the townships, taxes would be payable at his office during the months of October and November. It closed by reminding the taxpayers that "A penalty of 10 per cent accrues on all taxes which remain due and unpaid after the first day of December next." In 1838 the receipts amounted to $4,131.23 and the disbursements to $6,559.95. This shows a deficit of $2,428.72, which was due to several causes. In the first TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 451 place, work on the canal had brought a large number of persons into the county, many of whom were in the habit of getting drunk and committing minor infractions of the law. The expenses in the prosecution of state cases in the courts were unusually heavy and the cost of feeding prisoners in the county jail from July 1, 1837 to October 31, 1838, was $1,440.95. In the second place, the financial panic of 1837 had practically put a stop to speculation in unimproved lands and the delinquent tax list was unusually large for a newly settled community. Non-resident land owners were especially careless about paying taxes and even about having their deeds recorded. This made it difficult for the tax collector to determine the owner and about one hundred town appeared on the tax duplicate marked "Unknown." In 1840 the receipts reached $5,585.94 and the expenditures amounted to $7,945.18. A large part of the latter was due to the purchase of the county infirmary farm, the payment on which amounted to $1,784. The delinquent tax list of this year was the highest in the history of the county—that is in proportion to the total assessed valuation of the property. The country had not yet recovered from the effects of. the panic and many lot owners allowed their lots to be sold for taxes, which in many cases amounted only to a dollar or two. The "Blade" newspaper, which published the delinquent list, had to get out an edition of extra size, as the list alone covered ten pages. This was caused by the collapse of several of the "paper" towns, such as Oregon, Lucas City, Marengo, etc., very few farms appearing in the delinquent list. UNITED STATES SURPLUS There was one feature connected with financial conditions about the time Lucas County was created that has never been, and probably never will be, duplicated. That was the accumulation of a large surplus fund in the United States treasury, which surplus was distributed among the states. In order to understand how this surplus came into the treasury, it is necessary to notice briefly the financial policy of President Jackson's administration. In December, 1816, the second United States Bank was chartered for a term of twenty years. President Jackson attacked the bank in his first annual message in 1829, and renewed the attack in his messages of 1830 and 1831. When Congress, in July, 1832, passed an act granting the bank a new charter, the bill was promptly vetoed by the President. The veto produced no immediate effect, as the old charter did not expire until December, 1836. Jackson was nominated for a second term in 1832 and his veto of the bank bill was one of the leading issues of the campaign. He was reelected and in his message to Congress recommended the withdrawal of the nation's deposits in the United States Bank and the sale of the bank stock belonging to the United States, the deposits and proceeds of the stock sale to be placed with the state banks. Although the Congress was politically friendly to the President, the United States Bank was so thoroughly intrenched that the members of Congress lacked the courage to order the removal of the deposits. As soon as Congress adjourned, Jackson ordered the secretary of the treasury 'to make the removal. The secretary, William J. Duane, hesitated. There were some ten million dollars of public funds deposited with the hank. The bank loans amounted to over sixty million dollars and were distributed all over the country. The secretary argued that the withdrawal of the deposits would 452 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY so affect the business of the country that a panic would be certain to follow. But Jackson was determined in his opinion and made a peremptory order to remove the money and deposit it in certain designated state banks. Duane refused, whereupon Jackson promptly removed him and appointed Roger B. Taney, of Maryland, who commenced the removal in October, 1833, and by June 30, 1834, all the national funds formerly in the hands of the United States Bank were in the hands of the state banks. In this year 1923, when the national budget runs into billions, $10,000,000 would be like the proverbial "drop in the bucket." But in 1834 it was a large sum of money. The deposit of the national funds with rival state banks brought on an era of reckless speculation. The banks believed that the money would remain with them until needed by the Government in the ordinary channels and treated the funds as so much capital of their own, increasing their circulation in proportion to the deposit. Each bank seemed anxious to do more business than its neighbor and therefore made it easy to obtain money. States undertook large programs of internal improvements, business of all kinds was inordinately revived, large quantities of the public lands were sold and the speculation in real estate was unparalleled. Says Lossing : "A hundred cities and a thousand villages were laid out on broad sheets of paper and made the basis of vast moneyed transactions." It was through the sale of the public lands during this era of speculation that a large part of the surplus in the treasury was accumulated. Jackson was a firm believer in the doctrine of State Rights. By that code all the receipts of the Government, in excess of necessary expenditures, belonged to the states. In his message of 1835 he recommended the distribution of the surplus among the states. Accordingly, in January, 1836, Congress passed an act directing the secretary of the treasury to divide the money in excess of $5,000,000 among the states, upon the basis of their representation in the House of Representatives. The amount apportioned to Ohio was $2,686,347. By the act of March 28, 1837, the Ohio. Legislature apportioned this sum among the several counties of the state according to population, Lucas County receiving $11,229.39. County commissioners were authorized to loan the money at the rate of six per cent interest on good real estate security. At the time, the distribution of the surplus was generally regarded as a benefit to the country, as it was thus made possible for farmers to borrow money at a low rate of interest for the development of their farms. The competition to secure loans was great and commissioners were frequently charged with showing favoritism. A few years later, when the borrowers found the state a merciless creditor and many of them lost their farms through the foreclosure of mortgages, those whose applications were rejected had cause to congratulate themselves. They had managed to get along without the loan and retain their farms and the common judgment was that the distribution of-the surplus had done more harm than good. PROPERTY VALUATION IN 1921 Toledo and. Lucas County recovered froth the effects of the panic of 1837 and the fictitious prosperity induced by the distribution of the national surplus. The opening of the canal in 1843 inaugurated an era of real prosperity. Toledo became the commercial metropolis of Northwestern Ohio and the farmers of the county TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 453 found a ready market for their surplus products. Since that time the assessed valuation of property has shown an increase every year. In 1921 the valuation by townships was as follows :

Adams Jerusalem Monclova Oregon Providence Richfield Spencer Springfield Swanton  Sylvania Washington Waterville Waynesfield City of Toledo	$ 15,053,930 3,579,880 3,519,540 8,221,530 2,341,560 1,952,360 1,045,660 2,807,980 1,749,410 4,592,110 18,551,250 4,205,780 4,622,280 468,310,010
Total	$540,553,380

Upon the county's grand duplicate for 1920, which was $525,121,270, or fifteen millions less than for 1921, the tax collections were, as reported by the Auditor of State for 1921:

State County County, special Township Township, special School City and village Municipal, special	$ 396,245.46 1,355,403.81 396,678.21 212,319.08 14,310.94 3,340,697.68 3,488,496.76 885,346.86
Total	$10,840,178.32

BONDED DEBT A German professor, instructing his class in political economy, once remarked : "We learn from history that nothing is learned from history." What he meant was that the people of one generation rarely learn to profit by the mistakes of preceding generations. This is especially true of the financial history of states and municipalities. The man, the city council, the state legislature, or whoever it was that invented the practice of issuing bonds for the purpose of making public improvements, was a friend to the money lender and investor, but how about the taxpayer, who has to pay the principal and interest of the bonds ? In the case of five per cent bonds that run for twenty years, the amount paid in interest equals the principal of the bonds. If the bonds are issued for forty years, which is frequently the case, the interest amounts to twice the principal. The municipality issuing such bonds pays three dollars for every dollar borrowed. Frequently a public improvement made by a bond issue is worn out, or has become obsolete, 454 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY before the bonds fall due. One generation gets the benefit of the improvement and the people of the next generation pay for it, or pass it along to their children by refunding the bonds. A business man who would conduct his affairs in such a manner—depending upon his grandchildren to liquidate his debts—could hardly be called a good financier. MUNICIPAL FINANCING It is frequently in municipal affairs wherein the most reckless or negligent financing is to be found. That is a very usual experience throughout the country, and Toledo has not escaped. In 1913 a Charter Commission was elected which worked diligently in the preparation of a fundamental law for the city which, if obeyed, would secure and safeguard an efficient and economical administration of the public business. The Charter so framed was adopted by the people in November, 1914, to take effect for all purposes January 1, 1916. So far as the Charter did not fully provide for careful expenditure, the State laws were effective supplements. They also control and direct the duty of city officers. These restrictions made legally impossible expenditures beyond appropriation, or out of wrong funds, or without certificate of funds on hand, sufficient and appropriate to the purpose, or by way of diversion of funds or out of money derived from the sale of bonds for specific purposes except to meet those purposes, or appropriations beyond credit balances and anticipated revenues or funds obtained by lawful borrowing. However, considering the management of the city's financial affairs prior to January 1, 1922, the 'Charter and the restrictive State laws might as well not have been passed. That they were flagrantly disregarded is shown not only by official comment but by the facts written into the city's history. The State law devolves upon the State Auditor the duty of causing financial transaction of municipalities to be examined to ascertain whether the statutes to compel care and efficiency are obeyed. Continually, this state officer has criticized the local situation—in 1919, in his official report, sounding this warning for Toledo: "With full knowledge that the city's total income would be far from adequate to meet the expenditures, and that there would be necessarily a very large deficit, yet notwithstanding, the council continued to pass legislation without taking any action to provide the money theref or, increasing salaries and wages by leaps and bounds in every department of the city government, including the salary of the mayor himself, increasing the number of employes and creating new positions in various departments and subdivisions, and providing for the issuance of general bonds for public improvements, some of which improvements could at least have been deferred until such time as the city's 'financial condition could be placed in a self-sustaining position. "The finance director and the commissioner of accounts, more especially the commissioner, repeatedly. called the attention of council, mayor and the heads of departments to the city's straitened circumstances, and to the financial crisis with which the city would inevitably be confronted. The commissioner of accounts attempted to prevent overdrafts of funds of appropriations in quite a number of instances by refusing to draw his warrant in payment of claims which would cause overdrafts, calling attention to the illegality of such procedure. His action was, however, nullified by order of higher authority. The finance director and commis- TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 455 sioner of accounts cannot, however, be absolved from blame or responsibility in connection with the numerous overdrafts, notwithstanding that they were fully informed as to the mandatory provisions .of the law forbidding the same under the circumstances, they continued to approve claims and to issue certificates to the effect that the money was in the proper fund, and warrants in payment of the claims which overdrew both funds and appropriations." In the spring of 1922, a well known Toledo firm of public accountants, engaged for the business of auditing the city's financial transactions for the three years ending December 31, 1921, reported exhaustively. As a preface to noting sections of the Charter and of the State laws which governed, the report says : "A scrutiny of the exhibits will reveal the most astounding disregard by the former officials of the city for the provisions of the Charter, the statutes, or for the trust reposed in them." Later, referring to the observations of the Auditor of State, the report continued : "These warnings were unheeded. The follies of 1919 and 1920 were covered by a deficiency bond issue, and a new deficiency was started." Some of the findings of this report will be noted later. Its final paragraph is : "In conclusion, we wish to emphasize that a rigid adherence to the provisions of the Charter herein quoted would have saved the city from its present financial difficulty. The various officials must respect the limitation placed by council upon their expenditures, and council must cease to appropriate money in excess of the fund balances and anticipated revenues." While this chapter was in preparation, a report of the State's examination of Toledo City financial transactions for 1921 has been made. Among other things, this report disclosed : That investigation of the finance department for 1921 showed that 49 funds were overdrawn in a total amount of $2,814,812 ; that 152 appropriation accounts were overdrawn in a .total amount of $210,203, and that expenditures requiring appropriations to be provided before the expenditures could be legally made, were made without any appropriations having been provided to the total amount of $33,078; that the deficiency in the maintenance and operation funds for the year 1921 was approximately $1,300,000 ; that this deficiency could have been funded through the issuance of bonds under the provisions of house bill No. 4, passed by the general assembly on February 15, 1921, but for some reason neither the executive nor the legislative branch of the city government took any action toward issuing deficiency bonds under said law to cover the deficiency ; that it was apparent that the officials in charge of the finance department during 1921 had "absolutely no regard for the laws governing appropriations ;" that funds provided for specified public improvements were drawn upon and used, to the extent of the deficits, to finance the overdrafts in tax levy, or maintenance and operation funds ; that the cash balances were encroached upon and used in finance overdrafts in other general and special assessment funds ; that such overdrawing of appropriations and funds and the diverting and using moneys raised by the issuance of bonds for specified public improvements "were clearly illegal and without any warrant in law." Translating these criticisms into compact tabular form, there is presented here a synopsis of receipts and disbursements for the last three years, as officially reported at the writing of this chapter in which may be seen the shifts and some Of the salient points of municipal financing for the period : 456 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY RECEIPTS

