Letter from C.W. Van Houten to the State Banking Department, March 1933
Document Description:
Letter written by C.W. Van Houten of Manning, SC to the State Banking Department on March 5, 1933. Mr. Van Houten is writing to the State Banking Department asking if it is legal for a bank to close and declare a holiday even if there is no state holiday declared. This letter is interesting because it is obvious Mr. Van Houten is angry about this as he even writes up the side of the page.
Citation:
Van Houten, C. W. to the State Banking Department, 5 March 1933. Governor Blackwood Papers, Alphabetical Correspondence 1931-1933. S539020 Box 6: 1933 A-Y. South Carolina Department of History and Archives, Columbia, South Carolina.
Transcription:
Manning, So Car
March. 5/33
State Banking Dept
Columbia, S. Car
Gentlemen:
Please inform me what legal right a single bank in S.C. has to declare “a holiday” – [scribble] and refuse to pay a depositer his money - ?
If they refuse to pay or cannot pay – should they not be closed, declared bankrupt and placed in the hands of the Banking Dept. for lequidation [sic]?
Is not such the law?
Yours truly,
C. W. Van Houten
I refer to the above where no state holiday is proclaimed by the Governer [sic].
Correlating SC Social Studies Academic Standards:
Standard 3-5: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the major developments in South Carolina in the late nineteenth century and the twentieth century.
Indicator 3-5.5 Explain the effects of the Great Depression and the New Deal on daily life in South Carolina, including the widespread poverty and unemployment and the role of the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Standard 5-4: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the economic boom-and-bust in America in the 1920s and 1930s, its resultant political instability, and the subsequent worldwide response.
Indicator 5-4.2 Summarize the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression, including economic weakness, unemployment, failed banks and businesses, and migration from rural areas.
Standard 8-6: The student will demonstrate an understanding of South Carolina’s development during the early twentieth century.
Indicator 8-6.5 Explain the effects of the Great Depression and the lasting impact of New Deal programs on South Carolina, including the Rural Electrification Act, the Civilian Conservation Corps, Works Progress Administration and Public Works Administration building projects, the Social Security Act, and the Santee Cooper electricity project.
Standard USHC-7: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the economic boom-and-bust in America in the 1920s and 1930s, its resultant political instability, and the subsequent worldwide response.
Indicator USHC-7.4 Explain the causes and effects of the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression, including the disparity in incomes, limited government regulation, stock market speculation, and the collapse of the farm economy; wealth distribution, investment, and taxes; government policies and the Federal Reserve System; and the effects of the Depression on human beings and the environment.