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DECEMBER
1943

G O IN G -TO -SU N M O U N T A IN
A t the sum m it of Logan P ass, in Glacier N ational Park

you

LO A N


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

T O D A Y -A N D
Page 20

CO LLECT TO M O R R O W

Current B usiness Inform ation
O ur c o rresp o n d en t co n n ectio n s w ith m id-w est hanks is m u tu ally valu ab le
to the b an k s we serve and to ou r ow n in stitu tio n .

T h rou gh ou r close

a sso cia tio n with b a n k s th ro u g h this territory, we are en ab led to assem b le
current b u sin ess in fo rm a tio n fr o m every section and in turn d issem in ate
it to o u r b an k er cu sto m ers.

W e co rd ia lly in v ite you r b u sin ess o n the

stren gth o f o u r ab ility to ren d er you r bank a w orth w h ile service.

A CEDAR R A P ID S BA N K

CEDAI*

RAPIDS

SERVICING A LL IOWA

M ERCHANTS
NATIONAL BANK
OFFI CERS
J a m e s E . H a m i l t o n , Chairman
S . E . C o q u i l l e t t e , President
H. N. B o y s o n , Vice President
R o y C. F o l s o m , Vice President
M a r k J . M y e r s , V. Pres. & Cashier
G e o r g e F . M i l l e r , V. Pres. & Tr. Officer
M a r v i n R. S e l d e n , Vice President
F r e d W. S m i t h , Vice President
J o h n T. H a m i l t o n II, Vice President
R. W . M a n a t t , Asst. Cashier
L . W . B r o u l i k , Asst. Cashier
P e t e r B a i l e y , Asst. Cashier
R. D. B r o w n , Asst. Cashier
0. A. K e a r n e y , Asst. Cashier
S t a n l e y J . M o h r b a c h e r , Asst. Cashier
E. B. Z b a n e k , Building1Manager

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Cedar Rapids
Member Federal

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Deposit Insurance Corporation

E gE i E E l E i ^ E i *:

N orthw estern Banker, published m onthly by the De Puy Publishing Company, at 527 Seventh St., Des Moines, Iowa. Subscription, 35c per copy, $3.00 per year.
Entered as Second Class Matter January 1, 1895, at the P ost Office at Des Moines, Iowa, under A ct o f March 3, 1879.


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/I fI
•

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-


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

i» « .

Eam *U w h o 's b u y in g

a tii’tiv i io T O K Y O

J u s t an everyday m an — h a p p e n s to be an

A ll new gross p re m iu m s collected on fire

O f course, lie’s not going

and other policies w ritte n b y th e H o m e d u r ­

to go to Tokyo personally— U ncle Sam lias

ing the last n in e m o n th s o f 1943 w ere to be

o th er nephew s looking fo rw ard to th a t trip

invested in W ar L oan B onds.

. . . h u t h e ’s h e lp in g to p a y fo r it.

chases have been O V ER and A B O V E the

in su ra n c e agent.

A nd h e ’s actively dem o n stratin g th e A m er­
ican capacity fo r organization — the “ pull-

These p u r ­

norm al g o vern m en t bond purchases w hich
the com pany has c o n tin u e d to m ake.

to g eth e r” th a t p u ts th is country shoulder
F o r instance, lie’s been cooper­

* THE HOME *

ating w ith o u r com pany in sponsoring its

c< yn y

to sh o u ld er w ith its fighting m en w herever
they are.

N in e tie th A n n iv ersary W ar L oan cam paign,
w hich pro v id ed th a t:

N E W
A U T OMOB I L E

N in etieth A n n iv e r s a r y Year

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Y O R K

o

"Appreciate Your Editorial"
‘ ‘ I w as delig h ted to receive your recent
le tte r an d a p p rec ia te your fo rw a rd in g me a
copy of your e d ito ria l e n title d ‘D ear E d ­
die Y. R ick e n b ac k e r’, w hich you published
in the N o r t h w e s t e r n B a n k e r .
‘ ‘ A gain, m any th a n k s fo r your in te re s t
a n d hope our p a th s m ay cross in the not
too d is ta n t fu tu re . ’ ’
E d d ie R ic k e n b a c k e r , P re si­
dent and General M anager,
P a stern A irlin e s, 10 R ocke­
fe lle r P laza, N ew Y o r k C ity.

‘ ‘ F ra n k ly , your little ch at did m ake me
hom esick, b u t please d o n ’t feel th a t you
have done th e w rong th in g .
Once in a
while, it does a soldier over here a g re a t
deal of good to have someone rem ind him
th a t th ere really is such a place as home,
a n d th a t he, too, w as once n o th in g b u t a
m ere kid. W e see so m any sm all you n g sters
over here th a t g e t in our h a ir an d g ripe us
to no sm all extent. P e rh a p s we too o ften
im press them w ith our old age and never
give them m uch of a chance. M y idea is
th a t these kids are n o t a t all like those
back home, and th ere fo re should be tre a te d

"Loans Holding Even"
‘ ‘ D eposits here are going up quite rap id ly ,
an d loans are holding a b o u t even w ith our
average fo r th e p a st fo u r or five years.
“ Y ou m ig h t be in te re ste d to know th a t
I b e g an w ork as a n em ploye of th is ban k
tw enty-five y e ars ago in N ovem ber, and
th a t th is y ear th e e arn in g s of the b a n k will
be the best in all th a t period. ’ ’
D. H . D in g s l e y , Cashier,
R ow ley S a v in g s B a n k , Rowley, Iow a.

A Letter from "Somewhere"
E d ito r ’s N o te.— The fo llo w in g letter fro m
Corporal A lv in W arren Johnson, son o f A l ­
vin Johnson, p resid en t o f the L iv e Stock
N a tio n a l B a n k, Omaha, was w ritte n to his
m other fro m “ som ew here” on the fig h tin g
fro n t.
‘ ‘ D ear M o th e r:
“ I enjoyed re a d in g th ro u g h your ancient
d ia ry w ith you. I t also b ro u g h t back m em ­
ories o f th e p a st w hich have all b u t been
• f o r g o t t e n d u rin g these m any m onths over­
seas. I could see you lau g h in g over the
m any clever sayings of your all-to o -in telli­
g e n t c hildren (? ) Guess m y p ra y ers w ere not
answ ered in respect to fu tu re w ars, b u t the
good L ord has kep t me fro m being a fra id .
F o r th is, I have had reason to be very
th a n k fu l.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

C O R P . A L V IN

W ARREN

JO H N SO N

differen tly . The m ost successful m ethod is
to leave them alone. Then, too, the local
‘ dead-end kids ’ have been th ro u g h a very
g re a t deal m ore of life th a n th e ir b ro th ers
back in the U. S. A., an d th is has to be
tak e n into consideration. A ll in all, it is a
tough m ental proposition.
‘ ‘ Those packages you have sent me have
not sta rte d to roll in as yet, b u t I do not

d oubt b u t w h at the process should s ta r t
soon. T oday is alm ost th e first day th a t
th ere has been no m ail fo r us since the tim e
when the m ail first s ta rte d rolling in here.
So fa r, I have received 290 le tte rs from
various sources. You realize of course th a t
I have trie d very h a rd to give w hat news is
possible. O f la te th ere has been too little
tim e fo r re ad in g an d w ritin g and sleeping.
“ M ust a d m it th a t d u rin g th e p a st th ree
days I have taken tim e out to catch up on
some of the stories an d a rticle s a p p ea rin g
in the various m agazines. T here have been
some m ig h ty good as well as a cc u rate a r ­
ticles w ritte n by th is a u th o r an d th a t, in
th is m agazine and th a t, concerning the re ­
cent invasions.
N a tu ra lly , I have read
these w ith in te re st. H ave noticed also th a t
T im e has been fe a tu rin g a few of our big
nam e g enerals on the cover page of th e ir
p ublication. P erso n ally , I ’ll have m uch to
re la te when I do m anage to w end m y w eary
w ay home.
“ M y usual hum an in te re st stories will
have to be w ithheld fo r the p resen t due to
m any reasons, b u t the b ig g est is th a t I
h a v e n ’t been around enough to pick any
new stuff up. Glad to h e ar th a t the Dell
is now la rg e r an d m ore co m fo rtab ly f u r ­
nished. M iss th e old stom ping grounds and
the g a n g I used to find there. F ro m all
re p o rts, th a t ‘ old g ra y m a r e ’ a i n ’t exactly
w hat it used to be. I suppose th is roughtum ble g a n g of m ine will soon change my
atm osphere of non g aiety into one of la u g h ­
te r an d w ild tale s a bout the w ars if ever
they are p u t to g e th e r in one place long
enough again.
“ One of the old R. A. F . liaison officers,
should now say two of ’em, ju s t cam e into
the office, an d the place is going m ad. These
two m en are re ally swell, an d sm art, too.
I d o n ’t know w here they have been, b u t we
have m issed them ju s t the sam e. Some of
our m ore in te re s tin g tales are now going
ab o u t the ro o m ; so p erh ap s som ething censorable m ight osmos its e lf in to these pages
g iving you so rt o f a n inside account of
m y recent p a st. B e tte r quit th is pounding
fo r a while b efo re I m ention s u th in ’ I
oughtent. T h e y ’re k id d in g th is pud g y o f­
ficer p re tty well now as he lim ps his w ay
out of the office. H is lim p, I think, was
caused by a m osquito b ite on his foot. H e
has lived a ru g g ed life, th is m an.
“ As f a r as I am concerned, everything
is com ing along quite well. A ll th e news
sounds very good, and I keep on w ondering
w h at it is all lead in g up to. I d o n ’t look
fo r a n y th in g b reath less b re ak in g m uch b e ­
fore the th aw in g s ta rts on G e o rg e ’s L ake
and the younger g ang m akes trac k s fo r th eir
various ‘ shacks. ’
Sure wish it would,
though.
“ The A ugust 9th L ife ju s t came in and
I had to thum b th ro u g h it or else lose even
a fleeting glance a t it. I noticed a th o r­
ough coverage of the Sicily deal, even m en­
tioned one of m y orig in al homes.
‘ ‘ Seems as tho u g h a few m ore re p o rts
have come in since I began th is le tte r;
so 1 will have to be shoving off p re tty soon.
A plane ju s t swooped down over us m ig h ty
low, b u t it w as one of the boys. The A u ­
g u st 3rd H erald came in also along with
V. S. N ew s of A u g u st 6th. Should give
me som e in te re s tin g re ad in g fo r la te r on
( T u r n to page 26, please)

N orthw estern B anker

D ecem ber 19f3

M

m d fmete
in

-Jffitt

Inter-American trade is vital to the economy and soli­
darity of our hemisphere. War has both emphasized its
importance and increased its complexity.
For this reason current information on economic and
exchange conditions within the Americas is essential to
all those engaged in inter-American commerce. Our
numerous correspondents supply us with such information
from every commercially important city in Central and
South America. These same correspondents— leading
banks in their communities— offer through us special
facilities for the prompt handling o f collections.
These Chase facilities which are always at the dis­
posal of our domestic correspondent banks provide a
valuable service for their own customers.

THE CHASE NATIONAL BANK
OF THE CITY OF NEW YO R K
M em b er F ed e ra l D e p o sit Insurance C o rp o ra tio n


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

s

D ECEM BER

1 94 3

FORTy.EIGHTH YEAR

N U M B ER 677

O ldest Financial^Journal West of the'Mississippi River

IN T H IS IS S U E
C L IF F O R D D E PU Y
Publish er

Editorials
A c ro s s th e D e sk f ro m th e P u b lis h e r.

8

R A LP H W. M O O R H E A D
Associate Publisher

H E N R Y H. H A Y N E S
Editor

RUTH K IL L E N
Associate Editor

M A R G U E R IT E B R O W N
Office Supervisor

E L IZ A B E T H C O L E

Feature Articles
D e a r E d it o r .............................................................................................................................................
F r o n t i s p a g e .................................................................. ................................................. ........................
Do W e O w e I t to O u r s e lv e s ? ..........................................................................................................
A . B. A . A g r i c u lt u r a l C o m m itte e M e e tin g ...........................................................................
S a v in g s & L o a n a s a n In v e s tm e n t O u t l e t ........................................ A llis o n W a u g h
N e w s a n d V ie w s o f th e B a n k in g W o r ld .................................................. C liffo r d D e P u y
S om e P C A “ G r a s s R o o ts ” F i g u r e s ..................................................
S to c k I n t e r e s t a n d O w n e rs h ip R ig h ts — L e g a l D e p a r t m e n t ...........................................
F in is h th e W a r — I n s u r e t h e P e a c e .................................................. .G eo rg e W . W o o d s
M a n a g e m e n t R a ti n g C h a r t f o r B a n k s ....................................................................................
Y ou L o a n T o d a y — a n d C o lle c t T o m o rro w ............................................. E r l in g H a u g o
V is itin g A lo n g th e L a k e ............................................................ ..........H e n r y H . H a y n e s

5

11
12
13
13
14
15
16
17
18

20
22

Advertising Assistant

Insurance
BETTY M IL L E R

H o w W e C o lle c t P r e m iu m s .............................................................................................................

25

Circulation Department

Bonds and Investments
P o s tw a r P ro b le m s ......................................................................................... J a m e s H . C la r k e

29

State Banking News
527 Seventh Street,
Des Moines 9, Iowa
Telephone 4-8163

N E W Y O R K O F F IC E
Frank P. Syms
V ic e President
505 Fifth A v e .
Suite 1806
Telephone MUrray H ill 2*0326


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

M in n e s o ta N e w s ...................................................................................................................................
N e w C o n s tr u c tio n in S t. P a u l . . ..........................................................................................
T w in C ity N e w s ...........................................................................J a m e s M . S u t h e r la n d
S o u th D a k o ta N e w s ..............................................................................................................................
S io u x F a l ls N e w s ................. .......................................................................................................
N o r t h D a k o ta N e w s ..........................................................................................................................
N e b r a s k a N e w s ........... ....................................................................................... ...............................
J u n i o r N e w s ................................................................................................. J o h n L a u r it z e n
O m a h a C le a r in g s .......................... ....................... ...................... ..............................
L in c o ln L o c a ls ..............................................................
Io w a N e w s ........................................................................ .....................................................................
N e w W a te rlo o B a n k I n t e r i o r ........................................•.............................................
T w e n ty -fiv e Y e a r s A g o ............................ ................ .............................

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35
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39
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50
53

The Directors Room
A F e w S h o r t S to r ie s to M a k e Y o u L a u g h

58

Across the Desk
From the Publisher

2>ec^i ¡/a im J l. J le w il:
P erh ap s w hen the history of this w ar is w rit­
ten, you will be considered the g reatest labor
lead er of our tim e—b u t we doubt it.
P erh ap s w hen this w ar is over and 10,000,000
boys in the arm ed services re tu rn to work, they
will say you contributed most to helping win the
w ar—b u t we doubt it.
P erh ap s you th in k the sh u ttin g down of coal
mines, w hich in tu rn prevented the production
of steel, which in tu rn delayed the m anufacture
of tanks, tru ck s and airplanes, was a contribution
to the w ar effort—b u t we d o n ’t.
P erh ap s you th in k your blustering, bom bastic,
dom ineering m ethod of try in g to appear bigger
th an the Governm ent itself will add fame and
glory to your nam e when the history of labor
legislation is w ritte n —b u t we doubt it.
No, Mr. Lewis, you have done more to harm ,
h u rt and destroy the labor union cause in A m er­
ica th an any m an in all its history.
If coal m iners have had grievances against th eir
em ployers—if w orking conditions should have
been im proved—if wages shoidd have been ad ­
justed, or if any other questions or grievances
needed to be adjudicated, then we say they should
have been discussed, and they were, and they
should have been settled by arb itra tio n , and they
were. But, w ith the greatest w ar in which A m er­
ica has ever been engaged, the m iners should
never have been ordered to strike.
The m iners should have k ep t on w orking while
you were arb itra tin g .
The trouble w ith you, Mr. Lewis, is th a t every
tim e you negotiate, w hether or not it is w ith the
mine operators or w ith the Governm ent, and the

N orthw
estern B anker

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

D ecem ber 1943

decision is not to your liking, then you get mad
and call a strike.
W hen the boys in the Solomons were living in
the m ud and the rain, and m any tim es w ithout
enough am m unition, did they strike because they
w anted b etter living conditions and shorter hours
and more pay? No. They kept on fighting.
W hen the A m erican troops landed on the shores
of Ita ly un d er the w ithering fire of the Germ an
guns from the shore b atteries and the odds were
trem endously against them, they d id n ’t q uit—
they k ep t on fighting.
A nd your m iners should have k ep t on w orking,
Mr. Lewis, if for no other reason th an because we
are a t war.
No, Mr. Lewis, we th in k your history of your
m anagem ent of labor unions in Am erica, and es­
pecially of the m in ers’ union, has been a blot on
la b o r’s banner w hich it will tak e m any, m any
years to erase—and besides we w o u ld n ’t w ant to
be in your shoes when 10,000,000 soldiers come
m arching home a fte r this w ar is won.

2>eaA £suc A. jjalttutan,:
As president of the Cham ber of Commerce of
the U nited States, we th in k you are doing the
finest job th a t has been done in a long time.
Y our various speeches about business— about
in d u stry — about labor— and about the G overn­
m ent have been tim ely, forceful and constructive.
In speaking of the G overnm ent, you said, “ If
you run to the Government the Government will
run y o u .’’
T hat is exactly true, b u t it is also ju st w hat
m any business men and laboring men are doing.
If they have a problem th a t seems tough and

9

h ard to settle, they go to W ashington and only
m ake conditions worse in the “ D istrict of' Con­
fusion. ’ ’
AVe w ere especially interested, Mr. Johnston,
when you said, “ Our economic system is not d y ­
ing- of old age. It is dying from its chains—the
re strain ts, restrictions and exactions th a t are
fastened on it by some tra d e associations, some
labor unions and some governm ental units : T rade
associations and cartel com binations th a t seek to
create m onopolistic conditions, hold prices up,
and keep production down. Labor unions which
overstep th eir function of insuring decent wages
and hours, and keep production down.
“ L abor unions w hich overstep th eir function
of in su ring decent wages and hours, and seek to
increase labor costs th ro u g h unreasonable re stric ­
tions on output, resistance to productive new de­
vices, and a score of other destructive regulations.
G overnm ents—federal, sta ts and city—th a t load
every k ind of business w ith unnecessary re g u la­
tions, th a t stran g le enterprise and then lie in w ait
for the successful m an in order to confiscate the
profits he m ay m ake from an investm ent in which
he has risked a fortune.
“ In a com plicated society, I recognize th a t gov­
ernm ent m ust m ake and enforce rules and reg u ­
lations. B ut we m ust have the m axim um freedom
of en terprise and the m inimum of governm ent
controls consistent w ith a m odern in d u strial civ­
ilization.
“ Our system suffers not from lack of oppor­
tu n ity , b u t from the b u re au crat and the ta x col­
lector. There is but one salvation for our crippled
giant. U nbind him! S trike the chains from his
limbs, and then behold him la b o r!’’
To unshackle business from G overnm ent com­
petition and control is the g reatest problem fac­
ing A m erican business today.
S peaking of our postw ar com petition w ith
E ngland, a prom inent B ritish envoy said re ­
cently th at, “ Your fa r g re ater efficiency in p ro ­
duction will be balanced by our fa r g re a te r effi­
ciency in governm ent. You have the w o rld ’s
m ost efficient big business and its least efficient
big go v ernm ent.’’
If, however, our “ least efficient big govern­
m e n t” tries to run our “ m ost efficient big busi­
ness” our big business as well as our little busi­
ness will be fu rth e r ham pered by inefficient gov­
ernm ent control.
So, we say to you, Mr. Johnston, keep up your
fight for free enterprise—keep up your fight for the
A m erican system — keep up your fight against the
blighting control of government bureaucracies.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

jbea^i (It. cMa*i. (le jfln a ld M cK en n a :
As Ex-C hancellor of the E xchequer and one of
the leading bankers of E ngland, we were in te r­
ested in your suggestions about postw ar recon­
struction and m onetary reform s.
As you know, your own country is tending
much more tow ards Socialism th an is the U nited
States, although this seems strange to those of
us who th in k of E ngland as being on the con­
servative side when it comes to political reform s.
Some political reform ers believe th a t the en­
tire banking system of E ngland should be tak en
over by the governm ent, and even some p o liti­
cians w ith Socialistic tendencies have the same
ideas in the U nited States.
T hat most of these political reform ers show a
“ re g rettab le lack of acquaintance w ith actual
banking p ra c tic e ” is very well pointed out in
your article on this subject which we read re ­
cently when you said, “ Among plans for post­
w ar reconstruction and m onetary reform , it is re ­
g rettab le th a t some proposals show a lack of ac­
quaintance w ith actual banking practice. One
such plan overlooks the fact th a t if a b ank is to
rem ain solvent an addition to its liabilities m ust
be offset by an equal addition to its assets; others
would have the effect of p u ttin g an end to banks
altogether by com pelling them to hold cash
against the entire am ount of deposits placed w ith
them . The most w idely advocated proposal is a
sweeping claim th a t the banks should be n a­
tionalized.
“ The term nationalism is not clearly defined
b u t it m ust be presum ed th a t the assets and lia­
bilities of all banks are to be tak en over by the
S tate and th a t banking is to be operated as a
S tate monopoly. I t is not suggested th a t the
banks are inefficient, or financially unsound, or
th a t the public would find the service of a S tate
m onopoly more convenient or economical th an
th a t of banks w orking under the stim ulus of
com petition.
AVe quite agree w ith you, Mr. M cKenna, th a t
the public would not find banks more efficiently
ru n or more financially sound if they should be­
come a S tate monopoly, and certainly govern­
m ent owned banks would not “ banish unem ploy­
m ent and w a n t.”
AVe hope, Air. M cKenna, th a t you can keep
your English politicians “ thin k in g s tra ig h t” as
fa r as banking reform s are concerned. A nd then
when you have done th a t we will be glad to sug­
gest several groups in A m erica where your “ sug­
g estions” will also be most helpful.

N orthw estern Banker

D ecem ber 19^3

10

From The Far Flung Battle Fronts, the Camps
and the Seven Seas— these Patriotic Employees
R . H . A llison
E d Bliquez;
J. C . B rekken
Ellis W . C o n kling
R ex G . C ox
C lyde C ra m e r
E. L. C u m p sto n
R ic h a rd L. D avis
C laren ce D ickson
R o b e rt D o n h o w e
W m . F. E agan, Jr.
Joseph P . F ox
R o b e rt F ra m p to n
H o w a rd F ran k lin

Join ivith

R o b t. G allow ay
D av id G . G a u lt
Joseph P . G ed d en
H a ro ld R . H olm es
W m . R . H ill
K enyon K now les
P au l M cD o n n ell
K arl M o rris
G eo. T . N elso n
R . K. N esw o ld
E v e re tt N e w co m b
G eorge N o a h
G eo rg e O lsen
F red O w en s

the

D ale P earso n
B a rto n P e d d ico rd
P h ilip C . R a c h fo rd
Jo h n Q u in e r
C . W . S anner
Irw in S haw
D ale C . S m ith
H a r ry T u s a n t
D o n ald W a lsm ith
Jo h n W illa rd
D o n W ith in g to n
E d H . W o lf
Ira L. W r ig h t
L aw ren ce J. W r ig h t

ficers; Directors
O

Employees

o f the

Central N ational Bank
and T rust Company
OF DES MOINES

In Extending Their Sincerest

HOLIDAY GREETINGS
N orthw estern B anker


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

D ecem ber 1943

i ,

*

/HO-

'

f>

~ 3O

I f y o u w o u ld li k e e x tr a c o p ie s o f th is p ic tu r e w e w i l l b e g la d to s e n d th e m to y o u w ith o u r c o m p lim e n ts .— T h e N o r th w e s te r n B a n k e r .


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

N orthw estern Banker

D ecem ber 19^3

12

Do W e O w e It to

Ourselves?

Some People Refuse to W orry Because They Say W e Owe the Billions
of National Debt to Ourselves. Do You Agree With That
Argument?— A Northwestern Banker Survey
IT H th e n atio n al debt ap ­
p roaching $200,000,000,000, and
w ith a possibility of it reach ­
ing $300,000,000,000, we h e a r m any
presum ably in tellig en t people say,
“W hy w o rry —we owe it to ourselves,
don’t w e?”
It seem ed to us th a t th u s lightly
b ru sh in g aside a few billion dollars
rep resen ted ra th e r an u n u su al b ran d
of reasoning, so T h e N o r t h w e s t e r n
B a n k e r conducted a su rv ey am ong
presid en ts of th e larg er b anks of the
country, asking them to give us th e ir
reaction to th e above question. Am ong
th e replies received w ere th e follow ­
ing:

W

"An Absurd Argument"
SIDNEY MAESTRE
President
Mississippi Valley Trust Company
St. Louis

T he “we-owe-it-to-ourselves” a rg u ­
m en t used to ju stify th e statem en t
th a t a large public debt im poses no
b urden becom es, w h en p ushed too far,
palpably absurd.
If each person
w ere tax ed exactly in p ro p o rtio n to
his incom e derived from his holdings
of th e public debt, th e arg u m en t m ight
be valid. T his condition is, how ever,
unrealistic.
“W ith th e p re se n t d istrib u tio n of
ow nership of th e public debt, th e p ay­
m ent of th e principal and in te re st in ­
volves a tra n s fe r of funds from one
group to an o th er, and it is as a re su lt
of th e tra n sfe r of funds th a t th e b u r­
den of th e public debt arises. The
tra n s fe r involves a re d istrib u tio n of
w ealth and th is re d istrib u tio n prob­
ably w ould tak e place in a m an n er so
as to low er th e p ro d u ctiv ity of th e
econom ic system . In th e first place,
th ere is ad m in istrativ e w aste and de­
lay. N ot all th e funds w ith d ra w n by
tax atio n w ill be re tu rn e d im m ediately.
This will b rin g about disorganization
of trad e and com m erce. In th e second
place, th e funds used to pay th e debt
or in te re st m ay be raised by unw ise
taxation. It w ould be easy to raise
funds by im posing taxes th a t w ould
low er th e n atio n al income, reduce th e
level of in v estm en t and discourage
production by u n d u ly raisin g prices.
In the th ird place, th e price level at
w hich th e n atio n al debt w ill be paid
N orthw estern B anker


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

D ecem ber 19^3

off w ill probably be below th e exist­
ing one. T his w ill increase th e real
b u rd en of th e n et debtors and resu lt
in a gain on th e p a rt of th e creditors.
F inally, th e rep ay m en t of obliga­
tions ow ned by th e com m ercial b an k ­
ing system m ay not rep resen t even a
tra n sfe r of funds b u t a w ith d raw al of
p u rch asing pow er. The p u rchasing of
G overnm ent securities by th e banking
system at th e p resen t tim e has draw n
a tten tio n to th e danger of inflation
w hich m ay re su lt from th e creation of
p u rch asing power. T his fact has al­
read y been pointed out in connection
w ith nearly every w ar loan drive.
T he rep ay m en t of th e obligations held
by th e banking system w ould in m uch
th e sam e m an n er reduce th e volum e
of funds. In short, p u rchasing pow er
w ould be destroyed. T his process
m ig h t resu lt in th e im position of even
g re a te r bu rd en s upon th e economic
system resu ltin g from deflation.
“It m ust be adm itted, how ever, th a t
th is arg u m en t has seldom been ad­
vanced by responsible econom ists
w ith o u t sub stan tial qualifications, b ut
even these modified versions have
probably u n d erstated th e difficulty of
paying th e in terest and principal of
public debt w ith o u t seriously h am p er­
ing in d u strial expansion and grow th.
In short, th e repaym ent, or even the
carry in g of th e public debt in th e
p o stw ar y ears w ill introduce v ast
problem s in th e tra n sfe r of funds and
th e red istrib u tio n of w ealth w hich w ill
probably serve to low er th e level of
natio n al incom e and in d u strial produc­
tion.”

"Budget Must Be Balanced"
ROLFE O. WAGNER
President
C apit al C ity State Bank
Des Moines

“I do not agree w ith th e above
statem ent. It is tru e th a t practically
all of o ur national debt is owed to our
ow n citizens. N evertheless, in m y
opinion, afte r th e w ar th e national in ­
come m u st be m aintained a t a suffi­
ciently high level to balance the
budget and service th e debt. If the
federal budget is not balanced w ithin
a reasonable period after th e end of
th e w ar, I feel we w ill definitely have
som ething to w o rry about.”

"Definitely No"
FRED W. THOMAS
Vice President
First National Bank
Omaha

“D efinitely no. W e look about and
see quite a n um ber of businesses built
up after a lifetim e of effort lost by the
ow ner. Those businesses and busi­
ness m en th a t survive are carry in g a
tax load th a t m ay jeopardize th e fu­
tu re existence of th e ir business. It
appears th a t too m uch of th is tax load
is spent in w aste and inefficiency.
H ow ever, th e m ore recen t a ttitu d e of
congress tow ard dem anding g reater
efficiency in expenditure of tax funds
gives some encouragem ent.
“A national debt of any am ount w ith
a tax load to su p p o rt it is justified if
necessary to w in th e w ar and save
our n a tu ra l resources for ourselves.
F ran k ly , I am n ot so m uch concerned
over th e am ount of th e national debt,
provided it is efficiently disbursed for
th e purposes desired by Congress and
th e people. B ut th ere w ill come a
tim e w hen we m u st get back to a m ore
able and sensible w ay of doing things.”

"W ash Your Neighbor's
Clothes"
PHILIP R. CLARKE
President
C it y National Bank & Trust Company
Chicago

“The idea th a t th e size of th e F ed­
eral debt need not cause any w orry
‘as long as w e owe it to ourselves’
is, in m y opinion, about as sound as
th e idea said to have prevailed am ong
the citizens of an early G recian tow n
th a t th ey could m ake a living by ta k ­
ing in each o th e r’s w ashing.”