	1919	1920	1921
Property Taxes Inheritance Taxes Licenses Special and Miscellaneous Sale of bonds Temporary loans Transfers and refunds Water rents	$1,247,815.71 16,884.52 16,528.36 574,609.79 75,000.00 .............. 17,889.05 690,276.42	$1,721,513.95 15,350.68 88,520.73 565,779.34 712,000.00 135,000.00 361,091.94 873,561.40	$2,212,226.94 164,021.35 213,584.45 604,300.12 2.,129,004.36 165,000.00 185,978.26 881,057.76
Totals Plus general balance Less overdrafts Net	2,639,003.95 144,520.52 $2,783,524.47	4,472,818.04 943,581.10 $3,529,236.94	6,555,243.24 1,918,505.27 $4,636,737.97
DISBURSEMENTS
General labor   Salaries, clerk hire, other service Other accounts	$1,740,087.99 471,427.42 1,515,590.16	$2,568,934.48 561,404.45 2,317,403.28	$3,065,387.78 603,245.84 2,284,881.28
SUB-TOTALS	$3,727,105.57	$5,447,742.21	$5,953,514.90
Overdrafts	$ 943,581.10	$1,918,505.27	$1,316,776.93

The first item of disbursements in the foregoing table "general labor" alone (not including salaries, clerk hire and special services) tells much of the story. An increase. in two years in that one item of city expenditure of $1,325,300, or more than seventy-five percent, and exceeding the overdraft and embarrassing floating debt of 1921, still uncared for, is difficult of satisfactory explanation consistent with a claim of official efficiency. BOND INCREASE, 1916-1921 In the six years of 1916-1921, inclusive, the general bonded debt of the city increased seventy-two percent, or $8,035,892, while, in addition, came about a floating debt of $1,316,776.93. Undoubtedly, a large part of the debt increase was due to provision for needed improvements, and represents value received, such as the intercepting sewer, purchase of wharfage, and other items, but at least $1,929,004.36, funded at six percent interest for general deficiency bonds, and $1,316,776.93, wrongly used improvement fund balances, which some day must be replaced and upon which the city is also paying interest at various rates, or a total in six years of $3,245,780.29, spell official and legislative miscarriage. It cannot be said that the public did not supply the money. In the same six years the tax duplicate increased by $178,853,560, or over sixty percent, and the general tax rate increased from 15.8 mills to 20.4 mills or about thirty percent, so that while the property owners of the city were assessed to pay as all taxes a little over four and a half millions in 1916, the demands on them for 1921 were just under nine and a half millions, an increase of more than 106%. The table above printed shows TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 457 that in two years (1919-1921) the operating revenues of the city were enlarged by an increase of $964,481.23, from general property taxation, besides an increase of over a quarter of a million from inheritance taxes and licenses. Half and more of its revenues are necessarily taken up in the carriage of its indebtedness, and still Toledo, of all large cities, is about the worst off in that municipal equipment which denotes the influence of civic pride and which comes from official efficiency. It maintains its administrative offices in cramped and rented buildings ; its derelicts, physical and moral, are secured, housed and cared for in a manner entirely discreditable ; its law loses majesty in the sordid surroundings of its administration, and the inadequacy of its personal equipment ; an ambitious and promising system of parks and boulevards languishes for means of completion, or even of preservation ; advantages of nature possessed by few localities are unimproved because resources have been wasted and dissipated. The county has much to which it may point with justifiable pride for its expenditures, the school district is distinguished for its superior equipment of monumental buildings and educational appliances, the church organizations are beautifying the city with edifices for public worship, individuals and private organizations have contributed much to civic embellishment and improvement and in provision for social welfare ; only in matters strictly municipal as the result of official supervision has there been weakness and failure. This history, to be faithful, must take notice of these unpleasant facts. The criticism offered is intended to be constructive. The remedy may be applied only when the diagnosis is had and facts, however disagreeable, are faced. If civic pride and public insistence on faithful official performance cannot be aroused in any other way stinging them into activity is justifiable, even necessary. ABUSES OF LONG GROWTH The system and conditions criticized are not of recent growth. Officers coming under the Charter inherited a slovenly and indifferent habit of municipal administration. That the charter supplemented state laws, and solemnly particularized, as local, duties, obligations and restrictions in the public interest but makes still more flagrant official and legislative neglect and affirmative disregard of provisions of law already sufficiently clear and positive. In their report for the year 1916, the sinking fund Commissions said to the Council : "In the past, different administrations, being pressed for money, instead of economizing or raising additional revenues, have sought to, and sometimes have succeeded in reducing the sinking fund levy. They have offset administration bills, such as for public lighting, against claims due the city from The Toledo Railways and Light Company, the funds of which belonged to the sinking fund. * * In short, administration expenses and public improvements that should have been assessed on private benefited property have been paid from sinking fund moneys. These sums since January 1, 1908, now (1916) aggregate 701,944.72." This, report further states that in the nine years prior to December 31, 1916, because of carelessness in assessments for street and sewer improvements and because of "voluntary abatements," wherefore sufficient revenue failed to accrue to meet maturing improvement bonds, the Sinking Fund Commissioners were compelled, to themselves obey the law, to draw from the general fund of the city and raised by general taxation, the sum of $236,178.32. In other words, in these directions alone, involving not extravagances in administration, but only a complacent indifference to 458 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY efficient performance of duty and an indolent or careless favoring of private against public interests by adopting a system of "robbing Peter to pay Paul," the taxpayers were placed under an unnecessary additional and, in fact, illegal burden of nearly a million of dollars, substantially all of which could have been saved by a fairly reasonable diligence and impartiality in following existing law. The Commission says, in concluding its advice and criticism : "The 'future' is now here and the harvest is a financial famine. A system that undertakes to unduly put off the payment of debts or to pay administration expenses from the sinking fund or to avoid creating a sinking fund, will financially ruin any city." PEOPLE TO BE CENSURED But all the censure is not to be laid upon the city's officiary, legislative or administrative. After all, the ultimate responsibility rests upon an indifferent public sentiment. The officers are but creatures of the electorate. If the latter is content to let its interest drift, prey to every temporary current of public agitation ; if the people are unwilling to interest themselves in the transaction of their own business, it must be expected that not only may there get into office men of indifferent caliber or of an indisposition to exertion in the intelligent and efficient performance of their duties, but that a public spirited, honest, efficient and purposeful officer, discouraged by apathy and unappreciative attitude of the public toward his efforts in its interest and his endeavor to fulfil his obligations, may unconsciously drift into a despairing and consequently weakened disposition toward his duties. He finds his best efforts under fire of hostile criticism from those who profit by official negligence or favoritism and by those who are beguiled by misrepresentation and actual maligning of his motives and purposes, while those who should come to his defense and who should have the interests of the city as a whole at heart, pursue their private paths, too indolent, too selfish, too cowardly to openly support and defend him. Thus the general public is betrayed, influenced by unfair clamor against its own servants and seduced by the specious arguments and representations of those who have secret and selfish and anti-social interests to serve, and who are allowed to have the stage wholly to themselves. That the foregoing is a true picture of public service quite general in our democratic government there is ample proof in public and private records. Toledo is not unique in this respect. It is an experience common in American municipalities. GENERAL LEGISLATION AT FAULT Finally, both the people and the local officers are crippled in their opportunity to enjoy and to furnish efficient public service by gross defaults of general legislation. The experience of a half century has shown the State's machinery to bring to taxation all the property within the State to be inefficient and inoperative. Repeated efforts to modernize these methods and to provide for an adequate representation on the tax duplicate of all classes of property have failed for want of public support. The Constitution as amended in 1912 contains restrictions and provisions in this respect upon the legislature which are clearly impolitic, and the legislature, struggling with its problems session after session, has burdened its results with inconsistencies and with hampering provisions which do not permit an effective municipal administration anywhere in the State unless city officers resort to shifts and turns which are, to say the least, equivocal. A modernized fundamental provision for TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 459 assessing property of all kinds and legislation thereon permitting tax levies adequate to meet municipal necessities, are essential first steps toward relief, here and elsewhere, for every city in Ohio, in 1923, is in much the same plight as Toledo. Theoretically, there should be no such a thing as a substantial annual deficit. Expenditures should be within appropriations ; the latter should be within the anticipated revenue and be controlled by the budget. General taxation and other sources of income should provide the necessary revenue. As matters now stand, no city in Ohio is permitted the revenue it imperatively needs, and this is so because of the state of general legislation, in the Constitution and in the statutes. Thoughtful people see how revenue may be increased without adding to the burdens of taxation, but so far neither the whole people of the State nor the Legislature have met the matter squarely. SITUATION IN JANUARY, 1922 Officials taking over the city administration January 1, 1922, were confronted with a situation without a parallel at any previous date. Not only was the treasury absolutely empty, for the sum of $127,759.26, net cash balance on hand, belonged altogether to trust and general bond funds, and. were not legally available for general administrative uses, but the same funds had been literally robbed to the amount of more than thirteen hundred thousand dollars by diversions of the past, leaving an obligation difficult both in administrating the purposes for which the money had been acquired by bond sales and in getting the money for replacement. Also, every department was staggering under the effect of those mischievous precedents in lines and quality of expenditure, in careless disregard of the public interest and of the restrictions of the law which had brought about the deplorable condition present. Obviously, it was beyond possibility that city administration cease, or that it could function even in an approximately adequate way without some deficit at the end of the year. Some increase in revenue was to be looked for, especially from general taxation, but the city's rapid growth involved, of necessity, increased ordinary expenditures, while the public safety imperatively demanded an addition to the police and fire establishments. Also the very large increase in 1921 in the general bonded debt involved an enlargement of sinking fund requirements, of more than a quarter of a million dollars (in 1921, $1,223,187.27 ; in 1922, $1,473,740.71). Finally, there were "hang overs," liabilities of the previous year which had to be met. One in the amount of $60,000, representing the cost of elections, was deducted by the County Treasurer from the 1922 tax receipts, depleting anticipated revenues to that extent. IMPROVEMENT IN 1922 The administration coming into power with 1922 noted and heeded the official criticisms of its, predecessors and set its face toward any remedy available. Sound common sense suggested two steps to be taken at once and to be pursued rigorously ; first, to prune the departments of useless and inefficient personnel in an effort to get reasonable value for the labor output ; and, second, to keep expenditures at least within appropriations. No official audit of transactions has been had for 1922 at the writing of this chapter, but this much is known to be spread upon the city records : For the first time in years, expenditures have been within the appropriations. In 1919, expenditures exceeded the amounts authorized by council 460 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY by $222,584.38; in 1920, by $265,409.78; in 1921, by $235,755.84. In 1922, however, the process was reversed, appropriations exceeding expenditures by $197,034.44. This was not accomplished by increasing appropriations to the measure of past experience in expenditures, for the council allowed to be expended in 1922 less than the total outlay of the previous year, although there had to be provided a large increase for pay of additional police and firemen, and for the "hang overs" from 1921. There was a fine balance under appropriations in every fund except the general fund, where the loss of the $60,000 of revenue referred to above brought about an overdraft of $4,244.77. The figures for 1922 respecting outlays in the Service, Welfare and Street Cleaning Assessment Funds show how well the performances of the year met the obligation to prune the personnel service of the city, for it was in these lines that the greatest abuses had developed. The expenditures here were $315,060.10 less than in 1921, and $95,881.19 less than the appropriations. An examination of the detail of Welfare expenditure suggests that the county might well relieve the city of about one hundred thousand dollars of its annual expenditure for relief of the poor. But it was not even a remote possibility that the year should be spent without a deficit, as customary. That unpleasant result, net, however, was $146,454.58 less than for 1921, and was the smallest for a long time in spite of imperative- demands for outlay growing faster than revenues, even from an increasing tax rate, and for a large increase in sinking fund requirements. The strictly operating net deficit for 1922 was $650,657.64, against $1,067,112.22 in 1921. It is a matter of pride to record this reverse step. Those closest to the city's condition, however, realize that three forces must work in perfect harmony in order to save a much worse showing for 1923, for the extravagances of the past bear fruit in. an increasing abundance with each year. The sinking fund burden for 1923 is in the neighborhood of four hundred thousand dollars greater than for 1922. While the administrative side of the city government can do a great deal in applying business principles and strict observance of legal limits to its work, the most cordial and sympathetic cooperation of the legislative branch of the city government is indispensable to a completely wise handling of the city's affairs, and these two branches have, as matters now stand, too limited a field for functioning unless the people themselves take an intelligent interest in the situation and show a willingness to support in a material way the efforts of their officers. The city must have more revenue. As far as possible the policy of issuing bonds and thus not only passing the trouble over to the future but increasing the burden each year should not be followed except when absolutely unavoidable. Toledo cannot possibly take advantage of the opportunities at its door in the expansion of the country unless it throws off the. financial incubus under which it is now staggering, and to do that requires not only an intent and quite general public sentiment to that end, in which 'partisanship and selfish personal ambitions are subordinated, but real- sacrifice and concrete support in the form of assistance to an increased revenue. Cooperation of administrative officers and council, backed by a sympathetic and helpful attitude of the people, is essential to the best outcome possible, pending wise general legislation. Such cooperation, only, will keep the deficits to the minimum of necessity. The Administration and Council must cordially and considerately reciprocate in effort. TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 461 CITY BONDED INDEBTEDNESS-1923 One of the earliest important bond issues made by the City of Toledo was one of $25,000 for the purpose of establishing waterworks for the city. The question of issuing bonds was submitted to 'the people at an election on August 16, 1855, and was carried by a vote of 238 to 57. On April 1, 1872, a proposition to issue waterworks bonds to the amount of $500,000 was submitted to the voters. The people wanted a better system of water supply and indorsed the bond issue by a vote of 3,480 to 1,082, or more than three to .one. The waterworks debt increased gradually with the expansion of the city until, January 1, 1923, it stood at $2,125,000. In 1922, new bonds were issued and sold by vote of the council to the amount of $2,267,200.00, as follows :

