Full text of Central Western Banker : October 1935, Volume 30, No. 10

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CEN TR AL W ESTERN

BAN K ER
Omaha

How We Are Improving Relations
With Commercial Customers
Page 4

Nebraska Bankers to Meet in Omaha
October 24 to 25
Page 5

About Men You Know in Nebraska
Page 7

Economic Highlights
Page 11

O ctober

1935

D e liv e r e d on Date o f Publication

H ours M o r e News
A n d L o w e s t Price
The Daily Lincoln NEBRASKA STATE JOURNAL
can give two to ten hours later news out on rural routes
and in many towns because it is the only large daily
between Omaha and Denver printing at night, in fact,
after 5 p.m.

The Journal prints editions right up until

train time day and night.

The Morning Journal comes

in time for mail delivery on the same day.

Dailies

printed on the Iowa line edit fo r Iowa readers.
The Lincoln Journal sells fo r one to two dollars a
year less than any other big state morning daily, and
is priced as low as day late afternoon papers.
With the Lincoln Journal you practically get the
Sunday free, for other morning papers charge as much
fo r daily only as The Journal does including Sunday.
By mail in Nebraska and North Kansas, three
months $1.25 daily, $1.50 with Sunday; a year $4.00
daily, $5.00 with Sunday; 25c a month higher to other
states.

★

Lincoln
NEBRASKA
STATE
JOURNAL

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Send (Daily) (Sunday) Journal
To
Address
$___________________________________________ Worth of Time

3

Central Western Banker, O ctober, 1935

CENTRAL WETTERN CANCER
410 A R T H U R B U IL D IN G
OMAHA
C l iff o r d D e P u y , Publisher
R . W . M oo rh ea d , A ssocia te Publisher

H . H . H a y n e s , E ditor
F r a n k P. S y m s , Vice-P resident, 330 W e st 42nd Street, N ew York

F r a n k S. L e w i s , 511 Essex Bldg., Minneapolis
Subscription, 25 cents per copy; $2.00 per year.

V olum e

30

O C T O B E R , 1935

THE

B U S IN E S S

O M E of the natural forces of re­
covery continue to operate in placid
fashion to hold business activity up
nearly to the levels established at the
beginning of the year. T h e American
people continue to buy large numbers of
automobiles and iceless refrigerators.

S

T hey are travelling more freely, and pa­
tronizing entertainments and amuse­
ments more generally than they did in
the earlier years of the depression. T hey
are buying more personal and household
goods at retail stores than formerly. T h e
farmers are having their best year since
the depression started. A ll these factors
sustain business.

^

Entered as second-class matter at the Omaha postoffice.

" evertheless

some of the natural

forces of recovery are still exerting
only meager pressure in the upward push
of business. T hree of them are so im­
portant that their lack o f active partici­
pation greatly restricts the progress of
recovery. One of these is export trade.
Just before the depression the value of

N um ber

O U TLO O K

By C o l . L e o n a r d P. A y r e s
Vice President
The Cle-veland Trust Company

for construction were much greater than
either the value of our exports or the
revenues of our railroads.

T heir total

probably averaged over 10 billions a year
during the prosperity period from 1923
through 1929.

It is now running at

A t present it is
P ^ ecovery has made sufficient progress

T h e second of the three great laggards

during the past three years to carry
the volume of industrial production half
way back towards normal. This state­
ment is based on the data of the index
of industrial production compiled by the
Federal Reserve Board. T hat index takes
the average volume o f production of the
three years 1923, 1924, and 1925 as
equal to 100. Probably that basis may
be accepted as constituting a fair normal

Be­

fore the depression the operating rev­
enues of the roads were even larger in
total than the value of our exports. T hey
amounted to well over six billion dollars
a year.
N ow they are about half as
much, and as a result railroad purchas­
ing is greatly curtailed.

rpH E

t h ir d

continuing great shortage

is in building construction.
Before
the depression our annual expenditures


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h e

lo w est

output of the depression

was that of the summer of 1932, and
the figures show that the recovery of
the past three years has been just half
of that which would be necessary to get
back to the old per capita normal level.
Again this is a most conservative esti­
mate for next year and in the follow ing
years there w ill have been further in­
creases in population and so now ad­
vances in the normal level.

Probably a large increase in building
would do more to promote recovery than
would any other development that seems
possible. Active building would employ
great numbers of workers now idle. It
would restore freight traffic to the rail­
roads, and the roads in turn would spend
almost all their additional revenues for
materials, replacements, and betterments.
T hen the iron and steel and many ma­
chine industries would revive, their se­
curities would be given restored value,
employment would increase, and recov­
ery would be achieved.

a little more than one-third as much.
in recovery is railroad purchasing.

J

about a quarter of those earlier figures.

our exports was running at over five bil­
lion dollars a year.

10

level for that period, since 1923 was a
prosperous year, 1924 one of mild de­
pression, and 1925 a moderately good
year.

J n

g e n e r a l

,

business activity has been

holding its own fairly well this year.
It is keeping the gains that it made after
the decline of last summer, but it has
not added much to them. M uch of the
business comment printed in the past two
or three months has tended to give the
impression that something like a small
business boom was getting under way.
W h at really has happened is that during
most of the time since early last spring
stock prices have been advancing with
the result that business confidence has
improved, and the natural optimism of
business writers has been augmented.
Business activity has been moving side­
ways on a nearly level plateau this year,
and now there is a little upward tilt
in the plateau as the third quarter draws
toward its close. In August industrial
production was slightly above its aver­
age for the year to date. Factory em­
ployment was slightly below its average
so far in 1935. Factory pay rolls were
a little below. Department store sales
were the same as they were last M arch,
but somewhat above their average for
the year. Railroad freight loadings were
a little below their average. N ew build­
ing was distinctly above. In making all
these comparisons normal seasonal varia­
tions have been taken into account.

4

Central Western Banker, O ctober, 1935

ow W e A re Improving Relations
W ith

c om m ercial

IN C E I have been asked to tell
you what we have been doing along
this line, I think it appropriate to
give you a brief description of our bank,
in order that you may make comparisons
with yours.
T h e Hamilton National
bank of Chattanooga, Tennessee, was
opened for business in 1905. O n O cto­
ber 10th, we are celebrating our thir­
tieth anniversary. I should say, how ­
ever, that the original organization came
into being in 1889 as the South Chat­
tanooga Savings bank, a very small state
bank on the outskirts of the business
district of our city, and which is now
known as our M ain Street branch. This
really gives our institution 46 years of
continuous experience in the banking
business. O u r statement on June 29,
1935, showed deposits of more than thir­
ty millions; resources of over thirty-six
millions; loans and discounts slightly
above nine millions.
Chattanooga is a city of 150,000 pop­
ulation, located in the mountains of easttern Tennessee, and in the center of the
T V A operations. Although noted for
its beautiful scenery, Chattanooga is an
industrial city with some four hundred
manufacturing plants.

S

Educational Advertising

N ow that you have some idea of our
set-up, I shall attempt to enumerate
some of the things that we are doing
to build good will and better customer
relations. I feel I should first mention
educational advertising. D uring the past
tw o or three years we have all heard and
read a great deal with regard to educat­
ing the public to a better understanding
of banking operations. I would not dis­
courage this effort in the least; however,
I am sure that we shall never be able
to so inform the general public about
the intricate details of banking to the
extent we should like. T h e public will
never understand this any more than you
or I w ill ever be able to remove the parts
from an adding machine and place them
back together. Because of necessity we
must continue our efforts along this line.
Some results have been obtained for we
know at the present time thousands o f

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Customers

The Talk given b y O . Y . D ykes,
assistant cashier o f the H a m ilto n
N a tio n a l Bank, C hattanooga, Ten­
nessee, b e fo re the C o m m e r c i a l
D e v e lo p m e n t D epartm enta l C o n ­
ference

at

the

recent F in a n c ia l

A d v e rtis e rs ’ A s s o c ia tio n C o n ve n ­
tio n held in A tla n tic C ity.

people have a better understanding of a
bank statement than they had some three
or four years ago.
Newspapers

W e use the newspaper as our prin­
cipal advertising medium.
There are
two papers in our city and we advertise
in both of them three times a week, using
space varying from ten to twenty inches.
Several times during the past year we
have used our newspaper space in an
effort to explain our loan policies— also
endeavoring to make clear just what
constitutes safe and sound commercial
loans. Another purpose of this adver­
tising was to combat an unjust criticism
the banks were receiving from the A d ­
ministration and other sources because
they did not seem to be soliciting loans
as they should. W h ile the Administra­
tion and the public were criticising banks
for not making loans— the bank examin­
ers, on the other hand, were criticising
all those which did. I think this crit­
icism was unjust and I am citing you
figures in our particular case which I
believe will justify my statement. In
the year 1933 our bank made absolutely
new loans in the amount of approxi­
mately nine millions o f dollars; in 1934
more than eight millions, and in the first
six months of 1935 more than five mil­
lions. Perhaps your banks have done as
much or more.
Statements

Another form of goodwill advertising
which we have been carrying on, and
which I feel has been very effective, is
the distribution of our quarterly state­
ments to such an extent that practically
every person in the trade area of Chat­

tanooga has an opportunity to see it.
Here is a sample of the folder we use
for this purpose. Y ou w ill notice the
most important position is devoted to a
display of statement of condition. O n
the back we list all of our officers and
directors. W e use the inside space for
a message to our patrons and friends.
This message is considered by us as very
important and we give a great deal of
time and thought to it. Its purpose is to
build goodwill and explain, to a certain
extent, our plan o f operation.
I feel
that this program of statement distribu­
tion has proved very effective and al­
though we have no way of determining
actual results— I am satisfied that it has
played an important part in keeping our
name before the public and building
goodwill.
Personal Calls

Another feature of our program along
this line, which I consider very important
is the personal calls we make to the bus­
iness offices of our patrons and friends.
I have observed that it is much more ef­
fective for two officials to make such
calls rather than one. Due to lack of
time such calls cannot be made with any
regularity except to our most important
customers. W e have found this type of
contact very effective and almost with­
out exception we find that our customers
appreciate and seem to enjoy a visit from
our officials. W e too find it a pleasure
to go to a customer’s office, sit down and
talk over his business and business prob­
lems with him. H e takes pride in show­
ing us through his place of business, fac­
tory, as the case may be.
This, of
course, is enlightening and enables us to
have a more complete understanding of
him and of his business. W e feel these
calls are absolutely essential.
Building Goodwill

M ay I relate here an instance where
we rendered a service somewhat out of
the ordinary; one which I believe worth
while and very effective in building good­
will. W e have as our customer a man­
ufacturing concern in a neighboring
town. T his concern, like a great many
others, received some very severe blows
(Continued on page 12)

Central Western Banker, O ctober, 1935

5

Nebraska Bankers to M eet in Omaha
O ctober 24 and 25
E N R Y B. S T E A G A L L , chair­
man of the house of representa­
tives committee on banking and
currency, will be one of the headliners
on the speaking program at the 1935
convention of the Nebraska Bankers as­
sociation in Omaha, O ctober 24 - 25.

H

3 :0d — Address, “ T h e Banking A ct of
1935” by Hon. Henry B. Steagall,
M .C ., Chairman Committee on Bank­
ing and Currency, House of Repre­
sentatives.
4 :00— Discussion.
Adjournment.
Meetings by Groups to name mem­
bers of Committees on Nominations
and Resolutions.

Convention headquarters w ill be at
the Paxton. Nearly one thousand vis­
itors are expected.