"Not That Simple"
T. B. STRAIN
President
Continental National Bank
Lincoln

“I w ish th a t th e only answ er to give
to yo u r question w ould be ‘W hy
w o rry about it, we owe it to ourselves,
don’t w e?’ U nfortunately, I don’t be­
lieve it w ill be quite as sim ple as th a t
unless we w an t to rep udiate debt or
set up th e pins for inflation w ith in the
country. I th in k , as is alw ays the
(T u rn to page 27*. please)

13

Savings & Loan as an Investment O utlet
By ALLISON WAUGH
Director, Financial Development Co mpany, Chic ag o

ORE th a n 100 y ears ago th e in sti­
tu tio n s w hich we now know as
savings and loan associations or as
building and loan associations had th e ir
origin back in P ennsylvania. Spon­
sored by groups of public sp irited in d i­
viduals, it w as devised as a com m unity
e n terp rise set up to provide funds for
th e purpose of building of hom es by
th e people of th e com m unity. Since
th a t dim d ista n t day and age th e in ­
d u stry of building and loan has grow n
to large proportions, reach in g into
every state in th e union and to alm ost
every com m unity of any im portance.
T he b uilding and loan association is
a m u tu al in stitu tio n . T his m eans th a t
th e in stitu tio n itself is owned, lock,
stock and b arrel, by th e “depositors,”
com m only know n as m em bers. The
m em bers of th e in stitu tio n s elect th e ir
ow n d irecto rs or tru ste e s and th e di­
recto rs or tru ste e s elect th e executive
officers. The affairs of th e association
are in direct charge of th e board of
directors, b u t th e y are in d irectly u n d er
th e co n stan t su pervision of the real
ow ners and m em bers.
The m odernized 1943 developm ent of
the building and loan association is
quite different from th e old type in ­
stitu tio n , b u t it re ta in s all of th e ex­
cellent ch aracteristics w hich have been
adopted because of th e trem en d o u s
success of th ese in stitu tio n s. Today
th e re are a group of abo u t 2,500 of
these associations know n as F ed erally
in su red savings and loan associations.
T his group com prises approxim ately
1,500 associations, w hich have received
and o perate u n d e r c h a rte rs from the
F ederal governm ent. To th is group is
added n early 1,000 sta te c h a rte red as­
sociations w hich have fully qualified
to m eet th e req u irem en ts of th e F ed ­
eral au th o rities, have becom e m em bers
of th e F ed eral H om e Loan B ank Sys­
tem , m em bers of th e F ed eral Savings
and Loan In su ran ce C orporation and
w hich have standard ized upon th e
ru les p rescribed by th ese F ed eral a u ­
thorities.
It has been said th a t th e m odern
F ederally in su red association is ex­
trem ely sim ilar to th e savings d e p a rt­
m ent of th e average com m ercial b an k
and th a t to all in te n ts and purposes it
is actually a m u tu al savings b an k and
is a fu n d am en tally in teg ral p a rt of
A m erican finance and banking. W e
m u st observe th a t in com m ercial b a n k ­
ing w e have tw o types of banks, th e
F ed erally c h a rte red “natio n al b a n k s”

M


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

and th e state c h artered state banks.
W e m u st draw th e parallel th a t th e
savings associations offer th e F ed eral­
ly ch artered “F ederal Savings and
Loan A ssociation” and th e state ch ar­
tered states building and loan corpo­
ration. W e m ust fu rth e r note th a t the
com m ercial banks w hich offer in su r­
ance of deposits are usually m em bers
of th e F ederal R eserve System and are

alw ays m em bers of th e F ederal De­
posit In su ran ce C orporation and we
m ust note the parallel th a t all insured
associations are m em bers of F ederal
H om e Loan B ank system and also
m em bers of F ederal Savings and Loan
In su ran ce Corporation. The F ederal
R eserve System operates th ro u g h 12
regional banks and form s th e banking
system for m em ber banks, w hile th e
F ederal H om e Loan B ank system ,
operating th ro u g h 12 regional banks,
form s the banking system for th e in ­
sured associations.
The accounts in insured banks are
insured for safety by a F ederal instru(T u rn to page 27, please)

A . B. A . Agricultura I Committee

T he A g ric u ltu ra l C om m ission of th e A m e ric a n B a n k e rs A s so c ia tio n m et in St. L ouis
la s t m o nth, w h ere th e above p ic tu re w a s ta k e n . S e a te d a ro u n d th e ta b le , s ta r tin g w ith
M r. W ig g in s a t th e u p p e r le ft, a re A. L. M. W iggin s, p re sid e n t, A m e ric a n B a n k e rs A sso­
c ia tio n ; True D. M orse, D oane A g ric u ltu ra l S e rv ice , St. L o u is; G. C. H unter, e x ec u tiv e
vice p re sid e n t, P eo p les B a n k , K oxboro, N . C.; D. J. Needham , g e n e ra l counsel, A m e ric an
B a n k e rs A s so c ia tio n , W ash in g to n , D. C.; H. M. Emerson, c ash ie r, F ir s t N a tio n a l B a n k ,
L ew isto n , Id a h o ; John E. W ise, p re sid e n t, W illa rd U n ite d B a n k , W illa rd , O hio; Thomas
E. N oel, p re s id e n t, F i r s t N a tio n a l B a n k , M em phis, T e x a s; Dr. E. C. Y oung, d e an of
G ra d u a te School, P u rd u e U n iv e rs ity , L a f a y e tte , In d .; O luf Gandrud, p re s id e n t, Sw ifx
C o u n ty B a n k , B enson, M in n .; G. H. N esb it, vice p re sid e n t, F i r s t N a tio n a l B a n k & T ru st
C om pany, F a rg o , N. D .; A lonzo P ette y s, v ice p re sid e n t, F a rm e rs S ta te B a n k , B ru sh ,
Colo.; P aul M. Jones, a s s is ta n t cash ie r, Old P h o e n ix N a tio n a l B a n k , M e d in a, O hio;
J. P. Culpepper, vice p re s id e n t a n d c ash ie r, B a n k o f A la p a h a , A la p a h a , G e o rg ia; C. W.
B ailey, p re sid e n t, F i r s t N a tio n a l B a n k , C la rk sv ille , T ennessee, c h a irm a n , F ood fo r
F re e d o m C o m m ittee, A m e ric an B a n k e rs A s so c ia tio n ; K en neth J. M cDonald, p re sid e n t,
Io w a T ru s t a n d S a v in g s B a n k , E sth e rv ille , Io w a ; A. G. Brown, d e p u ty m an a g er,
A m e ric an B a n k e rs A sso c ia tio n , N ew Y o rk ; W arren Garst, cash ie r, H om e S ta te B a n k ,
Je fferso n , Io w a ; E. L. Boston, p re sid e n t, F i r s t N a tio n a l B a n k , A n g le to n , T ex a s; John
H. Crocker, vice p re s id e n t, C itiz en s N a tio n a l B a n k , D e c a tu r, 111.; H. P. Parker, p re sid e n t
a n d tre a s u re r, C a p ita l S a v in g s B a n k & T ru s t Co., M o n tp e lie r, V e rm o n t; Dr. V an B. H art,
e x te n sio n p ro fe s so r of f a rm m an a g e m e n t, C ornell U n iv e rs ity , Ith a c a , N . Y .; E lw ain H.
Greenwood, s e c re ta ry , O regon B a n k e rs A sso c ia tio n , P o rtla n d , O regon; O tis A. Thompson,
p re sid e n t, N a tio n a l B a n k & T ru s t C om pany, N o rw ich , N. Y .; c h a irm a n , A g ric u ltu ra l
C om m ission, A m e ric an B a n k e rs A s so c ia tio n ; E. H. M evis, c ash ie r, F a rm e rs M e rc h a n ts
N a tio n a l B a n k , P rin c e to n , W isco n sin ; W . L. Sm ith, vice p re s id e n t a n d c ash ie r, F ir s t
N a tio n a l B a n k , L a k e G eneva, W isco n sin ; R. N. D ow nie, p re sid e n t, F id e lity S ta te B a n k ,
G a rd en C ity, K a n s a s ; Charles T. O’N eill, v ice p re s id e n t a n d t r u s t officer, N a tio n a l B a n k
& T ru s t C om pany, C h a rlo tte s v ille , V irg in ia , c h a irm a n , S u b c o m m itte e on A g ric u ltu ra l
C re d it o f F e d e ra l L e g isla tio n C o m m ittee, A m e ric an B a n k e rs A s so c ia tio n ; Ben S. Summ erw ill, p re sid e n t, Io w a S ta te B a n k & T ru s t C om pany, Io w a C ity, Io w a ; John N. Thom­
son, vice p re s id e n t a n d c ash ie r, B a n k o f C e n te rv ille , C e n te rv ille , S o u th D a k o ta .

N orthw estern Banker

D ecem ber 19^3

14

New s
O F THE

and
B A N K IN G

V

ie w s

W O RLD

By Clifford DcPuy
can Society, Mrs. C ornelius V anderbilt,
HAT a fine w ay to s ta rt a trip
east for a m o n th by hav in g th e w ith o u t w hom no M et opening is quite
legal.
R ocket tw o h o u rs late into Chicago,
th e n m issing th e Comm odore V ander­
“Janet of F ran ce” w as a fam ous
bilt to New York by eight m in u tes and
a rriv in g on th e 20th C entury to find head liner in vaudeville a nu m b er of
y ears ago and now operates a v ery de­
th a t y o u r hotel (nam e on request)
reserv atio n m ade a m o n th previous lig h tful cafe at 237 W est 52nd Street,
w as not available because “guests h ad New Y ork City. Signs on th e w alls
are rem iniscent of L eon and Eddies.
not checked out as expected.”
Aside from those slig h t inconven­ F o r exam ple, “A lcohol is the on ly b ev ­
iences e v ery th in g sta rte d off sm oothly. erage w hich m akes m an see double

W

and feel sin g le.”

C onversation o v erh eard in a P u ll­
m an sm oker betw een tw o sailors:
“W hy sh o u ld n ’t th e y d ra ft pre-Pearl
H arbor fathers; th e w in n in g of th is
w ar is m ore im p o rta n t to th em th a n
it is to u s?”
In te re stin g scene in Childs a t 45th
and B roadw ay w as an old lady about
76, sittin g at a fro n t w indow table eat­
ing crack ers and cheese a t 3:00 p. m.
on a Sunday aftern o o n and d rin k in g
tw o jiggers of w hiskey for “cheese
chasers,” we presum e.
W hen th e M etropolitan opened its
60th season th is year, th e D iam ond
Jubilee occasion b ro u g h t out m any of
th e top celebrities of New Y ork society
and not for years, “have so m any or so
fabulous jew els been on public dis­
play,” said th e critics.
H ow ever, Mrs. H enry L. D oherty,
w idow of th e public u tilities m agnate,
d id n ’t care for th e “w hole th in g ” and
w as p h otographed w ith “th u m b to
nose” in th e fam iliar sign of contem pt.
D escribing th is in te re stin g episode,
one re p o rte r said, “Mrs. D oherty a r­
rived about half w ay th ro u g h th e first
act of M oussorgsky’s grim opera, B oris
Godunoff. T he opera w as grim , b u t
Grace D oherty w as not. By th e end of
th e first in term issio n she seem ed to
know all th e p h o to g rap h ers in th e
S h e rry ’s b a r by th e ir first nam es.
W hen th e y finally tu rn e d th e ir lenses
on her, she u nexpectedly m ade th a t
now fam ous gesture, th e first tim e ever
seen in th e 60-year h isto ry of th e Met.
The M et celebrated its D iam ond J u ­
bilee w ith an opening th a t w as notable
for jew els, if n o t for Old G uard So­
ciety nam es.
Most conspicuously not-present at
th e opening w as th a t Queen of Ameriorthw estern B anker
Digitized forNFRASER
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

D ecem ber 19't3

D onald K. Clifford, a cousin of ours
w ho lives in B ronxville, and his beau­
tifu l w ife had a b irth d ay p a rty for
th e ir fourteen-year-old d au g h ter and
kin d ly invited us along w ith “tw elve
o th er girls.” A fter d in n er w e all w ent

to see th e Colgate radio program “Can
You Top T h is?” a t Radio City and, as
far as w e w ere concerned th e “best
show ” w as w atching these youngsters
have fun and enjoying every “wise
crack ” of th e Colgate com edians.
B etw een m aking out y o u r govern­
m ent reports, read “C hallenge to F ree­
dom ,” by H en ry M. W riston, president
of B row n U niversity. It is a grand
book and in one ch ap ter he says, “The
bureaucratic architects put floors u n ­
der w a g es and ceilin g s over prices—
but th ey did not leave room b etw een
floor and ceilin g for a free man to
stand u pright.”
G overnor T hom as E. D ew ey of New
York believes in th e fu tu re of our 48
states w hen he says, “In th e period
ahead th e states w ill be strong. T hey
alone w ill have survived th e w ar w ith ­
out overburdening debt. T hey express
th e v itality and resurgence of a free
people. T hey are u n afraid of th e fu ­
ture. T hey are un tram m eled by the
w eariness and defeatism th a t comes
from th e repeated fum bling of over­
centralized g overnm ent w hich believed

Heads Iowa S W P C Office

LaV erne M. B arlow , w ho resigned
recently as OPA re n t ad m in istrato r for
Polk county, Iowa, has been nam ed
d istrict loan agent for th e Sm aller W ar
P lan ts C orporation, w ith h ead q u arters
in Des Moines. T he te rrito ry u n d er
his supervision covers all of Iowa, w ith
th e exception of six counties adjacent
to Omaha, N ebraska. Mr. B arlow for
m any years has been engaged in com­
m ercial and in v estm en t b anking in
Iowa.
In th e pictu re above, Mr. B arlow is
receiving congratulations from region­
al officers of th e Sm aller W ar P lan ts

C orporation and from local bankers.
In the picture, from left to right, are
George D. Jorgensen , a ssistan t vice
president, Iowa-Des M oines N ational
B ank & T ru st Company; Mr. Barlow;
E. A. Schroeder, a ssistan t regional loan
agent, SWPC, Chicago; A rthur P. Mur­
phy, regional loan agent, SWPC, Chi­
cago; E. F . B u ck ley, president, C entral
N ational B ank, Des Moines; Carl W.
M esm er, vice president, B ankers T ru st
Company, Des Moines; A rthur Donho w e, vice president, C entral N ational
Bank, Des Moines, and L eslie H. Bean,
d istrict m anager, SWPC, Des Moines.

15
th a t th is c o u n try w as b u ilt to s a tu ra ­
tion in 1932.”

o th er soldier, “le t’s tackle one job at
a tim e.”

B oston w hile w e w ere there. B illy
R ose is th e producer and Oscar Hamm erstein II a rran g ed th e play.

Jack Sheehan, th e s ta r in “Lady
B eh ave,” now playing a t th e A m bassa­

“Carmen Jo n es” is a new all-col­
ored m usical show w hich opened in

Our guess is th a t it w ill be a B road­
w ay hit.

dor T heater, New York, says to th e
leading lady of th e show, “On m y sal­
ary, I can ’t su p p o rt you and th e gov­
ernm en t, too.”
M ayor F. H. LaG uardia is not as

p o p u lar as he once was, a t least w ith
P atrolm an D avid Liebm an, w ho m ade
th e sta te m e n t a t a public g ath erin g in
New Y ork th a t crim e conditions w ere
v ery bad and th a t th e m ayor w as to
blam e for th e “lo w est state of m orale
th at has existed in the police depart­
m ent for m any years.” M aybe th e

“L ittle F lo w e r” is fading.
T offenetti R e sta u ra n t on 43rd and
B roadw ay is th e only eatin g place in
New Y ork w h ere th e custom ers w ho
eat d o w n stairs are b ro u g h t back up to
th e first floor on an escalator—and not
necessarily because th e y have over­
eaten.
Col. W illard C hevalier, p u b lish er of
B usiness W eek, spoke to th e Boston
A dvertising Club w hile we w ere th e re
on “W hat Shall AVe Do AATith V ictory?”
and em phasized th a t A m erican in d u s­
try had m ade good in a big w ay d u rin g
th e w ar, and m u st continue to do so
w hen peace is declared, by m ain tain in g
(1) A high level of em p loym ent, (2)
A high le v el of production and (3)
H igh efficiency.
A H artford, C onnecticut, n ew spaper
carried th e follow ing advertisem ent,
ju st before tu rk e y day: “E n jo y y o u r
T han k sg iv in g d in n e r for only $1.50 at
th e A rcade D rug Store.”

Seen on th e sign boards th ro u g h
New E n g lan d “G orton’s Cod F ish
Cakes ready to fry w ill return w hen
peace com es.” As fa r as we are con­

cerned, th e y can stay aw ay p erm a­
n en tly —alth o u g h peace w ill be m ost
welcome.
T he first question all v isito rs to New
Y ork ask is, “W h en can I g et tick ets
to ‘O klahom a’?” and th e an sw er is
“A bout n e x t sp rin g .”
Two soldiers talk in g in th e G rand
C entral Station, a fte r finishing fu r­
loughs a t home: “G irls are fu n n y these
days, if you tak e th em out tw ice and
kiss th em a few tim es, th e y w a n t to
know w hen are we going to get m a r­
ried, and I am for w aitin g u n til th e
w ar is over.” “So am I,” replied the

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

Some P C A " G rass Roots 77 Fisures
H E dem and of th e n atio n ’s banks
for the elim ination of th e u n fair
gov ern m ent subsidized com petition of
P roduction Credit A ssociations, m ade
possible by th e incom e th ey enjoy on
th e $120,000,000 of governm ent capital
subsidy, w as placed before Congress
last m o n th by th e A m erican B ankers
A ssociation in four days of hearings
held by th e Select Com m ittee on A gri­
cu ltu re to investigate the activities of
th e F a rm Security A dm inistration.
Am ong th e m any w itnesses w ho tes­
tified for th e A. B. A. w as M. W. Ellis,
Iow a su p erin ten d en t of banking, who,
from all reports, got rig h t dow n to th e
grass roots of th e m atter, and gave the
C ongressm en some hard, cold facts.
One of th e exhibits p resen ted by Mr.
E llis w as th e ch art show n below, com­
p arin g 1942 PCA operations in Iowa
and N ebraska w ith th e earnings of
542 Iowa banks du rin g the sam e pe-

T

riod. Careful analysis of th e ch art
w ill be found m ost interesting. As
a p a rt of his testim ony, Mr. E llis said:
“If th e little com m unities in the t
co u n try cannot develop enough vol­
um e to su p p o rt a bank, probably th ey
are not entitled to b anking service.
N or are w e of th e opinion th a t the
PCAs should continue unless th ey can
stan d on th e ir ow n feet. I do not
th in k th e PCAs should req u ire any
subsidy from th e U. S. G overnm ent,
and I th in k th ey should be released
from this control over th e ir officers
and directors. I th in k th ey should
be allowed to go on th e ir own and be
really and tru ly cooperatives. I w an t
both set up as free en terp rise u nder
th e free en terp rise system . I w an t all
PCAs to be free en terp rise as strictly
farm cooperatives, and I w an t th e
banks to be allow ed to o perate as free
en terp rise also.”

C O M P A R IS O N O F 1942 P C A O P ER A TIO N S
IN IO W A A N D N EBR A SKA
E arn in gs and E x p en ses for Each U n it of $100,000 of R esou rces of
$754,215,000
542 Iotva State Chartered B an ks— R esources
12,430,000
17 Iow a Production Credit A sso cia tio n s--R eso u rces
8,072,000
14 N ebraska Production Credit A ssociations-—R esources
542
Iowa Banks
........ 7,542

17 Iowa
PCAs
124.3

Earnings:
In terest on Loans ..................................
In terest on Bonds ..................................
F ee and M iscella n eo u s...........................

. . . . 1,624
........ 401
........ 438

2,259
51
205

2,681

5. Operating R evenu e ....................................
6.
R ecoveries .................................................

. . . . 2,463
........ 173

2,515
16

2,852
8

7. Gross R evenu e

. . . . 2,636

2,531

2,860

1,105
147

1,098
135

101

128

1. N um ber of $100,000 U n its ......................
2.
3.
4.

8.
9.
10.

............................................

E xpenses:
Salaries— Office and F ie ld .....................
........
Travel E x p en se
...............
E x ecu tiv e C om m ittee, D irectors and A nnual
M eeting E x p en se ..............................

793

14 Neb.
PCAs
86.7

171

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

T axes ...........................................................
In terest Paid .............................................
Charge Outs ...............................................
A ll Other E x p en ses ................................

........
........
........

........ 416

408

412

16.

Total E xpense ........................................

. . . . 2,044

2,467

2,582

17.
18.

O perating Profit ....................................
E stim ated D irect Subsidy $79,920 . .

........

592

64
643

278
592

19.

P rofit and Subsidy ................................

........

592

707

870

793
207
395
233

1,353
1*
697
8

1,361
1
808
0

♦ E s tim a te d ta x on $11,909 of e q u ip m e n t.

N orthw estern B anker

D ecem ber 1943

Do Majority Stock Interests

Always

Measure Ownership Rights?

M AJORITY stock in te re st in
each of th re e w idely separated
N o rth D akota state b an k s w as
ow ned by one individual. The banks
w ere sm all and h ad only a few em ­
ployees each. T he n u m b er of em ­
ployees of one of th e b an k s w as so
sm all th a t th e N orth D akota U nem ­
ploym ent C om pensation Law w as not
applicable th e re to unless it w as con­
sidered along w ith th e tw o oth er
banks to be an em ploying u nit. Should
it be so considered m erely because a
m ajo rity of its stock w as ow ned as
above outlined?

A

No. In a recent d ecision the North
D akota Suprem e Court held that the
m ere fact th at one person is sh ow n to
he the ow ner of the m ajority of the
stock in each of three separate bank­
in g corporations does not con stitute
one of them an em ployer for U nem ­
p loym en t C om pensation L aw pur­
poses. It is to be inferred from the
d ecision that if the in dividu al operated
the banks as though th ey w ere one
in stitu tion the h olding w ould have
been to th e contrary. A ru lin g sim ilar
to that in N orth D akota m ay be found
in M issouri.

An Iow a fa rm e r and his w ife m ade
out a jo in t w ill in w hich th ey nam ed
th e ir friend, an Iow a b anker, executor
and in w hich th e y devised to th e s u r­
vivor for life all of th e p ro p e rty owned
by th em w ith th e rem ain d er to th e ir
children. T he fa rm e r died and th e
w ill w as duly prob ated by th e banker.
S ubsequently th e w ife died. W as it in
o rd er to prob ate th e will as controlling
for h e r estate also?
Yes. In the absence of com p elling
reason s requiring a different handling,
of w hich there w ere none here, a joint
w ill d evisin g a life estate to the su r­
v ivor of the testators w ith the rem ain­
der to third persons is en titled to be
probated upon the death of each tes­
tator.

H ickenloopah, a M innesota b anker,
died in th a t state leaving a w ill w hich
provided, am ong v arious m atters, th a t
$500 should be paid to each of his five
daughters. One of th e d aughters, Mrs.
Geneva Jones, h ad predeceased him .
P rio r to h er death, Mrs. Jones had had
N orthw estern B anker


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

D ecem ber 1943

These and Other Timely Legal
Questions Are Answered
By the

LEGAL DEPARTMENT
no children, b u t she w as survived by
h e r h usb an d and he w as alive at th e
tim e of H ickenloopah’s death. Should
Mrs. Jo n es’ husband receive th e $500?
No. S itu ations sim ilar to the one
outlined are governed by the com m on
law in M innesota w hich holds that a
legacy lap ses by the death of the
legatee before that of th e testator.
Since the legacy lapsed th e husband
of the predeceased daughter w as not
en titled to it.

Suppose th at, in the preceding ques­
tion, Mrs. G eneva Jones h ad had tw o
child ren d u ring h e r lifetim e and th ey
had been alive a t th e tim e of H icken­
loopah’s death. W ould th ey have been
en titled to th e legacy?
Yes. S itu ations sim ilar to this are
covered by statu te in M innesota and
the com m on law rule does not apply.
T h is statu te p rovides th at if a child
or other blood relative of a testator,
to w hom a d evise or b eq uest has been
made, dies before the testator, leavin g
issu e w ho su rv iv e the testator, such is­
sue sh all take the sam e estate w hich
such d evisee or legatee w ould have
taken if he had survived.

Suppose th at, in the first question
reg ard in g the H ickenloopah will, H ick­
enloopah had m ade bequests of $500
to each of his dau g h ters o ther th a n
Mrs. Jones and, as to her, m ade a
special bequest of $1000, reciting, as
an incident thereto, th a t it w as to dis­
charge an indebtedness owed by him
to h e r for funds advanced to him by
her. W ould th e legacy have lapsed
in such circum stances?
No. A gift by w ill, g iv en to discharge
a debt or obligation and not as a boun­
ty, does not lapse upon the death of
the beneficiary before th at of the te s­
tator. This is true even though the

debt is barred by th e statu te of lim ita­
tion s or is o th erw ise not legally bind­
ing.

A South D akota b an k er w as also a
highw ay co n tracto r in th a t state. As
an incident to some of his w ork for
the state he en tered into a contract
w ith th e state w hich provided th a t he
w as not to perform any ex tra w ork on
th e project involved w ith o u t a w ritten
o rder to do so. D espite th is provision
in th e con tract he did certain ex tra
w ork. W hen he p resented his bill
th erefo r it w as refused. Can he re ­
cover?
No. Stip ulations requiring a w rit­
ten order for any alterations or extra
w ork are frequ en tly inserted in con­
tracts for public w ork s and h ave been
often construed by the South D akota
Suprem e Court to be binding on the
p arties and to prevent a recovery for
extras by a contractor w h en there is
no com pliance w ith such provision.

A N orth D akota b ank sold a tru ck
ow ned by it to D ickersback on in stall­
m ents. The conditional sales contract
evidencing th e deal provided th a t if
D ickersback defaulted in his paym ents
the b ank could repossess the tru ck
w ith o u t legal process. D ickersback
defaulted. Could th e b ank repossess
th e tru c k w ith o u t court proceedings if
it could do so w ith o u t breach of the
peace or u n law ful trespass?
Y"es. AYhere a conditional sales con­
tract ex p ressly p rovides for rep osses­
sion w ithou t legal p rocess upon de­
fault, such rep ossession need not be
obtained through court proceedings if
it can be accom plished w ith ou t breach
of the peace or u n la w fu l trespass. The
N orth D akota Suprem e Court has so
held in a recent decision.

Suppose th at, in th e preceding ques­
tion, th e bank, as an incident to the
repossession of th e tru c k had agreed
w ith D ickersback th a t it w ould hold
th e tru c k for five days in w hich he
m ight m ake good his default. Suppose
fu rth e r th at, in violation of its agree­
m ent, th e b ank sold th e tru c k to Snow,
w ho had no know ledge or notice of the
(T u rn to page 28, please)

17

Finish the W a r—

ItlSU
tBthe

Peace

A Program Outlining W hat Should Be Done to Bring the W ar to a
Successful Conclusion, and the Terms Upon Which the Peace Should
Be Made

By G eo rg e W . W oods

The Peace Program

Executive Vice President
First National Bank
Council Bluffs, Iowa

1. L east possible in ju ry to every n a­
tion, including Axis nations.
2. No fines or indem nities against any
nation.
3. U nited States shall not a ttem p t to
collect for lend-lease aid to associate
U nited N ations.

The W ar Program

4. No p u n itiv e trad e restrictio n s or dis­
crim inations. All countries to be
on “Favored N ation B asis.”

1. C ontinue fighting u n til all Axis
arm ed resistan ce be crushed.

5. An in tern atio n al h ealth and san ita­
tion organization m ay be established
w ith th e consent of th e signatory
nations, b u t no o th er p erm an en t in­
te rn atio n al organization w ith dele­
gated pow ers shall be set up.

2. U nited N ations to occupy and set up
provisional g o v ern m en t in Axis te r ­
rito ries u n til four o th er w a r objec­
tives are achieved; nam ely,
(a) D isarm am ent of Axis natio n s to
bare necessities for in te rn a l po­
licing.
(b) V ictor natio n s to change or ad­
ju s t natio n al b o undaries in m an ­
n er best designed to prom ote
and p reserv e fu tu re peace.
(c) V ictor nations, th ro u g h th e ir
ow n civil and m ilitary re p re se n ­
tatives, shall d eterm in e all p u n ­
ish m en ts to be inflicted upon
loser nations, and citizens th e re ­
of; and th ese v icto r natio n s
shall im m ediately give effect to
such punish m en ts. No such
p u n ish m en ts, how ever, shall be
carried fo rw ard and beyond pe­
riod of m ilita ry occupation.
(d) V ictor nations, by fair policing
and m ain ten an ce of order, shall
give th e peoples of each n atio n
am ple o p p o rtu n ity to set up a
form and c h a ra c ter of g o v ern ­
m en t w hich th ese peoples m ay
choose by th e ir ow n votes in a
free election.
3. Co-incident w ith th e m ilitary occu­
pation and achievem ent of th e p re ­
ceding objectives, th e U nited N a­
tions, u n d e r th e leadership of R u s­
sia, G reat B ritain, C hina and th e
U nited States, b u t w ith p a rtic ip a ­
tio n advice and counsel from o th er
n atio n s w hose v ital in te re sts are
affected, shall p re p a re a Global
T re a ty w hich shall be governed by
p rinciples and specific provisions, as
outlined in th e follow ing program .

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

GEORGE w . W OODS
H a s W a r-P ea ce P ro g ra m

W ar
Is not M essianic
Is not altruistic
Is not Christian
Requires no forgiveness of
crime or wrong doing
Is not idealistic

Peace
It seeks to be realistic and
p racticab le .
It recognizes and respects
the sovereignty of each in­
dependent nation* and,
It assigns to each sover­
eign nation both freedom and
responsibility to manage its
own econom y and to develop
its own culture, short of ex­
ternal physical aggression.

6. Conflicts or problem s as to race,
religion, political ideologies, educa­
tional objectives, shall be reserved
for solution by th e g o vernm ent of
th e nation w ith in w hich these prob­
lem s arise, unless such conflicts
should re su lt in a w ar w hich spreads
into adjacent countries.
7. G erm any, Italy and Jap an shall not
be allow ed to re-arm in any degree
w ith o u t th e specific consent and ap­
proval of Russia, B ritain, China and
th e U nited States, a n d /o r o ther n e a r­
by nations w hose v ital in terests m ay
be directly th re a te n e d by such re ­
arm am ent.
8. Russia, G reat B ritain, China and the
U nited States shall agree in th e
T reaty to ren d er a w orld service in
th e in terest of peace and order as
lim ited and defined w ith in this sec­
tion. A ny nation req u irin g protec­
tion against actual or th reaten ed ag­
gression m ay ask th e four nations
nam ed, plus an y o th er nations
w hose vital in terests are directly in ­
volved, to designate com petent and
im p artial rep resen tativ es to consti­
tu te a board of in q u iry to ascertain
th e facts and to re p o rt th e facts,
w ith th e b oard’s recom m endations,
to th e ir hom e g overnm ent for appro­
p riate action, b u t each board of in ­
q u iry th u s created, or called into
being, shall be discharged w hen it
shall have perform ed its one specific
duty.
N orthw estern B anker

D ecem ber 19^3

MANAGEMENT RATING CHART FOR BANKS
THE RE TRO G RE SS IV E

BANK

THE SU PER IO R BANK

THE INTERMEDIATE BANK

M AN AG E M E N T

1. O fficers a n d k e y em p lo y es c h o sen b e c a u s e o f a b ility . Q u alified b y
t r a i n i n g to c a r r y o u t p o lic ie s a s d ec id ed b y th e d ire c to rs .
2. A b ility a n d q u a lific a tio n s o f officers a n d k ey e m p lo y es g iv e n f u ll
c o n s id e ra tio n in m a k in g p ro m o tio n s .
3. P r in c i p a l officers a r e f r e q u e n t ly in v ite d to m e e t w ith th e b o a r d of
d ire c to rs .
4. D ire c to rs w o rk w ith th e officers in o b ta in in g n e w b u s in e s s .

1. O fficers in m a n y ca ses c h o sen o r p ro m o te d b e c a u s e o f s e n io r ­
ity o r th r o u g h th e in flu e n c e o f sto c k h o ld e rs a n d d ir e c to r s .
2. N o officer o u ts id e o f th e p r e s id e n t is a m e m b e r o f th e b o a rd
o f d ire c to rs .

1. O fficers do n o t m e e t w ith th e d ir e c to rs .
2. O fficers a n d em p lo y es c o n s id e r th e m s e lv e s a n d a r e c o n s id ­
e re d as h ir e d h a n d s .
3. V a c a n c ie s in official s ta f f filled f r o m o u ts id e t h e o r g a n i ­
z a tio n .

1. P o lic y m a k in g f u n c tio n o f th e b o a r d of d ir e c to r s w eak .
2. N o p o licie s e s ta b lis h e d as to in v e s tm e n t p r o g r a m , n e w b u s i­
n e s s , lo a n s o r p u b lic r e la tio n s .
3. O fficers n o t c o n s u lte d o r a c q u a in te d w ith p o licie s.
4. N o p e n s io n sy ste m , b u t g ro u p in s u r a n c e .
5. D ire c to rs a n d officers do n o t a c tiv e ly s u p p o r t civ ic a ffa irs .
6. B a n k does n o t c o o p e ra te w ith o th e r b a n k s in to w n .
7. S u p p o r t b u t do n o t ta k e a n a c tiv e i n t e r e s t in b a n k in g a s s o ­
c ia tio n g ro u p s .

1. P o lic ie s d e te r m in e d b y th e p r e s id e n t o r c h ie f e x e c u tiv e offi­
c e r w ith o u t c o n s u lta tio n w ith o th e rs .
2. O fficers n o t a c q u a in te d w ith th e p o lic ie s o r p r a c tic e s o f th e
b a n k as to lo a n s , n e w b u s in e s s , in v e s tm e n ts .
3. N o p e n s io n s y s te m , n o v a c a tio n p o licy , n o g r o u p in s u r a n c e .
4. D oes n o t c o o p e ra te w ith a n y b a n k o r g r o u p .

P O L IC I E S

1. P o lic ie s a n d m e th o d s o f o p e ra tio n s f o r m u la te d b y officers b a s e d on
c o m p le te k n o w le d g e o f c o m m u n ity n ee d s, re q u ir e m e n ts a n d th e
q u a lific a tio n a n d a b ility o f officers a n d k e y em p lo y es a n d s u b m itte d
to d ire c to rs f o r c ritic is m a n d d ec isio n .
2. D e fin ite p o lic ie s e s ta b lis h e d a s to ty p e o f b u s in e s s d e s ire d a n d
m e th o d s o f h a n d lin g p r e s e n t b u s in e s s , in v e s tm e n ts a n d lo a n s.
3. S ta ff th o ro u g h ly a c q u a in te d w ith p o lic ie s.
4. B a n k h a s p e n s io n sy ste m , g r a n t s v a c a tio n s w ith p a y a n d co v e rs
p e rs o n n e l w ith g ro u p in s u ra n c e .
5. D ire c to rs a n d officers a c tiv e ly c o o p e ra te in civ ic a ffa irs .
6. B a n k c o o p e ra te s w ith o th e r b a n k s in to w n a n d s u p p o r ts a c tiv itie s
o f b a n k in g a s s o c ia tio n g ro u p s .
1. I n v e s tm e n t p r o g r a m b a s e d on a c c u r a te a n a ly s is o f d e p o s it tr e n d s
a n d s e a s o n a l re q u ire m e n ts .
2. In v e s tm e n ts s ele cted , b a s e d on th e m a k e u p of d e p o sits w ith o u t p r i ­
m a ry c o n c e rn a s to r e t u r n .
3. M a tu r ity o f b o n d s s p a c e d so t h a t a d e fin ite p e r c e n t o f s e c u r itie s
m a tu r e e a c h y e a r.
4. P r o p e r c o n s id e ra tio n in th e in v e s tm e n t p r o g r a m f o r te m p o r a r y
m oney.
5. I n v e s tm e n ts r e s tr i c te d as to n u m b e r o f issu e s, d e p e n d in g on siz e o f
b a n k , to a llo w m o re c o m p le te a n a ly s is a n d fo llo w in g .