Public Library Fire Station Equipment Forestry Bond Park and Boulevard Street Intersection University Building Street Ry. Improvement Bond Summit Street Extension Central Ave. Improvement Park and Boulevard East Broadway Grade Separation Municipal Hospital Hawley St. bridge Miami & Erie Canal East Toledo Police Station bonds General Fund refunding Sidewalk No. 2 City portion *Bridge repair bond *Burnham Ave. Extension Sewers No. 1079 and No. 373

$ 4,500.00 17,000.00 65,000.00 100,000.00 200,000.00 50,000.00 100,000.00 125,000.00 12,000.00 300,000.00 150,000.00 200,000.00 65,000.00 315,000.00 8,500.00 490,000.00 2,000.00 50,000.00 8,200.00 5,000.00

$2,267,200.00

* These bonds authorized by Council and 'accepted by the Sinking Fund in 1921, and paid for in 1922. January 1, 1923, the aggregate bonded indebtedness of the city was $22,495,244.62. The sinking fund, however, had on hand at the same date $4,540,356.75, leaving the net debt $17,954,887.87. The city's balance sheet for the same date showed excess assets over all liabilities of $20,180,268.44. The indebtedness at the beginning of 1923 was distributed as follows:

Toledo & Woodville Railway Sanitary Redemption of certificates Bridge	$432,000.00 120,000.00 1,323,000.00 1,962,000.00
462 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY
Park and Boulevard Street—City portion Street repair General Fund Deficiency Summit Street extension City Hall Site Fire Market Place and House Library Grade Wharf Fire-Police Alarm House of Correction Workhouse farm Water (payable from water fund) High Pressure Mains Garbage City offices Police building Intercepting sewer University University farm Public Comfort Station Municipal Hospital Miami & Erie Canal Pk.-Blvd General Fund refunding Sidewalks Specials	3,520,000.00 2,569,095.00 555,000.00 1,929,004.36 624,000.00 580,000.00 494,000.00 180,000.00 94,500.00 248,000.00 185,000.00 51,000.00 65,000.00 100,000.00 2,125,000.00 41,570.00 165,000.00 125,000.00 25,000.00 2,100,000.00 275,000.00 110,000.00 30,000.00 200,000.00 315,000.00 490,000.00 2,000.00 1,460,075.26
Total	$22,495,244.62

During the first four months of 1923 the Council authorized $2,737,875 of additional bond issues as follows :

Intercepting sewers Bridge repairs Fire department Public Safety building Refunding indebtedness East Side Police Station Wiring fire department Sewer Street repairs Fire department repairs Fire Station Parks and boulevards	$ 700,000 52,000 1,875 418,000 60,000 75,000 75,000 490,000 470,000 20,000 10,000 365,000
Total	$2,736,875

TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 463 OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE The financial outlook of the city for 1923 was indeed gloomy. Notwithstanding another increase in the tax rate, the increase in debt charges necessitated a decrease in the city's operating revenue rate from 4.129 mills in 1922 to 3.988 mills in 1923, bringing about a net decrease of about $70,000 in that source of revenue, with the city's absolutely indispensable expenses increasing all the while. The city still had to provide for the illegal overdrafts of more than thirteen hundred thousand .dollars, above referred to, remaining from December 31, 1921, the electors having refused at the election of 1922 to provide authority for a special levy to meet this situation. The close of the year undoubtedly will show a deficit larger than in 1922, no matter how carefully the administration conducts the city's business, or how wisely the Council legislates. This will be due to the defects of general legislation, already noted. Thus, if ever a situation called for harmony and consideration between the administration and legislative departments of a municipality, and for the cordial and sacrificing support of the people to both, such confronted the municipality with the advent of the year 1923. It should not be forgotten that community obligations must be met and that there are but two ways, the honorable method of liquidation, and the dishonorable method of repudiation. No matter what is thought of the manner in which the debts were created, they are now here. If the city would meet its future with success, they cannot be repudiated. Such an act would burden, almost unbearably, the city's progress ; and conditions will also get worse if its citizens permit it to stagger along under the present handicaps of past mistakes. Whether the people of Toledo measure up to their plain duty to select their officers wisely, to back them with means to extricate the community from the financial entanglement and to encourage by critical interest the keeping of official performance efficient and within the law, is for a future historian to consider. EXPERIMENTS IN MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP Two past experiments in city ownership of public utilities, usually privately managed, stand out not only as financial failures, but as sources of financial embarrassment to the city. Of one, as noted above, the debt effect is still visible. The fact that there was but one railway to the east became burdensome to the city's expansion after the Civil war, and public sentiment began to grow for the construction by the city of another outlet. On the 4th of May, 1869 (66 Ohio Laws, 83), the Legislature provided the legal authority, directing that if two-thirds of the electors of the city voted in favor of bonding the community for that purpose, the same might be done and a tax levy not exceeding five mills might be imposed to meet the bonds. Under this Act the city voted, July 6, 1869, for an issue of bonds to the amount of $450,000, payable in twenty years, and thereafter constructed 22 miles and a half of railroad from Toledo to Woodville. The vote was 3,368 for the bonds to 56 against. Devious and exasperating proceedings followed to get the road constructed. Finally, the Pennsylvania Company contracted to do the building for $425,000 of city bonds. The road was opened May 1, 1873. For five years operation was under a lease. Then the situation not being satisfactory to either side, the Council in 1878 voted almost unanimously to sell 464 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY out the city's entire interest for $225,000, which was done in June of that year, but the debt remains yet unpaid. In 1900 it was refunded for thirty years in the sum of $432,000 and at 3Y2%. Notwithstanding this experiment, the discovery of natural gas in Ohio and near Toledo brought about an agitation in favor of a municipal gas plant. January 22, 1889, (86 Ohio Laws, 7) the Legislature authorized the city, if approved by a majority. vote of the electors, to issue bonds to the amount of $750,000, to bear no more than 4 ½ % interest and to run for not more than thirty years, for the purpose of procuring territory, right of way, sinking wells for natural gas, to purchase Wells, purchase and lay pipes, with all necessary fixtures and attachments and machinery, and for .constructing the necessary buildings and supplying the city and the citizens thereof with natural gas for public and private use. Of these bonds $75,000 worth, and not more, might be issued and sold for the purpose of paying costs and expenses of purchasing the necessary territory and sinking and purchasing such number of wells as might be required. At the April, 1889, election the issue was approved after a warm preliminary contest by a vote of 7,002 for and 4,199 against, and the bonds were issued and sold, 475,000 in May, and $675,000 in October of that year, to mature at varying periods of from ten to thirty years. At that time there were two private natural gas companies serving customers in Toledo, one of which continues in business, now purveying all the natural gas consumed, The Northwestern Natural Gas Company. Prom these private companies came an offer of contract with the city and its citizens to supply gas at the rate of twelve and one-half cents a thousand feet. But so certain were the proponents of the municipal plant that the latter would be a success that this proposition was rejected. With its money the city began the purchase and development of wells and the construction of 78.27 miles of lines beyond the city limits and to the city of Findlay, soon incurring an indebtedness beyond the means provided. In 1892 (89 Ohio Laws, 236), the Legislature authorized a further issue of bonds, $100,000 for construction and extension purposes, and $300,000 and accrued interest to fund indebtedness created in construction over the proceeds of the first issue of $750,000. Altogether, the investment by the end of 1900 had become $1,217,046.00, of which amount $850,000 were raised by the sale of bonds, $300,000 by the negotiation of ten year certificates of indebtedness, and the balance was derived from revenues. Operations began near the close of 1891 and ceased with the year 1900. During this period of between nine and ten years, $663,614.14 were received from the sale of gas, and adding miscellaneous receipts, the total revenue was $673,826.79. Out of the revenues $100,000 were paid into the sinking fund between 1892 and 1894. The balance of revenue was expended in maintenance and extensions. The banner year for receipts was 1893, but in three years receipts had dropped to one-third of the peak. The income never, over any substantial accounting period, met operating expenses alone, not considering interest, depreciation and maintenance. As the mayor said to the council in 1896, already the experiment was shown to be "a colossal failure." . When the local fields began to show exhaustion, and more money, in large amounts, for extensions of lines and the opening of new fields was an indicated necessity, everybody was glad to give up the profitless adventure. By court authority the lines outside of the city were sold as scrap to Kerlin Brothers for $102,000. TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 465 When, however, the lines were taken up, several miles were alleged to be missing, and after some controversy, settlement was made by the purchaser with the city for $83,000. The inside lines were leased to a predecessor of the present Toledo-Edison Company for twenty years at the rate of $6,500 a year. At the writing of this chapter legislation is pending before the council to sell what remains of the plant—the lines within the city limits—for not less than $125,000, or to enter into a new lease for $3,324 a year. The bonds were gradually extinguished within their limit of life by operation of the sinking fund and through processes of taxation. The certificates, however, are still in evidence, although somewhat disguised as refunding bonds, as part of the city's present indebtedness, and, of of course, the extinguished bonds left an impress, still existing, on the city's financial condition. An expert accountant, computing results at the close of 1919, when the last bonds had been cared for, has shown that the net loss to the city, interest computed at five per cent, was then over two million dollars. Aside from a lesson of great value in the weaknesses of community judgment respecting the advantages of municipal ownership, some solace to the community may be found in the fact that the industrial inducement involved in the proposition for cheap gas was a large factor in bringing to Toledo the Libbey Glass interests, and the old Pope-Toledo Company, the forerunner of the Willys-Overland. COUNTY BONDS According to the records of the County 'Auditor's office, Lucas County bonds outstanding on January 1, 1923, except those maturing July 1, 1923, to pay which provision was made, amounted to nearly six million dollars, as follows :

Bridge Children's Home Courthouse Ditch Road and Bridge repair Stone Road Improvement State and County Road Improvement Stone and Gravel road County Highway Improvement Sewer Water line	$ 72,509 13,000 500,000 35,943 8,790 171,000 6,000 90,800 2,620,801 1,413,766 713,920
Total	$5,646,531

The oldest of these bonds are the courthouse bonds which were authorized and issued in 1894. Two items of the above table, the sanitary sewer and township road bonds, are, strictly speaking, not the same as other bonds. Although authorized by the county authorities, the sewer bonds are paid by special assessment against the property benefited, and the township road bonds constitute a claim against the several townships, each providing for the redemption of its own bonds issued for the purpose of building roads. 466 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY In addition to the outstanding county bonds above enumerated, there are outstanding school bonds, for the several districts, aggregating, in round numbers, $18,000,000. Toledo and Lucas County are not alone, however, in contracting large public debts. Figures given out by the Ohio Institute of Public Efficiency for the forty years from 1880 to 1920, show that in that period "the population of the state has increased 80 per cent, the wealth of the people, measured by valuation of taxable property, increased 585 per cent, and the public debt increased 1,138 per cent." BANKING INSTITUTIONS At the time Lucas County was organized, the people of Ohio were not friendly to banks. There was good reason for this. Most of the paper money of that day was issued by private banks and went current only so long as some man of known executive ability and integrity vouched for its value. The "currency" issued by the Michigan banks was especially open to suspicion. It was the era of the so-called "wild-cat" banking, though how the banks received the name of "wild-cats" is not certain. In the State of New York banks of similar character were called "red dogs." On March 15, 1837, the Michigan Legislature enacted a law providing for the incorporation of banks. It provided that any number of men might associate together, subscribe $50,000 for a capital stock, file articles of association with the county clerk and receive a charter. The law required one-third of the capital stock to be owned by the county, ten per cent to be paid in before the election of directors, and thirty per cent before bank notes could be issued. At no time should the bills in circulation be more than two and a half times the amount of the capital stock actually paid in. Originally the law required banks to carry a certain specie reserve, for the redemption of currency, but a subsequent act permitted the stockholders to deposit, instead of specie, bonds secured by real estate. Under this law wild land, valued at three or four times its actual value (sometimes more) became the security for Michigan bank circulation. In this day, when banking is conducted on a "safe and sane" basis, the following description of the City Bank of Brest, reads like the wildest fiction : "Brest was a magnificent city (on paper), situated at the mouth of a little creek, about seven miles from Monroe. An excellent lithographed and beautifully colored map of the city represented it with broad avenues, lined with palatial residences and handsome grounds. The extended river front of the city had a continuous line of docks, above which towered lofty warehouses, filled with the merchandise of the world. The largest steamers were represented as sailing up past the city, whose docks were crowded with vessels of all descriptions, while the streets were thronged with busy life. The ruins of Nineveh or Baalbec are not more desolate now than are the ruins of Brest, and it is little less a wilderness today than it was seventy-odd years ago. But Brest had a bank with a capital of $100,000. It was a fair sample of a wild-cat bank and an illustration of how those affairs were managed. The law compelled the bank commissioners to make an investigation into the affairs of the banks. Spies dogged the footsteps of the commissioners and it was generally found out when they were to visit a bank for inspection, whereupon the business of that particular bank was put in favorable shape for examination. On August 2, 1837, the commissioners examined the TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 467 Bank of Brest. They found the principal resources to consist of loans on bonds, $16,000; back stock, $10,000; specie, $12,900, which was eminently satisfactory. It appears that $10,500 of the specie belonged to Lewis Godard (of Toledo) and had been loaned to the bank the day before the examination and drawn out the day after. "A day or two later the commissioners examined the Bank of Clinton and found specie on hand to the amount of $11,029.35. The day following this examination the same $10,500 of specie was returned to Lewis. Godard, having performed the same function it had in connection with the Bank of Brest. Something in the appearance of this specie aroused the suspicions of one and the commissioners and, unannounced, they returned to Brest for another investigation. This time they found the actual specie on hand to amount of $138.90, while the circulation of the bank was $84,241." Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that the Ohio people were unfriendly to the banks. Mention has already been made of how President Jackson ordered the Government deposits withdrawn from the United States Bank and deposited with certain designated state banks, and of the wild speculation which followed. When the hard times came on, the Government had use for its money and called upon the banks with which it had been deposited to repay it in specie. The banks did not have it. They had loaned it to speculators, who had been unable to realize upon their investments, which had been made in wild lands often at fancy prices. The security proved to be of little or no value and the banks experienced many difficulties in the endeavor to meet their obligations to the Government. They called in their circulation as rapidly as possible, suspended specie payments and resorted to every expedient to repay the loan. These things added to the general distress and in the end the wild-cat banks collapsed, leaving in circulation bills representing millions of dollars. Bona fide holders of these bills were heavy losers. Many bills that had never been placed in circulation were given away as curiosities. In some localities they were so plentiful that they were used to paper the walls of the log cabins. During the Civil war Union soldiers carried a large number of these wild-cat bills into the South, where they found the people preferred them to Confederate money. This was probably the last instance of the wild-cat currency having a purchasing value. BANK OF MANHATTAN The first bank within the present limits of Lucas County was the Bank of Manhattan, which was charted by the Michigan Legislature on March 25, 1836. Daniel Chase, who afterward commanded the Lucas County company of troops in the Mexican war, was president, and Henry D. Ward was cashier. A statement of the condition of the bank on June 30, 1840, showed resources of $122,052.71. Its principal assets consisted of bills discounted, $90,824 ; special loans, $18,000 ; judgments, $5,426. Of the liabilities $50,000 represented the capital stock ; $57,381, the circulation ; and $13,034, the deposits. About the time this statement was made the bank brought suit, to collect an indebtedness claimed, against James Myers, of Toledo. Myers denied the legal existence of the bank and the injustice of the claim. The case was carried to the Ohio Supreme Court, where in 1852 it decided that the bank never had a legal 468 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY existence and was not authorized to do business, "for the reason that its charter was obtained in 1836 from a body calling itself the Legislature of the State of Michigan, whereas there was no 'State of Michigan' until January, 1837. Furthermore, Manhattan never was under the jurisdiction of Michigan, and securities given to an unauthorized bank are void." Thus the claim against Mr. Myers was not collectible and the bank wound up its affairs. EARLY TOLEDO BANKS The first banking house of any kind in Toledo was the firm of Prentiss & Dow, located at the corner of Monroe and Summit streets. It opened in 1843 and H. P. Esty subsequently succeeded Mr. Dow, the firm then taking the name of H. P. Esty & Company. This house carried on a successful banking and brokerage business for several years. On February 24, 1845, the State Bank of Ohio was incorporated by an act of the General Assembly. The act also contained provisions for the establishment of other banking institutions. On October 8, 1845, the Bank of Toledo filed its certificate with the county recorder and began business. The incorporators of this bank were : Moses Y. Beach, of. New York ; Zenas Cobb, Jr., of Cleveland; Charles R. Miller, Samuel and William Rattle, Horace L. Miller and Timothy Miller, of Cuyahoga Falls. William Rattle was elected president and Charles R. Miller, cashier.. In 1852 the bank was reorganized, when Samuel M. Young, Morrison R. Waite and others came into control. On November 19, 1864, it was again reorganized as the Toledo National Bank, with a capital stock of $300,000. Samuel M. Young was elected president and Paul Jones, cashier. For many years this bank was located on the east side of Summit Street, between Adams and Madison. After a successful career of forty-five years, its affairs were liquidated in 1890. The Commercial Bank of Toledo was organized at the same time as the above bank (October 8, 1845,) by Matthew Johnson and Joseph Lake. For a few years it prospered, but financial reverses came and the bank was closed. Its affairs were wound up by a receiver in 1854. In December, 1846, Kraus & Company opened an office on the corner of Monroe and Summit streets and engaged in business as private bankers and brokers. From their first location they moved to Summit and Jefferson. A little later Mr. Kraus and William H. Smith succeeded William G. Powers & Company in what was known as the City Bank. Kraus & Smith continued in business until the fall of 1873, when they failed with liabilities of about one million dollars and comparatively small assets. This was the first, and in many, respects the most disastrous bank failure in Toledo. The Mechanics' Bank of Toledo was established in December, 1855, by L. G. Berry and M. W. Day, of Adrian, Michigan, and continued in business for several years. About a year after the Mechanics' Bank was started, Raynor & Clark opened the Exchange Bank. These two men were the principal owners of the Bank of Tecumseh, at Tecumseh, Michigan, and also conducted a bank at Monroe, Michigan. The name "Exchange Bank" proved to be a good one, as it developed that the main object of the founders was to "exchange" the worthless notes of the Bank of Tecumseh for good Ohio dollars. The failure of the Bank of Tecumseh resulted in the failure of the Exchange Bank at Toledo, leaving many to mourn their connection with the institution. TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 471 TOLEDO BANKS IN 1923 At the beginning of 1923 there were seventeen institutions doing a general banking business in Toledo. As of April 3 of that year their capitalization, resources and liabilities were reported as in this table:

Bank	Capital	Surplus and Undivided Profits	Loans and  Discounts	Deposits	Total Resources
First National Second National Northern National Citizens Safe Deposit Commercial Savings Dime Savings & Trust Commerce Guardian Home Savings Merchants' & Clerks' Ohio Savings Bank Opieka Savings* Peoples' State Security Savings* Spitzer-Rorick Toledo Savings Union Savings Morris Plan	$ 500,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 50,000 200,000 300,000 1,400,000 250,000 150,000 1,000,000 150,000 100,000 565,200 300,000 600,000 250,000 200,000	$1,674,743 2,809,243 1,169,375 10,856 334,312 311,062 976,972 642,837 356,466 1,500,513 42,049 49,935 477,176 315,414 420,922 407,274 103,778	$ 7,771,098 8,062,495 8,645,314 131,157 5,853,878 5,846,434 18,194,234 5,509,463 1,699,159 19,565,004 860,446 1,141,642 5,467,003 224,434 2,447,703 1,297,844 1,119,513	$ 9,264,342 12,026,464 10,991,372 268,582 9,600,305 7,763,031 23,411,056 6,477,915 2,394,055 29,416,699 1,274,298 1,754,228 7,718,555 2,968,567 2,976,015 1,491,025 803,010	$12,435,989 17,592,007 15,049,708 329,438 10,134,616 8,434,092 26,997,156 7,377,833 2,917,983 32,175,231 1,472,563 1,954,206 8,925,057 3,592,285 4,043,260 2,158,317 1,276,965
Grand Total	$8,015,200	$11,592,927	$93,736,281	$130,600,519	$156,766,706

*Consolidated, spring of 1923.

The oldest of these is The First National, which dates back to 1851. In that year John Poag and Valentine H. Ketcham opened a private banking and brokerage business under the firm name of Poag & Ketcham. A little later John Berdan came into the firm and the concern took the name of Ketcham, Berdan & Company. On September 1, 1863, the business was reorganized as the First National Bank of Toledo, one of the first national banks in the country. Valentine H. Ketcham was chosen president J. K. Secor, vice president John Berdan, cashier. The original capital stock of the First National was $200,000, which was subsequently increased to $500,000. In 1904 the bank moved into its new building at 312-314 Summit Street, where it is still located.

Parmelee & Company established the Marine Bank in 1860, with an authorized capital of $100,000, but it was not a success and soon wound up its affairs. George

472 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY

W. Davis, one of the principal stockholders, purchased the assets of the bank and reorganized it. For about three years the Marine Bank did a successful business, with George W. Davis as president and Nehemiah Waterman as cashier. On January 18, 1864, it was reorganized as the Second National Bank of Toledo, with a capital stock of $150,000. In 1871 the Merchants' National Bank was organized with a capital stock of $300,000 and began business in the Fort Industry block. Wilson W. Griffith was the first president and Charles C. Doolittle the first cashier. On May 1, 1907, this bank was consolidated with the Second National. The Second National Bank building, on the corner of Summit Street and Madison Avenue, is the tallest building in Toledo (twenty-one stories) and can be seen for miles.

On November 30, 1864, the Northern National Bank received its charter under the national banking act and soon afterward opened its doors for business. Matthew Shoemaker was the first president and E. T. Mortimer the first cashier. The original capital stock of this bank was $150,000, which has been increased to $1,000,000. It was first located on Summit Street, between Jefferson and Madison, but when the Produce Exchange building was erected on Madison Avenue more commodious quarters were provided for the bank. The Northern National now occupies its own building on the corner of Superior Street and Madison Avenue.

The Toledo Savings Institution began business on July 21, 1868, with Richard Mott, president ; A. E. Macomber, cashier ; and a capital stock of $100,000. On June 18, 1874, it was reorganized as the Toledo Savings Bank and Trust Company, Richard Mott, president ; Edward Malone, vice president ; John J. Barker, cashier. This is the oldest savings bank in Toledo. It is located at 150-152 Summit Street.

In 1870 Oliver S. Bond, Frederick Eaton, N. M. Howard, Charles L. Luce, James Secor, L. M. Skidmore, Matthew Shoemaker, John H. Whitaker and E. H. Wright, organized the Merchants' and Clerks' Savings Bank. The above named constituted the first board of directors, Matthew Shoemaker being elected president and Oliver S. Bond, secretary and treasurer. The bank began business in a room in the rear of the Northern National Bank, 99 Summit Street, February 10, 1871. After several removals it became permanently located at 338 Summit Street in September, 1910.

In 1881 C. M. Spitzer and L. and J. Weidman opened a private banking house under the firm name of Spitzer, Weidman & Company. After about a year the Weidmans withdrew and were succeeded by A. L. Spitzer, the firm taking the name of Spitzer & Company, under which it continued for several years. Horton C. Rorick then acquired an interest in the business and Spitzer-Rorick & Company came into existence. This firm is located in the Nicholas building and deals in municipal bonds and stocks of various kinds. The Spitzer-Rorick Trust and Savings Bank was incorporated in 1911, with a capital stock of $300,000. It is located at 602-604 Madison Avenue.

The Commerce-Guardian Trust and Savings Bank is the outgrowth of a private banking business established in 1885 by John B. Ketcham. On January 1, 1888, the concern was organized as- the Ketcham National Bank, with a capital stock of $250,000. John B. Ketcham (second) was elected president and S. H. Waring, cashier. On the first board of directors were : John H. Doyle, E. L. Barber, John Berdan, E. W. Tolerton, I. N. Poe and G. G. Hadley. On January 1, 1899, Spencer D. Carr became president and about that time the name was changed to the National