Thursday Evening

M r. Steagall will speak at 3 p.m. the
first day of the convention.
A t the annual banquet, the evening
of O ctober 24, one of the speakers is de­
scribed as “ Count Ernesto Russo” of
M ilan, Italy, linguist, world traveler
and diplomat.” H e is scheduled to talk
on “ W h a t’s W ro n g W ith Am erica.”
James B. Owen, president of the Omaha
Clearing House association, w ill be toast­
master at the dinner. “ Luck— Its Care
and Feeding” is the subject of a sched­
uled banquet address by T o m Collins
of the Kansas City Journal-Post.
T h e address of the president of the
Nebraska Bankers association, O tto Kotouc, of Humboldt, Nebraska, will be
given the afternoon of October 24, fo l­
lowed by reports o f other officers and
by committees. R. F. Patterson of T a rkio, Missouri, also w ill speak on “ O ur
T riple Heritage.”
O n the second day of the convention,
speakers will include Edward M . Slater,
state director of the federal housing
administration; H . G . Pratt, president
of the Hastings National bank, Hastings,
Nebraska; H arold V . Amberg, vicepresident and general counsel of the
First National bank of Chicago; Frank
A. O ’Connor, general agent of the farm
credit administration at Omaha, and
Prof. W ill A . Irwin, of W ashburn col­
lege, Topeka, Kansas. Elections w ill be
held during the closing business session
the afternoon of O ctober 25.
O n the evening of October 25, dele­
gates and their wives will attend the lec­
ture by Admiral Richard E. Byrd, which
the Omaha Junior Chamber of C om ­
merce plans to sponsor in the Technical
High school auditorium.


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Otto Kotouc

President
Nebraska Bankers Association

6 :1 5 — Annual Dinner at Paxton Hotel.
Toastmaster, James B. Owen, President
Stock Yards National bank of Omaha
and President Omaha Clearing House
association.
Response, “ L uck : Its Care and Feeding”
by T o m Collins of the Kansas City
Journal-Post.
Response, “ W h a t’s W ro n g W ith Am er­
ica” by Count Ernesto Russo, M ilan,
Italy.
W o rld T raveller— Diplomat
— Linguist.
Friday Morning, October 25th

CONVENTION PROGRAM

T h e convention program, as arranged
by W illiam B. Hughes, secretary of the
Nebraska Bankers association, reads as
fo llo w s:
Thursday Afternoon, October 24th

1 :30— Call to Order by President Otto
Kotouc.
1 :30— Invocation by the Very Reverend
Stephen E. M cG inley, Dean, Trinity
Cathedral.
1 :35— A few words of welcome by A r ­
thur L. Coad, Vice President Packers
National bank, O m aha; Vice Presi­
dent Omaha Clearing House Assn.
1 :45— Response by J. M . Sorensen of
Fremont, Chairman Executive Coun­
cil N B A .
1 :55— Annual address o f the President,
O tto Kotouc, President Home State
bank, Humboldt.
2 :1 5 — Report of the Secretary by W m .
B. Hughes.
2 :20— Report of the Treasurer by F.
W . Thomas, Vice President First N a­
tional bank of Omaha.
2 :2 5 — Address, “ O u r Triple Heritage”
by R. F. Patterson. Department of
History, T arkio College.

10:15— Address, “ Federal Housing” by
Jonas W . Graber, Deputy Regional
Director F H A , Topeka.
10:30— Address, “ Bankers T od a y ” by
H . G . Pratt, President Hastings N a­
tional bank.
11:00— Address, “ T h e Evolution of
Banking Legislation” by Harold V .
Amberg, Vice President and General
Counsel, First National bank, Chi­
cago.
12 :00— Adjournment.
Friday Afternoon

2 :00— Special Elections by A . B. A.
Members, J. M . So rensen of Fre­
mont, Vice President for Nebraska,
presiding.
2 :1 5 — Address, “ Farm Credit” by Frank
A . O ’Connor, General Agent Farm
Credit Administration, Omaha.
2 :45— Address, “ T h e Economic O u t­
lo o k : A W esterner’s Viewpoint” by
W ill A . Irwin, Dean W ashburn col­
lege, Topeka.
3 :30— Reports of Committees.
3 :50— Discussion.
4 :00— Election and Installation of
Officers.
4 :15— Adjournment.
(Continued on page 12)

Central Western Banker j O ctober)'1935

6

H o w To G e t W ills O n D e p o s it
Suggestion for the manager of the trust department for obtaining new business
H A V E learned to conserve my time
by finding real prospects who are
interested in making a w ill and have
large enough estates to need our services.
T his I have done by cultivating the
cooperation of the life insurance under­
writer. Never a day goes by but that
I talk to an insurance man and sell him
on the use of the trust company or the
“ W ill Approach” in his solicitation of
the insurance business, or give him some
advice or information that may help him
in his work. It may be a chance meeting
on the street, but this is as satisfactory
as an office call if you are enthusiastic
and sincere in your desire to help him.

I

O ver a period of six years of this co­
operative work the dividends have more
than repaid my efforts. Seldom a day
passes but that some underwriter either
calls or telephones to ask if I can go to
see M r. Smith or M r. Jones, that he
is interested in making a will, and has
told him I would get in touch with him.
From the underwriter 1 immediately get
all the information needed for my ap­
proach, size of estate, amount of insur­
ance carried and other details.
This relation has continued through­
out the depression, bank holiday, and in
spite of the general dropping off of co­
operation with life insurance underwrit­
ers. One must, however, have a clear
understanding of the insurance man’s
problems and know all of the weak links
and points to be found in the special mode
of settlement agreements and optional
forms as created and used by most of
the life insurance men today. T h e un­
derwriter, however, reverted to this
mode of settlement through fear of ad­
vocating anything else while trying to
sell insurance to his client.
Another point we should never over­
look, and that is, to get a w ill on deposit
is just the start to additional business.
T h e solicitor usually fails to fully ex­
plain the other functions of his com­
pany and to secure the complete confi­
dence of the prospect.
T h e solicitor
must, of course, first place himself in the
client’s position, and to thoroughly ex­
plain that it is his will and that he is
only using the trust company to carry
out his wishes after he is gone. N ow , go

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a step farther and tell him you want him
to come in and make use of the trust
company and get acquained with the
other services it has to offer during his
lifetime; suggest that he use the trust
company as if it were his business club.
These are the vital points to watch in
“ Getting W ills on Deposit” so that they
remain on deposit.

taken the time necessary to plan for the
safe and economical welfare of their
families.

W e , who are in the business of han­
dling estates year after year, should heed
the lesson taught by our life insurance
companies, in making their insured feel
they are part owners in the company,
and as such are boosters. Those who are

T o save the solicitor’s time so he may
call on more people each day, he must
gain admittance to the prospect’s office
without undue delay, but getting the new
business man over the threshold with
good advertising is fine, providing the so­
licitor has been thoroughly trained in
salesmanship. There are a lot of “ order
takers” in the business today.

V a n c e D esm ond, associated w ith
the business d e v e lo p m e n t d e p a rt­
ment o f the D e tro it Trust C om pany,
discussed this subject at the annual
c o n v e n tio n o f the Financial A d v e r ­
tisers A s s o c ia tio n , held re ce n tly in
A tla n tic C ity.

insured with a mutual company are a
part of the whole and as such play a
vital part in its success. So it should be
with the client of our trust companies,
if he could be taught to use its other
services during his lifetime instead of
signing a document which is immediately
taken away from him and deposited in a
vault to be taken out only after his death.
W h y not, then, when we get a will
on deposit, make that client a real mem­
ber of our trust company, either through
advertising or personal contact, and ex­
plain the other functions of our com­
pany. M ake him feel he has a real pait
to play in its progress. In order to do
this, it is necessary for us to forget our­
selves and first get on his side of the
fence in order to learn his thoughts and
desires, making him feel that we are sim­
ply the tools by which he can build his
plans and carry out his wishes.
Fear is the creation of ignorance and
if we have done our work well at the
start, the loose talk started by those who
heard this or that, would not breed un­
certainty in the minds of those who have

Advertising, like artillery fire, can do
much to pave the way for this advance­
ment and usually plays its greatest part
long before the salesman presents him­
self before his prospect, clearing the path
for his reception.

T h e salesman must not only conserve
his own time but the client’s as well. His
sales talk must be told clearly and quick­
ly, accomplishing for the client that
which he had always been going to do
but never had found time. T h e trans­
action should leave the client with a feel­
ing that it wasn’t as complicated and dif­
ficult a task as he had anticipated.

Interdependent
In a recent address, Governor Fehman of N ew Y ork, said: “ W e have been
accustomed to think of agriculture and
of industry as distinct fields of commer­
cial effort — as things widely apart —
having very little if any relationship to
each other.
W e talk of agriculture
alone, of industry alone, of commerce
alone. T hat has always seemed to me
the w rong point of view. T h e time is
long past when any part of the producing
or consuming groups of our economic
structure can fail to affect all other
groups. T h e consumption of farm prod­
ucts . . . is influenced almost exclusively
by the needs of a consuming population,
and these needs are obviously inevitably
controlled by earning and spending pow­
er of the public.
“ O ut of this there must come to all
of us, it seems to me, an appreciation
of the need for a balanced development
between business and agriculture.”

/

Central Western Banker, O ctober, 1935

A b o u t M en
You K now in N e b raska
d . m il l e r
of the
Omaha National bank has been
named chairman of the Cheerio
committee of the Omaha Chamber of
Commerce for the new fiscal year. T h e
committee visits members of the Cham­
ber when they are ill.

R

o y a l

B A N K C L E A R IN G S in Omaha for
the week ending September 14 reached
$34,148,334.82, the highest weekly total
since September of 1931. T h e total of
that week was $35,269,235.57.
P E R R Y H E N D R IC K S , JR ., 11,
son of Perry B. Hendricks, a vice pres­
ident of the United States National bank
of Omaha, was taken seriously ill in
Denver, Colorado, the last week in A u ­
gust, while the family was vacationing
in the W est. T h e boy was taken to a
Denver hospital.
M R S . W . B. M I L L A R D , JR ., wife
of a vice president of the Omaha N a­
tional bank, attempted a “ comeback” in
the Omaha city tennis tournament the
week of August 20. Four years ago she
was city and state wom en’s champion.
She has held both titles several times.
In this year’s city tourney, she won her
first match, but fell before the steady
game of M rs. Huntington Smith in a
quarterfinal match. She lost in straight
sets, 6-4, 6-4.
)/
O M A H A N E A R L Y nosed Denver
out of second place in bank debits in the
Tenth Federal Reserve district for the
four weeks ending July 31. Om aha’s
total was $118,478,000 and Denver’s
was $122,174,000. Kansas City, M is­
souri, retained its lead with $252,564,000.
Sales of new paid-for life insurance in
Nebraska during July totaled $4,029,000, according to the September 1 fed­
eral reserve report. This was about on
a par with sales of $4,048,000 in June
and of $4,028,000 in July of last year.
A L V I N E. J O H N S O N , president of
the Live Stock National bank of South

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Omaha and president of the Omaha
Chamber of Commerce, was one of a
number of prominent Omahans who
“ gave themselves to science recently.”
It’s not as bad as it sounds. T he pur­
pose of the test was to determine wheth­
er a dispatch, stating that the average
man, in shaving himself, uses at least
250 strokes of the razor, is correct.
So M r. Johnson, and the others, agreed
to count as they shaved. He called in
his son, H oward Johnson II, to tabu­
late the comings and goings of his safety
razor.
H ow ard counted up to 141.
There, the operation stopped. “ I always
stop,” said M r. Johnson, “ after I have
nicked myself six times. Besides, I don’t
like to shave.”
M r. Johnson let some friends guess
how many strokes his shave had required.
T h e guess ranged all the way from eight
to 80.

T H E N E B R A S K A S T A T E bank­
ing department August 27 announced
that checks totaling $2,681, or 15 per
cent, were sent to depositors of the Bank
of Henderson, Nebraska, bringing total
dividends to 90 per cent or $16,089.
Depositors of the Nebraska State bank
of Beatrice received a 10 per cent divi­
dend amounting to $8,503, bringing the
total there to $59,523, or 70 per cent.

C O N V E N T IO N
NEBRASKA BANKERS
A S S O C IA T IO N

OM AHA
October 24 and 25
HOTEL

PAXTON

A R T IC L E S
OF
IN C O R P O R A ­
T I O N were prepared recently by Fran­
cis P. Matthews, attorney at Omaha for
the Reconstruction Finance corporation,
to organize a nonprofit loan company
to deal with applications for reconstruc­
tion funds in the flood area of Nebraska’s
Republican river valley. Prominent cit­
izens of the valley will be named !as o f­
ficers of the company.

IN O M A H A on a stop between
planes, August 25, W illiam Rochford,
sales finance manager of the W eyer­
haeuser Lumber Sales company of St.
Paul, Minnesota, announced to Omaha
lumbermen that the company will soon
announce a nonprofit financial setup to
handle mortgage paper under terms of
T itle 2 of the national housing act.
C H A R L E S M . M I L L S of N ew
York, representative of the Foreign
Bondholders’ Protective council, came to
Omaha recently to interview Omaha
bankers regarding financial support of
the organization. M r. M ills said that
during the last year, the council has ar­
ranged four debt settlements. T he coun­
cil was formed two years ago at request
of the federal government, in an effort
to recover some of the two billion dollars
in foreign securities now largely in de­
fault.
C A R L H. M A L M B E R G , 42, man­
ager of the currency department of the
Omaha branch, Federal Reserve bank of
Kansas City, died suddenly August 23
in the bank vault after a heart atack.
An employee of the bank for 15 years,
he had been under a doctor’s care be­
cause of heart trouble. A janitor al­
ways accompanied him to the vaults to
carry out money. As they started to
leave the vault, M alm berg collapsed and
died.
Before joining the Federal Reserve,
he was a teller for the old Corn E x­
change National bank of Omaha.
He
started in the banking business as an
errand boy. H e is survived by his widow
and a daughter, Louise.

Central Western Banker, October, 1935
M A R R I N E R S. E C C L E S , govern­
or of the federal reserve board, was non­
committal when he stopped at the Omaha
airport recently, while flying back
home to his family in Ogden, Utah. He
said he was beginning a month’s vacation
and didn’t want to talk shop. This is
his first trip back home in 13 months.
He expects to inspect federal reserve
banks on the west coast before returning
to Washington.
H e was president of
the First Securities corporation before
his appointment to his present position.
S T E R N B R O S . & C O ., investment
bankers, have established new Omaha o f­
fices at 602 Insurance building. M a n ­
ning E. Handler is vice president and
Omaha manager.
OMAHA
BANK
C L E A R IN G S
reached a total of $31,306,733 for the
week ending August 24, to pass the pre­
vious week’s high figures of $30,586,249.
T h e week’s clearings also were more
than $6,000,000 larger than the $25,030,204 total for the same week last
year. Recently, daily clearings at O m a­
ha have exceeded those of the correspond­
ing day last year in each instance. Bank­
ers believe the larger clearings reflect the
increased tempo of general business in
Omaha, including pronounced gains in
retail and wholesale trade.

ceed W . B. Price, who died August 19.
M r. Price, 64, died suddenly of heart
disease at his home in Lincoln.
He
was serving his second term.
He served from 1896 to 1900 as N e­
braska insurance commissioner.
A t the time of his death, he was com ­
pleting an examination of the state bank­
ing department, authorized by the 1935
Nebraska legislature.
M r. Price was noted for close scrut­
iny in handling claims. Though millions
of dollars in items passed over his desk
each year, his friends say every dollar
was carefully studied. He died on the
eve of preparing to enforce a law which
was his original idea— the Cone state
bonding law.
He was one of the most colorful fig­
ures in the Nebraska statehouse.
His
every-day costume was of the old-fash­
ioned political type — long-tailed coat,
wing collar, string tie, white vest. A l­
ways, there was a flower in his lapel.
H e was born in Lynchburg, Va., and
attended the University of Iowa law col­
lege.
His widow, the former Grace
Corey of Lincoln, Nebraska, survives.

J. C. T O D D & C O ., Inc., of Lin­
coln, Nebraska, dealers in investment se­
curities, have opened an Omaha office
at 687 Insurance building.
Paul W .
Arthaud will be manager. M r. Arthaud
has had 16 years of experience in the
C.
W . T H O R T O N , 57, cashier and investment field. His family joined him
at Omaha September 1. For the past
director of the Falls City State bank
year, M r. Arthaud has been with the
and civic leader there, died at a Falls
T o d d concern at Lincoln.
City hospital recently from injuries
suffered August 9 when he was struck
W . D A L E C L A R K , president of the
by a car. H e suffered a broken leg in
Omaha National bank, motored up to
the accident and apparently was recov­
Camp Danworthy on Lake Sky-Below
ering when a blood clot developed. He
near W alker, Minnesota, for the camp’s
is survived by his w idow and a daughter.
annual guest day in August. M r. Clark’s
Stores in Falls City closed during the
daughter, Miss Jessie Clark, attended
funeral.
the camp this summer. M r. Clark ac­
companied
her home. M rs. Clark was on
T H E N E W Commercial bank of
a western trip.
Leigh, Nebraska, was opened August 26.
with the entire town taking part in a
big celebration. It is the first time that
Leigh has had a bank since February 1,
1933, when the First National bank of
Leigh was closed. Featuring the day’s
celebration were speeches by state hank­
ing officials, races, water fights, boxing
matches, and a free bowery dance. Cash
prizes were awarded for all events. E.
E. Delay of Norfolk, Nebraska, is pres­
ident of the bank.
G O V E R N O R R. L. C O C H R A N of
Nebraska appointed Deputy State A udi­
tor Fred Ayres as state auditor to suc­


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W H I L E T H E C A R of A . C. “ C ub”
Potter, head of the Omaha investment
banking firm of Burns-Potter & Co.,
was parked in a garage in Omaha A u ­
gust 18, for the night, somebody stole
his wire-haired Scotch terrier, M ac, he
reported to police.
A S IL V E R C U P was presented to
the Live Stock National bank, whose
team was champion of the Omaha Junior
Chamber of Commerce softball league,
at a junior chamber membership lunch­
eon August 30. Alvin E. Johnson, pres­

ident of the bank, is also president of
the Omaha Chamber of Commerce. O s­
car D . M ardis presided at the luncheon.
Jdie Harry A . Koch team was runnerup
in the finals.
O M A H A B A N K C L E A R IN G S for
August
totaled
$133,390,119.26
to
break all records for monthly clearings
since M arch of 1934, according to rec­
ords of the Omaha Clearing House as­
sociation.
Clearings for the month were nearly
$16,500,000 larger than clearings in A u ­
gust last year. N o month of 1935 even
approached the August figure.
4 he month’s total also was more than
six millions dollars larger than the pre­
vious month, which was one of the heavi­
est of the year for clearings.
For the week ending August 31, th
total was $29,162,692,86, compared with
$25,240,335.37 for the same week last
year.
Gains in retail and wholesale trade,
a pickup in manufacturing and continued
heavy volume by F C A and other govern­
ment agencies here are principal factors
in the increase, bankers stated.

A ll Over
“ N ow that the Ball is O ver” is, at
the moment, an American national air.
T h e “ ball” in this case is the Congress.
D uring its long, talkative, comic-opera
session solons appropriated $10,000,000,000. And they gave the President al­
most everything he asked for, demon­
strating that while Roosevelt potency
may be slipping, it still exists.
Congress passed an unprecedented
soak-the-rich tax on inheritances, gifts
and big incomes. It passed a bill to con­
centrate control of banking and credit un­
der the government. It passed the larg­
est single appropriation in the country’s
history — $4,880,000,000 for work and
direct relief. It passed a stringent reg­
ulatory bill concerning utility holding
companies. It passed a bill to enforce
the right of collective bargaining by la­
bor. It passed a bill whereby all com­
mon carriers, save the barge lines, will
be regulated and coordinated in the
manner of the railroads.
These are the high spots. T he session
was historic— and just what kind of his­
tory it made is a matter of opinion. Some
will say that it did its duty to the coun­
try well— others that it was a disgrace
to democratic government. Take your
choice.

9

Central Western Banker, O ctober, 1935

±^)es'igned and Operated f o r the Service
of

aFundamental and

Industry.

A Banking Service
Complete

f o r Your

N eed s.

Stock Yards National Bank of South Omaha


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OMAHA, NEBRASKA

10

Central Western Banker, October, 1935

The P ubli c R elations Program
of the
A merican Bankers A ssociation
H E American Bankers Associa­
tion has always considered that
one of its important functions is
the development of proper public rela­
tions and the creation of a better under­
standing by the public generally of the
functions and responsibilities of the bank­
ers. M uch time, effort and money is be­
ing spent by the association in its en­
deavor to accomplish the desired results.

T

Some of these endeavors are being car­
ried on specifically under the name of
the
American
Bankers
Association.
Some, however, aim to stimulate, and
cooperate in, action on the part of other
bodies or institutions, and therefore do
not attract attention as an American
Bankers Association activity.
There is evidence somewhere every
day that it is doing a great deal, but it
has been thought that no constructive
purpose would be served in attempt to
set these things up in the form of a spec­
tacular campaign that would exploit the
association itself, but would not con­
tribute to the real substance of the things
that it is trying to accomplish— that is,
strengthen the real basis for good opinion
in regard to the banks and a proper un­
derstanding of their functions, without
diverting attention to the means to this
end. T h e various endeavors of the asso­
ciation may be briefly stated as follow s:

not obvious in them when their effects
reach the public.

dispute them. Its approach is always posi­
tive, never negative.

2. Constructive Customer Eclations
Program.— This activity was built up
under the Public Education Commission.
It is based on the proposition that, if the
attitude of the many millions o f persons
who come into the banks as customers
were made better informed and more
sympathetic, this would act as a leaven
and an improved state of public mind
toward the banks in general would nec­
essarily follow . T e x t material and meth­
ods for the organization of instruction
conferences among a bank’s own em­
ployees to qualify them to aid in bringing
about the foregoing purposes have been
developed and offered to all members
under this program. Records indicate
that a considerable number of banks have
installed and conducted successful con­
ferences in accordance with these sug­
gestions, and that many others have dis­
tributed the instruction material among
their employees, who were directed to
familiarize themselves with it and apply
it in their work.

4. The Advertising D epartm ent. —
Funds have also been set aside from the
reserves of the association to finance the
development by the Advertising Depart­
ment of a service of informative news­
paper advertisements setting forth in
brief, popular language the methods and
policies under which banks operate, their
effective practices for protecting their
depositors’ funds, the services they ren­
der and the various ways in which they
cooperate with business in their own
communities in fostering sound recovery
and progress. Some 350 banks are now
using this material and it is available at
a moderate price for all of the members
in the association who care to use it in
bringing about better public understand­
ing in their own communities regarding
banking and its services.

3. The Publicity Department. — A
substantial sum has also been set aside
from the reserve funds of the association
for the use of the Publicity Department
to expand its activities in distributing in­
formation regarding banking through

1.
Public Education Commission. — the press. This department is supplying
Under this commission have been pre­ to 6,250 city and country daily and week­
pared a number of plain language talks
ly papers articles on banking, the activi­
about banking for use as a basis of ad­
ties of bankers and of the association in
dresses by banker-speakers before gram­
improving banking and business condi­
mar and high school classes, before civic
tions and other similar material. This
clubs and over the radio. This basic ma­
matter is sent out at frequent intervals
terial is also supplied to a great number
in the form either of matrices or plates
of non-banker speakers and is disseminat­
of
type in two series that cover all parts
ed widely through state bankers associa­
of
the United States. T h e subject mat­
tions and through local American Insti­
ter
always deals with principles and nev­
tute of Banking chapters. It is obvious
that, although the forces thus set in mo­ er deals with personalities or individual­
tion by the American Bankers Associa­ ized controversies. Also it never gives
further currency to specific misrepresen­
tion are having far reaching effects, the
part played by this association itself is tations about banking by attempting to


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5. Executive Officers and Committee
on Banking Studies.— A very important
influence for good on public opinion and
on the political attitude of the day re­
garding banking is being exercised by
these two groups. T hey have been con­
stantly active at W ashington in consulta­
tion with Administration and Congres­
sional leaders in formulating proposals
for banking reform based on broad lines
of public welfare. T heir activities have
brought about a much more favorable
political atmosphere at the national capi­
tal toward bankers and banking, and
they have had an opportunity to play a
constructive part in shaping banking leg­
islation.
6. Agricultural Commission.— In the
farm districts a very considerable effect
on rural opinion in respect to bankers
and their methods is being exerted
through the Agricultural Commission.
It is promoting widely among bankers
the practice of aiding their farm custo­
mers in installing on their farms better
financial,
accounting
and
operating
methods. It also promotes the endeavors
(Continued on page 13)

11

Central Western Banker, O ctober, 1935

E C O N O M IC

H IG H L IG H T S

Happenings that affect the dinner pails, dividend checks and tax bills
of every individual.

