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NEW YORK TIMES, FEBRUARY 10,
1892.
John Jay Knox, President of
the National Bank of the Republic, died at his residence, 19 East
Forty-first Street, on the 9th of February. Mr. Knox had been ill with
pneumonia for several days, and toward the last his physicians had given
up all hope of saving his life. John Jay Knox had been a conspicuous
figure in the financial world during the last two decades. He was born in
Oneida County, this state, on March 19, 1828. His father's ancestors were
Scotch-Irish, and came from Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1759. He
received his education at the Augusta Academy and the Water-town Classical
Institute, and was graduated from Hamilton College in 1849. He began his
business career in the bank at Vernon, of which his father was long
President, as teller, at a salary of $300 a year. He held that position
until 1852. He afterward was with the Burnet Bank, at Syracuse, and then
was appointed cashier of the Susquehanna Valley Bank, at Binghampton.
In 1857 Mr. Knox and his
brother, Henry M. Knox, started a bank in St. Paul, Minn. He came into
prominence as a financier in the discussion which preceded the
establishment of the national banks. He took a conspicuous part in the
agitation of the questions that then arose, and made many valuable
suggestions regarding the currency. He strongly advocated a safe and
convertible currency, the issue of a uniform series of circulating notes
to all the banks, and the guarantee by the government of circulation
secured by its own bonds.
In 1862 Mr. Knox was
introduced by Secretary Chase to Hugh McCullough, then the Controller of
the Currency. Mr. Chase had. his attention attracted to Mr. Knox by the
financial articles that appeared under his name in various magazines. Mr.
Knox accepted a clerkship under Treasurer Spinner, but subsequently was
transferred to the office of Mr. Chase as disbursing clerk, at a salary of
$2,000 a year. After holding the position three years he accepted a
position as cashier of the Exchange National Bank, at Norfork Va.
The Southern climate did
not agree with him, so he returned to Washington. He was commissioned by
Mr. McCullough to examine the branch mint at San Francisco. He also was
then authorized to select a site for a new mint there. His report upon the
mint service of the Pacific Coast was so valuable a document that Mr.
McCul-lough printed it as a part of his official report of 1866, with a
complimentary notice for the writer. The site for the mint which he
selected was afterward purchased for $100,000 from Eugene Kelly, of this
city.
Mr. Knox was next
commissioned to go to New Orleans. A deficiency of $1,100,000 had been
discovered in the office of the Assistant Treasurer there. He took
possession of the office, and for some time acted as Assistant Treasurer.
The promotion of Mr. Knox
to the office in which he was able to do himself the most credit and
perform services to the country which are part of its financial progress
occurred in 1867. At this time a vacancy was brought about in the Deputy
Controllership of the Currency, and Secretary McCullough appointed him to
fill it. Until May 1, 1884, he remained as Deputy, or head of the bureau,
his terms of office being as follows: Five years as Deputy Controller,
from 1867 to 1872; five years as Controller, from 1872 to 1877, appointed
by Gen. Grant; five years, second term, as Controller, from 1877 to 1882,
by President Hayes, on the recommendation of Secretary Sherman—the
reappointment being made without his knowledge, before the expiration of
the preceding term, and confirmed by the Senate without reference to any
committee. He was again reappointed by President Arthur, April 12, 1882.
In 1870 he made an
elaborate report to Congress, including a codification of the mint and
coinage laws, with important amendments, which was highly commended. The
bill which accompanied the report comprised within the compass of twelve
pages of the Revised Statutes every important provision contained in more
than sixty different enactments upon the mint and coinage of the United
States—the result of eighty years of legislation. This bill, with slight
amendments, was subsequently passed, and is known as "The Coinage Act of
1873," and the Senate Finance Committee, in recognition of his services,
by an amendment, made the Controller of the Currency an ex officio member
of the Assay Commission, which meets annually at the mint in Philadelphia
for the purpose of testing the weight and fineness of the coinage of the
year.
Through his official report
Mr. Knox always exercised great influence over financial legislation, and
he took an active, though quiet and unassuming part in the great financial
movements which resulted in the resumption of the specie payment. It was
in April, 1878, that he came to this city with Secretary Sherman and
Attorney-general Devens. He arranged a meeting between these two Cabinet
officers and the officers of ten of the principal banks, with the view of
negotiating the sale of $50,000,000 of 4˝ per cent. bonds, the avails of
which wore to be used for resumption purposes. The Presidents of the banks
represented gave Secretary Sherman no encouragement for the purchase of
the bonds at the rate proposed. The Secretary and the Controller were met
at the Fifth Avenue Hotel later in the day by August Belmont, who had
received from the Rothschilds a cable dispatch authorizing the purchase of
the entire issue of bonds at a premium of 1˝ per cent. for the account of
the syndicate. When the Secretary and the Controller returned to
Washington and announced that their negotiations had been successful,
there was a deal of chagrin among certain members of the Finance Committee
of the House of Representatives, who were bitterly opposed to the
resumption scheme proposed.
This negotiation was the
first of a series of brilliant financial transactions preceding and
following resumption on January 1, 1879, in which Mr. Knox was a leading
figure. Afterward he arranged a conference, which was held in the Treasury
at Washington in the evening, between leading bank officials of New York
and Secretaries Sherman and Evarts, which resulted in the admission of the
Assistant Treasurer as a member of the Clearing House, and the receipt by
the banks of legal tender notes on a par with gold; and in 1881, by
request of President Garfield, he attended a conference in New York
between the leading financial men of the city and Secretary Windom and
Attorney-general MacVeagh, which resulted in the issue and successful
negotiation of 3˝ per cent. bonds.
After Mr. Knox left the
public service, in 1884, he was President of the National Bank of the
Republic in this city. He was the author of a book entitled "United States
Notes." It was published by the Scribners and republished in London. In
politics Mr. Knox was thoroughly independent, taking a personal interest
in political matters only so far as financial, civil service, and tariff
questions were concerned. He was the nominee of the independents for
Controller of the city in 1886.
The last address made by
Mr. Knox was in Boston at the dinner given by the Chamber of Commerce of
that city. On that occasion he was one of the representatives of the New
York Chamber of Commerce.
The funeral took place on
Friday from St. Bartholomew's Church, in Madison Avenue, of which Mr. Knox
was a member. |