1. I n v e s tm e n t p r o g r a m b a se d o n g u e ss w o rk o r th e k n o w le d g e
o f o n e officer. N o d e fin ite p r o g r a m .
2. S e le c tio n o f in v e s tm e n ts d e p e n d in g o n r a t in g s a n d y ield .
3. N o d e fin ite p r o g r a m a b o u t s p a c in g m a tu r itie s .
4. P r o p e r c o n s id e ra tio n n o t g iv e n in in v e s tm e n t p r o g r a m f o r
te m p o r a r y m o n ey .

1. N o in v e s tm e n t p r o g r a m .
2. T y p e a n d k in d o f in v e s tm e n t d e p e n d e n t o n r a te s , a d v ic e of
in v e s tm e n t h o u s e o r p e r s u a s iv e n e s s o f in v e s tm e n t s o lic ito rs .
3. N o th o u g h t g iv e n to p r o p e r s p a c in g o f m a tu r itie s .
4. I n c r e a s e s in d e p o s its, b e c a u se o f t h e a b s e n c e o f d e p o s it
a n a ly s is , r e m a in u n in v e s te d .
5. I n v e s tm e n t p o r tf o lio c lu tte r e d u p w ith s m a ll in v e s tm e n ts
in to o m a n y issu e s.

1. E q u ip m e n t f a i r ly m o d e rn .
O n ly r e p la c e d w h e n b ey o n d
r e p a i r a n d th e n o n ly as a u n it.
2. S u p e rv is io n o f d e p a rtm e n ts a n d d iv isio n s f a i r .
3. W o rk w ell p la n n e d , b u t f u ll a d v a n ta g e n o t t a k e n o f p e a k
a n d v a lle y v o lu m e. S p e c ia liz e d m a c h in e r y n o t u s e d to f u lle s t
c a p a c ity .
4. W o rk d u p lic a te d . Too m u c h a t te n t io n p a id to in c o n s e q u e n ­
t i a l d e ta il.
5. N o a t te n t io n p a id to re v isio n o f f o rm s o r c h a n g e s in m e th ­
ods a n d p ro c e d u re s to p e r m it w o rk efficiency.
6. D e p a r tm e n ts a n d d iv isio n s n o t c o n v e n ie n tly lo c a te d .
7. W o rk sp a c e p o o rly lig h te d . B a n k d e s ig n e d f o r lo o k s, n o t
efficiency.
8. L i ttl e th o u g h t g iv e n to em p lo y e w e lfa re .

1. E q u ip m e n t o ld a n d o b so lete, r e s u lt in g in h ig h u n i t co sts.
2. G e n e ra l s u p e r v is io n o f d e p a r tm e n ts a n d d iv isio n s m a d e b y
t h e c h ie f o p e r a t in g officer o n ly . A o n e -m a n b a n k .
3. W o rk s c h e d u le s n o t p la n n e d t o d ev elo p efficien t m e th o d s .
N o s p e c ia liz e d m a c h in e r y u sed .
4. D u p lic a tio n o f w o r k . U n n e c e s s a r y p r a c tic e s .
5. M u ltitu d e o f f o r m s u sed . N o a t te m p t m a d e to c o m b in e o r
s im p lif y to u s e f o r m o r e t h a n o n e se rv ic e .
6. N o t h o u g h t g iv e n to lo c a tio n o f d e p a r tm e n ts a n d d iv isio n s
to o b ta in m o re efficien t o p e r a tio n s .
7. P o o r li g h tin g th r o u g h o u t b a n k .
8. N o th o u g h t g iv e n to e m p lo y e w e lf a r e .

INDEX

INVESTMENTS

O P ERA TIO N S

1. U se o f m o d e rn a n d u p - to - d a te m a c h in e ry a n d e q u ip m e n t. B u d g e ­
t a r y p ro v is io n s f o r p e rio d ic a l re p la c e m e n ts .
2. S u p e rv is io n o f d e p a rtm e n ts a n d d iv isio n s good.
3. W o rk w e ll p la n n e d a n d sch ed u led a n d s p e c ia l m a c h in e ry , u tiliz e d
to fu lle s t e x te n t o f c a p a c ity , e m p lo y ed to o b ta in in c re a s e d efficiency.
4. D u p lic a tio n o f w o rk a n d d e ta il h e ld to a m in im u m .
5. F o rm s a n d sy ste m s p e rio d ic a lly re v ise d a n d m o d e rn iz e d .
6. O p e r a tin g d iv isio n s lo c a te d to g iv e m a x im u m o f efficiency.
7. W o rk s p a c e is p r o p e r ly v e n tila te d a n d lig h te d , a n d p ro c e d u re s s e t
u p to e ffec t th e m in im u m o f f a tig u e .
8. S u fficien t r e s t ro o m s c o n v e n ie n tly lo c a te d .
9. L u n c h ro o m a n d f ir s t a id s ta t io n w ith n u r s e in a tte n d a n c e a v a il­
a b le f o r em ployes.

BUDG ETA RY
CONTROLS

1. D e p a rtm e n ts a n d d iv isio n s o p e r a te on a b u d g e t. E x p e n se s m i n i­
m ized in to c la s sific a tio n s .
2. C h ie f e x e c u tiv e fu rn is h e d r e p o r ts a t p r o p e r in te r v a ls o n v o lu m e a n d
p e rfo rm a n c e o f a ll d e p a rtm e n ts a n d d iv isio n s w h ic h sh o w v a r i a ­
tio n b e tw e e n b u d g e ta r y a n d a c tu a l e x p e n se s.
3. A d e q u a te p ro v is io n s m a d e f o r d e p re c ia tio n , r e s e rv e s a n d ta x e s .
4. M a n a g e m e n t h a s d e fin ite k n o w le d g e o f th e effec t o f in c re a s e s o r
d e c re a se s in a c tiv ity .
5. A b so lu te c o n tro l o f e x p e n ses.

1. D e p a r tm e n t a n d d iv isio n re c o rd s o n ly sh o w ite m iz e d e x ­
p e n s e s f o r th e c u r r e n t m o n th .
2. B u d g e t is fixed a n d does n o t p r o v id e f o r fle x ib ility in ca se
o f in c re a s e s o r d e c re a s e s in v o lu m e.
3. P ro v is io n n o t a d e q u a te in th e b u d g e t f o r p r o p e r r e s e rv e s
a n d d e p re c ia tio n .
4. N o c e n tr a liz e d c o n tro l o f e x p e n se s.

1. N o c o n c e p t o f th e u s e o f s c ie n tific c o n tr o l o f e x p e n se s.
2. M a n a g e m e n t n o t s u ffic ie n tly a c q u a in te d w ith e x p e n se s a n d
in c o m e o f th e b a n k to p la n a h e a d .
3. N o k n o w le d g e o f th e effe c t o n co s ts o f in c re a s e s o r d e c re a s e s
o f th e v o lu m e o f a c tiv ity .
4. D e p r e c ia tio n , i f t a k e n o n f u r n i t u r e a n d fix tu r e s , b u ild in g
a n d e q u ip m e n t, is in a d e q u a te .
5. R e s e rv e f o r c o n tin g e n c ie s o r lo sses n o t b a s e d o n f a c t u a l
o r r is k e x p e rie n c e .

1. E x p e n se s o f th e b a n k a llo c a te d o n ly to d e p a r tm e n ts a n d
d iv isio n s w h ic h a r e n o t classified a s to f u n c tio n s a n d w ith ­
o u t s u m m a r iz in g d o lla rs a n d c e n ts e x p e n se s f o r la b o r, o v e r­
h e a d , m e th o d s, m a n a g e m e n t a n d p ro m o tio n a l.
2. N o c o n n e c tio n b e tw e e n c o n tr o l re c o rd s a n d s ta n d a r d co sts
o r p ro v is io n f o r a d e q u a te re s e rv e s .
3. S y ste m does n o t re fle c t c h a n g e s in ite m c o s t b r o u g h t a b o u t
th r o u g h in c re a s e s o r d e c re a s e s in v o lu m e o r in d ic a te th e
o p p o r tu n ity f o r im p ro v in g m e th o d s o f o p e ra tio n .
4. C o st s y ste m in o p e r a tiv e as a n im p o r ta n t a d j u n c t to m a n ­
a g e m e n t.
5. S e rv ic e c h a rg e s ch ed u les a n d a c c o u n t a n a ly s is m e th o d s in
u ce a d o p te d fr o m th o s e in u s e b y o th e r b a n k s a n d do n o t
re fle c t th e a c tu a l s itu a tio n o r g iv e p r o p e r c o n s id e r a tio n to
a ll in c o m e f a c to r s .

1. M o n th ly r e p o r t s o n ly r e fle c t e x p e n se s o f b a n k a s a u n it.
2. M a n a g e m e n t is n o t a c q u a in te d w ith th e v o lu m e o f a c tiv ity
e ith e r o n a d a ily , w e e k ly , m o n th ly o r y e a rly b a s is o r k n o w s
c o s t f o r p e r f o r m i n g s e rv ic e s.
3. S e rv ic e c h a rg e s c h e d u le s a n d a c c o u n t a n a ly s is m e th o d s in
u s e w e r e a d o p te d f r o m a p la n u se d b y a n o th e r b a n k w h ic h
in t u r n w e re a d o p te d f r o m a p la n u s e d b y y e t a n o t h e r b a n k .

COST
SYSTEMS

1. A ll e x p e n se s o f th e b a n k c o rre c tly a llo c a te d to d e p a r tm e n ts a n d
d iv isio n s, classified as to f u n c tio n s , a n d c o r r e c tly s p r e a d so a s to
p e rio d ic a lly re fle c t th e d o lla r a n d c e n ts d iv isio n a l e x p e n se s f o r
la b o r, o v e rh e a d , m a in te n a n c e , m a n a g e m e n t, d e p re c ia tio n a n d p r o ­
m o tio n a l, etc.
2. A ll c o n tro l re c o rd s ti e u p w ith s ta n d a r d co s ts u n d e r d ir e c tio n o f
a c c o u n tin g d iv isio n a n d m a k e p ro v is io n f o r a d e q u a te re s e rv e s .
3. C o st s y ste m so c o m p le te so as to n o t o n ly re fle c t a c tu a l co st, b u t
p o ssib le m in im u m co sts.
4. C ost s y ste m p ro v id e s f o r th e c o m p le te u tiliz a tio n of m e n , m a te r i a l
a n d m e th o d s, a n d re fle c ts p e rio d ic a l v o lu m e o f a c tiv ity , so as to
p e r m it p r o p e r a n d ec o n o m ic a l a llo c a tio n o f la b o r.
5. C ost sy ste m is u se d a s th e im p o r ta n t f a c t o r in p la n n in g , n e w b u s i­
n e ss a n d a d v e rtis in g .
6. S e rv ic e c h a rg e sch ed u les a n d a c c o u n t a n a ly s is m e th o d s a r e b a se d
on a c tu a l co sts f o r p e r f o r m in g s e rv ic e s p lu s a n e q u ita b le s h a r e o f
g e n e ra l o v e rh e a d a n d p ro fits. P r o p e r c o n s id e r a tio n is g iv e n to a ll
in c o m e f a c to r s su c h as ta x e s , in v e s tm e n t a n d lo a n in g co sts.
7. C ost s y ste m a n d its c o n n e c tio n w ith s e rv ic e c h a r g e s ch ed u les a n d
a c c o u n t a n a ly s is m e th o d s reflects c o m p e te n c y of m a n a g e m e n t.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

This chart has been prepared and is being distributed
by Marshall Corns and Company, Inc., managem ent
engineers and consultants of Chicago. Space here per­
mits the listin g of but six headings under the “ Index”
column. In the complete chart there are thirteen items
of managem ent operation listed.

19


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

N orthw estern B anker

D ecem ber 1943

20

You Loan T o d ay-C o llect

TOftiOtfOW

A W ord of Caution Not to Let Mounting Deposits Lead Into
the Path of Hazardous Loaning
ANKS first cam e into being be­
cause th e y w ere needed in R evolu­
tio n a ry tim es to finance new
governm ents. The first b ank of w hich
we have an y record, th e B ank of
Venice, established in 1171, grew out
of th e financial necessities of th e
Repuoij.c of Venice, and financed th e
borrow ings of th a t governm ent. The
B ank of Genoa, in 1320, and th e B ank
of A m sterdam , in 1609, had sim ilar
origins. P e rh a p s the m ain purpose
of th e creation of th e natio n al b a n k ­
ing system in 1863 w as to finance th e
w ar betw een th e states, and set up a
national currency.
All com m ercial banks, and th e th e n
new ly created F ed eral R eserve Sys­
tem , helped to finance our p articip a­
tion in W orld W ar No. 1, and th e
enorm ous job of financing W orld W ar
No. 2, co nfronts us now. T he w ar
is today recognized by m ost people as
th e principal business of our country.
B ankers are carry in g a heavy load
in th e W ar L oan Cam paign, and doing
an excellent job of it, and I w a n t to
com m end you for it. You b an k ers
are co n trib u tin g m ore to w ard th e w ar
effort in tim e and energy th a n any
o th er class of business.
W hen th e w ar is won, and we are
going to w in—th e tide has already
tu rn e d —we w ill th e n face a difficult
ieco n stru ctio n period. T h ere is going
to be a m ig h ty stru g g le in th e p o st­
w ar era. W e w ill stan d in th e ru in s
of a w ar-torn w orld in w hich a large
p a rt of th e h u m an race w ill be s ta rv ­
ing and suffering w ith o u t an y m eans
to feed and clothe them selves, and
w ith o u t a p ro p erly organized gov ern ­
m ent.
H ow ever, we m u st recognize th a t
every com m unity, and every indi­
vidual, in th is g re a t land of ours, w ill
be affected econom ically and financial­
ly by th e w a r in w hich we are now
engaged. T here w ill be a period of
severe, sw eeping re a d ju stm e n t w hen
th e w ar is over.
A good m any of you b an k ers should
have a vivid recollection of th e eco­
nom ic and financial read ju stm en ts
w hich follow ed th e first W orld W ar.
We are faced w ith a new set of cir­
cum stances today w hich is a challenge
to our foresight and ability. J u s t as
a bridge engineer m u st know th e load
to be carried, so m u st th e banker,

B

N orthw estern B anker


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

D ecem ber 19^3

By Erling Haugo
Superintendent of Banks
Pierre, South Dakota

b an k exam iner, and ban k supervisor,
an ticipate in advance th e needs to be
m et by th e banks, and every w eak­
ness in every b ank m ust be corrected.
The h isto ry of banking in our coun­
tr y has tak en us th ro u g h various
ex p erim ental stages, including the
period of so-called “Wild-Cat B ank­
ing,” w hen banks w ere opened one
day, and closed alm ost th e next.
The various abuses and losses in
ban k ing b ro u g h t on governm ental
b an k supervision. As m any of you
b an k ers know , original bank su p er­
vision consisted m ainly of a few
m oderate reg u lato ry laws. In th e be­
ginning, supervisory officials req u ired
only rep o rts from th e banks u n d er
th e ir jurisdiction. L ater th ey acquired
b an k exam iners w ho came into your
bank, counted th e cash, glanced at th e
daily statem ent, and th e n w ent fish­
ing, dining and w ining, w ith the
cashier.

Supervisor Responsible
The task of a b ank su p ervisor has
not changed since th e beginning of
b an k supervision. We are charged
w ith th e responsibility of protecting
b an k depositors or creditors from loss
of th e ir funds.
B ankers and bank supervisors have
ju s t reason to be proud of th e im ­
provem ent, w hich has tak en place in
th e b anks and banking system d uring
th e p ast few years. The situation
today stands in m arked co n trast to
th e confusion of a few years back.
The asset position of our state banks
today is stro n g er th a n at any tim e in
our h istory. T he bank§ originally
organized and in existence at th e end
of th e R evolutionary W ar w ere cap­
italized solely by th e pledge of real
estate. Today banks are capitalized
not only w ith cash, b u t are req uired
to have a su rp lu s account, and build
up undivided profits and reserve ac­
counts as a cushion ag ain st losses.
In v estm en ts in real estate and other
fixed assets, are held to a m inim um .
In th e p ast five y ears in v estm en ts in
fixed assets have been reduced from

about 25 p er cent of total capital ac­
count, to 10 per cent.
Today a definite ro u tin e for ban k
exam ination has been established, and
th e ex am in er’s m ost im p o rtan t duty
is to m ake an ap praisal of all of the
b a n k ’s assets to establish solvency.
H ere is w h ere we come to the y ard ­
stick.
Y ardsticks also have a history, and
before th e G erm an horde took pos­
session of P aris, and its a rt and
historical treasu res, th ere w as a close­
ly guarded b ar of p latin u m reposing
in one of th e g overnm ent buildings,
w hich w as m ade in 1799, and estab­
lished th e exact length of th e m eter.
D uring all these y ears th is piece of
m etal has n ever been sh ortened or
lengthened.
S upervising agencies have recog­
nized th a t th e y ard stick for certain
types of in v estm en ts of banks cannot
change over n ig h t w ith th e fluctuation
of the m arket, and have m ore and
m ore applied th e old adage th a t w h at
goes up m u st come down.
It is n a tu ra l for us to become pes­
sim istic du rin g a depression, and
optim istic du rin g a boom, w hen a
rev erse of our attitu d e w ould help to
stabilize conditions.
I read a le tte r w ritte n by a
farm er custom er to his banker, w ho
inform s me th a t he retriev es this
le tte r from his files and re-reads it
w henever he becom es too optim istic.
“October 17, 1932
“Dear Mr. B anker:
“Your letter of the 14th received on
Saturday and I hasten to reply. On
account of p resent conditidns, I cannot
do as you dem and. B u t I w ill offer to
pay you in terest in the sam e propor­
tion as I am being paid for m y labors
and w h a t I produce. I have som e
steer calves fo r sale at $30 to $40 each,
I am offered $8 to $10 each. I have
som e grain to sell at 80c to 90c per
bushel. I am offered 4c to 8c per bu.
According to that, I w ill offer you
three or fo u r dollars as equal pa y­
m e n t of the in terest I owe you on that
$200 note. I f the bank exam iner don’t
like it, tell h im to exam ine the prices
w e are offered fo r w h a t w e produce
compared w ith the price of m anufac­
tured produce.
“I feel certain that you are calculat­
ing to foreclose the m ortgage right

21
aw ay, regardless of w h e th e r I pay you
the in te re st as yo u ask or not. N ow
ain t th a t a fa ir and honest offer?
Yours tru ly,”
Now th is fa rm e r w as applying th e
prin cip al of sh o rten in g th e yardstick,
and I am su re w e a re n ’t in favor of
th at.
If we did n o t have to contend w ith
fluctu atin g m a rk e ts th e b an k in g b u si­
ness as w ell as m ost o th e r businesses,
w ould be com paratively sim ple. W hen
you m ake a loan today, you are m ak ­
ing it on to m o rro w ’s m ark et. W hy
gam ble on th e fu tu re?
You as a
leader in y o u r com m unity, w ill be
doing th a t com m unity a service by
m ain tain in g a conservative, u niform
yard stick , and in th a t w ay keep
criticized loans from y o u r note pouch.
The custom er w ho expands his b u si­
ness d u rin g th e boom period, and in ­
creases his debt in proportion, w ill be
rig h t back w h ere he sta rte d w hen
th e tide tu rn s. B ut th a t custom er
w ho holds his business, an d scales
dow n his debt d u rin g inflationary
periods, w ill be in a position to ask
y o u r aid and be m aterially benefited
by such aid, if a depression follows.

Capital Ratio
W ith th e rap id rise of deposits in
ban k s th e re has been a lot of talk
about capital ratio. The N ational
B ank D ep artm en t and th e F ed eral
D eposit In su ran ce C orporation have
for y ears used th e y ard stick of 10 to 1
of capital account to deposits. C apital
in th e ir language m eans to tal capital
account, including capital, surplus, u n ­
divided profits an d reserve. Our state
law, recen tly am ended, provides a
capital ratio of 15 to 1, b u t includes
only capital and surplus, to deposits
afte r direct G overnm ent obligations,
cash, and due from banks, have been
deducted. T his m ig h t be co n stru ed by
som e as changing th e yard stick , b u t is
recognized by leading b an k au th o rities
as being only a change in its applica­
tion.
Q uoting th e U. S. C om ptroller of
C urrency, “T he office of th e Comp­
tro lle r of C urrency . . . tak es th e
position th a t it is th e n a tu re and qu al­
ity of assets, ra th e r th a n an y fixed
ratio w hich determ in es th e adequacy
of p rotection afforded by th e capital
stru c tu re .”
U nder th e p re se n t inflation, and we
m u st recognize th a t we are in an in ­
flationary period, w ith risin g deposits,
banks are of course doubling and
trip lin g in v estm en ts in U. S. bonds,
both as a p atrio tic m easure, and as a
source of rev en u e to replace decreas­
ing in v estm en ts in loans.
S urely
ban k s should not need capital reserv es
to p ro tect such in v estm en ts in th e
sam e p ro p o rtio n as in in v estm en ts in
loans to individuals, w hich are subject

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

to h azards of th e elem ents, crop con­
ditions, supply and dem and, and
h u m an frailties.
In closing let me leave a w ord of
caution. In these fast m oving tim es,
no one know s w h at tom orrow holds
in store for us. F o r m ost of you,
profits are good. Is it not p ru d en t u n ­
d er p re se n t u n certain conditions to
be contented w ith fair profits, w hich
you can be reasonably su re of keep­
ing, ra th e r th a n to gam ble on the
fu tu re by an all-out effort for high
profits from loans w hich m ight be
hazardous? T he safe course is to use
th e unchanging yardstick.

L abor Shortage
Smith: “Did you h ear about Jones,
th e banker? He has stolen $100,000
of the b a n k ’s funds and ru n aw ay w ith
the h o telkeeper’s w ife.”
Miller: “Good heavens! W ho w ill
teach his Sunday School class?”

M ark O ne Up
A big-time insu ran ce agent w as en­
listing. “W ell,” said th e Sergeant, “I
suppose you’re such a big shot y o u ’ll
expect a com m ission?”
“No,” th e agent replied. “I ’ll take a
stra ig h t salary.”

H e r e 's H o w

W e F it In to T h e
B anking P ictu re
W e are experienced, exten sive and responsible operators
of Field W arehouses.
W e h a v e d evelop ed a proven m ethod of converting bor­
rowers' inventories, no matter w here located, into SOUND
BANKING COLLATERAL. Without cost or obligation, ask
our Iow a office about Field W arehousing service covering
such inventories a s se e d corn and field seed s; shell, frozen
and pow dered eg g s; w ool; so y b ean s; can n ed goods;
w h o lesa le groceries; and how Field W arehousing works
to safeguard loan s . . . to increase profits for Banks.

ST. PAUL TERM IN AL
WAREHOUSE COMPANY
St. Paul, Minn.
--------------- IOW A OFFICE --------------510 Iowa-Des M oines N ational Bank Building
D es M oines, Iowa
T. C. CANNON, District M anager
T elephone 4-2353
O th e r O ffices a t C h ic a g o - N e w Y o rk - M ilw a u k e e - D e tr o i t - M e m p h is - A tla n ta
B o s to n - P h ila d e lp h i a - P i t t s b u r g h - S y r a c u s e - C h a r l o tte - A lb a n y , G a.

N orthw estern Banker

D ecem ber Í9b3

Visiting Along the Lake
Brief News of Chicago and Milwaukee Banks
By HENRY H. HAYNES, Editor
HICAGO banks, along about No­
vem ber 15th, w ere w ondering
about a n u m b er of things, th e principle
one being w h a t reactio n w ould re su lt
from th e charge-back of exchange,
w hich on th a t date w en t into effect
there. T he charge-back cam e as th e
re su lt of a recen t ru lin g p u t in opera­
tion by th e F ed eral R eserve Board. As
th is is w ritte n th e tre n d w as not in
evidence, b u t it w as an ticip ated th e
action w ould create little disturbance.
T he a u th o rity of th e F ed eral R eserve
to a rb itra rily m ake such a ru lin g w as
questioned in som e q u arters, b u t it is
n ot likely any te st cases w ill develop.

C

Men and w om en in th e arm ed forces
from Chicago b anks are going to be
w ell rem em bered th is y e a r as, of
course, th e y alw ays are. Up to N ovem ­
b er 1st th e F irs t N ational B ank of
Chicago h ad 470 people in uniform ,
including eight W AVES and SPARS.
T he N o rth e rn T ru s t has 185 m en and
w om en in th e service; th e A m erican

93 Y E A R S

N ational B ank and T ru st has 65; th e
Live Stock N ational, 18, and th e D ro­
vers, 30.
A t th e C ontinental Illinois N ational,
w here th e A m erican Legion P ost of
th e b an k sponsors all activities re la t­
ing to b ank em ployes in th e arm ed
forces, th ere are 487 in th e service.
T he C ontinental Illinois Legion Post
sends these people gifts four tim es
each year, and th is y ear as a C hristm as
rem em brance, those in service are re ­
ceiving a box packed w ith m any useful
and e n tertain in g item s. As Ju liu s
W aibel, publicity director of th e Con­
tin e n ta l says, included in th e box is
som ething to smoke, som ething to eat,
som ething to provide en tertain m en t,
and som ething useful. Am ong the
item s are playing cards, gum and
candy, soap, cigarettes, a to o th b ru sh
and toothpow der, an en terta in m e n t
book, razor blades, and a cribbage
board. The legionnaires and th e girls
in th e b ank pack and m ail th e pack-

OFPEACE

AMD WAR AMD GROWTH

T

H ERE wasn’t much o f the pres­

ent U . S. A . mapped in geogra­
phies on November 20, 1850, when
the first train steamed forth on what
today is part o f The Milwaukee Road.
The little five-mile line o f 1850 is
now an 11,000-mile transcontinental
railroad linking the industrial cities
o f the east and middle west to the
World ports o f the Pacific Northwest.
Through wars and rumors o f wars,
depressions and
years o f great
d e v e lo p m e n t

the

and prosperity, T h e M ilw aukee
Road has written its share o f Amer­
ican history.
Today all that our free America
means is being challenged. And we
o f The Milwaukee Road, in concert
with the rest o f the nation, are
helping to fling back that challenge.
Our friends and patrons—both
passengers and shippers— are co-oper­
ating to the limit. They, as well as
we, know the urgency o f the situa­
tion and the importance o f the job
we all have to do.

Milwaukee Road
O - M IL E

N orth w estern B anker


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

D ecem ber 1943

SUPPLY

LINE

ages. Mr. W aibel also supervises pub­
lication of a m o nthly m agazine to serv­
ice folks called “C ontact,” w hich is full
of nam es and letters from those in the
service and new s about w h at is going
on at th e hom e fro n t in th e bank.
The A m erican N ational of Chicago
th is y ear is gettin g out a large folder
of C hristm as cards to each individual
now in th e service form erly employed
in th e bank. W hen opened out the
“card ” w ill be several feet square and
carry p ictu res of b ank em ployes and
in terio r view s of th e bank.
Jam es H. Clarke, a ssistan t vice p res­
ident of th e A m erican N ational, spent
a w eek in New Y ork City last m onth,
calling on banks and investm ent
houses. Am ong o thers in N ew York
City he visited w ith w as M arcus Nadler, econom ist for th e C entral H anover
N ational Bank. Mr. N adler expects to
be in Chicago in Jan u ary .
T alking to A lden S. Bagnall, vice
p resid en t of the Live Stock N ational
Bank, he said th a t som eone in his ban k
is co nstantly w ritin g letters and send­
ing gifts to those in th e service. W hen
th e w ar is over these people w ill come
back to th e ir jobs in th e bank, and
probably to b e tte r jobs, Mr. Bagnall
feels, since m any of them w ill be b etter
able to accept increased responsibility.
At th e Live Stock N ational, w hen I
called there, w ere P ercy Ebbott, vice
p resid en t of th e Chase N ational B ank
in New Y ork City, and L ouis Jacoby,
C h a s e rep resen tativ e in Chicago.
M essrs. E b b o tt and Jacoby w ere v isit­
ing w ith D avid R eim ers, presid en t of
the Live Stock N ational, and others
in th e bank.
F ran k Covert, a ssistan t cashier of
the D rovers N ational Bank, is still
active in OCD, and also as a new o ut­
let for his civic activities, he is now a
d irector and tre a su re r of th e U niver­
sity of Chicago S ettlem ent House,
w hich is located a sh o rt distance from
th e bank. A personally conducted Co­
v e rt to u r th ro u g h the settlem ent house
disclosed th e m any advantages the
y o u n gsters derive from having access
to recreation and study w hich such an
in stitu tio n affords. The settlem ent
house also sponsors a sum m er cam p
for boys, located in In d ian a n ot far
from Chicago. E leven dollars w ill keep
a boy in th is cam p for a w eek, and
F ra n k says w hen one sees th e im ­
provem ent in ch aracter resu ltin g from
ju st a sh o rt stay a t th e camp, th e in ­
vestm en t is alm ost equal to th e p u r­
chase of a W ar Bond.
The officers of th e D rovers N ational
hear from Fred C um m ins occasionally.
F red is a radio operator in th e sub-

23
m arin e service and so fa r h as been
statio n ed off th e east coast.
An Iow a fa rm e r in a big w ay is C.
R ay P h illip s, p resid en t of th e LaSalle

N ational Bank. Mr. P h illip s ow ns 700
acres of some of th e b est farm land in
D allas county, and anyone fam iliar
w ith Iow a know s w h a t D allas county
soil is like. H e m akes periodic v isits
to his farm and says th a t som e day he
m ay come to Iow a to m ake his p erm a­
n e n t home.
A ccording to H erm an Slocum , p e r­
sonnel officer of th e H a rris T ru st Com­
pany, th is b an k has a to tal of 136 m en
and w om en in th e service. A t th e tim e
of P earl H arb o r th e b an k em ployed 383
m en and 356 w om en. Now th e b ank
em ploys 296 m en and 433 w om en, a de­
crease of 87 m en and an in crease of
76 w om en. The H a rris T ru s t sends its
b an k bu lletin to th e service people
each w eek, everyone of th em receives
T he R eaders D igest reg u larly and, of
course, a package a t C hristm as tim e.
C harles A. Carey, a ssista n t cashier
a t th e H a rris T ru st, is a dog fancier
and raises Boxers. He recen tly sen t a
B oxer pup to an arm y officer frien d of
his statio n ed at Moline, Illinois.
Out of 915 em ployes th e F irs t W is­
consin N ational B ank, M ilw aukee, has
115 people in service. T his y e a r each
of those in th e arm ed forces w ill re ­
ceive an in dividually im p rin ted C h rist­
m as card, in w hich th e y w ill find an
o rd er for m oney, th e o rd er being easily
cashable a t an y po in t on th e globe.
T he a n n u a l F irs t W isconsin C h rist­
m as p a rty w ill be held th is y e a r on
D ecem ber 23rd and w ill h o n o r th e
m em bers of th e Q u arter C en tu ry Club,
p a rtic u la rly those a tta in in g th a t dis­
tin ctio n th is year. T h ere are 117 p re s­
e n t m em bers—29 new m em bers w ill
be inducted D ecem ber 23rd, m aking
th e to tal 146. Don H arper, a ssista n t
cash ier of th e F irs t W isconsin, says it
w ill be a few m ore y ears u n til he w ill
be a m em ber of th e Q u arter C entury
Club.

Opens Iowa Office
T he F a rm e rs N ational C om pany of
Omaha, N ebraska, farm m an agem ent
organization, has opened an Iow a office
in Des Moines, w ith J. W esley G raham
of F o rt Dodge, Iow a, as m anager. J.
Carl R ush, w ho m anaged farm s for
th e E q u itab le Life In su ran ce Com pany
of Iow a eig h t years, is field su p erv iso r
in th e Des M oines te rrito ry . G raham
form erly m anaged th e com pany’s F o rt
Dodge office. T he F a rm e rs N ational
w as founded in 1929 by C ornelius J.
Claassen.