National and international problems

are inseparable from local welfare.
O N G R E S S has adjourned, and a
great quiet has come over W ash ­
ington. Theoretically, the polit­
ical “ open season” has ended, and will
not begin until the next Congress, which
w ill convene with the start o f the new
year. Actually, however, politics never
ends — and during the present brief
“ breathing spell” between sessions, lay­
men and publicists alike are spending
most of their time speculating on what
is going to happen in next year’s cam­
paign, and the campaign of 1940.
Principal question at issue is this:
“ W h at changes, if any, occurred in the
status of Roosevelt popularity since
1932?” By way of answer, you can get
almost anything you want. It is a hu­
man frailty, shared alike by Republicans
and Democrats, to regard a thing as be­
ing true simply because you wish it
were true. As a result, political opinions
on forthcoming campaigns must be
weighed exceedingly carefully— they are
dictated almost entirely by partisan bias.
T h e Dem ocratic spokesman will tell you
that M r. Roosevelt will sweep the field
as completely in ’36 as he did in ’32—
the Republican spokesman w ill tell you
that he will lose, and that the G O P will
come back after the worst four years of
its history. M ore or less unbiased ob­
servers, who are not tarred with any
party label, w ill tell you that both of
these extreme views are wrong.

C

One of the best obtainable gauges for
measuring the popularity or lack of it
of any Administration, is newspaper edi­
torial opinion. A nd in this, according to
an article by Theodore C. W allen, of
the N ew Y ork H erald-Tribune, a very


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interesting change has taken place dur­
ing the past turbulent year. O n N ovem ­
ber 1, 1934— the eve of the Congression­
al election in which the Democrats
achieved an astounding sweep— 70 per
cent of American editorial opinion was
favorable to the President. H e held this
degree of popularity until early in
M arch. T hen a decline, marked by a
few upturns, started.
T h e course of
the popularity chart, M r. W allen says,
went from 67 per cent to 58, back to 62,
then to 47, then to 66, then to 42 and
finally to 61 on April 29. T h e greatest
decline followed, when, on the occasion
of the President’s attack on the Chamber
of Commerce of the United States, prin­
cipal
representative organization
of
American industry, it tail-spinned to 21.
Papers which were once highly favor­
able to A ir. Roosevelt and his policies,
have become cold and non-committal.
Papers which once were uncertain and
said little, have taken to denouncing A d ­
ministration acts. And some very im­
portant papers, which normally back
Democratic administrations— such as the
N ew Y ork Tim es and the Baltimore
Sun— find much to criticize in the Pres­
ident’s program.
In his article, M r. W allen makes an­
other very important observation. A t
the beginning of the Roosevelt adminis­
tration, many persons backed the Presi­
dent and at the same time were against
Administration measures in general. In
other words, they liked the President,
and they blamed others for Administra­
tion acts and policies they believed inim­
ical to the national welfare. Newspapers
followed a similar course. W h en the

President’s popularity line hit its spring
low of 21, A ir. W allen says, “ this ap­
parently was the first time President
Roosevelt and his Administration had
come to stand for the same thing in the
editorial opinion of the United States.”
T he drop in the President’s popularity
as a statesman— which is a very different
matter than his popularity as an indi­
vidual— has given unbiased writers the
belief that the G O P has a chance— even
though remote to win in 1936, if it puts
the right man forward. And there is a
great problem. T h e Republican party
is pretty well split up in factions. T h e
progressives, led by Senators La Follette
and Norris, do not want a conservative
candidate. T h e conservatives, under the
H oover leadership, are bitter against
present radical trends. Some think that
the best candidate would be Senator
Borah— but the Idahoan has passed the
biblically-allotted span of life, and that is
a great barrier to his candidacy. Colonel
Knox of Chicago is making a bid for
the nomination— but he is relatively un­
known outside of a few big cities. Sen­
ator Vandenberg is another figure to be
reckoned with— but he too faces much
coldness within his party. Senator M cNary has influence as a Republican lead­
er in the Senate— but he comes from a
small and remote state.
A few think that the Republican cam­
paign of 1936 should be only formal—
that the party should work toward 1940.
T hey point to M r. Roosevelt’s electoral
victory over M r. Hoover, and say that
shift enough to elect a Republican cannot
occur in four years. Others point out
that A ir. Hoovers’ margin over Govern-

12

Central Western Banker, October, 1935

or Smith was only slightly less great than
Roosevelt’s over H oover— that the tide
turned then, and that it can again.
Under any circumstances, the next
campaign will be bitterly fought. T he
issues are many, but the outstanding
question for the voters to consider is
whether to continue the swing to the left
or turn back to the right. There will
be no quarter given by either side. And
a great deal can happen in the year that
must pass before votes are counted.

IM PROVING R ELATIO N S W ITH
COM MERCIAL CUSTOMERS
(Continued from page 4)

caused by the depression. This plant is
the principal industry in a town with a
population of seven or eight thousand
people.
About two years ago orders began
coming in and this Company did not
have sufficient operating capital. They
had used their full line of credit with us,
and we did not feel like going any far­
ther. A t this point we agreed to extend
them an additional line and accept as­
signments of their accounts. This com­
pany has been enjoying a wonderful bus­
iness since that time and will be in ex­
cellent condition within another year.
O ur actions, in this matter, not only
protected our own interests, but kept
this plant in operation— providing em­
ployment for several hundred men— all
of which kept the town from suffering
a disaster that would have come had the

plant closed down. W e know the offi­
cials of this company realize and appre­
ciate what our help meant to them. W e
are satisfied this same information has
gone out to the leading business men of
that town, and we feel this situation will
have a far-reaching effect in building
goodwill and keeping the name of our
bank in the minds of the people there.
There are many other things we are
doing along this line, such as making
talks in the various schools of our city;
assisting our customers with their in­
come tax returns; finding employment,
when possible, for our patrons and
friends; and providing a night depository
service for their convenience and pro­
tection.
In the Lobby

I now come to the last thought and
it is one I consider the most important
of all. I would refer to it as courteous
find friendly service in the lobby.
It
has been my privilege and pleasure for
the past eight or ten years, to spend most
of my time, during banking hours, in
the lobby— my duty, of course, is to see
that our customers receive courteous,
friendly and efficient service at all times.
W e are all human and when we are in
the other fellow ’s place of business we
like to be received with a “ friendly
smile” and a “ courteous good morning.”
Realizing this I make it a practice to
speak to every customer entering our lob­
by who gives me half an opportunity
to do so. If he seems a little hesitant
about where to go— I make it my busi­

G M A C SHORT TE R M TROTES

available in limited amounts
upon request

G
A

eneral

cceptance

M otors
C o r po r a t io n

Executive Office " Broadway at 57th Street ~ J^ew Y or\, 7s[. Y.


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OFFICES

IN

P R I N C I P A L

CITIES

ness to see he is ushered to the proper
window. W e are continually trying to
impress upon our employees that each
one is a salesman for our bank; and that
we have nothing to sell except service—
that the only way to sell this service is
through courteous treatment. A fter all,
it is the little things in life that really
count. W e , who are in the banking
business, must keep this thought in mind
at all times if we expect our own insti­
tution to make progress.

NEBRASKA BANKERS
TO M E E T IN O M A H A
(Continued from page S)

Friday Evening

8 :0 0 — Lecture by Admiral Richard E.
Byrd at Technical High auditorium.
Convention Committees

Ceneral Committee on Arrangements
— J. R. Cain, chairman, vice president
Omaha National bank; Alvin fohnson,
president Live Stock National bank; G .
A. Gregory, cashier Federal Reserve
bank; F. W . Thomas, vice president
fu s t National bank; D . P. Hogan, pres­
ident Federal Land bank; J. F. Coad,
president Packers National bank; F. J.
Enerson, vice president Stock Yards N a­
tional bank; Ellsworth Mioser, vice pres­
ident United States National bank.
Reception Committee— C. D . Saun­
ders, chairman, vice president First N a­
tional bank; J. A . Changstrom, vice pres­
ident Omaha National bank; V . B. Cald­
well, vice president United States N a­
tional bank; H . A . Hovey, assistant cash­
ier Stock Yards National bank; F. J.
M cCauley, cashier Packers National
bank; H . O . W ilson, vice president Live
Stock National bank; O . P. Cordill, as­
sistant cashier Federal Reserve bank; A.
Kopperud, treasurer Federal Land bank.
Entertainment Committee — A . L.
Coad, chairman, vice president Packers
National bank; J. F. M cD erm ott, vice
president First National bank; O . T .
Alvison, vice president Omaha National
bank; P. B. Hendricks, vice president
United States National bank; F. G.
Gehrman, assistant cashier Stock Yards
National bank; R. H . Ivroeger, cashier
Live Stock National bank; W m . Phillips,
assistant cashier Federal Reserve bank;
Chas. C. M cCum sey, executive vice pres­
ident Federal Land bank.
Committee of Local Women — M rs.
V. B. Caldwell, chairman; Mesdames
J. F. M cD erm ott, W . B. M illard, Jr.,
W . A . Sawtell, A . L. Coad, Alvin E.
Johnson, L. H . Earhart, D . P. Hogan.

Central Western Banker, O ctober, 1935

PUBLIC R ELATIO N S

13
Forecasts as to the future revenue have
no sound basis— they usually represent
optimism, rather than realism. T he gov­
ernment continues to spend us farther
into debt — and apparently hasn’t the
slightest idea of where the money is to
come from to meet the obligations.

Forcing Us Into Inflation

(Continued from page 10)

of the state bankers’ associations along

In a recent article, Paul M allon, the

similar lines. T h e commission has pub­

well known W ashington correspondent,

lished a book on “ M aking Farm Invest­

w rote: “ T h e truth is the treasury does

ments Safe,” representing a compendium

not know what its receipts and expedi-

of helpful material published over a pe­

tures will be next month.

riod of years as a reference guide in the

about the future expands at the contem­
plation of each sheet on the calendar. It

daily routine of banking and farming re­
lationships. It has also published “ Fac­
tors Affecting Farm Credit,” discussing

Its haziness

One inevitable result of such a pol­
icy is constantly mounting taxes— along
with new taxes. Another, and perhaps
more menacing possibility, is inflation.
A ll the tax laws in the world cannot
produce revenue when personal pocketbooks and industrial bank balances run
dry. W hen that happens, inflation —
which can be defined as cheapening and

cannot have even a faintly worth while
opinion beyond next year.”

This is in line with the theory that
many thinking Americans have been
can be obtained on a sound basis.
holding for some time— that federal fi­
7.
The American Institute of Bank­ nance is in a hopelessly chaotic condition.
in an illustrative way how farm credit

ing. — Although

the

activities

of

the

American Institute of Banking have pri­
marily to do with the technical education
of the younger banker, rather than with
serving as a direct influence on public

ANALYSIS

opinion, nevertheless the work of this
organization in recent years has been

°f

consciously directed more clearly toward
playing a part in improving public rela­
tions for banking as a whole. T h e insti­
tute chapters are active in the presenta­
tion of addresses before schools and civic
bodies and over local radios aimed to
improve the attitude of the public toward
banking. T hey are likewise cooperating
in the Constructive Customer Relations
program previously described. Also, in
the educational texts and courses of the
institute itself, increased emphasis has
been placed on the public responsibilities
and the ethical aspects of practical bank­
ing.
As will be noted, the foregoing pro­
gram for the development of satisfac­
tory public relations for banking does
not consist merely of newspaper public­
ity, but is calculated to produce a con­
tinuous and cumulative effect by varied
efforts which are aimed to work day in
and day out in the desired direction.
T o have favorable things said about
the banking business in the newspapers
and over the radio is, the association rec­
ognizes, very helpful toward creating a
sound public opinion regarding banking.
But the association believes that the
most important thing ultimately is to
foster throughout the banking profes­
sion the doing sincerely of those things
that reflect favorably the sound, helpful
practices of the business of banking, and
that then the true news o f its construc­
tive activities w ill constitute the best
answers to attacks and misrepresenta­
tions aimed at banks and bankers.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

SECURITY PORTFOLIOS
Investment officers
of banks throughout the country have
found our new weekly INVESTMENT
SERVICE exceedingly convenient and

practical. It presents a concise picture
of the listed bond market, in a form
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quick

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Financial institutions are cordially in­
vited to make use of this service.
Our Statistical Department will also be
glad to analyze your security portfolio,
and to assist you in the solution of any
particular investment problems.

MANUFACTURERS
TRUST

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HEAD OFFICE, 55 BROAD ST., NEW YORK

M ember Federal Reserve System
M em ber Neiv York Clearing House Association

Central Western Banker, October, 1935

14
degrading the currency — becomes the
“ easy” way out.
T h e perils of inflation need no descrip­
tion— the tragic examples of Germany
and other countries which experienced
inflationary periods are well known. If
we are to avoid such social and economic
tragedies at home, government finance
must undergo a thorough overhauling,
both in principle and practice.

Fashions in Freedom
“ A l” Smith, one of the nation’s lead­
ing citizens, former governor of N ew
Y ork and Democratic candidate for pres­
ident, is respected by all for his integ­
rity, his sincerity and his shrewdness in
analyzing public questions. As the prin­
cipal speaker at a recent dinner in N ew
York, he said to his hearers, “ Keep your
eye on the Constitution.”
About the same time the German State
Secretary in the Reich M inistry of Jus­
tice was informing a public gathering
that the w ill of H itler is the supreme
law of the land.
In the United States the Constiturion
is the supreme law of the land and the
lives, liberties, and fortunes of our peo­
ple are not subject to the wills of dic­
tators.
But “ A l” Smith knows, as do other
statesmen, that there are definite designs
in our own United States to revise the
Constitution as a document outworn—
as though there were fashions in free­
dom. This design has shown itself in
suggestions to deprive the highest ju di­
cial branch of government, the United
States Supreme Court, of the power to
effectively uphold what is left of the
Constitution.
If any think this is not a step in the
direction of intolerant dictatorship as we
witness it in the rest of the world, let
him think again!
T h e legislative attempts of the past
several years to circumvent the Constitu­
tion have been plain and only the power
of the United States Supreme Court to
pass on such acts has saved the American
citizen his personal liberties and his prop­
erty rights, and prevented him from hav­
ing the chains of dictatorship forged
upon him.
Take heed of the advice of men who
today put country above party and stand
for the perpetuation of unadulterated
Americanism fostered and encouraged by
Constitutional government unchanged
in principle from its original design.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

A Compromise
Death Sentence

Penalizing the
"L ittle Fellow"

T h e Public Utility A ct of 1935
(com monly known as the W heeler-Rayburn b ill), of “ death sentence” fame, to
destroy electric holding companies, final­
ly passed the House and Senate pretty
much as scheduled.

M any of our lawmakers fail to under­
stand the fact that when we levy pen­
alties on the “ big fellow ,” the “ little
fellow ” is liable to be hurt the most.
O n July 1, a new chain store tax
law went into effect in Iowa, placing a
stiff graduated tax on concerns operating
more than one retail outlet.
T h e results: M any gasoline stations
have been permanently abandoned, the
state has lost a large proportion of its
annual pump tax, every large oil com­
pany, with a single exception, has been
forced out of the marketing business in
Iowa — and 2,200 workers have been
dropped from the payrolls of the major
oil companies.
M any, unable to find
other employment, must go on the al­
ready bulging relief rolls.
T h e Iowa chain tax was put forward
as a measure to help the common people
— the small business man and the w ork­
er. Its effect has been absolutely the
opposite— it has hit the worker hardest
of all, and has robbed the state of rev­
enue that must be made up by increased
taxes on other business and other w ork­
ers. Furthermore, like all measures
which lay down barriers to initiative, it
will inevitably frighten capital and pre­
vent investors from putting their money
into productive enterprises that would
provide new jobs and taxes.
A number of other states are said to
be considering similar chain tax laws.
T h e example of Iowa should make the
voters think twice about proposals to
penalize the “ big fellow ” — lest they find
in practice that it is again at the “ little
fellow ’s” expense.

J. F. Fogarty, President of the North
American company, in a statement to
stockholders, says the asset values of his
company represent honest, legitimate in­
vestments and are entitled to, and he
believes will receive the protection of
the courts against attempts to destroy
them through punitive legislation. He
reasserts that there is nothing in the rec­
ord of sound holding companies in the
United States to warrant such punitive
legislation as the Public Utility A ct of
1935.
Commenting on its final passage, he
said that in a last minute acceptance of
a so-called “ compromise” amendment,
the House reversed its previous position
which was overwhelmingly against the
death sentence. A t the time of taking
the final vote, “ according to press re­
ports, the Speaker of the House stated,
‘ I am frank to say that I do not know
enough about the bill to discuss its
merits.’
“ But,” said M r. Fogarty, “ he never­
theless appealed to the members of the
House to vote for the ‘compromise’ death
sentence and not be swayed by the elo­
quence and unusual powers of logic of
the spokesman for the House Conference
committee, who had urged its rejection.
T h e purely political character of the
action is clearly apparent.”
In concluding, M r. Fogarty said, “ W e
propose to continue every legitimate ef­
fort to protect the interests of our secur­
ity holders. T h e time remaining before
January 1, 1938, the date on which the
death sentence provision becomes opera­
tive, should, under the force of public
opinion, permit of its modification. W e
still feel that common sense and justice
will prevail under the Constitution
against this law which, as it stands, sub­
jects investments honestly made and ad­
ministered to the hazard of impairment.”

Regular Dividend
T h e board of directors of T h e N orth­
ern Trust company, Chicago, have de­
clared the regular quarterly dividend of
$4.50 payable O ctober 1, 1935. This
action maintains the $18.00 annual di­
vidend rate.

Dividend
T h e Chemical Bank & T rust com­
pany has declared the regular quarterly
dividend of 45 cents per share on its
capital stock, payable October 1, 1935,
to stockholders of record September 21,
1935.

Getting Even W ith Kipling
A smart man,
W ith some precision
O f a woman
Gave this definition:
“ A rag, a bone and a hank of hair.”
But a smart woman,
N ot to be outdone,
Defined man
In the follow ing pun:
“ A nag, a drone and a tank of air.”

15

Central Western Banker, O ctober, 1935

„ I N S U

1 \A N C

E

^ \lts Application to the Banking Yraternity

Silverware—
Musical Instruments
Cargo Insurance

Sell More Inland Marine
H E term “ M arine Insurance” is
rather a misnomer so far as this
class of business is concerned, espe­
cially in this part of the country where
we have few boats and fewer ocean
cargo and hull risks. Rather than go
into any history of the business in try­
ing to explain why certain forms come
under the jurisdiction of the marine de­
partments, I shall endeavor to bring to
your attention facts concerning a num­
ber of coverages that can, and should,
be sold to your customers.

T

Silverware

Y ou are familiar with the more com­
mon all-risk policies, such as fur, personal
effects, jewelry, and personal property
floater, because you have frequently re­
ceived advertising circulars from your
companies and special agents have dis­
cussed these contracts with you from
time to time. There is one policy in the
all-risk classification that I believe has
been overlooked by a great many agents
and that is the silverware floater. This
policy takes the place of fire, tornado,
and burglary coverage, giving broader
protection at less than the combined rates.
T h e silverware policy covers Sterling sil­
ver as well as plated ware against “ all­
risks” of loss or damage, wherever the
property may be located within the Centinental United States, including at the
permanent residence, at the summer cot­
tage, or winter home, or elsewhere. T he
minimum premium for this contract is
$5.00 and the rate is $1.00 per $100.
Companies prefer to schedule the prop­
erty covered but will also issue blanket
policies.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

By W ILLIAM L. CHASE
Marine Special Agent
The Home Insurance Company
Kansas City
In recent years, many people in the
larger cities have discontinued carrying
burglary insurance in their effort to re­
duce insurance costs; while in the small­
er communities, burglary insurance has
always been rather difficult to sell due
to the relatively high minimum premium
and the fact that burglary losses are not
very common.
I believe that a good
many people who have dropped burglary
insurance, and many who have not car­
ried such coverage could be sold an all­
risk silverware policy, because, as a rule,
the women in the household value their
silverware quite highly and feel that if
their home should be broken into, the sil­
verware would perhaps be taken first.
I would like to suggest that you put
forth a real effort on this type of policy
and I am sure your time will be well
spent and you will secure some new
premiums.
Musical Instruments

From my experience in recent months,
I believe there are a good many agents
who do not properly understand how to
write musical instrument coverage for
groups, such as high school, municipal,
or American Legion bands or orchestras.
T here are many of you, I am sure, who
have one or two or more musical instru­
ment policies written for individuals who
own rather expensive instruments and in
such cases you are charging these as­
sureds at least a minimum premium of

$10.00. In the usual high school band
or orchestra or other similar group, the
average instrument is worth perhaps
$75.00 to $150.00 and the individuals
owning such medium priced instruments
will not pay a high minimum premium
for insurance protection. Under changes
in the rules made some months ago, it
is possible to submit information to your
company and secure special rates and
special minimum premiums for group
policies and under such contracts it is
possible to cover instruments owned by
the group as well as instruments individ­
ually owned. One of the insuring clauses
in the contract states that the policy
covers instruments owned by the group
or individual members as their interests
appear in the schedule attached thereto.
In covering the individually owned in­
struments under the group policy, there
is usually a minimum premium charge
per individual of $2.00, except in cases
where such individuals receive pay for
their work and then the minimum is us­
ually $5.00. T he rate applying to such
risks in this territory is most generally
$2.00 per $100.00.
However, because
of experience or other factors, this rate
may vary anywhere between one and
three dollars.
In submitting such risks, I suggest
that you furnish your company with the
name of the organization, together with
a list of instruments owned by the group
and by the individual members, such list
giving the description, serial number, and
value of each instrument. Further, it
would be well to advise the fire contents
rate of the high school building, prac-

16

Central Western Banker, O ctober, 1935

tice hall, or other place where instru­
ments would be usually kept. If possible,
also give information pertaining to the
loss experience on the risk over a period
of several years.
Shipper’s Policies

M uch has been said in the last few
years about transportation or shippers’
policies, but for various reasons few
agents have been successful in writing
this class. Therefore, 1 wish to give a
few facts which may clarify the situation
and prove to you that there is a need
for this coverage.
T oday there are many truck lines;
perhaps I should say too many. Some of
these lines are well managed, financially
sound, own good equipment and keep it
repaired, do not overwork their drivers,
and carry adequate insurance in good
companies.
But there are also many
truck lines that are poorly managed, un­
sound financially, and operating equip­
ment which should be in the junk yard.
M any of these truck lines overwork their
drivers resulting in frequent losses and
consequently they have difficulty secur­
ing cargo insurance as well as other in­
surance in reliable companies. In addi­
tion, I might add that a large number of
truck lines do not carry sufficient cargo
insurance, either because they do not
know the value of the merchandise they
haul, or because they are unable to pay
the premiums for the necessary high lim­
its of liability. Some few truck operators
carry no protection at all. From expe­
rience in writing cargo and transporta­
tion insurance and adjusting cargo and
transportation losses, I know these state­
ments to be facts. Therefore, I recom­
mend that you sell your clients, who
ship their merchandise by truck, the nec­
essary transportation coverage.
T o illustrate my point in connection
with sufficient insurance, I am reminded
of a recent loss sustained by a Kansas
City trucking company where a large
unit and its entire cargo was a total loss
on the road by fire. T his one truckload
of merchandise was worth approximately
$22,000 and the carrier had but $15,000
cargo insurance. Let me ask you how
many truck operators today could pay
$7,000 out of their own pocket? This,
of course, was a very unusual case, be­
cause o f exceptionally high values, but
it clearly proves that shippers of mer­
chandise should carry policies in their
own name for protection against perils
of transportation while such merchandise
is outside of their control.
As you know, cargo policies are not
uniform in coverage granted.
M any

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

cargo policies issued in this state, written
for local truckmen, cover only within
the state of Nebraska. N ot many months
ago a manufacturer in a small town
used a local truckman to haul some
machinery from a factory in Wisconsin.
This truckman was involved in a col­
lision in the state of W isconsin, resulting
in damage to the cargo amounting to
approximately $300 and the company
carrying his cargo insurance denied lia­
bility, because their policy coverage was
limited to the state of Nebraska only.
Another reason why shippers should
carry transportation insurance.
In addition to differences in policies,
there are terms and conditions in all
cargo contracts which, if violated, will
void the policy. A certain terminal in
Kansas City had a policy which required
them to pay double their usual rate
when any shipments were forwarded on
trucks that did not carry specific cargo
insurance. In addition it was a require­
ment of this policy that these risks were
to be reported, in writing, to the com­
pany. A loss occurred last December,
amounting to about $800 where the
truckman had no insurance of his own.
T he company carrying the policy for the
terminal denied liability, because they
never received the report in writing of
this special risk. So far as I know, the
owner of the merchandise is still waiting
for his money because the terminal is
not financially responsible and there the
matter rests.
These are but a few of the many in­
stances where shippers have lost money
because they did not carry insurance cov­
erage to protect their merchandise, while
in transit, against the perils of fire, light­
ning, cyclone, tornado, Hood, collision,
overturn, collapse of bridges and theft.
These few examples I trust w ill serve
as a working basis, and I hope will en­
able you to secure some profitable trans­
portation business.

A ^Hidden^ Cause
of Accidents
T h e more traffic experts study the ac­
cident toll, the more they become con­
vinced that there is an important “ hid­
den” cause of many automobile accidents.
This lurking agent of death and injury
is carbon monoxide poisoning.
Carbon monoxide gas develops when
any fuel— coal, wood, gasoline, or illum­
inating gas— does not burn properly or
completely. It cannot be seen, smelled
or tasted. Its only warnings are head­
ache and drowsiness. Y et it is in the air

wherever there is motor traffic.
The
exhaust of a car, even one in good run­
ning condition, contains a concentration
of fifteen per cent of it. As little as
two per cent in the air will poison, and
four per cent will kill.
Statistics show, according to the N a­
tional Bureau of Casualty and Surety
Underwriters, that carbon monoxide
from auto exhaust gasses is the direct
cause given in at least 700 deaths an­
nually. N o one knows nor can guess
how many lives are lost indirectly
through its influence. For example, there
is no telling how often that common
driving occurrence, “ sleep at the wheel,”
has been induced by carbon monoxide.
A ll motorists are familiar with the
headache and lassitude which often come
upon them while driving. These signs,
coupled with the odors of exhaust fumes
in a moving vehicle, are final warnings
that carbon monoxide is present in lethal
quantities. T hey should be more than
sufficient notice to take the necessary
measures against carbon monoxide poi­
soning.
This means regular checking
of the exhaust mechanism and the car­
buretor action, keeping the vehicle well
ventilated when driving, eliminating any
leaks or holes which allow seepage from
the motor or exhaust to the body of the
car.
Householders should also consider that
carbon monoxide poisoning is a possibil­
ity whenever fuel is burned in the home.
Coal, gas, stove, furnace and oil burner
companies can give advice on precau­
tions that will afford safety from this
invisible death.

Just Finding Out
N ew M inister: “ W h a t did you think
of the sermon on Sunday, Miss Jones?”
M iss Jones: “ V ery good. W e didn’t
really know what sin was till you came
here.”
____________________
His car had taken fire, and was de­
stroyed. It being insured, he went at
once to the insurance office and demand­
ed his money.
He was given a form to fill out, and
was told he could not get the money,
but the car would be replaced.
“ O h ,” said he, “ if that’s the way you
do business, give me back the premium
I paid the other day on my w ife’s
policy.”
Parent, concluding the recital of his
exploits: “ And that, my boy, is what
I did in the Great W a r .”
Son: “ But Daddy, why did they want
so many men besides you ?”

17

Central Western Banker, O ctober, 1935

O T T O K O T O U C , P r e s id e n t
N e b r a s k a B a n k e r s A s s o c ia tio n

W I L L I A M B. H U G H E S , S e c re ta ry
N e b r a s k a B a n k e r s A s s o c ia tio n

Tllllllll<llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||:iii||||||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||i|||llllllllllllll!llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll>lllllllllllllllllllll>IIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllf-

To Hear Byrd
A ll delegates attending the Nebraska
state bankers convention in Omaha, O c ­
tober 24 to 26 will hear Admiral Rich­
ard Byrd Friday evening, October 25,
it was announced by officials of the
Omaha Junior Chamber of Commerce,
which organizations has arranged for
two appearances by Admiral Byrd in
Omaha.
Both w ill be at the T ech High audi­
torium, but the afternoon performance
will be especially for children.

Banker Retires
H aving risen from the post of bank
messenger to one of the most important
positions in the banking world, Daniel
G . W in g , chairman of the board of di­
rectors of the First National bank of
Boston, has just retired, due to ill health.
O f Pilgrim stock from Plymouth col­
ony, M r. W in g was born at Davenport,
Iowa, September 10, 1868. W h ile still a
lad he came to Lincoln and was em­
ployed as a messenger for the old State
National bank. W ithin five years he
was elected cashier of the American E x­
change National bank, another former
Lincoln banking house, which later be­
came the present First National.
Be­
fore leaving Lincoln, A ir. W in g served
during the campaign of 1896 as auditor
for the republican national committee,
it was recalled by Phil R. Easterday,
executive vice president of the First
National. Charles G . Dawes obtained
this appointment for M r. W in g.

W ant a Bank
A group of business men, including
Chas. Frisch, Edwin Grueber, U . C.
Ocker, Geo. Heilen, A . H . Fitzke, C.
E. Byers of Hastings, E. B. Decker,
Harm Hinrichs and W ill Alilligan, went
to Lincoln recently to confer with the
banking board, introductory to starting


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

a bank in Glenvil.
are given.

Favorable reports

continue the business and will serve the
community as in the past.

Host at Picnic

Pays in Full

Dan V . Stephens recently entertained
the children of the Masonic-Eastern Star
home of Fremont at a picnic at his coun­
try home.
T h e picnic is an annual
affair.

P. L. Hall, receiver of the National
bank of Ashland, has announced the
comptroller of currency has authorized a
second and final payment of 30 per cent
to depositors of the bank, making a total
of 100 per cent returned.
T he bank suspended business March
4, 1933, and went into receivership July
16, 1934. T he total paid out in receiv­
ership dividends amounts to $179,969.

Clearings High
Omaha bank clearings for the week
ending September 21 totalled $35,808,683.99 to reach the highest level since
the week of August 22, 1931, when the
total was $38,814,588.78, the Omaha
Clearing House association reported.
T h e week’s total was more than $5,500,000 greater than clearings of $30,251,707.89 for the corresponding week of
last year.

Bank to Continue
T h e directors of the Rockford State
bank who announced some time ago that
the instiution would liquidate, pay in
full all its depositors and quit business
because they did not believe the village
would support a bank, have voted to

Charter Is Issued
Ben N. Saunders, state banking super­
intendent, has issued a charter to the
First State bank of Scottsbluff.
Scottsbluff has been the largest N e­
braska city without a state bank.
T he new bank was chartered at $50,000 capital, $10,000 surplus and $3,000
undivided profits.
B. C. Redding of Minatare is presi­
dent, G . A . Etter of near Minatare, vice
president, and H . S. Stark cashier. T .
F. Neighbors, T ed E. Riddell and W .
M . Barbour with Stark and Etter make
up the board of directors.

Returns from Trip

C O N V E N T IO N
NEBRASKA BANKERS
A S S O C IA T IO N

OM AHA
October 24 and 25
HOTEL

PAXTON

H . A . Schneider, president of the
Plattsmouth State bank, who has been
enjoying a combined business and pleas­
ure trip to the Pacific Northwest re­
turned home early last month after a
very interesting journey through a great
expanse of that section of the United
States and Canada.
M r. Schneider spent several days at
Calgary, the capítol of the province of
Alberta, being there at the time of the
provincial election for members of par­
liament, witnessing one of the most heat­
ed campaigns in years with the social se­
curity program as an issue. T h e result
of the election was a great triumph for

18

Central Western Banker, October, 1935

the advocates of the measure that would
provide old age and unemployment in­
surance, they electing 53 of the 63 mem­
bers of parliament.

County Funds
T h e follow ing banks were named by
the Douglas county board as legal de­
positories for county fu n ds: United
States National, First National, Omaha
National, Live Stock National, Packers
National, Stockyards National, Farmers
State bank of M illard, Bank of F lor­
ence, and the Valley State bank.

Celebration
T h e Bank of Leigh opened recently,
and throughout the day the event was
celebrated with the crowd reaching an
aggregate of about 3,000 people. A t noon
a reception-dinner was given for the
visiting bankers and guests which was
followed by a reception at the bank, the
program on the street and the contests.
Members of the group which is spon­
soring the bank were introduced, v iz .:
J. J. DeLay, president; Jos. B. Hines,
cashier, and A . A . Aukerman, Louis
Hahn and Chas. Botsch, members of the
board of directors. Thom as M ortimer,
who is the vice president of the institu­
tion, was unable to be present due to
the fact that his wife was convalescing
from an operation in an Omaha hospital.
Baskets of fall flowers, asters, gladoli,
roses and carnations greeted the visitors
as they entered the bank. These were
from the business men and women of
Leigh and from out-state friends of the
institution.

Named Cashier
H . C. Amos, for a number of years
cashier of the Citizens State bank in
Kimball has accepted the position of
cashier in the Bushnell Cooperative bank.

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Wyoming News
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim iitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim iiiiim iiiiiiiiiii

Seven Millions

Deposits in W yom ing banks have in­
creased nearly $7,000,000 in the last
A.
N . Phillips, early Sargent banker, year according to State Examiner A . E.
W ilde.
died at his home there recently follow ­
T ota l deposits at the close of business
ing a long illness. He was advanced in
June 30, 1935, were $50,969,570, he
years and had not been active in business
said, a gain of $6,888,579 since June
for some time. He was formerly asso­
29, 1934.
ciated with the Sargent State bank.
Combined resources of the 30-odd
institutions
were $59,100,343 on June
Steagall
30,
1935,
$6,300,411
more than on June
Officials of the Nebraska Bankers as­
29, 1934.
Resources include reserves,
sociation announce that Representative
bonds, stocks, etc.
Henry B. Steagall will be one of the
“ W yom ing banks are in very sound
principal speakers at the 1935 state con­
condition,”
the examiner said. “ T hey
vention in Omaha O ctober 24 and 25.
have
plenty
of
reserves and a sound cap­
Steagall, chairman of the house commit­
ital structure equal to about $1 for
tee on banking and currency, is sched­
every $10 of deposits.
uled to speak at 3 p.m. on the opening
“ In addition every bank is insured up
day of the convention.
to
$5,000 on each individual or corpor­
P rof. W ill A . Irwin, professor of
ation
account.”
economy at W ashburn college, Topeka,

Banker Dies

Kansas, w ill speak O ctober 25.
Other speakers of note who will ad­
dress the two-day meeting are : Harold
V . Amberg, vice president and general
counsel of the First National bank of
Chicago; R. F. Patterson of Tarkio,
M issouri; T o m Collins of the Kansas
City Journal-Post; H . G . Pratt, presi­
dent of the Hastings National bank,
Hastings; Edward M . Slater, Nebraska
director of the federal housing adminis­
tration; and Frank A . O ’Connor, gen­
eral agent for the farm credit adminis­
tration in Omaha.

For

SPEEDY
TRANSIT
SERVICE

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In Carlsbad
T h e American National bank of
Carlsbad will open soon, E. M . Brickley, formerly of Carrizozo, cashier of the
bank, said recently.
W orkm en were installing furniture
and fixtures in the new bank, located
between the Carlsbad Hardware and
Lumber company and the T . C. Horne
and Sons store on South Canal street.
Brickley said that it would not ac­
tually be an opening as “ we have not
closed. W e are simply moving the bank
from Carrizozo and are doing business
each day.”
H owever, he said that a “ party” of
some kind would probably be held on the
day the opening is held.

Director

Use

The Continental National Bank
LINCOLN, N E B R A S K A
E. N . V an H o r n e , Pres.
T . B. S t r a in , V. Pres.
E dw ard A . B e ck er , Cashier
\Y. S. B a t t e y , Asst. V . P.


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Mg»#

R . C. J o h n s o n , A sst. V . P .
C. W . B a t t e y , Asst. Cashier
E i .m e r D e K a y , Asst. Cashier
F red S. A l d r ic h , Asst. Cashier

Reappointment of F. M . Hayner, of
Las Cruces, N ew M exico, as a director
of the Central Bank for Cooperatives
was announced recently by W . I. Myers,
governor of the farm credit administra­
tion.
M r. Hayner has served in this
position since the organization of the
Central Bank in September, 1933. His
present term expires September 11 and
his reappointment is for three years from
that date.

19

Centred Western Banker, O ctober, 1935
In a recent election by the cooperative
associations that are borrowers of the
Central Bank, M r . Hayner received a
majority of the votes. M r. Hayner is a
director of the Southwestern Irrigated
Cotton G row ers’ association of El Paso,
Texas. He is well known throughout
the cotton producing areas and is a prom­
inent leader in the cooperative marketing
of cotton.
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Clearings Up
Clearings of the Pueblo banks for the
first eight months of 1935 are more than
two million dollars above the total for
the same period last year, the First N a­
tional announced at the end of business
hours recently.
T h e clearings for the first eight
months this year were $18,989,079.60,
compared with only $16,335,324.23 for
the corresponding period in 1934.

Bank Visitors
L. G . Kennedy, vice president, and J.
B. W elborn, assistant cashier of the
First National bank of Denver were call­
ers at the M offat County State bank in
Craig last month. These two banks are
closely connected.
T h e Denver bank
officials were highly pleased with the
splendid growth the Craig bank has made
since .opening for business a little over
90 days ago.

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New Peak
Bank clearings in Denver, which have
been climbing steadily for many months,
reached a new top in August of $105,469,115.91, the Clearinghouse associa­
tion announced.
T hat was an increase of nearly 9
million dollars over the total clearings
for August, 1934, of $96,981,309.50.
It also was an increase of nearly 2 mil­
lion dollars over the clearings for July
of this year, $104,679,910.21.

On College Board
John Evans, head of the First N a­
tional bank, Denver, and who has a
score of other connections, manages to
take an active interest in the affairs of
the University of Denver. H e is presi­
dent of the board of trustees and has
been a leader in the upbuilding of the
local educational institution to an im­
portant unit in the national picture.

Reduce Rates
As of October 1, 1935, the Denver
Clearing House association banks will
reduce interest paid on savings accounts
to 1 per cent on the first $2,500 and onehalf of 1 per cent on all amounts above
that figure, it was announced recently.
T h e step was taken in the interests of
reducing expenses in keeping with the
present low return on investments. T he
banks formerly paid 2 per cent on
amounts up to $2,500 and 1 per cent on
balances above that amount.

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Directors Changed
A t a stockholders’ meeting of the
M ontezum a State bank the resignation
of Linn Frazier, of Fowler, as a director
of the bank, was accepted. M r. Frazier
still holds his stock in the institution.
H e organized the bank in 1913 and has
been associated with it practically all the
time since.
A t the same meeting L. A . Nelson
of Ensign, prominent merchant of that
place, was elected a director of the bank.
M r. Nelson was formerly associated with
the People’s State bank at Ensign which
was taken over by the M ontezum a bank
last April.

Lincoln MeetingBankers of 13 north central Kansas
counties were at Lincoln, Wednesday,
October 9 for their annual group meet­
ing. About 300 are expected to attend
and speakers w ill be provided for the
meeting by the Kansas Bankers associa­
tion. T h e Lincoln County Bankers as­
sociation will be host to the visiting
bankers.
T h e counties included in the group are
Ellsworth, Saline, M itchell, Jewell, R e­
public, Cloud, Ottawa, Dickinson, Clay,
W ashington, Riley, Geary and Lincoln.
D . B. M arshall of Lincoln is chairman
o fthe group and J. C. Kaul of Barnard
is secretary.

New Bank
W ithou t banking facilities since the
spring of 1933, Golden business men are
perfecting plans for reorganization of
the Rubey National, now in receivership.
It is expected that the new bank, to
be known as the First National, will be
opened in the near future.
H . W . Pratt, former vice president
of the Rubey, is the leader of the reor­
ganization movement. A plan outlined
by him has the approval of the chamber
of commerce and other organizations.

Banker W eds
O liver Arnold, assistant vice president
of the Denver National bank, and M rs.
Genevieve R. Lewis of Denver were
married recently in Colorado Springs.
From 1921 till 1927 Arnold was con­
nected with the federal reserve bank and
since 1927 has been with the Denver N a­
tional bank.
M rs. Arnold is the daughter of M r.
and M rs. Ernest E. C rawford of 2850
Bellaire street.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Giving S o u n d C o n s t r u c t i v e Banking Service

TO ALL CORRESPONDENTS
is our major concern

LIVE STOCK NATIONAL BANK
OMAHA
A K -S A R -B E N L IV E S T O C K SH OW . H O R SE S H O W A N D RODEO
O C T O B E R 2 7 T H TO N O V E M B E R 2 N D

20

Central Western Banker, October, 1935

Depository

Joint Meeting

T he First National bank, Concordia,
is installing a new M cC lintock “ afterhours depository” which will provide a
unique form of service. T h e depository
will be on the west side of the building
and will enable users to have a safe place,
electrically protected, to deposit checks,
cash or other valuables after banking
hours. T h e new service will be a 24hour one, available anytime of day or
night, on Sundays or holidays, for a
small charge.

A vigilante elimination shoot and Rus­
sell County Bankers association meeting
was held recently north of Russell. A ll
banks in the county were closed so that
employees could attend the event.
Firing for the elimination shoot was
under the direction of Fred Hartman.
T h e regular business meeting of the
association was held after the shooting
contest.
A fried chicken supper was
served cafeteria style.
Entertainment for the ladies present
was in charge of Miss W illm etta Ruff,
M rs. Dora H . M orrison and M rs. J.
G. Deines. Leal Anschutz, Fred J. Smith
and Clyde Carter were appointed to
handle the entertainment for the men.

In Topeka
C. F. Peck, Kansas City, Kansas,
chairman of the Kansas Bankers associa­
tion, presided at a recent meeting held
in Topeka. A special luncheon was ar­
ranged by the state association.
T he
meeting is one of a series of committee
meetings being conducted by the asso­
ciation. Those present, in addition to
Peck, were H . P. Betzer, T opeka; Theo.
Benninghover, Lenexa; FI. A . W ayman,
Emporia; P. M . Gibbens, Fort Scott;
C. O . Davis, Pittsburg; H . A . Funke,
W ichita, and Fred Bowman, executive
vice president of the state association.

County Meeting
T he county bankers association met
in Phillipsberg recently and representa­
tives of every bank in the county were
present. T h e list included Lloyd C ul­
bertson, L ong Island; F. S. Snyder,
Prairie V ie w ; J. W . Baird and B. W .
W iltrout, L ogan; Ivan Dubois, A gra;
Carl Kellerman, Stuttgart; R. E. G r if­
fiths, N. C. Bracken, S. J. Close and
Florian Andrews, Phillipsburg.

Banker Dies
d i c e Butel, prominent farmer and
stockman of Overbrook, passed away
suddenly at his home. M r. Butel was
going to the house after finishing the
chores and had just closed the gate to
the barn lot. M rs. Butel heard the gate
click and when he did not return she
went out to call to him, finding him by
the gate, where he had suffered a heart
attack and had died almost instantly.
His death was a great shock to his fam­
ily and friends.
M r. Butel was one of the leading
farmers and stockmen of this territory.
H e was also prominent in political and
community activities, being a member of
the board of directors of the Kansas
State bank, a director in the Farmers
Union Elevator and Store and clerk of
the township board.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Named President
M rs. A . H . M offet was elected pres­
ident of the First National bank of Ear­
ned at a special meeting of the board of
directors.
She succeeded her husband,
the late A . H . M offet, who died sudden­
ly at Gallup, N . M . M rs. M offet will
not be in active management of the bank,
however. A . E. Hawkinson will be ex­
ecutive vice president and will serve as
manager of the institution.
G . H . Branch w ill continue as cash­
ier and Stanley M offet of Sioux City,
Iowa, a nephew of M r. M offet, was
elected assistant cashier. Stanley M o f­
fet has been employed in bank at Sioux
City and has also served as secretary
of the Junior Chamber of Commerce
of that city.
T h e director of the bank will remain
the same— A . A . Doerr, John Lewis,
M rs. A . H . M offet, A . E. Hawkinson,
G . H. Branch, C. N . Row, A . L. Stocl^well and J. B. Brown.

Wichita A. I. B.
T he W ichita chapter of the American
Institute of Banking heard a commence­
ment address delivered by Rufus B. von
Kleinsmid, of the University of South­
ern California, at their annual banquet
last month, while more than 200 such
banking groups in other cities were also
listening in.
Dudley Doolittle, general agent of the
W ichita division of the F C A addressed
the local group, stressing the need for
cooperation between the banks and the
Farm Credit Administration.
During the evening, the group also
heard talks by Hugh Harrell, president
of the W ichita Federal Land bank, and
W . B. Harrison, president of the Uffion
National bank.

Four members of the banking institute,
Stella Brenneison of the First National
bank; James M cC lain, of the Union
National bank; Edwin Smith, of the
Fourth National bank, and Harold
Hobbs of the Union National bank were
presented diplomas for having completed
four years of outside study.
T he meeting, which was presided over
by Charles Clevenger, president of the
local chapter, was attended by about 154
members of the institute and their
guests.

To Manage Bank
R. R. Cross of Council Grove, Kan­
sas, has been retained by the directors
of the Citizens State bank, Ellsworth,
with the approval of the Reconstruction
Finance Corporation, to assume the man­
agement of the bank. T he Reconstruc­
tion Finance Corporation owns a con­
trolling interest in the bank.
M r. Cross arrived recently and took
up his duties.

Present Diplomas
A t the special meeting held in the
Home National bank building at Akkansas City, the Cowley county chapter
of the American Institute of Banking,
under the auspices of the American
Bankers association, made plans for the
opening of the study groups for the night
classes that began last month.
During the meeting W alton Goode of
the W infield First National bank pre­
sented the diplomas of the organization,
for work done, to John Peck and F or­
rest Livingston, both of the Arkansas
City Home National bank.
Tentative plans were made for two
classes to be offered this year in the study
club.
T he classes w ill offer work in
commercial credit and a second course
in public speaking. T h e classes will be
open to all bankers and employees and
any who are interested in this line of
work. College credit will be granted,
this credit usually received by those who
are majoring in banking or instructors
in this field.

Revolutionized
Methods
N ot so many years ago agricultural
cooperatives were regarded with suspi­
cion. Some believed that they could pro­
duce nothing worth while, they were
needless “ luxuries.” Others thought they
would merely waste time and money of
their farmer members.

21

Central Western Banker, O ctober, 1935
T od ay the cooperative has come into
the “ necessity” classification so far as
the progressive farmer is concerned. T he
time he gives to it is as nothing com­
pared to the benefits he receives. And
the money he contributes in dues is re­
turned to him many times over in more
stable markets, and better prices for his
produce.
T h e cooperatives have sffiwly, quietly
and effectively caused a virtual agricul­
tural revolution. T hey have gone a long
way toward taking the guess-work out
of farming— wherein each producer
raised as much as he could, irrespective
of markets or demand, and sold it for
what he was offered.
T h e old-time
farmer was at the mercy of the middle­
man— the modern farmer, with his or­
ganization doing the talking and bar­
gaining for him, has applied proven bus­
iness methods toward achieving a better
place in the world.
Cooperatives have made a great rec­
ord during depression— and when better
times return, they are going to show the
country what real agricultural progress
means.

success achieved by management in in­
vesting funds. A t the end of 1930, the
assets of a group of companies represent­
ing over 90 per cent of the assets of all
the companies in this country, had a
value of $17,304,000,000. A t the close
of 1931, this had increased to $18,577,000,000. A t the close of 1933, the fig­
ure was $19,246,000,000 and it has
climbed since. Life insurance grew saf­
er during the depression. These values
are not fictitious— bonds must be report­
ed at a book value which makes use of
a process whereby the securities are ad­
justed yearly to bring the value to par
at maturity. T h e small percentage of
bonds which are in default or insecure
must be reported, in accord with the
regulations laid down by the Insurance
Commissions of the states.
Long before the great depression ar­
rived, most life insurance companies
were preparing for just such an eventu­
ality. T hey knew it must come some
time.
Safety was held to be superior
profit— stability to speculation. T h e re­
sults show how wise that policy is.

Subsidized Competition
Preparedness for
Depression
There have been many comments on
the record of stability and safety made
by the life insurance industry during
depression.
W h at should be realized is that this
was not the result of doing a good job
during five years of stress— it was the
result of doing a good job many years
previous. It follow ed a long period of
undeviatingly careful, wise and fore­
sight administration.
T h e condition of life insurance ledgers
during recent years is indicative of the

it is an obvious fact that subsidized
competition is unfair competition.
T hat is especially applicable to the
transportation industry.
A t the present time, only one common
carrier— the railroad— entirely pays its
own way. A ll other carriers are subsi­
dized, directly or indirectly. A ll other
carriers, in brief, receive benefits from
public funds, which assist them to divert
business from the railroads.
W orst example o f subsidization is still
the waterways. Economically speaking,
many waterways have little right to ex­
ist. Seasonal influences make certainty
and efficiency of service uncertain. T hey

get business, not because they are faster,
not because they offer higher standards
of efficiency— but because subsidies, paid
out of the public treasury, make them
cheaper.
T o the end of 1932, the United States
government had spent about $1,500,000,000 on river and harbor improvements
chargeable to navigation alone, and an
additional $117,000,000 was spent in
1932. M uch of this money was used to
keep Using canal lines in operation. In
addition, many of the waterway carriers
pay no taxes— and whatever losses they
incur in operation are made up out of
general funds.
T h e policy o f subsidizing waterways
is being continued.
There can be no steady progress in
transportation, and no stability, until
every carrier is made to stand on its own
feet, pay its own way, and compete fairly
for business.

Look at the Record
There is one way of proving whether
the power industry has done a good
job on behalf of the American people —
or whether, as its opponents claim, it
has failed in its duty of providing the
best possible service at the lowest possible
cost.
T he way, as A1 Smith would say, “ Is
to look at the record.” A fact is a fact
— and all the rhetoric in the world can’t
make it into anything else.
In 1882, at the beginning of the light
and power industry, only a handful of
homes had electric service, and its cost
them, on the average, 25 cents per kilo­
watt-hour.
This rate gradually de­
clined, and uses multiplied until, just
before the war, the cost was 8.7 cents per
kilowatt-hour. In 1928, at the height
of the boom, when labor and material

A U S T R A L IA

BANK OF N E W S O U T H W A L E S
E S T A B L IS H E D

1817

( W it h w h ic h are a m a lg a m a te d T H E W E S T E R N A U S T R A L I A N
a n d T H E A U S T R A L I A N B A N K O F C O M M E R C E L t d .)
P A I D -U P

C A P IT A L
.................................................................................................... £ A
F U N D ...........................................................................................................
R E S E R V E L IA B IL IT Y O F P R O P R IE T O R S
.
..................................

RESERVE

BANK
8 ,7 8 0 ,0 0 0
6 ,1 5 0 ,0 0 0
8 ,7 8 0 .0 0 0

£ A 2 3 ,7 1 0 ,0 0 0

Aggregate Assets 30th September, 1934, £ 116,995,921.13.7.
A G E N T S — F IR S T

N A T IO N A L

BAN K, OM AHA, NEBRASKA

H E A D OFFICE, GEORGE ST., S Y D N E Y


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

GENERAL

M ANAGER, ALFRED

CHARLES

D A V ID S O N

LONDON OFFICE, 29 T H R E A D N E E D L E ST., E. C. 2

7 1 0 B r a n c h e s a n d A g e n c i e s in A l l A n s t r a l i a n S t a t e s , F e d e r a l T e r r i t o r y ,
N e w Z e a la n d , F i j i , P a p u a , M a n d a te d T e r r it o r y o f N e w G u in e a a n d L o n d o n

22

Central Western Banker, October, 1935

costs were at record levels, the rate was
6.3. T he depression brought a decline
in the use of power, which naturally
caused an increase in the industry’s unit
cost of doing business— but increased effi­
ciency and economy offset this, and in
1934 the rate was but 5.3 cents per kilo­
watt-hour.
It is an important fact that the rate
has shown a steady decrease— that the
average cost of power has never, with
but one or two exceptions, been higher in
one year than in the preceding year.
T h e rate has gone down whether times
were good or bad, whether the country
was flush as in 1929 or crimped as in
1907, whether household use of power
increased or decreased.
And in later
years, especially, the rate has been cut in
the face of great and menacing increases
in the taxes, regular and special, paid by
the industry.
There is the record. It is the best
possible answer to the charge that the
power industry has extorted the Am er­
ican people.

A n Expensive Lesson
W e ll Learned
T he best of all teachers is experience.
It is often expensive— but, if the lesson
is thoroughly learned, it is usually worth
the price.
Experience has taught the average
American much about how not to invest
his savings— and, of equal importance,
how to invest them.
H e has learned that the average indi­
vidual has little chance of investing safe­
ly for himself. T h e promise of great
profits is appealing— but not when sub­
sequent events prove that they are to be
earned at the risk o f his principal. And
he has seen the value of securities he once
believed to be gilt-edged, tumble to al­
most nothing under the impact of de­
pression.
T od ay many millions of these aver­

age citizens are pursuing different and
wiser investment courses than they ever
thought of a few years back. T h ey are
turning their money over to agencies
which can be trusted to handle it prop­
erly— to invest it safely— and to increase
its worth gradually and soundly. Life
insurance, trust funds and similar insti­
tutions, with their intimate knowledge
of conservative finance, have become
America’s foremost channels of invest­
ment.
W e are beginning to understand that
security must come first— a lesson un­
fortunately learned at the price of untold
dollars.

A Tax on
Good Service

Shall W e "Soak
Everyone^?
W hen we “ Soak the rich,” we “ soak
everyone.”
This is especially true of proposals to
levy exorbitant taxes on our great cor­
porate enterprises. Demagogic politicians
point to the fact that some of these cor­
porations have gross incomes running
into the scores of millions— and they at­
tempt to reason from that, that they
should be taxed to the point of confisca­
tion, in order to benefit people of small
and average means.
W h a t the politicians overlook is that
most of these great corporations, far
from representing a few vast fortunes,
represent the accumulated savings of
hundreds of thousands of investors.
T h e largest American business enter­
prise, for example, is the American T e le ­
phone and Telegraph Company. It has
a stockholder list of about 670,000 per­
sons. N ot a single one o f these stock­
holders owns as much as one per cent
of the Company.
A representative enterprise is the
General M otors Corporation. It has a
market value of $1,700,000,000 and is
owned by some 415,000 stockholders.
M ore than 150,000 of these stockholders

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LOWEST PRICES

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1820 Farnam St.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

t h e f in e s t “h e a v y d u t y ”
a d d in g m a c h in e m a d e

Omaha, Nebraska

possess ten shares of stock or less— a
maximum investment, on the average, of
$350. W here are your great accumula­
tions of capital here?
Taxes and legislative policies that pun­
ish enterprise, merely because it is con­
ducted on a large scale, strike directly
at the jobs, savings and pocketbooks of
millions of ordinary citizens— who are
far from being rich. T h e savings of the
great masses of Americans are represent­
ed, directly or indirectly, by our large
corporate businesses— and on the future
of those businesses, the future of the av­
erage individual citizen depends.

Special taxes levied against mere “ big­
ness” are based on a false premise— a
premise that size is intrinsically repre­
hensible, and is opposed to the public
interest.
T he graduated chain grocery store tax
illustrates that fallacy. T h e chains per­
form a necessary service, and achieve
great savings for their patrons.
Mass
buying, mass distributing, and mass sell­
ing permit them to operate on an ex­
tremely small unit profit.
T he graduated tax, as passed in Cali­
fornia and several other states, is de­
signed to force the chains to raise their
prices. In other words, it would lessen
the advantage accruing to the public
from the chain’s mass methods — and
make the consumer pay a higher grocery
bill than is necessary.
It would be equally logical to pass a
special punitive tax against department
stores, which are able to assemble a wide
number of departments under one roof.
This attracts the public, which can buy
everything from food to jew elry without
leaving the building. It likewise makes
it possible to keep prices down, inasmuch
as the overhead cost of each department
is less than it would be if it were a sep­
arate store. If the chain systems have
an unfair advantage, the department
stores certainly have one as well.
P roof that the chains exert no unfair
advantage lies in the fact that the good
independent stores are not going out of
business— they are growing and prosper­
ing. T hey are cooperating with each
other to lower their wholesale costs, and,
like the chains, passing the saving on to
the public.
A tax on size is usually a tax on good
service— at the overburdened consumer’s
expense.

N ew 1935 Nebraska- Iowa
Bank Directory

. . .

(Published by the DePuy Publications, including
the C E N T R A L WESTERN BANKER, Omaha,
and the NORTHWESTERN BANKER, Des Moines)

HE NEW 1935 EDITION of the Nebraska-Iowa
B ank D ire cto ry is now ready for distribution.
In it you’ll find the most complete and latest informa­
tion on Nebraska and Iowa banks, including person­
nel, capital, surplus, deposits, loans and discounts,
bond holdings, correspondent banks and other valu­
able data.

T

The
Directory
Contains

. . .

• Complete list of
a 11 Association
Officers.

Because of the many changes in banking figures and
personnel during the past few years, the new 1935 Ne­
braska-Iowa Bank Directory will be most valuable to
every banker in those states. Be sure to order a copy
of this directory, so that you may have up-to-date in­
formation on your desk.

• L a t e s t official
personnel of all
Nebraska
and
Iowa Banks.

Unless you’ve already done so, send us your order at
once for the number of bank directories you’ll need for
your organization.

• All material ob­
tained d i r e c t
from the banks.

Price, $2*00 Per Copy

Unless You’ve Already Ordered, Then . . . Use This Blank to Order Copies
CENTRAL W ESTERN BANKER, 410 Arthur Bldg., Omaha, Nebraska
Gentlemen:
Please send, at o n c e ,_________________copies of your 1935 Nebraska-Iowa Bank
Directory. We will remit at the rate of two dollars per copy, upon receipt of the
Directory.
Name
Town


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Address
State


https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis