The Depression Papers of Herbert Hoover

Press conference statement, March 25, 1932

The President said:

I have the report of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation which shows the following distribution of their activities:

Number of Institutions Loans Authorized Average per Institution
Banks and Trust Companies 587 $126,895,073 216,162
Building and Loan Associations 18 2,917,000 162,055
Insurance Companies 13 5,765,000 443,641
Railroads 13 46,975,557 3,613,504
Joint Stock Land Banks 2 775,000 287,500
Mortgage Loan Companies 3 1,362,000 454,000
Livestock Credit Association 1 292,084 292,084
Secretary of Agriculture 50,000,000
Total $234,981,714

The banks and trust companies, receiving the loans totalling $126,000,000, are located in 45 states. The great majority of these loans are to smaller communities. Less than $3,500,000 has been authorized in cities of over 1,000,000 population; more than $116,000,000 has been authorized in towns of under 600,000 population.