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

**Twice the Work
with
Fewer People”
It’s alm ost a universal condition
am ong banks today— to have to
carry a heavier load of activity
than ever, with a reduced staff.
In spite of this handicap, the
banks of the Nation are con tin u ­
in g to carry on beyond w hat
has been expected of them in
the past.
Notable am ong these is “3-1” .

...T H E ...

PH ILAD ELPH IA
NATIONAL

BANK

ORGANIZED 1803

PHILADELPHIA, PA.
Resources over $750,000,000
M E M B E R O F F E D E R A L D E P O S IT IN S U R A N C E C O R PO R A T IO N

N orthw estern Banker

D ecem ber Í9b3

24


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

How W e Collect Premiums
Local

Agents

Describe

the

O F IN D out w h a t collection m e th ­
ods local agents are u sing to th e
b est advan tag e th ese days, we
have recen tly com pleted a survey
am ong a n u m b er of p ro m in en t u n d e r­
w riters. W e asked th em w h a t m e th ­
ods th e y em ployed to b rin g th e p re ­
m ium p ay m en t into th e ir office,
m entio n in g th a t w e presum ed th ey
used collection le tte rs of some kind,
and asked th em to send us a sam ­
ple or tw o of such letters. W e w ere
som ew hat su rp rise d to learn from th e
replies to o u r survey, th a t collection
le tte rs are not being used at all—as
one ag en t p u ts it, “W e find th a t shoe
leath e r and rin g in g doorbells is th e
only w ay ”—so you h ad b e tte r save up
y o u r shoe ra tio n stam ps.
A n u m b er of replies state th a t col­
lections are co m paratively easy now,
probably because m ore people are
w ork in g a t increased incom es. H ere
is w h a t local agents have to say about
collections:

T

"W e Have No Letters"
EARL

R. WILSON

Lincoln, Nebraska

“W e sim ply d o n ’t have an y form of
collection le tte rs and n ev er have had.
W hen a collection le tte r is necessary,
w hich is seldom, w e m ake it v ery in d i­
vidual and personal and, if possible,
w e w rite no le tte r a t all, b u t sim ply
contact th e individual. As a m a tte r of
fact, o u r cred it loss over a 20-year
period has been less th a n one-tenth of
1 p er cent.”

"Collections

100 Per Cent"

HARRY P. PRATT
G randy-Pratt Company
Sioux C it y, Iowa

“F o r th e last tw o y ears our collec­
tions have been alm ost 100 p er cent.
W hen any of our custom ers get behind
over th ir ty days, we p u t on th e ir

Methods They Use to Bring in Delinquent Accounts

m o n th ly statem en t th a t th e bill w ill
have to be paid im m ediately, to com­
ply w ith governm ent regulations.
W h eth er or not we come u n d er these
regulations, I am not positive, b u t peo­
ple are g etting to th e point w here
th ey are paying th eir bills, and in su r­
ance prem ium s are no exception.”

“W e do n ot use collection letters. I
am still old-fashioned enough to be­
lieve th a t th e m oney can be collected
in by th e salesm en producing the
business, and th a t shoe leath er and
bell rin ging is about th e only w ay to
pull in delinquent accounts. As a
result, I am v ery happy we have had
few collection problem s.”

w hen and how th e prem ium s are to be
paid. T his agreem ent, preceding de­
livery of th e renew al, w orks out
except in a sm all p er cent of the cases.
In cases w here th e prem ium s become
delinquent, we in terv iew th e custom er
personally and, in some cases, p refer
to have a sm all charge account against
such custom ers so th a t th ey know
th ey w ill be on a cash basis before
any m ore policies are issued to them ,
th a t is, w here th ey are chronic de­
linquents.
“Our o th er collections are handled
usually w ith ju st a re tu rn envelope on
the flap of w hich is listed th e am ount
due and a req u est for paym ent. We
secure th is re tu rn envelope and in ­
corporated form al m essage from one
of our com panies and it m ay be copy­
rig h ted or at least one of th e ir own
ideas.”

"Collect on Foot"

"All Situations Are Different"

"Few Collection Problems"
C. F. LISCOMB
Charles F. Liscomb Company
Duluth, Minnesota

LEON E. MORSE

IVAN H. ANTON

M c C a r g a r - M o r s e Company
Council Bluffs, Iowa

Ivan H. Anton Agency
Des Moines, Iowa

“I do not have any p artic u la r collec­
tio n letters w hich w ould be w o rth
p ublishing from th e stan d p o in t of
th e ir value to others. Most of m y col­
lecting is done by foot ra th e r th an by
mail, and we have never m ade it a
p ractice to use any certain form of
collection le tte r.”

“W e have tried every type of collec­
tion le tte r and have yet to find any one
form or any one th o u g h t th a t w orks
in m ost cases. Our experience has
been th a t all situations are different
and we find very few principles th a t
w ill apply in even a m ajo rity of the
cases.”

"Interview the Customer
Personally"

"It Takes Shoe Leather"

ALEX H. CASE

Cow to n Insurance Agency
G ran d Island, Nebraska

C a s e & Son
Marion, Kansas

“T his is one problem w hich we have
nev er solved in a satisfactory m anner,
and one w hich I am alm ost inclined to
believe defies solution in a sm all tow n.
“H ow ever, w e have th e advantage
in a sm all tow n of soliciting th e ren ew ­
al of th e in surance personally and
a rriv e at a definite agreem ent as to

GEORGE COWTON
“I have, as yet, to find a series of
collection letters th a t do th e job. I
find it takes shoe leath er and personal
calls to get in th e collections now a­
days.
“E ven w ith m oney plentiful in these
tow ns w here governm ent projects are
located, people seem indifferent to let­
ters of any kind.”

S carborough ^(C ompany
First N ational Bank Building, Chicago


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

Horace A. Smith, Iow a Representative
Des Moines, Iow a

N orthw estern Banker

D ecem ber 1943

26

"Personal Contact"
JOSEPH BARKER, JR.
Fos ter- Barker Company
Omaha, Nebraska

“In th is office persisten ce and polite­
ness have been th e keynote of our
collecting. W e have alw ays been v ery
polite, b u t v ery p ersisten t, and seem ed

Experience
Service
Cooperation
Manned by officials with years
of. experience, our Correspon­
dent Bank Division renders a
complete service, conducted in
an intimate and personalized
manner.
The guiding policy is one of
cooperation in all matters of
mutual interest.

BANK

a n d

COM PANY

OF

After the W ar
More A m ericans plan to buy a new
autom obile w ith in th e first year after
th e end of th e w ar th a n any o ther
m ajor item; a new hom e is th e second
m ost freq u en t purchase found on Mr.
and Mrs. A m erica’s postw ar shopping
list, it is show n by replies to an in ­
q u iry m ade to 25,000 policyholder fam ­
ilies of N o rth w estern N ational Life
In su ran ce Company.
A new radio ran k s th ird am ong post­
w ar purchases now planned, and an
extensive trip, e ith er U. S. or foreign,
is close behind, th e surv ey shows.
E ag er anticipation of com ing im ­
prov em ents and new “gadgets” de­
scribed in c u rre n t new spaper and
m agazine articles and advertisem ents,
w as disclosed by replies w hich listed
such item s as hom e air conditioning,
plastic k itchen equipm ent, and frozen
food cabinets. A lm ost tw o-thirds of
th e prospective postw ar hom e ow ners
stated th e ir in tention to build, ra th e r
th a n buy, suggesting a desire to in ­
co rporate new ideas in construction
and equipm ent.

t r u s t
NEW

E S T A B L I S H E D

I

to get the m oney. W e do n o t have any
form of collection le tte r w hich we use.
A ny thing we w rite is ju st ro u tin e and
m ost of it is done by personal con­
ta c t.”

YORK
1908

Joins Employers Mutual
E m ployers M utual C asualty Com­
p an y of Des Moines has announced
th e ap p ointm ent of C. L eonard W il­
liam s as hom e office u n d erw riter.
Mr. W illiam s has been an u n d e r­
w rite r for th e Des Moines b ran ch of

Member: New York Clearing House
Me
Association, Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation

X

Resources of

OVER

TW O

M IL L IO N

D O LLARS

T W E N T Y -F IV E

YEARS

Now dedicated to the Surety
and Fidelity Bond needs of
the M iddle W e st.

S u re ty D ivision

The State Automobile Insurance Association
D ES

N orthw estern Banker


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

MOINES,

D ecem ber 19't3

(C ontinued from page 5)
to n ig h t. W as m ig h ty im pressed w ith a few
of th e choice pin-ups chosen by m y k h a k i
b re th re n back th ere in the good old TJ. S. A.
Guess th ey have m ore tim e fo r th a t so rt of
th in g th a n we do over here. I t m ay even
be in te re s tin g fo r us when we do get home.
‘ ‘ In c id e n ta lly , when people ask you w h at
so rt o f a n outfit I am in, d o n ’t ju s t say
A irs Corps, tell them th e 64th T ig h te r
W ing. Y ou see, M other, I am m ig h ty proud
of th is o rg an izatio n , an d know th a t when
th e tim e comes, th e e n tire n a tio n w ill have
good reason to feel as I. W e are new and
we a re d ifferen t, b u t we are m ig h ty tough
an d w h at we a re doing is im p o rta n t. Y our
son has learn ed m uch, an d is bound to le a rn
m ore b efo re i t is all over. I n th a t L ife I
m entioned, no tice the a rtic le concerning
C a n iff’s draw ings. I t is m ig h tly in te re s t­
ing.
‘ ‘ M other, I m ust close. T hanks to you
an d D ad fo r keeping m e so well inform ed
on th e news an d so re g u la rly . I tru s t th a t
you are k eeping the home fires b u rn in g , an d
saving one of those m eal tic k e ts special fo r
me. I h a v e n ’t h ad a good piece o f steak
since the one I w rote ab o u t b efo re we took
over T unis. ’ ’
Y our loving son,
W arren.

Experience of

OVER

th e M assachusetts Bonding and In ­
surance Com pany for th e last four­
teen years. P rio r to th a t he w as w ith
th e F ederal S u rety Com pany for sev­
eral y ears in sim ilar w ork.
Mr. W illiam s is a form er secretarytre a su re r of the C asualty and S urety
Club and has been a resid en t of Des
Moines for 20 years.

IOWA

"Minority Always Rules"
“ Y our card re fe rrin g to page 57, N o­
vem ber issue of the B a n k er , is received an d
a rtic le read .
R eaction is th a t our old
frie n d did a very good jo b — an d since I
have consented to dive in am hop in g th a t
our m em bership m ay decide it good business
to m an th e Council w ith m en no ted fo r th eir
a b ility to ‘ ta lk cold t u r k e y ’ even if in
church.
“ N o te d L ee W ig g in s ’ opening address
in which he a sse rted th a t th e re would be
m a jo rity rule b u t w ith p ro tec tio n fo r the
m in o rity . A dvised him th a t he h a d p erhaps
overlooked th e fa c t th a t th e M IN O R IT Y
h a d alw ays governed, ru led an d m an ag ed the
A. B. A. an d th a t th ey d id n ’t need a dam n
b it of aid, assistance or p ro te c tio n ; b u t

27
w as h oping th a t he would reverse th e order,
a helluva task , an d g e t som e sem blance of
rule, re g u la tio n a n d m an a g em e n t b y th e
ru ra l b an k ers who re p re se n ted n o t less th a n
75 p e r cent o f the dues p a y in g m em bers;
a n d since only a very sm all p e r cent of the
ru ra l b an k ers ever a tte n d e d A. B. A. con­
vention, th e likelihood w as th a t th e b ig
tow n b a n k ers w ould continue in th e saddle.
H ow ever, I believe th a t W ig g in s is sincere
a n d if he d o e sn ’t accom plish a n y th in g , he
w ill go dow n fig h tin g th e A. B. A. m achine.
‘ ‘ T here is no in te n t on m y p a r t as a
D em ocrat to in a n y w ay t r y to influence
you R ep u b lican s as to whom your nom inee
should be fo r th e presidency. A nd, w ith
th is pream ble, conclude th a t it w ill be sa fe
fo r me to com m end your le tte r to M r. W illkie, fo r I, too, have long ago concluded
th a t he is a courageous, sound th in k in g in ­
d iv id u al a n d is not bein g led a b o u t w ith a
rin g in his nose. So, of course you b ird s
w ill n om inate whosoever you dam n please,
b u t ju s t w ish you to know how fu lly I con­
cur in your ju d g m e n t as re g a rd s th e g e n tle ­
m an. ’ ’
L eo J . W e g m a n , P resident,
C itize n s S a v in g s B a n k, A namo sa, Iow a.

"Bankers in Overalls"
‘ ‘ T hanks fo r th e p a g e ta k e n fro m th e
N o r t h w e s t e r n B a n k e r of M ay, 1927. T h at

w as a g re a t G roup M eeting w ith all o f the
b a n k ers clad in overalls an d c a rry in g th e ir
din n er p a ils to th e p la n t fo r lunch w ith th e
w orkm en. I w as a h a rd w orker in those
days b u t nevertheless th ey w ere in te re s t­
ing. ’ ’
M. E . E l l i s , S u p e rin te n d ­
e n t, D ep a rtm e n t o f B a n kin g ,
D es M oines, Iow a.

"Colonel W. G. Edens Gets Around"
‘ ‘ F ollow ing the A. B. A. m eetin g I hung
a ro u n d th e W ald o rf-A sto ria u n til S a tu r­
day, the 18th, th e n spent th e w eekend a t
th e home o f m y old frie n d , W ilb u r F o re st,
associate ed ito r o f the H erald T ribune, on
L o n g Isla n d . H e an d his w ife b o th h ail
fro m P e o ria.
M onday, th e 20th, some
frie n d s gave a luncheon fo r me a t th e Cloud
Club, 67th sto ry of th e C hrysler B uilding.
T uesday I spent in W all S tre e t c allin g on
b a n k e rs an d other acquaintances, p a u sin g
fo r a m in u te a t th e grave of A lexander
H a m ilto n in Old
T rin ity
C hurchyard.
W ednesday, th e 22nd, I took th a t D. L. &
W . R. R. fro m H oboken to B ingham ton,
N . Y., to a tte n d th e 60th a n n iv e rsa ry of
th e fo u n d a tio n of th e B. of R. T. The
n e x t day I m otored up th ro u g h th e b e au ­
tif u l Genesee V alley to B uffalo an d th en
on to Cleveland. W hile th ere w ent out to
old H ira m College w here Gen. G arfield
g ra d u a te d , an d ta lk e d to th e fa c u lty an d
stu d e n t body fo r a n hour.
“ I w as so sorry to re ad o f th e passin g
o f our frie n d , W . G. C. B agley o f M ason
C ity— a fine g entlem an. I held him in high
esteem . ’ ’
W . G. E d e n s , 1212 W est
N o rth Shore, Chicago 26,
Illin o is.


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

DO W E O W E IT TO
O U R SELV ES ?
(C ontinued from page 12)
case, th a t th is debt w ill have to be
paid som ehow or o ther from the sw eat
of th e brow. If our n ational incom e
can be m aintained anyw here n ear the
figure th a t now prevails, it w ill of
course be m uch easier to accom plish
th e paym ent of th e debt th a n it w ould
be if we w en t back to national incom e
of p rew ar days. A gain I say th a t
y o u r question isn ’t ju st th a t easy to
be an sw ered and books could be w rit­
ten concerning it.”

A lvin Johnson, p resident of th e L ive
Stock N ational B ank of Omaha, is th e
donor.
F irs t prize w as $50 cash and a trip
to th e N ational Club Congress in Chi­
cago, all expenses paid. Second w in­
n er received $25 and an all-expense

MERCHANTS
MUTUAL

BONDING
COMPANY
Incorporated 1933

SA V IN G S & LO A N A S AN
INVESTMENT O U TLET
(C ontinued from page 13)
m entality, know n as th e F ed eral De­
posit In su ran ce Corporation. T his in ­
su rance extends to all accounts of
$5,000 or less. The accounts in th e in ­
su red associations are insured for
safety of principal by an o th er F ederal
in stru m en tality , th e F ederal Savings
and L o a n In su ran ce Corporation,
w hich is ow ned 100 per cent by the
F ed eral governm ent. All accounts up
to $5,000 in these in su red associations
are protected by th is insurance. S ure­
ly it m ay be said th a t we have tw o
parallel b anking types.

Home Office
VA LLEY BA NK BUILDING

Des Moines, Iowa

This is Iowa’s oldest surety company.
A progressive company with experi­
enced, conservative management. We
are proud of our hundred and fifty
bank agents in Iowa.
To be the exclusive representative of
this company is an asset to your bank.

Donates 4-H Prizes

W rite to

A prize list of 22 aw ards to w inning
N ebraska 4-H Beef Club m em bers w as
announced recently at th e U niversity
of N ebraska college of agriculture.

E. H. WARNER
Secretary and Manager

T o O u r S co re s of
BANKER AGENTS . .
W e W ish Y ou . . .
"A Christm as S ea so n Full of C ontent­
m ent a n d our m utual Prayer that
"Perm anent P e a ce on Earth" m ay
return soon to a W ar W ea ry w orld.

ALLIED MU T U A L
CASUALTY COMPANY
Harold S. Evans, President
Hubbell Building

Des Moines, Iowa

N orthw estern B anker

D ecem ber 1943

28
club w eek trip to th e college of ag ri­
culture. E ach boy or g irl placing th ird
to tw enty-second in th e state re ­
ceived $5.

L E G A L DEPARTMENT
(C ontinued from page 16)
agreem ent, th e n e x t day a fte r it w as
repossessed. W ould Snow obtain good
title as ag ain st D ickersback?
Yes. A prom ise b y a conditional
vendor, after la w fu lly rep ossessin g the
property under th e p urch aser’s de­
fault, to hold it for a definite period to
g iv e the ven d ee an opportunity to try
to secure funds w ith w hich to m ake

good the default, w ill not defeat the
rights of a bona fide purchaser to the
property acquired through a sale
thereof by the vendor in vio la tio n of
the prom ise.

A N ebraska b an k er an d his w ife
w ere co-owners of a farm in th a t state.
T hey deeded it to one of th e ir children
u n d e r a con tract w hich provided th a t
th e g ran tee w ould m ake certain pay­
m ents to th e ir o th er children and gave
th e o th er children th e rig h t to fore­
close in th e event th e paym ents w ere
not m ade. A fter th e deed w as de­
livered and th e gift tran sactio n w as
com pleted th e g ra n to rs and gran tee

Federal Interm ediate Credit Bank
C onsolidated D ebentures O ffer. ,.

Desirable
Short Maturities

en tered into a supplem ental agreem ent
cuttin g out th e rig h t of th e other chil­
dren to foreclose. T he o th er children
did n ot e n te r into th e supplem ental
agreem ent. W as it valid as to them ?
No. The p rovision for th e paym ent
by the gran tee of certain su m s to the
gran tors’ other children and the se­
curity therefor becam e a com pleted
gift in ter v iv o s as of the tim e of the
deed in g of the property and the su bse­
q uent attem p t to m odify the g ift to
the d isadvantage of the donees by an
am endm ent execu ted by the original
grantors and gran tee of the deed w as
invalid.

H ubbard,
a
L ouisiana
banker,
tu rn e d in his autom obile to a dealer
in th a t state and received from th e
dealer a credit to be used on dem and
in th e p u rchase of a new car. A t the
tim e H ub b ard w as leaving on an ex­
tended business trip and w anted to
w ait u n til his re tu rn to tak e delivery
of th e new autom obile. W hen H ub­
b ard got to th e p o in t th a t he w anted
th e new car th e dealer w as unable to
deliver because of rationing. The
credit allow ance had been in excess
of th e value of th e car. Should th e
dealer pay H u b b ard cash in the
am ount of th e credit?

larly for subscription in denominations ranging

No. In a recent d ecision in L ou isi­
ana it w as h eld that a credit to be ap­
plied on th e purchase of a n ew auto­
m obile from a dealer by a prospective
purchaser, rep resen tin g in am ount the
sum allow ed on a used car turned in
by the latter, sh ould not be paid over
in fu ll to the p urch aser w h en , due to
g o vern m en t rationing, it becom es im ­
possib le for him to buy a n ew car from
the dealer, but rather, there should
be paid over to the p rosp ective pur­
ch aser by the dealer, a sum of m oney
rep resen tin g the actual valu e of such
u sed car.

from $5 ,0 0 0 to $100,000, due at convenient

Special Meeting

intervals up to one year.

A special m eeting of th e stockhold­
ers of th e D rovers T ru st & Savings
Bank, Chicago, has been called by th e
directors for W ednesday, D ecem ber 22,
1943, to consider th e increase of th e
capital stock of th e b ank from $350,000,
consisting of 3,500 shares of p ar value
of $100 each, to $500,000, consisting of
5,000 shares of p ar value of $100 each,
by th e tra n sfe r of $150,000 from the
su rp lu s of th e bank, and d istrib u te
such increased capital stock by th e
declaration of a stock dividend.
P u rsu a n t to a reso lution by the
board of directors, th e tra n sfe r books
of th e D rovers T ru st & Savings B ank
w ere closed a t th e close of business on
N ovem ber 22nd, and are to rem ain
closed u n til th e opening of business on
Monday, D ecem ber 27, 1943.

T

hey

affo rd

a popular m edium through

which institutional funds, earmarked for tem­

porary employment, may be invested securely at
favorable term rates. These obligations of the
twelve issuing banks are made available regu­

Debentures which

mature w ith in six m on th s are accep tab le as
collateral security for fifteen-day borrowings by
member banks of the Federal Reserve System.

THE FEDERAL INTERMEDIATE CREDIT BANKS
Requests fo r other sa lien t inform ation respecting the above
described issues sh o u ld be addressed to

C H A R L E S R . D U N N , Fiscal A g e n t
31 N a s s a u S t r e e t

N orthw estern B anker


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

D ecem ber 19^3

N e w Y o r k 5, N . Y.

29

Postwar Problems
Every Banker Should Give Thought to Them, Because the Day Is Not
Far Off When He Will Be Face to Face With Them
The “peace scare”

The Month's Market Maneuvers
Prepared for
The Northwestern Banker

By Jam es H . C larke
stocks, dropped precipitously on some
j a m e s h . c l a r k e days as th e fear of
cancellation of con­
tracts, or a t least slackened activity,
th reaten ed . T he bond m ark et, espe­
cially in th e h ig h er grades, gave a
fairly good account of itself, b u t in
general N ovem ber w as a poor m o n th
for investors. T he exception to th e
tre n d —-which proved th e ru le —w as
th e liquor secu rities w hich advanced
sh arp ly on spectacu lar dividend new s.
M ilita ry leaders w ere u n anim ous in
disclaim ing any know ledge of a break­
up in G erm any, but rum ors of a con­
ference of Stalin, C hurchill and R oose­
velt, plus a ra th er o ptim istic sta te m e n t
by L o rd H alifax, w ere enough to in flu ­
ence in vesto rs in th e belief th a t w e are
eith er near th e end of the E uropean
war, or at least have passed the peak
of our w a r effort. T his, despite the
fact th a t th e progress of fighting in
Ita ly has been e x tre m e ly slow, and
th a t counter-attacks of th e G erm ans on
the R u ssia n fro n t have been at least
m oderately effective.
A s w e near th e end of the year and
look forw ard to 1944, it is apparent that
to even th e m ost p essim istic a v c have
m ade great progress in th e p ast 12
m onths in overcom in g G erm any. W e
h ave at least reached a p oint n ow
w h ere w e can see the end in sigh t, and
w ith it, the b egin n in g of m any p ost­
w ar problem s.
W ith th e en d o f th e w a r in E u r o p e
th e s e p r o b le m s w ill b e p r e se n te d to th e
in d u s tr y o f th e c o u n tr y , a n d to th e
b a n k s as w e ll, eAren th o u g h th e Avar
w ith J a p an c o n tin u e s fo r so m e tim e .
T h e ty p e o f AA-ar w h ic h th e J a p a n e se
fr o n t AA'ill r eq u ire d iffers in m a n y r e ­
s p e c ts fro m th e o n e Ave are u o a v fig h t­
in g in E u r o p e , a n d th a t fa c to r in it s e lf
AA'ill n e c e s s ita te a n u m b e r o f c h a n g e s.

Some of those w ho have studied th e
po stw ar problem s ra th e r thoroughly,
and hav e h ad th e courage to p u t th e ir

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

Assistant Vice President
American National Bank & Trust Co.
Chic ago

th o u g h ts into p rin t, have expressed
considerable confidence in th e period
follow ing th e w ar, although in alm ost
every case th ey have been reticen t
about expressing a firm opinion on th e
first six m onths to a y e a r in th e afterthe-w ar period.
I t seem s likely th a t the Japanese
w a r w ill n o t require as large a land
arm y as w e w ill have in the spring of
1944, and this m a y m ean the release of
three to five m illion m en w ho are now
in the arm y. I t is also likely th a t such
a w ar w ill n ot require the large hom e
fro n t arm y w h ich w e have, and an
equal n u m b er of m en can be released
fro m in d u stry. Som e of these m en
w ill be absorbed by increases in in d u s­
trial production for civilian use, but it
is also possible th a t an u n em p lo ym en t
problem w ill be presented w h ich w ill
require go vern m en t projects in the
w a y of public w o rks and the like.
It is a p p a r e n t th a t d e sp ite le s s e n e d
w a r a c tiv ity , th e g o v e r n m e n t AAill haA-e
to c o n tin u e fin a n c in g a h u g e p u b lic
d eb t, a n d th a t ta x e s Avill r e m a in h ig h .
T h e p ro b lem o f r a is in g su c h ta x e s is
c lo s e ly tie d in w ith a h ig h n a tio n a l in ­
c o m e — w h ic h , o f co u r se , is o n ly p o s­
sib le if b u s in e s s a c tiv ity c o n tin u e s at
a ra te m u ch h ig h e r th a n Ave e n jo y e d in
a n y p erio d p r e c e d in g th e w a r.

It is im possible in such sh o rt space
to discuss th e p o stw ar problem s w hich
we m ay face, b u t every b a n k e r should
give considerable th o u g h t to th em as
th e day m ay n o t be fa r off w hen he
w ill be face to face w ith them . W e
have already m entioned th e possibility
of public w orks and unem ploym ent.
T hese are b u t tw o of m any problem s.
F o r instance, w h at w ill happen to th e
large productive capacity th a t has
been b u ilt up w ith g overnm ent money?
W h at about th e high w ages w hich th e

unions have been able to establish—
w ill such w ages stan d up w h en th ere
is unem ploym ent and com petition for
jobs? W h at w ill happen w hen th e gov­
ern m en t sta rts unloading its large in ­
ventories acquired for w ar purposes,
b u t not used? W h at w ill happen to
in te re st rates follow ing th e w ar, w hen
both th e governm ent and p riv ate in ­
d u stry are com peting for capital? The
recen t elections have show n some
tre n d aw ay from th e p resen t p a rty in
power. W h at changes w ill th e R epub­
lican p a rty m ake if it is successful
n ex t year? W ill we have inflation fol­
low ing th e w ar w hen restrictio n s on
prices are rem oved? Or, on th e other
hand, w ill th e unem ploym ent w hich
resu lts b rin g about a deflation? These
and o th er questions too num erous to
m ention face every b an k er in th is
country, and th e ir solution is n ot easy.
W e recom m end th em to you, how ever,
for yo u r consideration.
In bringing to a close this year-end
article, w e are in serting this personal
note. E arly in 1938 w e started this
m o n th ly page, and for six years, du r­
ing peace and war, w e have each
m o n th discussed the problem s of the
m a rket—but, m ore im portant, the in ­
v e stm e n t problem s w h ich bankers
have faced. W ith this issue w e bring
to an end these articles. W e have thor­
oughly enjoyed contacts w ith our read­
ers, especially those w ho have w ritte n
to us or chatted w ith us, eith er to agree
or disagree. W e hope that in one w ay
or another these contacts w ill con­
tinue.

A Christmas Poem
It has been th e custom of th e U nited
States N ational Bank, Omaha, since
m any from th a t organization w en t into
th e arm ed forces, to send th ese people
a C hristm as gift, and th is y ear th e gift
is tak in g the form of a m oney order.
In stead of a le tte r of good w ishes,
w hich w ould u sually accom pany such
a rem ittance, th is y ear Miss R u th M.
O’Keefe of th e b an k w rote a poem to
go w ith each gift. W e know you w ill
like it:
I t ’s a y ear since a poem
W ent out from th ese portals,
Enclosing a check
To be sp en t by you m ortals.
N orthw estern B anker

D ecem ber 1943

30
It doesn’t seem possible
Tim e is so fleeting,
B ut h ere once again
W e are sending a greeting.

W e th in k of you often,
A nd especially now,
F o r the Y uletide’s approaching
F a st as Tim e w ill allow.

F rom th e sands of th e desert
To th e snow s of th e north,
To th e jungles of B urm a
T his m essage goes forth.

The stores are as bare
As the cupboard of old,
A nd the w ares are synthetic,
A sight to behold.

Since we cannot ju s t yet
Say th e b attle is over,
W e’re w ell on our w ay
To th e old days of clover.

So, like last year, we th o u g h t
T h at the best th in g to do
W ould be send you th e cash
F o r a real w hooperdoo.

You’re scattered and stationed
All over th e w orld,
’N eath th e g re a t flag of freedom ,
F o rev er unfurled.

Spend it w isely or w illfully,
J u s t as you wish,
The m oney is yours,
You can nam e yo u r own dish.

W e w ish we could see you
A nd tell you “H ello,”
Shake hands w ith each one
A nd say, “How goes th e show ?”
B ut since th a t little fete
D oesn’t come on th e list,
J u s t have one for us
A nd rem em ber y o u ’re missed.
’Til th e happy day comes,
W hen we say it to you,
M erry C hristm as, H appy New Y ear
A nd lots of luck, too.
—The Stay-at-Homes.

Envelope Firm
Changes Name
The B erkow itz Envelope Company,
Des Moines, has changed its nam e to
T ension Envelope Corp. in order to
co-ordinate production, ad vertising and
m ark etin g w ith its New Y ork City
affiliate, so th a t it can carry on its
n ational m erchandising program u n ­
d er one nam e.
A lbert

B erkow itz, president,

said

LITTLE PARTS THAT MAKE
A GREATER VICTORY
o f th e th o u san d s o f sm all p arts in a g re a t b o m b er
JUisSTvitalas each
to its o p e ra tio n , so are th e th o u san d s o f sm aller m an u ­
facturers w h o p ro d u c e tho se p a rts essential to th e o p e ra tio n o f
A m erica at w ar. D o u b tless in your area th ere are p rim e co n trac­
tors and su b -co n tracto rs w h o have assum ed g re a te r responsi­
bilities, re q u irin g la rg e r scope th a n in fo rm er years.
As an aid to c o rre s p o n d e n t b an k s in serving such custom ers,
th e b ro a d ex p erien ce o f the A m erican N a tio n a l B ank and T ru st
C o m p an y in th e analysis and financing o f w ar co n tracts has fre­
quently p ro v ed valuable. Possibly we can be equally helpful to you.

AMERI CAN NATI ONAL BANK
A N D TRUS T COMPANY
OF CHICAGO
LA S A L L E S T R E E T

9

AT W A S H I N G T O N

—------------------------------------------------- Asafr

Member Federal Deposit s S IIIS S ^

Insurance Corporation

w
O U R

B U S I N E S S

orthw estern B anker
Digitized forNFRASER
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

I S

D ecem ber 19b3

T O

H E L P

B U S I N E S S

V ic e

A L B E R T C. B E R K O W I T Z
P r e s id e n t a n d G e n e r a l M a n a g e r

postw ar expansion plans are involved
in th e nam e change. He added th a t
com pany executives believe th e paper
products in d u stry w ill expand into the
packaging of foods, p articu larly since
dehydration has been developed as a
w artim e necessity.
The B erkow itz E nvelope Company
in Des Moines w as founded in 1924 by
th e late Jo h n R. Ford, E. B. B erkow itz
and W alter J. B erkow itz.

31

M IN N E S O T A

NEWS
H . R. K U R TH
P r e s id e n t
H u tc h in s o n

W IL L IA M D U N C A N , J r .
S e c r e ta r y
M in n e a p o lis

Two Join Staff

Cashier At Braham

Two new em ployes w ere added to
th e p ersonnel of th e F irs t S tate Bank,
Floodwood, M innesota, last m onth.
E. M. Graf, Denhoff, N. D., cam e to
tak e over th e cashiership. Mrs. S. C.
Shipley, Floodwood, sta rte d as a book­
keeper.

The F irs t N ational B ank at B raham ,
Minn., recently added to its em ployes
A ssistant C ashier Carl O. K nutson,
form erly of W arren and Hallock. Mr.
K n u tso n ’s banking experience, ra n g ­
ing from bookkeeper to cashier, covers
25 years. Since his resignation last
F e b ru a ry from the H allock b ank to
accept a position w ith the U nited
States D epartm ent of Labor, he had
been em ployed w ith th a t d ep artm en t’s
W age and H our division.
He has tw o sons in m ilitary service,
one in th e N avy and one in th e A rm y
A ir Corps, com m issioned a second
lie u te n an t at th e Stockton A ir Field,
C alifornia. A d au g h ter is em ployed
in M inneapolis.
A b ro th er, Oscar
K nutson, is D istrict Judge at W arren.

Bank Head Succumbs
S ylvester A n thony Steffen, 65, p resi­
den t of th e M erchants B ank, of W i­
nona, Minn., p ro m in en t in W inona
civic and club activities and in b a n k ­
ing circles, died last m o n th at his
hom e, a fte r an illness of alm ost th re e
m onths.
Mr. Steffen had been associated w ith
th e M erchants B ank since 1897, h a v ­
ing served as m essenger boy, book­
keeper, teller, a ssista n t cashier, cash­
ier, vice p resid en t and president. He
had been p resid en t of th e b an k since
1920.
He w as a m em ber of the W inona
County C learing H ouse A ssociation of
w hich he had served as president, th e
W inona County, M innesota and A m eri­
can B ankers Association; th e South­
easte rn M innesota C learing H ouse
Association; th e W inona A ssociation
of Commerce, of w hich he had served
as a director; th e Izaak W alton League;
the A rlington Club, in w hich he had
served as a m em ber of th e board of
directors, and the W inona C ountry
Club of w hich he w as at one tim e a
m em ber of th e board of governors.

Bankers in School
C. J. Lieser, of th e B u rray C ounty
State B ank of Slayton, Minn., and Wm.

K oolm an of th e State B ank of C hand­
ler, w ere am ong 300 bankers, account­
ants, law yers and farm m anagers w ho
w ent back to school last m onth. They
attended a school of in stru ctio n in
farm bookkeeping and incom e tax
p rep aratio n in St. Paul.
T hey learned how to keep farm
financial records, how to in te rp re t
state and federal incom e tax law s and
how to m ake out th e 1943 income tax
rep o rt w hich Uncle Sam requires
farm ers to file by D ecem ber 15. The
“stu d e n ts” w ill help individual farm ­
ers th ro u g h o u t th e state in these re ­
quirem ents.

Banker Resigns
R alph M. Jones, assistan t cashier of
th e F irst State B ank of Okabena,
Minn., resigned his position recently.
Mr. Jones has sold his in te re st in the
bank and for th e tim e being his plans
are indefinite. Mr. Jones, b e tte r know n
as “Casey,” has been w ith th e F irst
S tate B ank 18 years.

Charter Extended
O rganized 30 years ago, the corpor­
ate existence of th e F arm ers State
Bank, Eyota, Minn., has been ex­
tended 30 years, to 1973.
The b ank began business in 1913,
w ith W. A. L aidshaw , president; T.
F. Underwood, vice president, and E.
F. Helm , cashier. Mr. U nderw ood
still is active in th e lum ber business
here. Mr. H elm now resides in W i­
nona.
In M arch, 1928, th e b an k took over

New Construction in St. Paul

Appointed Chairman
F ra n k P. Pow ers, p resid en t of th e
K anabec S tate B ank of Mora, Minn.,
has been appointed ch airm an of th e
com m ittee on th e A m erican system of
b an k in g of th e state b an k division of
the A m erican B an k ers A ssociation, it
w as announced by th e late W ood
N etherland, vice p resid en t of th e M er­
cantile Com m erce B ank and T ru st
Com pany of St. Louis, M issouri, w ho
w as p resid en t of th e association’s state
b an k division.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

C o n stru c tio n a n d e q u ip m e n t o f th e n ew W estern S tate Bank, S t. P a u l, w as
c o m p leted re c e n tly b y th e L eslie Schuldt Company, of S t. P a u l, a n d th e p ic tu re
show s th e lo b b y in te rio r b a n k e d w ith flow ers on th e o p e n in g day.

N orthw estern Banker

D ecem ber 1943

32

• M I N N E S O T A

NEWS

the assets of th e Citizens S tate B ank, B ricelyn, w ho talked on his w ork con­
and p re se n t footings are $700,000. Of­ nected w ith th e legislature; K. O. Satficers are Louis H am m el, president; »tre, vice president, B lue E a rth State
Clarence Talen, executive vice p re si­ B ank, w ho talked on an cient economic
dent, and E lizab eth A. S teichen is m easures and th e p resen t day, and
cashier.
b a rte r trade.
In th e first published re p o rt of th e
H. I. M uir of W innebago, w ho is
F a rm e rs State B ank in J a n u a ry 1914, now holding, and has held, responsible
to tal footings w ere $28,500, including assignm ents w ith th e F a rm Credit
$50 in gold.
A d m inistration, m ain tain in g offices in
M ilw aukee, Wis., talked on various
F a rm C redit m easures and com m ented
Vote Increase
A n am en d m en t has been published on those he believed should be p re ­
to th e certificate of incorporation in ­ served as a cushion in th e preserv atio n
creasing th e capital stock of th e Secur­ of our A m erican w ay of life.
ity State B ank of H ow ard Lake, Minn.,
to $25,000, th e increase being voted at
Director Becomes President
a stockh o ld ers’ m eeting recently.
A t a m eeting of th e board of direc­
to rs of th e F irs t N ational B ank of
Association Meets
Spring Valley, Minn., J. M. Sam ple
T he officers, directors and em ployes w as elected presid en t to succeed th e
of th e F irs t N ational B ank of K iester, late Lyle H am lin.
I t is th e first
Minn., w ere h osts recently, e n te rta in ­ change in th e presidency for over 25
ing th e m em bers of th e F a rib a u lt y ears as Mr. H am lin becam e th e head
C ounty B ankers A ssociation.
of th e b ank in 1906 w hen George GulThe sp eakers of th e evening w ere lickson w as elected cashier.
Mr.
S tate R ep resen tativ e E. O. L und of Sam ple has been a director of th e

*
b an k for 15 years, and his fath er
sta rte d as a d irector w hen the bank
w as organized as a n ational institution.

Breckenridge Banker Dies
H alvor L. Shirley, p resid en t of th e
F irst N ational B ank of B reckenridge,
Minn., form er m ayor and m em ber of
th e S tate L egislature, died a t his hom e
last m onth.
Surviving are tw o daughters, Mrs.
K. R. K ennedy of W innipeg an d Mrs.
Jo h n L undh of Lompoc, Calif., and
th ree sons Louis A. of W ishon, Calif.,
J. B. of H opkins and H alb ert Shirley
of B reckenridge.

New Bank
N o rth w estern S tate B ank opened at
Hallock, M innesota, recently, succeed­
ing S tate B ank of Hallock.
Stockholders and officers of th e new
b ank include m en w ho are in terested
in th e Citizens S tate B ank of Roseau.
T he new b ank is capitalized at $40,000
and th e su rp lu s fund is $8,000.

Name Chairmen

A $5,000 Accident Policy Paid Up in Full to March 15,
1944 for Only $2.00
Bankers are eligib le to this Liberal Protection, w hich includes
up to Two Years of Indem nity on A ccount of Injuries, at the
rate of $25.00 a w eek. (Sickness and Hospital policies, also,
at the sa m e low rate.)
Write for Information and A pplication to

MINNESOTA COMMERCIAL MEN S ASSOCIATION
At 26th Street and Pillsbury A ve.
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.

Out-of-Toivn Ranks
O u t-o f-to w n banks and bankers w ill find here
c o m p lete b a n k in g fa c ilitie s fo r p ro m p t and
econom ical handling of accounts in Chicago. We
w ould appreciate the opportunity of serving you.

C i t y N a t io n a l I I . w k
AND

TRUST

2 0 8

S O U T H

C O M P A N Y of Chicago
L A S A L L E

( Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)

N orthw estern B anker


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

D ecem ber 19^3

S T R E E T

H. R. K urth, H utchinson, M innesota,
presid en t of th e M innesota B ankers
A ssociation, announced appointm ent
of chairm en for five standing associa­
tion com m ittees for th e com ing year.
T hey are: B ank m anagem ent, R. A.
Bezoier, R ochester; ag ricultural, A lden
Pearson, D etroit Lakes; governm ent
lending agencies, R. M. Storlie, S anti­
ago; A m erican In stitu te of B anking
E ducation, R obert C. R utherford, Min­
neapolis, and consum er credit, A. C.
A rm strong, D uluth.

J a m ie s o n
&

Com pany
Members

N ew York Stock Exchange
and

Other Principal E xchanges
★

STOCKS
BONDS
COMMODITIES
MINNEAPOLIS
ST. PAUL
DULUTH

FARGO
GRAND FORKS
SIOUX FALLS

PRIVATE WIRES

33

Tw

ILLIA M E. Briggs, 85, vice
p resid en t of N o rth w e ste rn N a­
tional
B ank,
M inneapolis,
from 1914 u n til his re tire m e n t in 1931,
died last m onth. He cam e from South
St. Paul, w h ere he w as vice p resid en t
of Stock Y ards N ational B ank. Mr.
B riggs orig in ated cattle loans to fa rm ­
ers in th e N orthw est. B u rial w as in
W yom ing, Iow a, his birthplace.

W

Springer H. B rooks, St. Paul, re si­
d en t p a rtn e r of P iper, Jaffray & Hopwood, has been elected second vice
p resid en t of th e A ssociation of Stock
E xchange F irm s. E lection took place
a t a m eetin g of th e board of gov­
ern o rs in R ichm ond, Va.

Two d irecto rs of th e F ed eral R e­
serv e B ank of M inneapolis have been
re-elected for three-y ear te rm s sta rtin g
J a n u a ry 1, according to an n o u n cem en t
by W . C. Coffey, ch airm an of th e
board. T hey are S h irley S. Ford,
p resid en t of N o rth w e ste rn N ational
Bank, M inneapolis, Class A director,
and H om er P. Clark, ch airm an of th e
board, W est P u b lish in g Co., St. Paul,
Class B director.
B ernard L. D echeine has joined th e
St. P aul office of th e M ilw aukee Com­
p any as m an ag er of its tra d in g d e p a rt­
m ent. Since sta rtin g his in v estm en t
career in 1933, he w as associated w ith
P iper, Jaffray & Hopwood, Inc.; W inth rop , M itchell & Co.; H arris, U pham
& Co., an d J. M. D ain & Co. A y e a r
ago he w en t w ith N o rth w est A irlines.
T. AV. P elton , long active in in v est­
m en t circles, h as joined th e bond de­
p a rtm e n t of N o rth w e ste rn N ational
Bank, M inneapolis. F o r 18 y ears w ith
th e old W ells-Dickey Co., M inneapolis,
w as tra d e r in th e St. P aul office of
th e M ilw aukee Co. for 10 m onths be­
fore going to N o rth w estern .

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

in

C

ity

N

ew s

By Jam es M . Sutherland
Sp ecia l C orre spon de nt

L. E. D unn, corporate tru s t officer
of F irs t T ru st Co. of St. P aul State
B ank, w as elected presid en t of the
C orporate F iduciaries A ssociation of
M innesota a t th e ann u al m eeting in
St. Paul.
O ther officers nam ed w ere: vice
p residents, E. D. Stow e, a ssistan t sec­
re ta ry , tru s t d ep artm ent, N o rth w est­
e rn N ational Bank, M inneapolis, and
S. K. Platt, tru s t officer and a ssistan t
vice president, F irs t and A m erican
N ational Bank, D uluth; secretarytre a su re r, L ew W allace, a ssista n t sec­
re ta ry and a ssistan t tru s t officer, tru s t
d ep artm ent, F irs t N ational Bank,
M inneapolis.

Some 500 m em bers of th e M inne­
apolis chapter, A m erican In stitu te of
B anking, atten d ed th e an n u al com­
m encem ent p a rty a t N icollet Hotel.
P au l W . P etterson, ch ap ter p resid en t
and a ssistan t m ortgage loan officer
of M arquette N ational Bank, stressed
th e im portance of occupational educa­
tion as “th e su re st road to personal
pro g ress.”
Mr. P etterso n also introduced v isit­
ing A.I.B. officials, w ho included S. J.
K ryzsko, a ssista n t cashier, W inona
(M innesota) N ational & Savings B ank
and m em ber of th e n ational A.I.B.
executive council; Fred Goff, F irs t
N ational Bank, St. Paul, and St. Paul
c h ap ter president; and W illard F.
Ario, a ssistan t cashier of F irs t and
A m erican N ational Bank, D uluth, and
D uluth ch ap ter president.
M aynard Hue of J. M. D ain & Co.,
M inneapolis, presid en t of Tw in City
Bond T rad ers Club, has appointed

com m ittee m em bers for th e com ing
year, as follows:
E xecutive—Mr. Rue; P aul M atsche
of Paine, W ebber, Jackson & Curtis,
St. Paul, club vice president; Oscar
Bergm an of Allison-W illiam s Co., M in­
neapolis, secretary; Jack Talbot of
N o rth w estern N ational Bank, M inne­
apolis, treasu rer; George Jack ish of
H arris U pham & Co., M inneapolis, n a­
tional com m ittem an; W illiam Lau of
Bigelow-Webb, Inc., M inneapolis; C. C.
Rudd of Piper, Jaffray & Hopwood,
M inneapolis, and W alter Space of
W oodard-Elw ood & Co., M inneapolis.
M em bership— Theodore W . P elton
of M ilw aukee Co., St. Paul; E. B.
K airies of M errill L ynch, Pierce,
F e n n e r & Beane, M inneapolis, and
Carroll H. Babcock of Piper, Jaffray
& Hopwood, M inneapolis.
E n te rta in m e n t—C. J. R ieger of
Jam ieson & Co.; R obert M. R ice of
R. M. Rice & Co., and R obert McN aghten of W illiam s-M cN aghten Co.,
all of M inneapolis.
Publicity— Kerin it B. Soruni of Al­
lison-W illiam s Co., M inneapolis.
Official photographer-—A. J. Grun of
F irs t N ational B ank, M inneapolis.
Tw in City banking circles w ere
shocked by th e tragic death of th e
wife and dau g h ter of E dgar L. Matt­
son, ch airm an of th e board of M idland
N ational B ank & T ru st Co., w ho w ere
killed a t G reencastle, Indiana, w hen
th e ir car w as dem olished by a train .
Mrs. M attson had gone to L afayette,
Indiana, to v isit th e daughter, M arion,
w ho is professor of child psychology
a t P u rd u e U niversity. T he tw o w ere
re tu rn in g from a w eekend v isit to
Spencer, Indiana, w hen th e accident
occurred. F u n e ra l services for both
w ere held in M inneapolis.
J. R aym ond Sm ith, com ptroller of

N o rth w estern

N ational

N orthw estern Banker

Bank,

has

D ecem ber 1943

34

• M I N N ESOT A

NEWS

to rs of th e F irst N ational B ank of Owatonna, M innesota, held recently, R u th
W alk er w as elected a ssistan t cashier,
to succeed Clarence J. LaRoue, w ho
recen tly w as inducted into th e Navy.

been appointed ch airm an of th e b an k
m anagem ent com m ittee of th e E x ­
chequer Club of M inneapolis, w hile
W illiam F . K unze, vice p resid en t of
M arquette N ational B ank, heads th e
program com m ittee. B oth ap p o in t­
m en ts w ere m ade by P resid en t L. R.

The officers and directors of th e
F irs t N ational B ank feel Miss W alker
is w ell qualified for h er new position.
She has had considerable banking ex­
perience, com ing to O w atonna in 1936
from th e P ipestone N ational B ank at
Pipestone.

Oberg.
B arney W. Janicke has been elected
a d irecto r of F ifth N o rth w e ste rn N a­
tional B ank, M inneapolis, to fill th e
vacancy caused by th e d eath of P e te r
Hove.

Miss W alker attended th e U niversity
of M innesota and th e California Col­
lege of Commerce at Long Beach.

Appoint Successor
A t a m eeting of th e board of d irec­

•
Remodeling
New fixtures w ere installed in th e
F irs t N ational B ank at Starbuck, M in­
nesota. A b eautiful w h ite Italian m ar­
ble cut to fit th e old counter, w ith a
m atching green Italian m arble base
adds greatly to th e appearance and lets
in m ore light. Above th e m arble will
be a decorative glass. T hree teller w in ­
dows w ere installed, m aking it possible
to accom m odate th e volum e of busi­
ness du rin g th e busiest hours of the
day.
New green desk linoleum covers the
counters.
R ecently accoustical celotex w as p ut
in th e ceiling of th e bank.

Elected to Board

No M ystery to Us!
To an outsider, a great industry such as the
Sioux City Live Stock market may seem mysteri­

W illiam A. P atte rso n of Chicago,
presid en t and director, U nited Air
Lines, last m onth w as elected to th e
board of th e City N ational B ank and
T ru st Com pany of Chicago. Since
1929 Mr. P atte rso n has been prom i­
n en tly identified w ith th e aviation in ­
dustry, and p articu larly , air transpor-

ous and complex. To officers and employes of
this bank, its operation fits in readily with their
daily routine in handling your transactions.
Every day for 48 years, we have been en­
gaged in financing the raising and marketing
of live stock. We offer th is e x p e r ie n c e and
knowledge to you.

★

★

★

W IL L IA M A. P A T T E R S O N
O n C ity N a ti o n a l B o a r d

M e m b e r F e d e r a l D e p o s it I n s u r a n c e C o r p o r a tio n

N orthw
estern B anker

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

D ecem ber 1943

tation. He has co n tributed m uch to
th e advancem ent of both local and n a­
tional business and civic affairs, and
is now serving as ch airm an of the
corporate and special gifts division of
th e C om m unity and W ar F u n d Drive
in Chicago.
Aside from being p resid en t and a
director of th e n a tio n ’s oldest airline,
he is a director of th e A ir T ran sp o rta­
tion A ssociation of A m erica, Insu ran ce
Com pany of N orth A m erica, Illinois
State C ham ber of Commerce, and di­
rector-at-large of th e C ham ber of Com­
m erce of th e U nited States.

These th ree banks have purchased
alm ost a m illion and a half dollars
m ore in governm ent securities th a n
th ey held in Ja n u a ry of th is year.
Loans and discounts have dropped
$213,190.50' in th a t period, according to
th e sam e reports.

SOUTH
D A K O T A

New Manager

NEW S
T. N. H A Y T E R
P r e s id e n t
S io u x F a lls

A c tin g S e c r e ta r y
M I L D R E D S T A R R IN G

G E O R G E M . S T A R R IN G
S e c r e ta r y - T r e a s u r e r
H u ro n

(In the Service)

Corn Show
The N ational B ank of South D akota
and th e J. C. M ullaney G rain Com­
pany, a t V erm illion, South D akota,
had a week-long corn show in the
lobby of th e bank. C larence Shanley,
extension su p erv iso r for th e so u th ­
e aste rn South D akota d istrict, judged
th e event at w hich ten cash prizes
w ere aw arded.

Incorporate Bank
A rticles of incorp o ratio n for the
Citizens B ank of Colome, South Da­
kota, have been filed recen tly w ith
th e secretary of state, and th e ban k in g
d ep a rtm e n t said th e new b an k p ro b ­
ably w ill open about J a n u a ry 1, 1944.
T h ere is one b an k in operation at
Colome.
The articles said th e Citizens B ank
w ill be capitalized a t $25,000 and listed
F. E. Newlon, E d M usilek, H ector
Dem ers, R. E. W oolhiser and A. C.
Stenson, all of Colome, as d irectors
and holders of 76 of th e au thorized
250 sh ares of stock.

Hurley Has Bank
The H u rley State B ank opened for
business last m onth. C apital for th e
new in stitu tio n has been fu rn ish ed by
local persons, and th e y have also p ro ­
vided th e m anagem ent. Officers are:
R. L. R ayburn, p resident; Dr. Edw.
Joyce, vice presid en t; and E. G. Breen,
cashier. D irectors are M. H. Ruden,
Roy F lyger, C harles W. Sanborn, and
Dewey Benson.
H u rley has been w ith o u t local b a n k ­
ing facilities since th e fall of 1932.
P redictio n s are being m ade th a t sev­
eral new business en te rp rise s w ill
locate h ere soon a fte r th e b an k begins
operations.

Buy Bonds
As deposits in th e 125 South D akota
sta te b anks continued to sw ell d u rin g
th e th ird q u a rte r of 1943, th e funds
w ere being invested by th e b anks in
g o v ern m en t bonds, an ab stract of con­

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

ditions of state ch artered banks indi­
cated.
D eposits had increased $29,315,067
in th e p ast nine m onths, and du rin g
th a t tim e b ank holdings of govern­
m en t bonds increased by $29,860,590.
The $19,257,985 increase in deposits
in th e p ast th ree m onths boosted the
to tal to $109,537,611, S tate B anking
S u p erin ten d en t E rlin g F. H augo an ­
nounced. State banks held $46,634,367
in governm ent securities.
The ab stract indicated borrow ers re ­
tire d $846,012 in loans since Ju n e 30.
T he total of loans and discounts w as
$23,925,286.
T w enty years ago, S u p erin ten d en t
H augo said, th ere w ere 480 state banks
rep o rtin g a to tal of $151,298,066 in de­
posits, $140,119,780 in loans and dis­
counts and in v estm en t of $2,406,543 in
all types of bonds. The com parable
c u rre n t figure for th e last item is
$52,044,921.

Remodel
W ork w as sta rte d at th e Com m ercial
State B ank at W agner, South Dakota,
recently. The e n tire in terio r of th e
b an k is being changed and a new
coun ter and p riv ate office is being in ­
stalled. A long counter, th e length of
th e building, w ill tak e th e place of the
old one.

Four Million
D eposits in th e four Lincoln County,
South Dakota, banks have reached al­
m ost four m illion dollars, according
to th e statem en ts recently published
by them . T his w ould not include
m oney deposited by Lincoln County
resid en ts in banks in Alcester, Beresford, and Sioux Falls. These sam e
four banks have also purchased over
tw o and one-half m illion dollars in
U nited States G overnm ent securities.
The Ja n u a ry statem en t of th e L en­
nox E xchange B ank is not available
b u t those of the o th er three, th e Fairview Bank, the H arrisb u rg B ank and
th e F a rm e rs State B ank of Canton,
South Dakota, fu rn ish in terestin g fig­
ures.

C. F. Bain w as nam ed assistan t m an­
ager of th e G regory branch, at Gregory,
South Dakota, of th e N orthw est Secur­
ity N ational B ank of Sioux F alls in a
recen t m eeting by th e board of di­
rectors. Mr. Bain w ill replace W alter
Jo hnson w ho w ill be tra n sfe rre d to
an o th er banking in stitu tio n of the
N orthw est B ancorporation.

Business Up
B usiness volum e in M itchell, South
Dakota, as m easured by ban k debits,
w as six per cent above th e level a t­
tained in 1942. The total debits for
th is year to date indicate a 39 per cent
increase, com pared w ith th e sam e 10
m onths of 1942.
These b ank debits figures are re ­
leased each m onth by th e F ederal
R eserve B ank of M inneapolis, and
re p re se n t the volum e of checks draw n
by depositors against th e ir b an k ac­
counts to pay for goods, services, debts,
etc. T hey are considered a good in­
dicator of general business tren d s in
a given locality and reflect cash in ­
come received by farm ers and govern­
m ent spending to cover payrolls and
purchase w ar m aterials in addition to
general business volume.

Safekeeping Bonds
The C om m unity B ank at H artford,
South Dakota, recently installed a new
safekeeping service for W ar Bonds.
T his service provides a safe, conven­
ient and inexpensive m ethod of keep­
ing W ar Bonds and th e b ank advises
all w ho do not have safety deposit
boxes to avail them selves of th is serv ­
ice.

Sioux Falls N ews
of th e so u th D akota
B ankers association to co ntinua­
tion of g overnm ent subsidized lending
agencies, in direct com petition w ith
banks, w as officially expressed by
T. N. H ayter, association president
and vice presid en t of the F irst N a­
tional B ank and T ru st com pany.
H ayter, to g eth er w ith John Thom p­
son, chairm an of th e ban k ers associa­
tion com m ittee on governm ent subsi­
dized lending agencies and vice p resi­
den t of th e B ank of Centerville; R ye
p p o s it io n

O

N orthw estern Banker

D ecem ber 19^3

36

•

SO U TH

Kibbee, vice p resid en t of th e Com­
m ercial T ru st and Savings B ank a t
M itchell; Tom S. H arkison, vice p re si­
dent of th e N ational B ank of South
D akota in Sioux Falls, and W illiam
D uffy, vice p resid en t of th e U nion Sav­
ings B ank in Sioux Falls, atten d ed a
m eeting of officials of th e South Da­
kota F a rm e rs ’ U nion on th e in v itatio n
of Jo h n Skagge, president.
The F a rm e rs ’ U nion earlier had
criticized “th e b a n k e rs’ avow ed d e te r­
m ination to elim inate th e P roduction
C redit association.”

D A K O T A

“PCA is building large reserv es,”
H ay ter said, “and we are opposed to
th e g o vernm ent subsidizing a lending
agency in com petition w ith th e banks.
“Our position su p ports th e stand
m ain tained by leading farm organiza­
tions as th ey oppose th e control of
a g ric u ltu ral credit by political forces.
“It is recognized th a t direct relief
by th e g overnm ent in tim e of serious
econom ic stress m ay involve some
g ra n tin g of loans from public funds
as a te m p o rary expedient. How ever,
th e continued practice of m aking u n ­

C e n tra l H a n o v e r has w id e e x p e rien c e
i n h a n d l i n g a n d e x p e d i t i n g t h e v o l­
u m e o f b u s in e s s t h a t c o m e s to a N e w
Y o rk c o rresp o n d en t.
C e n t r a l H a n o v e r advises w i t h b a n k
c u sto m e rs o n th e ir o w n in v e s tm e n t
p o r tf o lio s .
A n d C e n t r a l H a n o v e r gives u n u s u a l
r e q u e s t s t h e a c tiv e , p e r s o n a l a t t e n t i o n
o f officers a c q u a i n t e d w i t h c o n d i t i o n s
i n e v e r y s e c t i o n of t h e U n i t e d S tates.

CENTRAL
HANOVER
BANK
A N D

T R U S T

C O M P A N Y

NEW YORK

MEMBER FEDERAL DEPOSIT

orthw
estern B anker
DigitizedNfor
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D ecem ber 19^3

NEWS

INSURANCE CORPORA TION

•
economic loans from public funds,
w ith o u t adequate consideration of th e
ability of th e borrow er to repay, and
w ith the losses socialized at th e ex­
pense of th e taxpayers, violates th e
principles on w hich credit rests, and
th ereb y endangers th e foundation of
a sound credit stru c tu re .”

M em bers of the executive com m it­
tee, South D akota w ar savings staff,
assem bled in Sioux Falls for a m eet­
ing called by W alter B urke, com m ittee
ch airm an and cashier of th e P ierre N a­
tional Bank. P urpose of th e din n er
m eeting w as to elim inate any w eak
spots in th e state organization p rio r
to th e F o u rth W ar Loan drive in J a n u ­
ary, according to C. A. C hristopherson,
executive d irector of th e w ar savings
staff and presid en t of th e U nion Sav­
ings B ank in Sioux Falls. T he m eet­
ing w as w ell attended, w ith all sec­
tions of th e state rep resen ted except
th e n o rth e a ste rn counties, w hose dele­
gates w ere snow bound.
F ran k E. Duffy, son of W illiam C.
D uffy, vice presid en t of th e U nion Sav­

ings Bank, has been com m issioned a
second lieu ten an t in th e arm y air
forces at M iami Beach, Florida. He
w as assigned to active d u ty at th e air
technical school a t Orlando, Florida.
R alph W atson, presid en t of the
N o rthw est Security N ational B ank
and recently-elected p resid en t of th e
Sioux Falls C ham ber of Commerce,
presided for th e first tim e last m onth
at a m em bership m eeting of th e or­
ganization w hen F ra n k J. L onergan,
P ortland, Oregon, g ran d exalted ru le r
of th e E lks lodge, w as th e principal
speaker. Am ong th e com m ittee ch air­
m en nam ed by W atson is Tom S.
H arkison, vice presid en t of th e N a­
tional B ank of South D akota, w ho
heads th e C ham ber’s m em bership com­
m ittee for th e com ing year.

A sh arp decline in S ioux F a lls b ank
clearings du rin g October, w hen com­
p ared w ith th e Septem ber level, w as
a ttrib u te d by local ban k ers to the
T h ird W ar Loan cam paign, w hich left
little “loose m oney” available for com­
m ercial tran sactions. A nother factor
in th e business curb w as extended
In dian sum m er w ea th e r w hich cut
deep into norm al dem ands for w in ter
m erchandise. The October to tal of
b an k clearings w as placed a t $11,888,918.83, com pared w ith $13,083,174 in
Septem ber. D espite th e drop, October
clearings rem ained 6.8 p er cent ahead
of th e sam e m onth a y ear ago. F o r
Septem ber, th e com parable gain w as
18 per cent, w hile in A ugust it w as 25
per cent.

37
served as tre a su re r for several y ears
for B ethel L u th e ra n church and w as a
m em ber of the W ahpeton school board
for several years. A P a st Noble G rand
of W ahpeton Odd Fellow s Lodge and
a tru ste e of th a t organization, he w as
also a m em ber of th e W ahpeton Ma­
sonic Lodge, and w as recen tly a dele­
gate to th e N ational R epublican Con­
vention.

NOR T H
DAKOTA
NEWS
H . A. F IS C H E R
P r e s id e n t
W a sh b u rn

List Key Bankers

0 . C. W A T T A M
S e c r e ta r y
F a rg o

hall; R ichland, C. A. Bonzer, Lidgerwood; Rolette, W. P. Campbell, Dunseith.
Sargent, G. A. K lefstad, Form an;
S heridan, E. C. W ahl, McClusky; Sioux,
F ra n k Fiske, F o rt Yates; Slope, M. E.
Johnson, Amidon; Stark, I. E. Giedt,
R ichardton; Steele, M. G. Pederson,
Hope; S tutsm an, K. A. W erner, S treet­
er; Tow ner, H. R. Rendahl, Cando;
T raill, O. C. Stusrud, M ayville; W alsh,
K. D. B ennett, P a rk River; W ard, W.
E. Tooley, Minot; W ells, E dw in Lysne,
H arvey; W illiam s, C. B. Neal, Williston.

In each county of th e state th e offi­
cers of th e N o rth D akota B ankers
A ssociation nam e one b an k er to serve
as key m an in all m a tte rs p ertain in g
to th e w o rk of th e association and to
cooperate w ith th e G reater N o rth Da­
kota A ssociation in its projects in th e
counties.
F. A. Irish, d irecto r of th e U. S.
C ham ber of Commerce, ag ric u ltu ra l
com m ittee of th e A m erican B an k ers
A ssociation, and ch airm an of th e a g ri­
c u ltu ra l com m ittee of th e state org an i­
zation, w ith C. C. W attam , secretary
of th e sta te organization, nam ed th e
Elected to Association
key b a n k ers for 1934-44 as follows:
W. P. Cam pbell of th e S ecurity State
Adam s, L. V. Skoglund, H ettinger;
B arnes, A. C. T horkelson, V alley City; B ank, D unseith, N o rth Dakota, w as
Benson, C. E. E rstad , M addock; B il­ elected p resid en t of th e N orthw est
lings, J. F. T ester, M edora; B ottineau, N orth D akota group of th e N o rth Da­
W. T. M unn, W esthope; Bow m an, D. G. kota B ankers A ssociation, at th e m eet­
Hogoboom, Bow m an; B urke, R. C. ing held in Minot, N orth Dakota. Con­
W iper, Bowbells; B urleigh, E. D. Saltz- rad J. Olson of Sanish w as nam ed vice
m an, B ism arck; Cass, W. E. Strehlow , president, and H a rry G rant of Minot,
Casselton; C avalier, L. E. Callahan, secretary-treasurer. G. A. S tenehkem
M unich; Dickey, B. R. C rabtree, Ellen- of W atford City w as chosen as a m em ­
dale; Divide, E. G. H anson, Crosby; b er of th e executive com m ittee.
D unn, H. M. W eydahl, K illdeer.
Eddy, M artin A ar, N ew Rockford; Cashier Returns
W. D. Johnson and fam ily arriv ed in
Em m ons, G. A. L en h art, H azelton; F o s­
ter, J. C. H offert, C arrington; Golden Cando, N o rth D akota, from M inneap­
Valley, T. E. H udson, Beach; G rand olis, and Mr. Johnson resum ed his
F ork s, Theo. H. T ufte, N orthw ood; duties, form erly held as cashier at the
G rant, A. O. F latlan d , Carson; Griggs, F irs t State B ank in Cando, last m onth.
R. E. W ordelm an, recen t cashier at
A. C. Brow n, H annaford; H ettin g er, H.
C. Bow ers, Regent; K idder, V erne th e bank, left w ith his fam ily for
W ells, Robinson; LaM oure, Sharpe S pring Valley, M innesota, w here th ey
P reu tz, Kulm ; Logan, George Laney, have bought and w ill operate a dairy
farm .
Napoleon.
M cH enry, M. T. Thom pson, Tow ner;
M cIntosh, J. J. Doyle, W ishek; M cKen­ O . J. Olson Dies
zie, O. N. Stenehjem , W atford City;
O. J. Olson, cashier of th e N ational
M cLean, H. A. F ischer, W ashburn; B ank a t W ahpeton, N o rth Dakota,
M ercer, R obert M. Stroup, H azen; M or­ since 1923, died last m onth.
ton, J. R. M adsen, M andan; M ountrail,
In 1913 he w as elected reg ister of
E. O. L erberg, P arshall; Nelson, Jo h n
deeds and re-elected several tim es. He
P. Lam b, M ichigan City; Oliver, E. H. w as elected to his fifth term b u t re ­
Johnston, C enter; Pem bina, F ra n k lin
signed to become cashier of th e N ation­
Page, H am ilton; Pierce, H. O. Lyng- al B ank, a position he has held since.
stad, Rugby; Ram sey, B landing F ish er, He w as also d irector of th e bank.
Devils Lake; Ransom , E. N. K ittelson,
He w as at one tim e presid en t of th e
E nd erlin ; R enville, E. L. H ubbard, Mo- W ahpeton C ham ber of Commerce,

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Vice President Dies
Oscar H erum , of Carpio, N o rth Da­
kota, m em ber of th e W ard county
selective service board since April,
1942, w ho for m any y ears w as cashier
and la te r vice presid en t of th e F irs t
N ational B ank in Carpio, died last
m onth in M inot w here he had been a
patient.
F o r some tim e p rio r to his death he
had been vice presid en t of the state
tax p ay ers’ association, in addition to
serving as a d irector for this district.
He had been active in circles of th e
N orth D akota B ankers A ssociation and
of its n o rth w est group, and had been
identified w ith m any o th er organiza­
tions and m ovem ents of a civic ch ar­
acter.

G ets Bank Service
T he A lm ont E xchange at A lm ont,
N orth Dakota, opened last m onth, gives
A lm ont and com m unity lim ited b an k ­
ing service.
The safe and fixtures of th e old
F arm ers & M erchants S tate B ank w ere
m oved to A lm ont and w ere installed in
th e Jo h n Gillis building.
T he A lm ont E xchange is u n d er th e
m anagem ent of Jo h n Gillis.

New Cashier
Miss Lee Jo h n sto n resigned as cash­
ier of th e F o rest R iver b ran ch a t
G rafton, N orth Dakota, of th e W alsh
County State B ank and h e r place has
been tak en by Mrs. H a rry Yon.

Services for Pioneer Banker
F u n e ra l services w ere held in th e
Sheldon, N o rth D akota, P resb y terian
C hurch for Royal E. K ratt, pioneer
Sheldon banker, w ho died last m onth.
Dr. W ard F. Boyd of F argo officiated.
In te rm e n t w as in th e Sheldon cem e­
tery. Com m ittal services w ere con­
ducted by th e M asonic Lodge. Mr.
K ra tt cam e to D akota T e rrito ry from
New York state in 1880. In 1909 he
assisted in th e organization of th e
Commercial State B ank of Sheldon.
He m arried th e form er H elen Cree in
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Ja n u a ry
1, 1914. Mr. K ra tt w as an active m em ­
b er of th e M asonic Lodge.
N orthw estern Banker

D ecem ber 1943

38

A
Wartime Investment
Service to Banks . . . .

UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT BONDS
A Specialized Service
Your orders for purchase or
sale of all issues executed
promptly.
Subscriptions for new issues
entered.

UNITED STATES
yia tio n a f B A.ÄT K o/(PmaAa
M E M B E R

N orthw estern B anker


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D ecem ber 19S3

FDIC

39
o ther m atters related to th e activities
of th e farm loan association and th e
F ed eral L and Bank.

NEBRASKA

Cashier Injured

NEW S
WM. B. H U G H ES
S e c r e ta r y
O m aha

R . I. S T O U T
P r e s id e n t
T ekam ah

To Replace Cashier
W ayne L am bertz, w ho has been em ­
ployed at th e Safew ay store for sev­
eral years, w ill join th e staff of the
W ash in g to n C ounty B ank, Blair, Ne­
braska, soon, it has been announced.
L ouis M urdoch, cashier of th e bank, is
to leave soon for m ilitary service.

President W eds
Mr. and Mrs. H oyt Osborn, B attle
Creek, N ebraska, are annou n cin g th e
m arriag e of th e ir d aughter, Ava, to
J. J. DeLay, p resid en t of th e DeLay
N ational B ank of Norfolk, N ebraska,
w hich took place recen tly in Chicago.
Mr. and Mrs. DeLay, follow ing a
w edding trip , arriv ed in N orfolk to
m ake th e ir home.
The y oungest d au g h ter of Mr. and
Mrs. Osborn, Mrs. D eLay w as b o rn and
reared so u th w est of B attle Creek. She
ta u g h t school in M adison county a
n u m b er of years, and in recen t y ears
has been teach in g in th e public schools
a t P hoenix, Arizona.
Mr. D eLay is w idely know n in b a n k ­
ing circles in th e m iddlew est.

Works in Grand Island
Iren e Schnase of Rockville, Ne­
braska, began w o rk in g a t th e F irs t
N ational B ank in G rand Islan d last
m onth.

New Bookkeeper
Max Medcalf of C ham bers is th e new
bookkeeper at th e C itizens S tate Bank,
C learw ater, N ebraska, beginning w ork
last m onth. Mr. Medcalf is a grad u ate
of th e Chilicothe, M issouri, B usiness
college in M issouri. He also is a
g rad u ate of th e C ham bers high school.
He has had experience in th e C ham ­
bers S tate Bank.

Honor Bank Employe
L ast m o n th F irs t N ational B ank
em ployees at H oldrege, N ebraska, gave
a d in n er p a rty hono rin g Jo T itus, who
w ill be leaving soon for th e navy.
Mrs. B. V. H anson and Mrs. Wm.
L in d stro m had charge of th e general

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arrangem ents. The patriotic them e
w as carried out in th e table decora­
tions w ith red, w hite and blue candles
and a bouquet of w hite ch ry sa n th e ­
m um s and red carnations, serving as
the centerpiece.

Announce New Cashier
A nnouncem ent w as m ade by C. H.
Rowan, p resident of the N ebraska
State Bank, at B roken Bow, N ebraska,
th a t A. W. L ine has accepted a position
as cashier of th e institution.
Mr. Line is w ell know n to a great
m any people not only in B roken Bow
b u t in all sections of th e county. He
served as deputy county tre a su re r for
a nu m ber of years resigning about a
year ago to rep resen t an insurance
com pany in m anagem ent of farm prop­
erties in this county.
Mr. L ine has had experience in the
ran ch business and also in th e b a n k ­
ing business in the so u th ern p a rt of
th is county in y ears past.

Miss Je an n ette Shepherd, a ssistan t
cashier of th e F irs t N ational B ank at
V alentine, N ebraska, suffered serious
in ju ries recently w hen she w as th ro w n
from a horse, b u t is m aking a good
recovery. Miss S hepherd and Miss
E velyn W ilson, registered n u rse at
the V alentine clinic, had been ho rse­
back riding in th e M innekadusa can ­
yon and w ere re tu rn in g to town.
She w as unconscious for m any hours
and X-rays show ed a fractu re of th e
skull above one ear. One hip w as
also badly bruised. Miss Shepherd is
restin g well at the general hospital.

Distribute Checks
T rustees of the Schuyler State Bank,
at Schuyler, N ebraska, F. J. O’Brien,
F ra n k Noha and T. A. Compton, are
in v itin g depositors of th e in stitu tio n
as of D ecem ber 27, 1933, to call at th e
bank for th e ir in terest checks, w hich
are now ready for distribution.
P aym ents are at the ra te of 7.247
p er cent, and this is th e last detail in
closing th e affairs of the depositors
com m ittee.

Juni or News
From th e N ebraska
Junior Bankers Association

Surplus Up
The B ank of B urchard, at Beatrice,
N ebraska, has increased its su rp lu s
from $5,000 to $10,000, by a vote of th e
directors. F. H. O berm ann is cashier
and m anager of th e bank.

To Help Farmers
W ith a view to giving b etter service
to farm ers in Paw nee county, th e N a­
tional F a rm Loan A ssociation at Bea­
trice, N ebraska, has em ployed Clyde
B arton of Paw nee City to handle m at­
te rs p ertain in g to F ed eral L and B ank
loans.
In announcing Mr. B arto n ’s selec­
tion, Axel M. Steen, secretary-treas­
u re r of th e farm loan association, said
th e a rran g em en t will enable applicants
for loans and p resen t m em ber-borrow ­
ers to tra n sa c t th e ir business in P aw ­
nee City at any tim e, ra th e r th a n go­
ing to B eatrice or w aiting for th e secre­
ta ry -treasu rer to m ake his reg u lar visit
to P aw nee City.
Mr. B arton has agreed to accept pay­
m ents on loans and assist in m aking
out applications, as w ell as handling

John L a u ritze n , E d ito r
ERV ICE charges and th e b an k situ ­
ation are tw o such im p o rtan t item s
th a t th e en tire colum n this tim e is de­
voted to w h at th e F arm ers and M er­
ch ants N ational B ank at Oakland,
N ebraska, is doing, so as to let you
know w h at o ther banks are th in k in g
about along these lines. The following
is a quote from th e copy th a t Chase
N eum ann of th a t b ank has sent in.
Incidentally th ere is no m an in th e
N ebraska Ju n io r B ankers A ssociation
w ho is w orking h a rd e r at helping the
organization to live d uring these tim es
th a n Chase N eum ann. A ny am ount
of praise given to him for his w ork in
th e Ju n io r A ssociation is insufficient.
Mr. N eum ann says:
“W ith b an k help destined to be an
ever increasing problem u n til the
du ratio n of th e w ar, every b ank is
forced to review its ro u tin e operations,
w ith th e idea of saving tim e. One im ­
p o rta n t tim e-consum ing operation has

S

N orthw estern B anker

D ecem ber Í9J3

40

* N E B R A S K A
alw ays been th e collection of m on th ly
account service charges. W e have re ­
cently saved tw o h o u rs out of th re e
form erly req u ired to analyze accounts,
a t th e sam e tim e re ta in in g m ost of th e
features of account analysis. W e have
done th is by cu ttin g our fo rm er th irty day ru n of balances to two, nam ely th e
high balance for th e m o n th and th e
low balance for th e m onth. W e have
m ade th e m ethod a single m achine
operation sim plified to th e p oint w here
it can be done by th e sim ple addition
and su b tractio n of four figures, tak in g
approxim ately 10 seconds p er account
n o t figuring th e tim e req u ired to w rite
th e resu lt. Our basis for account a n ­
alysis is as follows:

Credit
F o r analysis purposes only in te re st
is com puted on th e average balance at
20 cents p er $100.00 p er m o n th (ap­
proxim ately 2Vz% p er an n u m ).

NEWS

Debit
O verhead and m aintenance
m o n thly ..............................................50
Checks Paid, e a c h ................................03
W e now arriv e a t an answ er on a
typical account as follows:
(F o r explanation purposes we w ill
tak e an account w ritin g 20 checks,
m ain tain in g an average balance of
$300 on w hich the hig h est balance d u r­
ing th e m o n th w as $450 and th e low ­
est $150.)
Place .50 in th e cents colum n of any
com bination adding and su b tractin g
m achine.
Add .60 w hich is 20 checks tim es
th re e cents.
Now su b tract .45 w hich is th e high
balance $450. w ith th e decim al m oved
th re e places to left and su b tra c t .15
w hich is th e low balance $150. w ith
th e decim al m oved th ree places to left.

The Right Combination
* 4 r/0

LARGE LI

for Correspondent Service
CITY M T I 0M I B A M fi TRUST CO.
18th &Grand

“ "

Ä

7

C°'P' Kansas City, Mo.

•
Now total is .50 or th e am ount of the
service charge for th e m onth.
It is g ran ted th a t such an exam ple
gives com plete accuracy as to the re ­
su lt th a t w ould n ot be obtained in
actual operation. H ow ever by actual
te st of one m o n th ’s w ork we found
accounts varied only tw o to eight
cents one w ay or th e o th er except in
instances of an extrem ely high or low
balance m aintained for a few days in
th e account. These w e ru n for the
full 30 day period.”

A W ave
Miss N etha McGee, d au g h ter of Mr.
and Mrs. Dave McGee, w ho recently
joined th e WAVES, left for d u ty last
m onth. She is th e first C learw ater
w om an to join th is organization. Miss
McGee has been em ployed at th e Cit­
izens S tate Bank, C learw ater, Ne­
braska.

Deposits High
T he deposits of th e A m erican N a­
tional B ank in Sidney, N ebraska, has
h it an all tim e high, according to a
b an k statem en t recen tly published.
T otal deposits, as listed in th e sta te ­
m ent, are $4,249,056.83, approxim ately
$1,200,000 m ore th a n in th e statem en t
for th e end of Ju n e of th e c u rre n t year.
The increase alone in th e past
m onths am ounts to m ore th a n th e total
deposits of th e b an k eighteen m onths
ago, and com pares w ith th e balances
in 1935 and 1936 w hen th e total de­
posits ra n in th e neighborhood of six
and seven h u n d red tho u san d dollars.

BANKS

Bought and Sold

Confidentially and with becoming dignity

BANK E M P LO Y EES P LA C ED .
38 Y e ars S a tisfa cto ry Se rv ice

THE CHARLES E. WALTERS CO.
OM AHA, N EB R A S K A

7feT00TLE-LA CY
SIN C E 1889 WE H A V E S P E C IA L IZ E D AS "A BANKERS' BANK"

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

D ecem ber 19^3

41
in th e U nited States, A laska, Nova
Scotia, P anam a Canal Zone, Mexico,
H aw aii and, in peacetim e, China and
th e Philippines.
He is p ast p atro n of th e Ak-Sar-Ben
O.E.S. ch ap ter a t Om aha and p ast
g ran d p atro n of th e N ebraska G rand
C hapter. H e also is p ast p o tentate of
T angier Tem ple of th e S hrine at
Omaha.

r o p e r t y valued at $744,098 w as
th a t of Ju n e 30, th is year, w hen it w as
listed in an inven to ry , filed in $298,281,549.
county co u rt a t Omaha, of th e estate T otal loans Oct. 18 w ere $50,083,644,
an increase of $7,361,204 over $42,722,of R obert P. M orsm an, re tire d Om aha
ban k er, w ho died recently. H e had
840 rep o rted last June.
serv ed as p resid en t and la te r as ch a ir­
T he Live Stock N ational B ank of
m an of th e board of the U nited States
N ational B ank of O m aha u n til his re ­ Om aha has increased its su rp lu s ac­
count from $750,000 to $1,000,000, giv­
tirem en t.
ing th e in stitu tio n a com bined capital
The in v e n to ry did not include life
and su rp lu s of $1,500,000, it w as an ­
insu ran ce and tw o tr u s t funds.
nounced by A lv in E. Johnson, p resi­
dent.
T he F a rm C redit A d m in istratio n
Mr. Johnson said th at, to illu strate
board a t O m aha has announced th e
election of E. J. P etrik as vice-presi­ th e b a n k ’s consistent grow th, capital­
ization totaled $100,000 w hen th e bank
d en t and tre a s u re r of th e Production
C redit corporation of Omaha. H e had
opened 36 y ears ago.
S urplus account totaled $100,000 10
been tre a s u re r of th e PCC since 1937.
A n ativ e of South D akota, he h as been y ears ago, he said, and deposits at
th a t tim e w ere $5,000,000, com pared
w ith th e FCA since 1934. Previously,
he w as in th e a g ric u ltu ra l b anking
to m ore th a n $50,000,000 now.
field in South D akota for 13 years.
H arold T. E anderyon, vice p resident
H e succeeds H. A. V iergutz, w hom
th e FCA board elected vice p resid en t
of S m ith-L anderyou Company, Omaha
of th e F ed eral L an d B ank of Omaha. in v estm en t bankers, w as elected m ost
w o rth y g ran d p atro n of th e G eneral
G rand C hapter, O rder of E a ste rn Star,
Omaha bank d ep osits set an all-tim e
reco rd of $339,194,650 w h en figures a t th e trie n n ia l session in Chicago.
w ere announced Oct. 18 in response to
Mr. L anderyou becam e th e first N e­
a call from th e com ptroller of c u r­ b ra sk an in th e lodge’s h isto ry to hold
rency.
such a high post in th e g ran d chapter,
T he to tal w as $40,913,101 m ore th a n
w hich has jurisd ictio n over ch ap ters

P

NATIONAL BANK

Seven dow ntow n and South Side
banks in Om aha d istrib u ted m ore th a n
$400,000 in savings to 7,000 C hristm as
club m em bers th e la tte r p a rt of No­
vem ber.
The m oney w o n ’t all be used for
C hristm as, how ever. Some w ill help
pay incom e taxes, local taxes, doctor’s
and d e n tist’s bills, and w ill go for w ar
bonds.
N um ber of C hristm as club m em bers
in Om aha w as sm aller th a n a y ear ago
because b an k ers u rged previous m em ­
bers to consolidate paym ents into one
account, to reduce bookkeeping.
A. G. Black, head of th e farm credit
ad m in istratio n a t W ashington, told
th e house com m ittee on ag ricu ltu re
recently th a t u n d er p resen t financial
conditions, local banks and priv ate
lending agencies “probably w ill handle
m ost of th e loans now being m ade by
th e governm ent-financed production
credit associations.”
He added, how ever, th a t th e re w as
no w ay to predict how long p resen t
financial conditions w ould exist or
how long farm prices w ould rem ain at
p resen t high levels.

N ebraska w as one of only 10 states
to reach its Series “E ” w ar bond quota
in th e recen t drive, th e final F ed eral
R eserve B ank re p o rt to th e tre a su ry
d ep artm en t disclosed.
“W e feel th a t w e have accom plished
our prim e job,” said W . D ale Clark,
presid en t of th e Omaha N ational Bank,
w ho served as state bond drive chair­
m an. “W e are proud of our ‘E ’ bond
record.”

S T . JO S E P H , M O .

MILTON TOOTLE, JR.

E. H. ZIMMERMAN

R. E. WALES

P R E S ID E N T

V IC E P R E S ID E N T

C A S H IE R

GRAHAM G. LACY

MILTON TOOTLE, III

FRED T. BURRI

V IC E P R E S I D E N T

V IC E P R E S ID E N T

A SST. C A S H IE R


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

M e m b e r F e d e r a l D e p o s it
I n s u r a n c e C o r p o r a tio n

N orthw estern Banker

D ecem ber 1943

42

•
The s ta te ’s quota of $32,000,000 of
Series “E ” bonds w as oversubscribed
by a m illion dollars, Mr. C lark said.
T his indicated a broad d istrib u tio n
of th e bonds th ro u g h o u t th e state, he
added.
A. C. “Cub” P otter, longtim e head
of B urns, P o tte r & Co., O m aha in v est­
m en t ban k in g house, has joined Alex
Brow n & Sons in New Y ork City as
a sales rep resen tativ e.

F a rm e r and ra n c h e r directors of 42
production credit associations in th e
four states of th e Om aha farm credit
d istrict have re-elected F ay C. H ill,
stockm an and b a n k e r of Gordon, Ne­
braska, to his fo u rth te rm on th e farm
credit a d m in istratio n board of Omaha.
H is election w as announced by Nels
G. K raschel, g eneral ag en t of th e FCA
at Omaha, a fte r a m ail vote.
In m aking p o stw ar plans, Omaha
should tak e a lesson from th e m en
w ho half a c en tu ry ago gave th e city
its g reatest in d u stry , m eat packing,
according to A lvin E. Johnson, p resi­
dent of th e Live Stock N ational B ank
of Omaha, N ebraska ch airm an for the
N ational C om m ittee on Econom ic De­
velopm ent, and ch airm an of th e
Om aha C ham ber of Com m erce post­
w ar p lan n in g board. He spoke recen t­
ly before th e Om aha R o tary club.
Am ong those caught in O m aha’s
early-N ovem ber near-blizzard w ere
Steve W irtz of th e Om aha N ational
Bank, R ichard K rim lofski and W h eel­
er P latt. T hey w ere m arooned on th e
M issouri riv e r from S atu rd ay n ig h t to
M onday evening, w hile h u n tin g . The
trio did not a tte m p t to sail th e ir boat
dow n th e riv e r from B lair to Om aha
u n til th e w ind h ad subsided, for fear
th e boat w ould be dashed ag ain st th e
dikes.

N E B R A S K A

NEWS

*

A decided tre n d in m ortgage loan
reduction due to increased fam ily
earnings is evident in Om aha and the
rem ain d er of th e state, according to
L eslie E. M artin, presid en t of the Ne­
b rask a Savings and L oan Association.
Those w ho are not paying off th e ir
m ortgages are placing th e ir earnings
in savings accounts and are buying
w ar bonds, he said.
Savings and loan associations in the
N ebraska league ran k ed 13th am ong
sim ilar organizations in o th er states
in w ar bond purchases du rin g th e
Septem ber drive, M artin, w ho is state
secretary, said. W ith a quota of $3,500,000, N ebraska associations bought
$6,557,000 in bonds—22.4 p er cent over
th e ir quota.
Am ong those w ho e n tertain ed for
Mrs. Jo h n H. Schirding, of P etersburg,
Illinois, th e form er Jessie Clark,
d au g h ter of Mr. and Mrs. W. D ale
Clark of Omaha, w ho has been v isit­
ing h e r p arents, w ith h e r sm all daugh­
ter, C atherine, w ere Mrs. C. W. Mead,
Mrs. R ay Ridge, Mrs. W alter Savidge
and Mrs. S. R. K irkpatrick. Mrs.
S chirding’s fath er is presid en t of the
Om aha N ational Bank.
Jo h n L au ritzen of the F irs t N ational
B ank of Omaha has been chosen by
th e Omaha Ju n io r C ham ber of Com­
m erce to rep resen t th e Ju n io r Cham ­
b er on P ostw ar P lan n in g Board. In
th is position Mr. L au ritzen w ill w ork
w ith o ther P o stw ar B oards th ro u g h ­
out th e co u n try in an effort to d eter­
m ine w here th e younger m en m ust fit
into th e w orld to follow.

board for a good m any years, and has
been m ost active in th e affairs of the
school.
C. D. Saunders, as a m em ber of the
board of directors of th e Omaha Cham­
ber of Commerce, is on the board to
solicit funds for th e prom otion of fu­
tu re business for th is te rrito ry of the
country.
A new baby girl, M ary Teresa, a r­
rived at th e hom e of Mr. and Mrs. A.
J. H allas not long ago. Mr. H allis is
vice p resid en t of th e Stock Yards N a­
tional Bank.

Deposits Climb
W ith “new m oney” already m aking
its appearance in Columbus, N ebraska,
b ank deposits continue to clim b to
new highs each m onth, th e business
barom eter of th e Cham ber of Com­
m erce indicates.
B ank deposits w ere $7,805,595.36,
com pared to $7,593,561.94 for th e p re­
vious m onth, and $4,978,712.47 for last
year at this time.

Files as Delegate
C hristopher J. Abbott, H yannis
ran ch er and banker, last m onth be­
came the first candidate to com plete
his filing for election as delegate at
large to the national R epublican con­
vention. A bbott’s petition, filed w ith
S ecretary of State F ra n k M arsh, bore
m ore th a n 2,500 sig n atu res from the
four congressional districts.

Named a Director
F red W . T hom as of th e F irs t N a­

tional B ank of Om aha has been vice
p resid en t of the board of directors of
B row nell H all E piscopal School for
Girls. Mr. T hom as has served on th e

At a stockholder’s m eeting recently,
R aym ond K epner w as elected as a
m em ber of th e B oard of D irectors of
the F irs t N ational B ank of Osceola,
N ebraska.

"at the crossroa ds o f Om aha"

FIRST N A T I O N A L

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

D ecem ber 1943

BANK

43

ANK clearings in L incoln for th e liquidation com m ittee of th e N ebraska
m o n th of October, 1943, took a drop N ational B ank of G rand Island. In
from th e clearings for Septem ber, w ith spite of th e adverse conditions prev ail­
ing d u rin g th e liquidating period th e
a to tal of $17,035,461 com pared w ith
$19,061,703 in th e preceding m onth. tru ste es w ere able to realize enough
H ow ever, th e m a rk th is O ctober is out of th e assets to pay total dividends
h ig h er th a n th a t of October, 1942, by re p re sen tin g 93.43 p er cent of th e orig­
$1,422,657, th e figure last y e a r h aving inal deposits.
been $15,612,804.
F o r th e first ten m o n th s of 1943 to tal
G oes to Iowa
clearings w ere $171,478,332. T his is
A. F. Goblirsch has resigned his posi­
$26,703,374 m ore th a n th e $144,774,958
tion as a ssistan t cashier in th e P e te rs­
rep o rted for th e corresponding to tal
b u rg State Bank, at P etersburg, Ne­
for th e sam e period of last year, and braska, and has tak en a position in
revealed a m ore th a n satisfacto ry in ­
a b an k in Dunlap, Iowa. D elbert
crease in business for th e c u rre n t y e a r Schafer has tak en Mr. G oblirsch’s place
to date.
in th e bank.
It w as believed th a t large checks
m ade out in th e th ird w a r loan drive
Bank President Dies
in S eptem ber, th u s adding to th e total
am o u n t of b an k clearances—even
H arve H. O stenberg, 65, p rom inent
thou g h from one local b an k to a n ­ Scottsbluff businessm an since 1910 and
o th er—co n trib u ted to th e decrease in p resid en t of th e Scottsbluff N ational
m o n th ly clearances show n for October.

B

H arold D. Johnson, a ssista n t directo r
of th e d e p a rtm e n t of banking, a n ­
nounced th a t th re e b an k receiverships
are pending. T he F a rm e rs S tate B ank
of Callaw ay has paid 52 p er cent and
w ill be closed w ith little loss to stock­
holders. T he P ro fessional C ooperative
C redit A ssociation of L incoln has paid
out 50 p er cent and an o th e r dividend
w ill y et be paid. The M idland Savings
B ank has paid all cred ito rs and 44 p er
cent to stockholders. F in al settlem en t
is aw aitin g th e possibility of strik in g
oil on 750 acres of T exas land. As an
indication of th e changed conditions
in th e state, b etw een 1929 and 1932
th e re w ere 115 b an k receiverships.
A final depositors dividend of 10.4
p er cent h as been declared by th e
Y O U R STATE B A N K ER S A S S O C IA T IO N
O F F IC IA L S A F E , V A U L T A N D
T IM E LO C K EXPERTS

F. E. D A V E N P O R T & C O .

Bank, Scottsbluff, N ebraska, died su d ­
denly of a h e a rt attack at his hom e
recently.
Mr. O stenberg w as born in F rem ont,
N ebraska, on Ju n e 16, 1878, th e son of
Mr. and Mrs. Otto O stenberg. He a t­
tended school in W ahoo, N ebraska,
Doane College and N ebraska U niver­
sity w here he w as a m em ber of Sigma
A lpha E psilon fratern ity .
F ro m 1905 to 1910 he w as cashier
of th e F a rm e rs and M erchants B ank
at Malmo, N ebraska, and in 1910 came
to Scottsbluff and organized th e Scotts­
bluff N ational B ank w ith his b ro ther,
the late W. H. O stenberg. In th e sam e
y ear he also organized th e F irs t N a­
tional B ank at B ayard and th e G ering
N ational Bank.
The G ering B ank w as later sold, b u t
he retain ed his in te re st in th e B ayard
B ank and w as an officer a t th e tim e
of his death. The Scottsbluff N ational
B ank absorbed th e old F irs t N ational
B ank of Scottsbluff.

Changes Position
A nnouncem ent w as m ade by L. W.
T itus of th e F irs t N ational B ank of
H oldrege, N ebraska, th a t A. I. Rauch,
m anager of th e H astings Production
C redit Association, has been em ployed
by th e b ank and assum ed his duties
last m onth, handling loans and farm
pap er for the bank.
R auch is w ell know n in H oldrege
and Phelps and su rro u n d in g counties.
He served for n early four years as
th e m anager of th e H oldrege b ran ch
office of th e P roduction C redit Asso­
ciation before being prom oted to m an ­
ager of th e association and m oving to
H astings m ore th a n a y ear ago.

W a r -tim e S e r v ic e
Let us help you with your
war-tim e problem s a n d thus
assist you in serving a N a­
tion a t W ar.

(oN TIN EN TA L RA TIO N AL
B a/° f k

LINCOLN
Member F ederal D eposit Insurance Corporation

OM AHA


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

N orthw estern B anker

D ecem ber 1943

44

Figures Speak for Them selves
P ro o f of satisfactory service to o u r custom ers is
evidenced by th e follow ing com parative statem ent.

October
October
October
October
October

19th, 1908__________________________ $
380,120
19th, 1913_________________________ 1,963,412
19th, 1923_________________________ 4,776,831
19th, 1933_________________________ 4,978,330
19th, 1943_________________________ 52,751,827
★
OFFICERS

AND

DIRECTORS

A LV IN E. JO H N SO N
P r e s id e n t
R. H . KROEGER
V ice P r e s id e n t

H. C. K A R PF
V ice P r e s id e n t
PAU L H AN SEN
C a s h ie r

H. H. ECHTERMEYER
A ss t. C a s h ie r

L. V. PULLIA M
A s s t. C a s h ie r
C. G . PEA R SO N
A ss t. C a s h ie r

EARL R. CHERRY
A s s t. C a s h ie r

W . D EAN VOGEL
A s s t. C a s h ie r
T. J. PR IC E, JR.
A ss t. C a s h ie r
W . P. ADKINS
C h a ir m a n

H . B. B ERG Q UIST
C o a l a n d G r a in

L. S. BURK
C h ic a g o

JAS. J. FITZGERALD
P r e s . C o m m e rc ia l S a v . & L o a n A s s n .

T. E. GLEDHILL
F a rm e r

LEO T. M URPHY
M g r. A llie d M ills, In c.

JAM ES L. PA X TO N , JR.
P re s . P a x to n -M itc h e ll C o.

H ERM AN K. SC H A FER
P r e s . M o n e y M illin g C o.

CARL A . S W A N S O N
P re s . J e rp e C om . & C o ld S to r a g e C o.

J. L. W ELSH
B u tle r-W e ls h G r a in C o.

★

LIVE STOCK N A T IO N A L BANK
OMAHA
T h is B a n k H a s N o A f f ilia te d C o m p a n ie s
M e m b e r o f F e d e r a l R e s e r v e S y s te m a n d F e d e r a l D e p o s it I n s u r a n c e C o r p o ra tio n

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

D ecem ber 19!i3

45
held in th e com m unity room a t th e
“Y” at W ashington, Iowa, an address
w as given by W alter G arver, agricul­
tu ra l econom ist for th e F ed eral R e­
serve B ank of Chicago.
Mr. G arver, w hose duties tak e him
over a large area to g ath er ideas on
economic questions to be used as a
basis for securing favorable legislation,
spoke on th e question of subsidies
w hich is before Congress now.

NEWS
Y . W . JO H N S O N
P r e s id e n t
C e d a r P a lls

FRANK W ARNER
S e c r e ta r y
D es M o in es

Bank Manager

Smith G oes to Leon

Mr. F re d R isser of th e F irs t State
Bank, C hariton, Iowa, announced th e
ap p o in tm en t of H e n ry Iv an F o rd as
th e new re sid e n t m an ag er of th e R us­
sell office of th e F irs t S tate B ank.

D w ight L. Sm ith, vice presid en t of
th e C entral S tate B ank & T ru st Com­
p an y of E lkader, Iowa, subm itted his
resig n ation at a m eeting of th e board
of d irectors of th e ban k last m onth.
The board accepted Mr. S m ith’s resig­
n atio n b u t has y et done n o thing tow ard
selecting his successor.
Mr. Sm ith w ill tak e a sim ilar posi­
tion in th e D ecatur County State B ank
a t Leon.

Dies in Omaha
G arw in, Iowa, frien d s received w ord
of th e d eath of R alph G. R ichards last
m onth. The R ichards lived in G arw in
for a n u m b er of y ears w hile he w as
connected w ith G arw in S tate Bank.
Mr. R ichards has been an invalid for
several years. H e is surv iv ed by his
w ife and tw o children, Mrs. R obert
H ughes of Omaha, w h ere he passed
aw ay, and a son, V ernon, w ho lives in
K ansas.

G e t New Posts
A t a special called m eeting of th e
directo rs of th e F a rm e rs State B ank
of Jew ell, Iowa, last m onth, F ra n k H.
F erb itz, Jew ell b u siness m an, w as
elected p resid en t of th e bank, to suc­
ceed E lm er T. Rorem , w hose re tire ­
m en t as president, d irecto r and stock­
holder of th e b an k w as announced.
A t th e sam e tim e Alm a C. R orem
w as elected to succeed E lm er T. R orem
as d irecto r of th e bank.

Dressed Up
H u ndreds of pounds of needed cop­
p er and brass are m ade available for
w ar production w hile th e appearance
of th e in terio r of th e Iow a T ru st &
Savings B ank B uilding, Oskaloosa,
Iowa, has been im proved and m odern­
ized by rem odeling operations.
The heavy brass grill w ork of th e
cage around th e counters has been re ­
placed w ith a ttractiv e m ahogany coun­
te r fixtures of th e latest design. The
g rill sep aratin g th e safety deposit
v au lts from th e lobby has been re ­
placed w ith low m ahogany p artitio n s
and doors.
The in terio rs of th e counter boxes
are arran g ed to facilitate the handling
of banking supplies and are to be
illu m inated w ith th e latest type of
fluorescent lighting. O ther lighting
changes are also contem plated.

Employes Hear Editor
Jo h n W. Carey, m anaging editor of
The Jo u rn a l and Jo u rn a l T ribune,
of Sioux City, Iow a, spoke before 120
em ployes and officers from seven Sioux
City b an k s a t th e m o n th ly forum d in ­
n e r m eeting of Sioux City chapter,
A m erican In stitu te of B anking, in the
M ayfair Hotel.
Mr. C arey’s address included re m ­
iniscences of early day Sioux City
events. S ponsoring th e p ro g ram w as
a group of S ecurity N ational B ank em ­
ployes u n d e r ch airm an sh ip of C harles
R. Gossett, b an k president. A lvin G.
Nelson, in stitu te ch ap ter president,
w as m a ste r of cerem onies.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

In Des Moines
The follow ing em ployes of the Brenton B anks w ere guests of Mr. and Mrs.
W. H. B renton in Des Moines recently:
Miss Thelm a McClure and Miss Grace
Cain of Jefferson; Miss F lorence Berdin and Miss Calista W iese of Emm etsburg; Miss D orothy H elm ick and
Mrs. G eraldine B atershell of Dallas
C enter; Miss Ina B u rk et of G ranger;
Mrs. M arjory O rr of W aukee; Miss
M ary Rees, Miss M ary Jan e S tew art
and Miss G uinevere B arth of P erry;
Mrs. E unice W in ter of Adel; Miss R uth
Shiffett of D exter; Mrs. Doris Sm ith
and Mrs. Della Shogren of V inton; Mrs.
Lucille P otts, Miss H attie Johnson and
Miss M ary Doris Donohoe of G rinned.
L uncheon and tea w ere served a t the
B renton home, w ith a business m eet­
ing in th e afternoon. In th e evening
th e guests w ere en tertain ed a t d in n er
at th e Des Moines Club. Out-of-town
girls w ere luncheon guests of Miss
H elen R in eh art at Y ounkers Tea
Room.

Ex-Banker Dies
I. B. R obinson, 62, died in his hom e
in H am pton last m onth a fter a linger­
ing illness.
He w as born in H am pton A pril 2,
1881, attended th e H am pton schools
and th e State U niversity of Iow a at
Iow a City.
Mr. R obinson w as a form er vice p res­
ident of the old F ra n k lin County
S tate Bank, of H am pton.

Becomes Director
C larence E. N icholson of Conesville,
Iowa, has been nam ed d irector of the
Colum bus Ju n ctio n S tate B ank at
Colum bus Junction, to fill th e vacancy
on th e board created by th e death of
Roy A ringdale.
He is ow ner and operator of a farm ,
p resid en t of th e Louisa C ounty M utual
In su ran ce Company, and secretarytre a s u re r of th e Iow a E x p erim en tal
A ssociation a t Conesville.

Hear Economist
A t a m eeting of th e Louisa-W ashington County B ankers A ssociation,

Handle Corn Loans
The Story County B ankers Associa­
tion is going to handle corn loans for
S tory county farm ers w ith o u t asking
th e governm ent for aid.
T his w as th e unanim ous agreem ent
reached a t a m eeting at Nevada.
G uests included th re e state com­
m erce com m ission officials w ho ex­
plained th e Iow a W arehouse Law on
corn and grain. T hey w ere Commis­
sioners Carl Reed and David Long and
S u p erin ten d en t R ay Jo hnson of the
w arehouse division.
N orthw estern B anker

D ecem ber 1943

46

- •

IO W A

NEW S

—

Increase in Surplus

On the Job Again

Double Capital Stock

The board of directors of th e IowaDes M oines N ational B ank and T ru st
Com pany, a t its N ovem ber m eeting,
voted to increase th e b a n k ’s su rp lu s
account in th e am o u n t of $250,000 by
tra n sfe rrin g th a t sum from th e u n d i­
vided profits account, H e rb e rt L. H o r­
ton, president, announced.
The to tal capital s tru c tu re of th e
b an k now exceeds $5,000,000, m ake
up as follows: Common stock, $2,500,000; surplus, $1,500,000; undivided p ro f­
its and unallocated reserves, $1,035,000.
H o rto n said th e to tal resources of
th e b ank are now m ore th a n $100,000,000, th e h ig h est to tal ever recorded by
an Iow a bank.

W ord from L. L. A rendt, cashier of
th e Gibson, Iowa, Savings Bank, says
th a t M. L. A rendt, vice president, is
again on active d u ty a t th e bank. M.
L. A ren d t suffered an attack of m alta
fever last A ugust, and only recently
has been able to be up and around.

A special m eeting of th e stockhold­
ers of th e G raettin g er State B ank a t
G raettinger, Iowa, w as held last m onth
for th e purpose of voting upon an in ­
crease in th e capital stock from $12,500
to $25,000. T he increase w ill n o t re p ­
resen t th e sale of new stock b u t w ill
be paid out of th e undivided profits.

Two Million More

Ida County Banker Dead

B ank clearings for Sioux City, Iowa,
for 1943 show an increase of $2,612,408
over clearings for 1942, w ith all bu si­
ness generally show ing an increase,
according to th e financial figures re ­
leased by th e C ham ber of Commerce.

F ra n k M. S tew art, 77, vice p resident
and d irector of th e Ida County State
Bank, died a t his hom e at Ida Grove,
Iowa, recently. Mr. S tew art had been
ill since he suffered a stroke.

To Officiate

THE CHECKS YOU BUY
and give

away

Imprinted checks —whether Person­
alized pocket check style or business
style three-on-a-page, are easier for
you to handle, the customers prefer
them and you save all the cost.
Anything as personal as a checking
account—and checks are the personal
currency of the individual — should
be truly personalized. All customers
don’t know that imprinted checks are
available or how inexpensive they are.

. . . never make you any money. They
increase your cost of doing business.
BUT the checks you SELL imprinted
with a customer’s name cost you
NOTHING.
What, for example, do you pay in
the course of a year for large size
over-the-counter checks —and for
which you receive nothing in return?
Certainly everyone who uses a busi­
ness size check should have his name
printed on it.

Why not tell them? Show them your
De Luxe Catalog. And if you
would like a supply of state­
ment enclosures to make
your message stronger,
write us and we’ll be
happy to send whatever
you can use.

Those Newport and Compact
style check books —so popular
in the East —they too are
costly, when they are given
away. But when they’re .
imprinted you can re- |
cover your full cost.

De luxe
CHECK PRINTERS

dPtic.

Manufacturing Plants at
NEW YORK

CLEVELAND

CHICAGO

KANSAS CITY

V .

H. N. M cM aster, Correctionville, w as
elected to th e presidency of th e W ood­
b u ry C ounty B ankers A ssociation afte r
a d in n er atten d ed by about thirty-five
m em bers.
B. M. W heelock, vice presid en t of th e
S ecurity N ational Bank, Sioux City,
Iowa, w as elected vice presid en t of
th e b an k ers group, and H. W. Hays,
Moville, secretary -treasu rer. W. G.
Nelson, a ssistan t vice p resid en t of th e
L ivestock N ational Bank, Sioux City,
presided.

Mail Yule Checks
A pproxim ately $130,000 w hich has
been deposited du rin g th e p ast y ear as
C hristm as savings in tw o C linton
banks offering th is service, w ere
dropped in th e m ails Decem ber 1st as a
h ig h lig h t of p o stw ar p ro sp erity w eek
w hich began N ovem ber 29th.
T his C hristm as club plan, w hich
is fu n d am en tally a corporation and
founded and presided over by H erb ert
F. Raw ll of N ew York, has become in
th e p ast decade a w idely concentrated
n ational plan, and th is y ear $420,000,000 w ill be d istrib u ted to about 7,500,000 m em bers. T he w eek’s title is a
nam e designed by th e corporation only
for th e d u ratio n to replace th e N ation­
al P ro sp erity W eek designation, and
th e cash dispersal is an n u ally th e h igh­
est point of th e period.

S carborough ^ C ompany
First N ational Bank Building, Chicago

N orthw
estern B anker

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

D ecem ber 1943

H orace A. Smith, Iow a Representative
Des Moines, Iow a

Wartime Design
for Christmas Buying

This m onth com es C hristm as—w ar or no w ar.
To our friends a n d business associates in banks
throughout Iow a, w e extend sincere holiday g reet­
ings.
And since there IS w ar, how wise to com bine w a r­
buying with C hristm as buying.
Yes—this y e a r a n d every y e a r 'til Victory, the No. 1
C hristm as gift is a W ar Bond.
Som etim es folks seem w eary of h ea rin g ab o u t W ar
Bonds.

The M arines a re w ea ry of h earin g la p

p lan es, too—but the only w ay to silence those p lan es
for keeps, is to keep buying W ar Bonds.
So w e'll all buy m ore—in '44.

BA N K ER S

T R U S T

FQPJ/ICTORY
UNITED
STATUS

WAR
1 JONDS
AND


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

6th and
Locust

.STAMPS

i

48

•
C ed ar Rapids Cashier Dies
S tricken A rm istice Day by a h e a rt
attack, F ra n k G. K anak, 58, cashier and
a director of th e U nited State B ank,
w hich he helped organize in 1922, died
in a Cedar Rapids hospital.
He sta rte d in th e b an k in g business
w ith th e M erchants N ational B ank in
Cedar R apids in 1906 and, a fte r a pe­
riod there, becam e associated w ith a
bank a t T hornburg, re tu rn in g to Cedar
Rapids w ith th e old C entral State
Bank.
He left th e C entral S tate B ank to
serve 20 m o n th s in th e arm y, 13

IO W A

NEWS

m o n th s overseas, in W orld W ar I. On
his re tu rn he w as associated w ith th e
Ulch B ro th ers S tate B ank of Solon
u n til 1922 w hen he helped organize th e
U nited State B ank in Cedar Rapids.
He began as a teller w ith th e U nited
State Bank, w orking his w ay to cash­
ier.

Former Banker Dies
H a rry K. Denmead, for m any years
a resid en t of M arshalltow n, Iowa, and
an official in th e old F irs t N ational
B ank, died suddenly last m onth a t his
hom e in F o rt Madison.

r

This & fieàience
may be useful
to y o u ...
S in c e 1 8 6 8 th is i n s t i t u t i o n
has co -o p erated w ith banks
th r o u g h o u t th e m id d le
w est in e x te n d in g cred it
facilities to sound co m ­
m ercial b o rro w ers.
T h is ex p erien ce is at y o u r
disposal w ith o u t o b lig a tio n .
2/V ie

LIV E
• A rt/ fm ta /

STO CK

ESTABLISHED 1868

7 > ffê

STOCK

'j d j t v i î w e ï &

YARDS

a ï if

Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

N orthw estern B anker


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

D ecem ber 19^3

Banks Merge
M erger of th e F irs t N ational B ank
and the F irst T ru st and Savings B ank
at Rem sen, Iowa, w as announced last
m onth, w hen th e approval of th e state
b anking d ep artm en t of th e consolida­
tion becam e final.
The nam e of th e new in stitu tio n , its
location and th e personnel have not
been announced. The F irs t N ational
B ank w as organized in 1903. The p res­
ent officers are B arney B unkers, p resi­
dent, and W. G. Sievers, cashier. The
F irst T ru st and Savings B ank organ­
ized u n d er th e Toy N ational B ank in ­
terests by th e late Jam es F. Toy of
Sioux City in 1887. Officers of th e bank
are E. H. Spiecker, president, and M.
H. N iggeling, cashier.
The to tal deposits of th e tw o in stitu ­
tions w ere over $2,000,000. T his will
leave R em sen w ith tw o banks, the
o ther being th e F a rm e rs Savings Bank.

Sell Bank
M.
J. G rogan of C hariton and K. C.
M owery of O ttum w a have sold th e ir
stock in th e Beoples State B ank a t
B atavia, Iowa, to W. K. Brom well,
p resid en t of th e H ard in County B ank
in E ldora. F o r th e p resen t tim e th e
b ank w ill be u n d er th e old m anage­
m ent.

Bank Fire
F ire of und eterm in ed origin th re a t­
ened to destroy th e local building of
th e Story C ounty State B ank at Ro­
land, Iowa, w hen flames w ere seen
belching from th e basem ent windows.
The dam age w as m ostly to th e beam s
u n d er th e m ain floor, w hich w ere bad­
ly charred, and th e electric w iring. It
is estim ated th a t th e loss w ill am ount
to approxim ately $300, w hich is cov­
ered by insurance.

St. Louis Meeting

BAN K

UNION

*

K.
J. McDonald, p resident of the
Iow a T ru st and Savings B ank a t Estherville, Iowa, w en t to St. Louis, Mis­
souri, w here he atten d ed a m eeting of
an A m erican B ankers A ssociation com­
m ittee on co u n try b an k procedure, of
w hich he is chairm an.
E d w ard Drew, New York, deputy
m anager of th e A m erican B ankers
A ssociation, accom panied McDonald to
M issouri and also atten d ed th e m eet­
ing of the com m ittee.
Mr. D rew w as g uest speaker w hen
ban k ers of E m m et, Dickinson, Palo
Alto and Clay counties m et for a coun­
ty b an k ers m eeting at th e G ardston
Hotel.

49

- •

IO W A

NEWS

•-

New Teller-Auditor

Women Change Positions

Elw ood W. C om pton of Des M oines
has accepted a position as teller-audi­
to r in th e F irs t S tate B ank at W ebster
City, Iowa.
He w as w ith th e B an k ers T ru st
Com pany, Des Moines, w h ere he w as
em ployed for 16 years.

V eronica Portz, w ho has been w ith
th e C raw ford County T ru st & Savings
B ank in Denison, Iowa, for th e p ast 14
years, has resigned h e r position and
has gone to Omaha to en ter th e em ­
ploy of th e N o rth Side Bank, tak in g a
position th a t is considered an ad v an ­
tageous advancem ent.
E d n a Stephens, w ho had been w ith
th e C raw ford C ounty T ru st & Savings
B ank since its reorganization, and w ith
th e old C raw ford County State B ank
for some 15 years, is a t p resen t filling

Now a Major
L eonard J. W egm an, vice p resid en t
and a d irecto r of th e Citizens Savings
Bank, A nam osa, Iowa, and th e Dyersville N ational B ank, son of Leo J.
W egm an, has recen tly been com m is­
sioned a m ajor.
Since en terin g th e service tw o y ears
ago, M ajor W egm an atten d ed F in an ce

th e position m ade vacan t by th e resig­
n atio n of Miss Portz.

Vice President Found Dead
E. A. Romack, 73, vice presid en t of
th e b ank at Packwood, Iowa, and a
large landow ner in th is com m unity,
w as found dead in his farm hom e th ree
m iles n o rth w est of Packw ood last
m onth.
A coronor’s in q u est w as held and it
w as decided th a t death w as due to n a t­
u ra l causes, probably du rin g his sleep.

A Broad Background
O ur su bstantial num ber of direct affiliations, our
d ep en d ab le transit departm ent, a n d our intim ate
know ledge of farm ing an d the livestock business
en ab les us to offer unexcelled correspondent service
in the Sioux City area.
W hether it is a dow ntow n item or a livestock,
grain or h a y transaction, w e can serve you prom ptly
a n d efficiently throughout Sioux City.
M A JO R L E O N A R D

J. W E G M A N

School a t F o rt B enjam in H arrison,
Indianapolis. He w as th e n tra n sfe rre d
to M axw ell Field, M ontgom ery, A la­
bam a, w h ere he served a y e a r as dep­
u ty finance officer. He w as th e n tra n s ­
ferred to C ochrane Field, Macon, Geor­
gia, w h ere he served some six m onths
as finance officer. On Ju ly 1, 1943, he
w as tra n sfe rre d to George Field, Lawrenceville, Illinois, as finance officer,
w ith fu rth e r ju risd ictio n of M axwell
Field, Seym our, Indiana, and Lockb o u rn Field, Colum bus, Ohio. D uring
this in terim he had been prom oted to
th e ra n k of captain and has now ju st
been com m issioned as a m ajor. H e is
a t th is tim e located at George Field,
Illinois, about ten m iles east of V in­
cennes, Indiana.

A. G. Sam, President
J. P. Hainer, Vice President
J. R. Graning, Assistant Cashier
Fritz Fritzson, Vice Pres, and Cashier
E. A. Johnson, Assistant Cashier
J. T. Grant, Assistant Cashier
W. F. Cook, Auditor
Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

NATIONAL BANK

Y O U R STATE B A N K ER S A S S O C IA T IO N
O F F IC IA L S A F E , V A U L T A N D
T IM ELO C K EXPERTS

F. E. D A V E N P O R T & C O .
OM AHA


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

N orthw estern B anker

D ecem ber 19^3

50

New W aterloo Bank Interior

A bove is p ic tu re d tw o v iew s o f th e in te r io r o f th e new
P e o p le s S a v in g s B a n k , W a te rlo o , Io w a. A t th e le f t is a v iew
fro m th e e n tra n c e , lo o k in g th ro u g h th e lo b b y to w a rd th e sa fe
d e p o sit v a u lt a t th e re a r. A n o th e r lo b b y v ie w on th e rig h t

Tenth Birthday
T he Citizens N ational B ank a t Boone,
Iowa, recen tly m ark ed its te n th a n n i­
v e rsa ry of service to th e people of
Boone county.
Since its founding in 1933, th e Citi­
zens N ational has enjoyed a steady
grow th u n til today it h as 2,712 check­

looks fro m th e r e a r to th e e n tra n c e to th e b a n k . G eorge E.
A llb ee, p re s id e n t o f th e b a n k , say s th e in s titu tio n is sh ow ing
a s te a d y a n d c o n siste n t in c re a se since its o p e n in g a fe w
w e ek s ago, a n d th e officers a re p le a se d w ith th e re su lts .

ing accounts, 1,797 savings and tim e
deposit custom ers, and 1,002 loan ac­
counts.

Four Counties Meet
A four county m eeting of the b an k ­
ers of D ickinson, E m m et, K ossuth and
Clay counties w as held a t E stherville,

Everything Is Importanti

Iowa, last m onth, atten d ed by about
75 b an k officials and employes.
J. E d Drew, deputy m anager of th e
A m erican B ankers A ssociation, ad­
dressed th e group and, in review ing
th e im pressive w ar record of th e banks,
pointed out th a t in addition to financ­
ing th e production of w ar m aterials,
banks w ere providing a valuable serv­
ice to th e nation th ro u g h th e sale of
W ar Bonds, h an dling ra tio n banking,
providing a b anking service for m ili­
ta ry cam ps, and perform ing v ital fiscal
services for th e arm ed services and
governm ent departm ents.

Leaves Banking

A s time is of the e sse n c e in w ar, so w e b eliev e prom ptness,
a ccu racy and understanding to b e of the e sse n c e in the
hand lin g of the b u sin ess of our correspondents.
W e regard everything a s important. The ca su a l inquiry
for information g ets the sa m e serious attention a s a
transaction involvin g large sum s.
W e retain an d invite n ew b u sin ess on this basis.

SECURITY NATIO NAL BANK
SIOUX CITY, IOW A
CHARLES R. G OSSETT, P r e s id e n t
B. M . W H EELOC K, V ice P r e s id e n t
ALBERT C. ECKERT, V ic e P r e s id e n t
R. EARL B R O W N , C a s h ie r

N orthw
estern B anker

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

D ecem ber 19^3

D ANIEL B. SEV ER SO N , T ru s t O fficer
FRAN K H. ABEL, A s s is ta n t C a s h ie r
A LV IN G . N ELSO N, A s s is ta n t C a s h ie r
ROBERT W . LEW IS, A s s is ta n t C a s h ie r

H arold Ziegler, m anager of the sav­
ings d ep artm en t at th e F irs t N ational
B ank a t Oelwein, Iowa, resigned his
post to en ter th e public accounting
field. H e left th e b an k to becom e asso­
ciated w ith M. G. Stebbins, tax con­
su lta n t and accountant.
Ziegler has been em ployed by the
local ban k for 14 years. He left th e
U n iversity of Iowa, w here he w as ta k ­
ing a business course, to become teller.
F o u r y ears ago, on th e death of George
F alk, he w as prom oted to savings de­
p a rtm e n t head. H e is also city tre a s­
u rer.
B ank officials have not announced
his successor.

Twenty-five Years
K a th ry n D ickkut w as guest of honor
a t a su rp rise d in n er p a rty recently at
th e E nglew ood Tea Room, given by
ow ners, em ployes and officials of th e
C entral S tate B ank at S tate Center,
Iowa. She com pleted 25 y ears of faith ­
ful and efficient service w ith th e Cen­
tra l State B ank th is year. In recogni-

51

— • I O W A
tion of this, F re d B. G ilbert, in behalf
of th e group, p resen ted Miss D ickkut
w ith a jew eled w rist w atch.

Dinner Meeting
C layton county b an k ers and th e ir
w ives, n u m b erin g fifty-five, g ath ered
a t th e M asonic Tem ple, S traw b erry
Point, Iowa, for a d in n er and program .
S peaker of th e evening w as S enator
G. W. H u n t of G uttenberg, w ho told
of his trip by a ir from C layton county
to H aw aii tw o y ears ago to see his son
w ho w as ill.

N E W S * -

and a y ear later en tered th e service of
th e b ank as an a ssistan t vice president.
T his y ear he w as nam ed cashier w hen
Mr. Schleiter w as nam ed p resid en t of
th e in stitution.
H en ry M artin, w ho w as w ith th e
b an k at G ilbert as m anager of th a t
branch, after re tu rn in g from th e W orld
W ar, served th e re u n til he came to
A m es in 1933 as an a ssistan t cashier.
He now succeeds Cadwell as cashier
of th e in stitution.
O ther personnel of th e b ank rem ains
th e same, w ith some additions due to
th e rem oval of F re d K lein and o th er
sh ifts occasioned by th e w ar.

George R ichardson, w ho is an assist­
a n t cashier, also serves as tre a su re r of
th e city of Ames.

Bulging
Reflecting increased incom es since
this co u n try w en t on a w artim e basis,
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, ban k s w ere bulg­
ing w ith a to tal of $43,462,845.51 in in ­
dividual tim e and dem and deposits,
according to new spaper statem ents.
T his to tal rep resen ted an increase of
$12,687,257.69 over th e $30,775,587.82 in
individual deposits in th e sam e banks
as of 1940.

British Banker Speaks
H ow a u n ite d B rita in is p rep arin g
alread y for p o stw ar reco n stru ctio n w as
described by a noted B ritish econom ist,
W. J. H inton, re p re se n ta tiv e of th e
B ritish In fo rm atio n Services in New
York, N ew York, w ho cam e to Des
M oines u n d e r th e auspices of th e Des
M oines c h ap ter of th e A m erican In s ti­
tu te of B anking.
H inton, w ho is a fo rm er head of th e
B ritish In stitu te of B anking, said em ­
phasis is being placed on g re a te r social
equ ality and w id er d istrib u tio n of
w ealth.

Promotions
A nnouncem ent of th e prom otion of
B. L. McKee to th e position of execu­
tive vice p resid en t of th e M uscatine
B ank and T ru st, M uscatine, Iowa, and
of Boyd Jo rd a n to th e position of cash­
ier, fo rm erly held by Mr. McKee, w as
m ade follow ing a m eeting of th e board
of directors held recently.
W illiam F. Siem ers, B ert P. Olsen
and E d C. R osenm und continue as th e
b a n k ’s th re e active a ssista n t cashiers
in place of th e four fo rm erly serving
in th is capacity. F. W a rre n Allen, an
a ssista n t cashier, is in active m ilitary
service. H arold E. L em kau w as
elected to th e office of auditor. No
fu rth e r changes w ere m ade in th e offi­
cers a t th e bank.

For Promptness
FOR EIGHTY YEARS p r o m p t­
ness h as m a rk e d th e service
to c o r r e s p o n d e n t b a n k s o f
T h e F irst o f Chicago*

T oday

o u r B a n k a n d B a n k e rs D iv i­
sio n is h a n d lin g a n atio n -w id e
business, a n d in v ites acco u n ts
u p o n a basis th a t so lo n g has
p ro v e d m u tu a lly satisfactory.

Ames Bank Personnel
C. F. Cadwell w as nam ed p resid en t
of th e U nion S tory T ru s t & Savings
Bank, Ames, Iowa, a t an election by
th e board of directors. H e fills th e posi­
tio n left v acan t by th e d eath of th e
late F ra n k Schleiter. George Ju d isch
w as nam ed ch airm an of th e board of
directors, com posed of A. H. M unn,
W. T. B arr, L ouis H. Judisch, C. G.
Lee, C. F. Cadwell, C. F. C urtiss, L. W.
M cElyea, N. L. N elson and Adolph
Shane.
Mr. Cadwell cam e to A m es in 1933,
a fte r b an k in g experience a t D unlap,

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

The First National Bank
o f Chicago
B u ild in g w ith C h icago Since 1 8 6 3

M EMBER

FEDERAL

DEPOSIT IN SU RA N CE

C O RPO RATIO N

N orthw estern Banker

D ecem ber 19b3

52

-•
Bankers Meet
F ay ette county b an k ers m eeting w as
held a t W est U nion recently.
A ttending from A m erican N ational
B ank w ere M isses Avice L. Rowell,
E velyn T outsch, M esdam es Alice M.
N ew ton, Opal A. Luce and Chas. F.
E ck h e a rt and F re d P. G ernand.
County officers elected a t th e m eet­
ing are: Jo h n Camp, a ssista n t cashier,
F irs t N ational B ank, W est U nion, p re s­
ident; H arold Ziegler, m anager, sav­
ings d ep artm en t, F irs t N ational Bank,
Oelwein, vice president; Opal A. Luce,
acting cashier, A m erican N ational
Bank, A rlington, Iowa, secretary -treas­
urer.

IO W A

NEWS

•

cently. T he follow ing directors w ere
elected: L. D. Rowley, Otto Schm itt,
A. L. E vans, E. D. C ream er, E. H.
S tew art, H en ry B uenneke and G erald
W arnke. Follow ing th e stockholders
m eeting th e directors m et and elected
L. W. Row ley p resid en t and Otto
S chm itt vice president. L. H. B uen­
neke w as retain ed as cashier and Paul
H arriso n as a ssista n t cashier.

G oes to Sioux City
F re d e rik J. H anna, w ho has been
a ssista n t cashier of th e L andm ands
N ational B ank in K im ballton, Iowa,
for tw o years, has resigned his posi­
tion. He w ill leave soon for Sioux City
w here he has accepted a position in
a bank.

Hold Election
The a n n u al m eeting of th e stockhold­
ers of th e M aynard Savings B ank, M ay­
nard, Iowa, w as held a t th e b an k re ­

Lee County Association
In a reg u lar m eeting of th e Lee
C ounty B ankers A ssociation, held in

H otel Iow a at K eokuk, Iowa, recently,
R ay Schm itt, cashier of th e Citizens
S tate B ank a t D onnellson, w as nam ed
president; H. T. E dw ards, cashier of
th e F arm ers Savings B ank at W ever,
vice president, and A ubrey V. Allen,
a ssistan t cashier of th e K eokuk Sav­
ings Bank, secretary-treasurer.
T he m eeting followed a d in n er in th e
Tiffany room and all m em ber banks of
th e county w ere represented. In addi­
tion to th e election th e m eeting in ­
cluded in terestin g discussions of b an k ­
ing problem s.

Buys Bank
T he G illett Grove Savings B ank w as
acquired by th e F a rm e rs T ru st and
Savings B ank of Spencer and w ill be
operated as a b ran ch of th e Spencer
in stitution.
L. A. W itter, p resid en t of th e Spen­
cer Bank, said th a t F ra n k N. Wood,
w ho has been cashier a t G illett Grove
th e last ten years, w ill be m anager of
th e branch.
T he tran sactio n ends th e independ­
en t career of th e G illett Grove B ank
over a period of 40 years. C. D. B arn ­
ard of G illett Grove w as presid en t and
W. C. S tew art vice president. Deposits
approxim ated $250,000 and th e <°aoital
and su rplus am ounted to about $27,000.

Banker at Dubuque Dies
R alph R. Blair, 60, executive vice
presid en t of th e D ubuque B ank &
T ru st Company, and a form er state
b ank exam iner, died at his hom e in
D ubuque, Iowa, afte r several m onths
illness.
He w as connected w ith th e state
b anking d ep artm en t as an exam iner
from 1930 u n til Ju ly 1, 1935, w hen he
becam e associated w ith th e D ubuque
B ank and T ru st Company.
At th e tim e of his death he w as sec­
re ta ry of D istrict 4, Iow a State B ank­
ers A ssociation.

Heads Municipal
Department

E N J O Y 3% TO 4%l

T r u s t s , S t a t e B a n k I n v e s tm e n t s , S ta te
B u ild in g a n d L o a n , P u b lic F u n d s , I n s u r ­
a n ce. L e g a l in I o w a a n d O th e r S ta te s .

F e d e r a lly In su red S a v in g s an d Lo a n C e rtific a te s
W r i te to r l i s t s
o f S e le c te d A s s o c ia tio n s ,
w it h c o m p le te s e r v ic e — G r a tis

N orthw estern B anker


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

F IN A N C IA L

DEVELOPM ENT

COM PANY

( N o t In c o rp o ra te d )
105 S . L a S a l l e

D ecem ber 19^3

C h ic a g o 3

E ugene W. Stetson, p resid en t of the
G u aran ty T ru st Com pany of New
York, has announced th e appointm ent
of Gordon B island D uval as second
vice presid en t in charge of th e b a n k ’s
m unicipal bond departm ent. Mr. D u­
val has been associated w ith H alsey,
S tu a rt & Com pany as a ssistan t to the
vice p resid en t in charge of m unicipal
bond buying. H e w as b o rn in Houm a,
Louisiana, on May 19, 1907, and w as
g rad u ated from P rin ceto n U n iversity
in 1929.

53

Twenty-five Years Ago
Names in Northwestern Banker News From the
December,
a . TRAYLOR la st m o n th
w as elected p resid en t of th e F irs t
T ru s t and Savings B ank of Chicago
succeed E. K. B oiset, w ho resigned on
account of ill h ealth. Mr. T ray lo r also
becom es vice p resid en t of th e F irs t
N ational B ank of Chicago and a di­
recto r of b oth in stitu tio n s. —S. T. Kiddoo, vice p resid en t of th e Live Stock
E xch an g e N ational B ank of Chicago,
has been elected presid en t. Mr. Kiddoo
w as fo rm erly p resid en t of th e South
D akota B an k ers A ssociation.—F red ­
erick W. G ehle, editor of th e M echanic
& M etals N ational B ank J o u rn a l of
N ew Y ork City, published le tte rs in
th e October issue from fo rm er em ­
ployes of th e b an k now in service in
F ran ce.—Le R oy A. Goddard, p resi­
d en t of th e S tate B ank of Chicago,
has been elected ch airm an of th e ex­
ecutive council of th e Illinois B an k ­
ers A ssociation, succeeding N elson N.
Lam port, deceased.— George F. E m ery,
cash ier of th e Live Stock E xchange
N ational B ank, w as elected to m em ­
bersh ip in th e council.—John F letcher,
vice p resid en t of th e F t. D earborn
N ational B ank of Chicago, sees n o th ­
ing b u t p ro sp erity ahead for th e live
stock in d u stry du rin g th e n e x t five
years. —R. W. H aw es, first vice p re si­
den t of th e A.B.A., h as been m ade
tre a s u re r of th e U nited W a r W ork
C am paign in M issouri and ch airm an of
th e W a r Camp C om m unity Service in
St. Louis.—H anford M acNider, son of
C harles H. M cNider, p resid en t of th e
F irs t N ational B ank of M ason City,
Iowa, has been com m issioned a M ajor
in th e 9th In fa n try for g a lla n try in
action in th e B attle of C hateau T hierry.
■
—John R. W ashburn of th e Conti­
n en tal and Com m ercial N ational B ank
has been recu p eratin g a t E xcelsior
Springs.—H. H. C heyney, p resid en t
of th e Mills C ounty N ational B ank of
Glenwood, Iowa, announces th a t th ey

E L V IN

M

1918, Issue
have recently m oved into th e ir m ag­
nificent new b anking hom e.—J. B.
M cDougal, cashier of th e C entral State
to
B ank of Des Moines, has en tered the
M arine Officers T rain in g Camp a t
P a ris Island, South Carolina. — C. J.
W ohlenberg, cashier of th e H olstein
Savings B ank rep o rts to tal resources

of his b ank of $1,400,000.—T he di­
recto rs of th e Cedar Rapids N ational
B ank gave a d in n er in honor of J. H.
In g w ersen of Clinton, one of the
b a n k ’s directors w ho recently assum ed
his duties as vice presid en t of the
F irs t N ational B ank of D uluth, M inne­
sota.—T he largest b an k in H en ry
County is th e F a rm e rs and M erchants
Savings B ank of Mt. P leasant, Iowa,
w hich has deposits of $800,000, accord­
ing to H. C. W eir, president. — Grant
M cPherrin, vice presid en t of th e Cen­
tra l S tate B ank of Des Moines, w as
elected presid en t of th e Des Moines

COM PLETE SERVICE
IN TH E PURCHASE A N D SALE OF
U. S. G O V E R N M E N T SECURITIES

USTOMERS of The Northern Trust Com­
pany appreciate the completeness of the
modern service rendered here in connection
with United States Government securities. The
Bond Department is staffed with men of long
experience and training in handling these issues.
They have ready access to current information
on all Government obligations. Inquiries are
invited concerning the purchase or sale of
United States Government securities. Orders
are executed with dispatch.

C

Write for a copy of Quotation Record Form
for your U. S. Government Securities

YES! We Have Safe Deposit Boxes
A ll m akes, a ll sizes, 100 p e r c e n t re c o n ­
d itio n e d . C om plete w ith c u sto m e r boxes,
g u a rd k e y a n d c u s to m e rs ’ k e y s. I f y o u
need sa fe d e p o sit boxes c h eck y o u r needs
w ith us. O ver 6,000 boxes to choose fro m .
W e h a v e sold boxes to b a n k s in n e a rly
o n e -th ird o f th e s ta te s in th e e n tire coun­
t r y a n d w e w ill g la d ly g iv e y o u th e nam es
o f th e s e b a n k s as re fe re n c e s. P h o n e , w ire
or w rite J . E . M u rp h e y , 1800 D yer, S t.
L o u is C ounty, M isso u ri. P h o n e C H e stn u t
9000.


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

THE NO RTH ERN
TRUST COMPANY
50 SOUTH LA SALLE STREET, CHICAGO 90
M em ber F ederal D eposit Insurance Corporation

N orthw estern B ankev D ecem ber 19b3

54
•
B an k e r’s Club.—George M. R eynolds,
p resid en t of th e C ontinental and Com­
m ercial N ational B ank of Chicago,
spoke on th e “P assing P rocession of
E v e n ts” before th e N ebraska B ankers
A ssociation a n n u al m eeting in Omaha.
—D eposits of O m aha b anks on N ovem ­
b er 1, 1918, w ere as follows: Omaha
N ational, $23,479,190; G. S. N ational,
$17,736,693; F irst N ational, $14,988,674;
M erchants N ational, $11,564,938; Stock
Yards N ational, $11,171,105; Live Stock
N ational, $8,638,057; N ebraska N a­
tional, $2,964,891; P ackers N ational,
$3,656,415.—F. C. H olbert, president,

I O W A

N E W S

*

an d J. K. F riedebach, a ssistan t cash­
ier, of the F irs t N ational Bank, Plainview, N ebraska, have p u rchased the
controlling in te re st in th e F arm ers
S tate B ank of B runsw ick, N ebraska.
Judge J. R. H an na has been elected
p resid en t of th e N ebraska State Bank,
G rand Island, N ebraska. — R. S. R isin g,
p resid en t of th e N ational B ank of
A insw orth, N ebraska, has sold his in ­
te re sts to George D. Clisbe and T. E.
R itter of A insw orth and C. W . B ish
of W eeping W ater.— A. O. N etland,
p resid en t of th e S tate B ank of Northfield, M innesota, had deposits of $570,-

298 on October 19, 1918.— P. H . Sim ons
has been elected cashier of th e F a rm ­
ers and M erchants State B ank of H en­
derson, M innesota.—The w ord “Ger­
m an” has en tirely disappeared from
M innesota banks. — E. A. H insch,
fo rm er paying teller of th e N ational
B ank of Commerce, St. Paul, has been
elected a ssistan t cashier of the bank.
F. C. Sm ith, p resid en t of th e F a rm ­
ers State B ank of P latte, South Da­
kota, had deposits in his b an k on No­
vem ber 1, 1918, of $744,670.— The Sioux
F a lls N ational B ank has issued a
souvenir booklet giving a com pre­
hensive review of th e grow th of the
city.—The large new brick building
of th e Secu rity Bank, W inner, South
D akota, is n earin g com pletion and will
be ready for occupancy about Ja n u a ry
1, 1919.—T he F irs t S tate Bank, Kildeer, N orth D akota, has increased its
capital stock from $10,000 to $25,000,
according to Guilder Olson, president.
R. E. T rousdale, presid en t of th e F irs t
N ational B ank of Mott, N orth Dakota,
rep o rts deposits of $566,519.

Christmas Checks
The F irst N ational B ank in St. Louis
m ailed checks totaling $528,467 to 8,877
m em bers of its 1943 C hristm as Savings
Club. T his w as a larg er am ount th an
last year, b u t th e nu m b er of m em bers
w as sm aller. A large proportion of
these funds now goes into W ar Sav­
ings Bonds.

W ood Netherland Dies
W ood N etherland, w idely know n
b an k er and a vice p resid en t of the
M ercantile-Com m erce B ank and T ru st
Company, St. Louis, died a t his hom e
in St. Louis of a h e a rt attack early last
m onth. Mr. N eth erlan d w as 54 year
old and, w hile he had been in ill h ealth
for some m onths, his death w as u n ­
expected.
H e w as presid en t of th e B ank of
M ulberry, A rkansas, and cashier of the
F irs t N ational B ank of F o rt Sm ith
before com ing to St. Louis in 1928 as

W an ted to B uy
C o llections a n d A c cu m u latio n s
o f U n ite d S ta te s a n d F o re ig n

P o sta g e Stam ps
W ill b u y sta m p s h e ld as se c u rity on d e­
f a u lt loans. A lso in te re s te d in h e a rin g
fro m e x ec u to rs o f e s ta te s w h e re sta m p s
a re in v o lv ed .
A L B E R T M IC H E L , 3009 G u n n iso n St.,
C hicago 25, 111. M em b er A. P . S.

N orthw estern B anker


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

D ecem ber 1943

55

- •
vice p resid en t and tre a s u re r of th e
F ed eral In term ed iate C redit B ank and
th e F ed eral L and Bank. A y e a r later
he becam e p resid en t of both in s titu ­
tions.
In 1934 he becam e a vice p resid en t
of M ercantile-Com m erce and, d u rin g
th e sam e year, w as appointed liaison
officer in M issouri to act in prom oting
cooperation w ith th e FHA. L ast Octo­
b er he w as elected p resid en t of th e

I O W A

NEW S

•tw o shares held. It is contem plated by
th e b a n k ’s board of directors to issue
n ear th e end of th e y ear an additional
5,000 new shares of com m on stock by
m eans of a 50 p er cent stock dividend
on th e 10,000 shares of com m on stock
o u tstan d in g p rio r to th e issuance of
the purchase rights.

New Common Stock
S tockholders of A m erican N ational
B ank and T ru st Com pany of Chicago,
in a special m eeting held last m onth,
approved th e issuance of 5,000 new
sh ares of com m on stock to be offered
to th e holders of th e p resen t common
stock for subscription a t p a r of $100
on th e basis of one new share for each

a

f o o d

At th e tim e of calling for th e special

'D e a l. . .

only when both parties benefit. An old saw, but
true today as always. In a collateralized inventory
loan—through Field Warehousing—the benefits are
reciprocal. The bank puts loanable funds to work
at good interest rates and on a sound basis. The
borrower acquires needed funds for operational
purposes at reasonable cost.
Field Warehousing simplifies the procedure of financ­
ing commodity loans. It provides complete inventory
control, full hazard insurance and bonding protec­
tion. It is the safe, modern means of expanding
your
W OOD

loan

portfolio. We

invite your inquiries.

NETHERLAND
W n ite

sta te b an k division of th e A m erican
B an k ers A ssociation, hav in g p rev io u s­
ly served as vice ch airm an of th e ABA
com m ittee on F ed eral legislation.

Burlington Director
H. M. B ushnell, president, U nited
States N ational B ank, Om aha, w as
elected d irecto r of th e Chicago, B u r­
lington & Q uincy R ailroad Com pany,
a t a recen t sto ck h o ld ers’ m eeting in
Chicago.
T he B u rlin g to n ’s board of nin e direc­
to rs is com posed en tirely of resid en ts
of th e te rrito ry served by th e railroad.
Six are Chicagoans, R. Douglas S tu art,
W allace C. W in ter, C. I. Sturgis, R alph
Budd, E d w ard F ly n n and J. C. Jam es;
tw o are in St. Paul, C. E. D enny and
F. J. Gavin, and Mr. B ushnell in
Omaha. T he B u rlin g to n h as m ore
m ileage th a n in an y o th er state.
Mr. B ushnell w as b o rn a t Lincoln,
N ebraska, in 1893, atten d ed th e public
schools th e re and g rad u ated from th e
U n iv ersity of N eb rask a college of law.'
H e en tered th e service of th e U nited
S tates N ational B ank of Om aha in
1919.

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

auA-

b o a J d e t cm

FIELD W A R E H O U S I N G

\N h R tH O f j

ST. LOUIS TERM INAL WAREHOUSE CO.
G en e ra l O ffices

•

826 C la rk A ve.

•

St. Louis, Mo.

KANSAS C IT Y -M E M P H IS - C IN C IN N A T I - CH ICAGO

• same management
• sam e ow nership
• sam e pe rso nn e l
The same service to banks will be maintained. Better
envelopes for every business need are still available
and your continued patronage will be appreciated.

Tension Envelope Corp.
BERKOWITZ ENVELOPE CO.
Albert C. Berkowitz,

P r e s id e n t

1912 Grand Ave.
Des Moines 14, Iowa, Phone 4-4126

Other factories in Kansas City, St. Louis, M inneapolis and N ew York

N orthw estern B anker

D ecem ber 1943

56

• IO W A

quietly, quickly and in a personal manner

JAY A. WELCH
BANK BROKER
Haddam, Kansas
“35 Years Practical Banking Experience”

If Y our

C hristm as
S hopping
By Now . . .
D on’t L et H e r Say
She W asn’t W arn ed
To Do So!

We’ve had our problems in the past, and
we’ve successfully met them. We have
our problems today—and with your help,
we can overcome them again.
Though selections may not be large and
substitute merchandise displayed—rest
assured we are doing our best to serve
your immediate requirements—and at the
same time enthusiastically support our
country in the “All-Out War Effort."
"Buy U. S. Bonds and Stamps"

o in e s ,

n

s
D

e

l

o n

B

a

T otal assets of over $4,000,000 are
show n in a recen t statem en t of th e
Des M oines Building-Loan and Savings
A ssociation. T his is a su b stan tial gain
over the association’s m idyear sta te ­
m en t w hich, incidentally, w as its 55th
sem i-annual statem ent. A t th a t tim e
th e association, since organization, had
paid out $1,796,094 in dividends.
T he p resen t officers and directors in-

Ia .

n

k

R . W E S S L IN G , P R E S ID E N T

2 1 s t y e a r p la n n in g a d v e r t is in g p r o g r a m s
fo r b a n k s a n d tr u s t c o m p a n ie s .
W r i te fo r P r o g r a m K e y e d to W a r T im e s .
P

u

b

l

i

c

R

e

l

a

t

2

i

o

n

s

c ^ l/[o L t E i, j J o a r a

N orthw estern B anker


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

TEN
ROCKEFELLER
PLAZA

Member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

DES MOINES BUILDING-LOAN &
SAVINGS ASSOCIATION

OldestandLargestinDesM
oines
411 6th Ave.

Dial 4-7119

E L M E R E . M IL L E R
P r e s , a n d S ec.

H U B E R T E . JA M E S
A s s t. Sec.

F O R Y O U R E N JO Y M E N T . . .
“ W O R L D O F M U S IC ”

Substantial Gain

^ E % (J Ì C I E ±
u

M A D ISO N AVENUE
AND 4 0 T H STREET

L is te n to th e

^
M
E S T A B L IS H E D K
^
S T A T IO N E R S V
1889
S BOOK B IN D E R S
OFFICE O U T F I T T E R S ^ ^ A V ^ - ^ B U S I M E S S MACHINES

o

IO O BROADW AY

Ja y W eil, presid en t of DouglasG uardian W arehouse C orporation, an ­
nounces th e election of S tanley D.
H art, N ew Y ork office, and Dan B.
MacDuff, P hiladelphia office, as vice
p resid en ts of th e corporation.
Both m en have been w ith th e com­
p any for a long period of tim e and are
highly esteem ed by th e clients and
receip t holders of Douglas-Guardian.
Mr. H a rt w ill rem ain in charge of
th e N ew Y ork and New E ngland dis­
tric ts and Mr. MacDuff w ill continue to
su pervise th e com pany’s operations in
th e T ri-States and Pennsylvania.

DES MOINES

C

C a p it a l F u n d s . $ 4 5 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0

Announces Promotions

FRANKEL'S

Des M

N ew York T rust
Company

A gain of $3,643,396 in to tal assets
w as registered by th e T w in City F ed ­
eral Savings and Loan A ssociation of
M inneapolis and St. P au l for th e first
six m onths of 1943, according to M or­
ton Bodfish, executive vice p resident
of th e U nited States Savings and Loan
League.
T his gain is th e larg est show n by
an y m em ber of th is group. W ith to ­
tal resources now over $25,000,000, th e
T w in City F ed eral Savings and L oan
A ssociation is th e fo u rth largest F ed ­
eral savings and loan association in the
U nited States.

F in ish e d H e r

Fo u r t h

T he

Leads in Group Gains

W ife H as N ot

at

•

stockholders’ m eeting, L aw rence F.
Stern, presid en t of th e A m erican N a­
tional Bank, also announced th a t it is
th e in ten tio n of th e board of directors
to increase th e b a n k ’s su rp lu s fund
from $2,500,000 to $3,000,000.
It is expected th a t th e dividend to
be declared in Jan u ary , 1944, on the
20,000 shares of com m on stock th en to
be o u tstanding w ill be a t th e ra te of
$6 p er year. The ra te on th e 10,000
sh ares heretofore o u tstanding has been
$8 d u rin g th e p ast th ree years.

Banks Sold or Bought!

Grand Av e.

NEW S

D ecem ber 19^3

K S O , 1460 K C

9 :30-10 :00 a. m . S u n d a y s

57

•
elude E lm er E. M iller, p resid en t and
secretary; H u b e rt E. Jam es, a ssista n t
secretary; A. H. M innis, ch airm an of
board and vice p resident; E. S. Tesdell,
counsel, and C. F. T ow nsend an d C. L.
M innis, directors.

Stock Dividend
A t a recen t m eeting of th e board of
directo rs of th e C ontinental Illinois
N ational B ank and T ru s t C om pany of
Chicago, a special m eeting of th e sh a re ­
holders of th e b an k w as called for
D ecem ber 17, 1943, for th e purpose of
acting on a reso lu tio n increasin g th e
capital of th e b a n k from $50,000,000 to
$60,000,000 by th e d eclaration of a
stock dividend of 20 p e r cent of th e
p re se n t capital. E ach sh areh o ld er
w ould receive one additional sh are of
stock for each five sh ares held.
W hen cash dividends are h e re a fter
declared, th e y w ill be payable on th e
increased stock, and it is contem plated
th a t th e p re se n t ra te of dividend p er
sh are w ill be continued. T he b an k has
been p aying sem i-annual dividends of
$2 a share.
I t is contem plated, also, to increase
th e su rp lu s account from $50,000,000
to $60,000,000, so th a t if th e capital is
increased, th e re w ill be $60,000,000 of
capital stock and $60,000,000 of surplus.
T he in creases w ould be effected by
tra n sfe rs from undivided profits. A
tw o-thirds vote is n ecessary to increase
th e b a n k ’s capital and, a fte r au th o riz a ­
tion of th e proposed increase, th e re
w ould be 1,800,000 sh ares o utstanding,
com pared w ith 1,500,000 sh ares a t p re s­
ent. P a r v alue of th e stock is $33 1/3
p er share.

Additional Award
Lt. Col. A. V. Stallard, officer in
charge of th e T w in Cities Regional
Office, Chicago O rdnance D istrict, a n ­
nounces th a t th e M inneapolis-M oline
P ow er Im p lem en t Com pany has been
aw arded th e U nited States A rm y Ord­
nance B an n er for m erito rio u s produc­
tion.
T his b a n n e r w as aw arded to th e
A utom otive P lan t, M inneapolis, M in­

IO W A

NEWS

•

nesota, and the Pow er M achinery P lan t
of H opkins, M innesota. T he aw ards,
including
about
6,000
individual
aw ards, w ere m ade last m onth by Col.
Jo h n Slezak, d eputy d istrict chief of
th e Chicago O rdnance D istrict. P re s­
en tatio n cerem onies w ere held a t the
M inneapolis p lan t in th e forenoon and
a t th e H opkins p lan t in th e a fte r­
noon.
T he A rm y O rdnance B an n er w as
aw arded the M inneapolis-M oline p lan ts
for m eeting schedules beyond th e call
of duty. T he com pany is producing
m any item s of Ordnance, some on a
prim e co ntract basis and m any on a
sub-contract basis. T he w ide v ariety
and volum e of production th ro u g h th e

Ç7nòzx

use of available equipm ent has been a
su b stan tial contribution to th e w ar
effort. The O rdnance D epartm ent rec­
ognizes th e skill of th e m anagem ent
and of th e m en and w om en of M inne­
apolis-Moline Pow er Im plem ent Com­
pany in th e rebuilding of old m achine
tools and y et hold th e close tolerances
as specified for O rdnance m aterial.
T he su b stitu tio n for critical m aterials
and th e in tro d u ctio n of ingenious m a­
chining m ethods are especially note­
w o rth y and played an im p o rtan t p a rt
in m aking th is aw ard. The safety
record of th e com pany is com m endable
as evidenced by th e display of the
G overnor’s Safety A w ard B an n er in
th e plants.

Do ¿^dvertitfcrs
L

A

A l l i e d M u t u a l C a s u a l t y C o m p a n y .......... 27
A m erican N a tio n a l B a n k a n d T r u s t
C o m p a n y .................................................................. 30
B

B a n k e rs T r u s t C o m pany— Des M o in es..

47

C

C e n t r a l H a n o v e r B a n k a n d T r u s t C o . . . 36
C e n t r a l N a t i o n a l B a n k a n d T r u s t Co.
— D e s M o i n e s ..................................................... 10
C h a s e N a t i o n a l B a n k ...................................
6
C h i c a g o , M i l w a u k e e , S t. P a u l R a i l r o a d 22
C i t y N a t i o n a l B a n k — C l i n t o n ................. 52
C i t y N a t i o n a l B a n k a n d T r u s t Co.—
C h i c a g o .................................................................... 32
C i t y N a t i o n a l B a n k a n d T r u s t C o .—
K a n s a s C i t y .......................................................... 40
C o n t i n e n t a l N a t i o n a l B a n k — L i n c o l n . . . 43
D a v e n p o r t , P . E . a n d C o .........................43-4 9
D e L u x e C h e c k P r i n t e r s , I n c ...................... 46
D es M oines B u ild in g , L o a n a n d S a v in g s
A s s o c i a t i o n .......................................................... 56
D r o v e r s N a t i o n a l B a n k ................................ 54
F'

F e d e ra l In te rm e d ia te C red it B a n k s . . . .
F i n a n c i a l D e v e l o p m e n t C o m p a n y .............
F i r s t N a t i o n a l B a n k — C h i c a g o ..................
F i r s t N a t i o n a l B a n k — O m a h a ....................
F i r s t N a t i o n a l B a n k — S i o u x C i t y ..........
F r a n k e l C l o t h i n g C o m p a n y ............................

28
52
51
42
49
56

II
H o m e I n s u r a n c e C o m p a n y ..............................

40

I
N ational B an k and
................................................ 60

and

B ro th ers

27
2
54
32
53

N

N e w Y o r k T r u s t C o m p a n y .............................. 56
N o r t h e r n T r u s t C o m p a n y ................................. 53

O
N a tio n a l

B a n k ......................................

19

P

P h i l a d e l p h i a N a t i o n a l B a n k .........................
P u b lic N a tio n a l B a n k a n d T r u s t C o ...

23
26

S

S t. L o u i s T e r m i n a l W a r e h o u s e C o m p a n y 55
S t. P a u l T e r m i n a l W a r e h o u s e C o m p a n y 21
S c a r b o r o u g h a n d C o m p a n y ................... 2 5 - 4 6 - 5 7
S e c u r i t y N a t i o n a l B a n k — S i o u x C i t y . . . 50
S t a t e A u t o m o b i l e I n s u r a n c e A s s ’n .......... 26
T

T e n s i o n E n v e l o p e C o r p o r a t i o n .................. 55
T o o t l e - L a c y N a t i o n a l B a n k ......................40-4 1

U
U n i t e d S t a t e s N a t i o n a l B a n k ....................... 38
U n i t e d S t a t e s T r e a s u r y D e p a r t m e n t . . . 59
W

C o m p a n y ...................................

32

K
K och

3
56
48
44
34

M

.1
Jam ieson

S o n .................................
C o m p a n y ....................
B a n k —-C hicago . .
B ank— O m aha ...
B a n k — S io u x C ity

M erch an ts M u tu al B o n d in g C o m p a n y ..
M e r c h a n t s N a t i o n a l B a n k ...........................
A l b e r t M i c h e l ............................................................
M i n n e s o t a C o m m e r c i a l M e n ’s A s s ’n ____
M u r p h y , J . E ..............................................................

O m aha

T)

Io w a -D e s M oines
T rust Com pany

G eorge L aM o n te a n d
L e ssin g A d v e rtisin g
Live S to ck N a tio n a l
L ive S to ck N a tio n a l
L ive S to ck N a tio n a l

........................................................ 56

C h a r l e s E . W a l t e r s C o m p a n y .......................
J a y E . W e l c h ............................................................
W e s s l i n g S e r v i c e s ................................................
W e s te rn M u tu a l F ir e Ins. C o m p a n y . . . .

40
56
56
24

S carborough ^ C ompany
¿ y y i Á Á 4 h c t f t c t y C<-u h u / v h
First N ational Bank Building, C hicago


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

Horace A. Smith, Iow a R epresentative
D es M oines, Iow a

N orthw estern Banker

D ecem ber 1943

58

IN THE DIRECTORS' ROOM
aw ay, ye spalpeen, and rem em ber th a t
any h its outside th a t chalk line don’t
count!”

M ust Q u it S o m etim e
F ath er: Young m an, w h a t do you
m ean by b rin g in g D orothy hom e a t
6 in th e m orning?
Charlie: W ell, m y gosh! I have to
be a t w o rk by 7.

L e t s See
“W ill th e scar show, D octor?”
“I t ’s en tirely up to you.”

Som e M istake

L o s t?
T he teach er w as tellin g his class
about th e conquests of A lexander th e
G reat.
“W hen A lexander h ad conquered
In dia,” he said, “w h at do you th in k he
did? Do you th in k he gave a g re a t
feast to celebrate his triu m p h ? No; he
sat dow n and w ep t.”
The ch ildren seem ed a little disap­
pointed a t th is childish exhibition on
th e p a rt of th e hero, so th e teach er
continued: “Now, w h y do you th in k
A lexander w ep t?”
Up w en t a little hand.
“W ell, T om m y?” said th e teacher.
“Please, sir,” said Tom m y, h e sita t­
ingly, “p erh ap s he didn’t know th e
w ay back.”

Too M uch
P riv ate Doaks w an ted to slip out of
th e barracks, unofficially, to see his
girl. He w en t to th e se n try to state
his case.
“W ell,” said th e sentry, “I ’ll be off
d u ty w hen you come back, so you
ought to have th e passw ord for to ­
night. It is ‘Idiosyncrasy.’ ”
“Idio w h at?”
“Id iosyncrasy.’
“I ’ll stay in th e b arrack s.”

S u re Cure
F irs t Aid In stru cto r: “W h at is th e
first th in g to do in case of a head
w ound?”
Pupil: “P u t a to u rn iq u et aro u n d the
neck.”

H a rd ly O ne
CQ: “Two p riv a te s are asking for
overn ig h t passes. T hey say th e y are
pals of th e 1st serg ean t.”
A djutant: “N u ts—no 1st serg ean t
ever had tw o frien d s.”

Shades o f D ifference
The captain of a sailing vessel w as
questioning a new h an d reg ard in g his
know ledge of ships and th e sea. A fter
repeated ly receiving w ro n g answ ers,
he asked, in exasperation:
“H ang it all, m an, tell m e this:
W here is th e m izzen m ast?”
“I don’t know . H ow long h as it
been m izzen?”

N o H andicap

F in e!
Mrs. Jones (kindly): “Hello, dear,
how ’s th e pain in th e n eck?”
Mrs. Green: “H e’s out playing golf.”

Ingenious
Uncle H en ry says: “W hen a w om an’s
toe sticks out of h e r shoes sh e ’s fash ­
ionable. W hen a m a n ’s does, h e ’s a
bum!”

Neiv R a n k
P ro u d M other: “T hey prom oted m y
son J e rry for h ittin g th e sergeant.
T hey m ade him a C ourt M artial.”
N orthw estern B anker


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Poor S h o t
Two F ren ch m en had a q u arrel and,
a fte r p ouring abuse on one another,
decided th a t th e only w ay to settle
th e difficulty w as to fight a duel. B ut
a fte r th in k in g it over one of th em p ro ­
tested. H e objected th a t b oth of them
m ig h t be killed. F in ally th e y agreed
to toss for it, th e loser to go behind a
tre e and shoot him self. So th ey tossed
a coin and th e loser departed, pistol in
hand. T here w as a loud re p o rt and
th e w in n er of th e toss ru sh ed to th e
tree.
“G reat C hristopher!” gasped th e en­
emy, “I ’ve m issed m yself!”

D ecem ber 1943

Two Irish m en arran g ed to fight a
duel w ith pistols. One of th em w as dis­
tin c tly stout, and w hen he saw his lean
a d v ersary facing him he raised an ob­
jection.
“Bedad!” he said, “I ’m tw ice as big
a ta rg e t as he is, so I ought to stand
tw ice as far aw ay from him as he is
from m e.”
“Be aisy now ,” replied th e second.
“I ’ll soon p u t th a t rig h t.”
T aking a piece of chalk from his
pocket th e second drew tw o lines down
th e sto u t m an ’s coat, leaving a space
betw een them .
“Now,” he said to th e adversary, “fire

H ilda (learning to drive): T h at lit­
tle m irro r up th ere isn ’t set right.
Tillie: W hy?
Hilda: I can ’t see a n y th in g b u t th e
car behind.

O ne Less
Guide: W e are now passing th e larg­
est b rew ery in th e w orld.
Soldier: I ’m not.

W h y N o t?
“You have a w onderful form .”
“M ust we go over th a t again?”

T h e D ifference
G eneral M acA rthur has, it seems, his
lig h ter m om ents. One of his favorite
y arn s is th a t of a child w ho asked his
fa th e r th e difference betw een a G arand
rep eatin g rifle, and an o rd in ary gun.
“W ell, it ’s like th is,” replied th e Dad.
“I t ’s ju st as if I spoke, and th e n y o u r
m o th er spoke.”

E nough R oom
Did you h ear about th e m an from th e
B ronx w ho w as w an d erin g in th e L ib­
y an d esert dressed in a b ath in g suit?
He finally ra n into an A rab, w ho
blinked in am azem ent. “W hy th e b a th ­
ing su it?’ he asked.
“I am going to tak e a sw im in th e
ocean,” said th e B ronxite.
“Swim in th e ocean? W hy th e w a t­
e r’s 800 m iles from h ere.”
T he B ronx gen t w histled in awe.
“800 miles? Say, is th is a beach!”

W rong H ouse
1st Com m uter: You should be m ore
careful and pull y o u r shades down.
L ast n ig h t I saw you kissing your
wife.
2nd Same: Jo k e ’s on you—I w asn ’t
hom e last night.

T h e y D on t M in d
V isitor: H ow do you tell th e ganders
from th e geese?
F arm er: Oh, we n ev er w o rry about
th a t—ju st tu rn th em all out to g eth er
and let them figure it out for th em ­
selves.

T H I S

Y € A *

L €

TS

P A Y

T H t

b o

n u

s

WAR b o n d s

. . . and drive even harder on the pay-roll savings p la n !"
M ake W ar B onds th e C hristm as Order of th e D ay.
Urge your workers to m ake their personal C hristm as
gifts in th e form of W ar B onds—and practice w hat you
preach! M ake this a 100% W ar Bond C hristm as—to
insure fu tu re Y uletides of peace and prosperity.
M ake u p your own posters to spread th e “ W ar Bonds
for C hristm as” story across your p lan t. Tell th e story
again an d again on bulletin boards, in your p lan t m aga­
zine, and on p ay envelope stuffers.
B u t d o n ’t forget your basic, all-im portant Pay-R oll
Savings P lan. H ow ’s it going, these days? P erhaps it
needs a b it of stoking-up right this very m inute, to
hold its full head of steam against th e com petitive de­
m ands of th e holiday season.

W ell, y o u ’re th e m a n to s to k e it! You can’t ex­
pect it to keep running indefinitely on last sum m er’s
enthusiasm . See to it th a t your participation percent­
ages, and your deduction percentages, b o th end u p the
year a t new levels.
E very m onth, now your Pay-R oll Savings ought to
run well ahead of th e preceding m onth. F or so m a n y
f a m ilie s t h a t f o r m e r ly d e p e n d e d o n th e e a r n in g s
o f a s in g le w o r k e r , n o w e n jo y th e c o m b in e d e a r n ­
in g s o f se v e r a l. Such f a m ily incomes are doubled,

trebled, even m ultiplied m any times.
N ow ’s th e tim e to tu rn as m uch as possible of these
increased earnings into W ar B onds—W ar B onds for
C hristm as . . . and W ar Bonds th e whole year ’round!

GIVE THE PRESENT WITH A FUTURE-WAR BONDS!
This space contributed to Victory by N O R T H W E S T E R N B A N K E R
T h is a d v e r tis e m e n t p r e p a r e d u n d e r th e a u s p ic e s o f th e U n ite d S ta te s T r e a s u r y D e p a r tm e n t a n d th e W a r A d v e r t i s i n g C o u n c il


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

To Speed
...F o r
To help hand le an increasing volum e of W ar-tim e business with
utmost speed an d accu racy, this bank has just installed the Recordak
photographic system in its Transit Departm ent.
Recordak m achines photograph checks on micro-film at split-second
speed.

They w ill sav e time in the clearan ce of checks p a y a b le at

distant points, m aking the proceeds a v a ila b le to depositors just as
soon as possible.
Reco rdak’s all-seein g lens elim inates the possibility of tim e-w asting
inaccu racies.

After being d evelop ed , the rolls of micro-film, sim ilar

to that used for V -M ail, are d ated an d filed to provide a perm anent
record of out-of-town check transactions.

W hen w an ted for reference

a check m ay be projected in enlarg ed
size

to provide

inform ation

in the

minutest detail.
Rapid transit is but one of the m any
im portant correspondent services pro­
vided by Io w a ’s Largest Bank.

You

are co rd ially invited to use them at
an y time.

owa-Des

M oines N ational B ank
& TRUST COMPANY

M e m b e r F e d e ra l D ep osit Insu ra nce C orp o ra tio n


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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis