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NORTHWESTERN
BAN-KER
DES MOINES
Stop Lawmaking and Give Us a Chance
To Start Haym aking. :
Bv ‘T h e M an B ehind th e C ounter.”
Book of Job.
Facts or Force—By W hich Shall We Be
. . . Governed? '
1 ¡i
•
T H E P H O T O BELO W
J o h n I>. R ock efeller, oil m agnate, cele
b ra te d h is 84th b irth d a y by a tte n d in g church
at T arry to w n , N. Y. H e is p ictu red h ere
p resen tin g a .b ra n d new B uffalo n ickel to
M aster R o b e rt Irv in g H u n te r w ho c o u rte
ously h a n d e d it back b u t finally conde-
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https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
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2
TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
N o rth w e ste rn N ational
Life Insurance Company
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA
JOHN T . B A X T E R , P r e s i d e n t
A
P U R E L Y
FOUNDED
MUTUAL,
OLD-LINE,
W E S T E R N
C O M PA N Y
Septem ber, 1923
BANKER
DIRECTORS
F. A. CHAMBERLAIN, Chairman First National
Bank
E. W. DECKER, Pres. Northwestern National
Bank
C. T. JAFFRAY, Pres. First National Bank
T. B. JANNEY, Pres. Janney, Semple, Hill A Co.
E. L. CARPENTER, Pres. Sbevlin-CarpenterClarke Co.
B. F. NELSON, Pres. Hennepin Paper Co.
A. A. CRANE, Vice-Pres. Bankers Investment Co.
J. A. LATTA, Vice-Pres. Northwestern National
Bank
JOHN T. BAXTER, Pres. Northwestern Nat’I
Life Ins. Co.
1857
OFFICERS
F R E D E R IC K H. D A V IS, P r e sid e n t
C. T. K O U N T Z E , V ic e P r e s id e n t and
C h airm an
Ask the Man Who
Knows
T. L. D A V IS, V ic e P r e s id e n t
F . W . THOM AS, V ic e P r e s id e n t
E . L. D R O ST E , V ic e P r e s id e n t
J. H . B E X T E N , C ash ier
G. T. ZIM M ERM AN, A s s t. C ash ier
A. H. CHISHOLM , A s s t. C ash ier
E. F . J E P S E N , A s s t. C ash ier
Does advertising pay?
W hen you ask the m an who
K N O W S , the one w ho has used
advertising intelligently, you will
get the real facts.
J. F . M cD ER M O TT, A s s t. C ash ier
R e s o u r c e s $ 2 5 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 .0 0
National
i B a n k of O m a h a
h a s e ffic ie n tly se r v e d W e s t e r n B a n k s
fo r 6G y e a r s . Y ou r b u s in e s s is in v ite d .
H e will tell you th a t advertising
placed in the rig h t m edium is a
w onderful business builder.
W hen you w an t to reach bankers
use the publication th a t is really
dom inant in this territo ry .
The
N o rth w estern B a n k e r
IN THE UNITED STATES
Use Our Knowledge of Iowa
W hat is more reasonable th an th a t this old and
progressive Iowa bank should be able to serve you
intelligently in anything th a t is banking?
Send us your Iowa item s—only when we have
dem onstrated our ability to serve you satisfac
torily do we ask for your account.
IN SERVING OUR
correspondents, our officers m ake a point
to study carefully th eir individual needs,
thus assuring the m ost efficient service
and helpful co-operation under all cir
cum stances.
THE
FIR ST NATIONAL BANK
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
DAVENPORT, IOWA
OF SIOUX CITY
A.
F. DAWSON, President
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
IRVIN J. GREEN, Cashier
Deposits in Excess of $12,000,000
S eptem ber, 1923
TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
VITAL N E E D S O F
THE N O R T H W E S T
—es seen by a
NORTH DAKOTA BANKER
Á N influx of home-building dirt farmr - \ ers, men and women who desire to
j L JL own their own homes and become
independent, is the most vital need of the
Northwest today. Our farms must be both
homes and workshops, with the farmers
doing a great portion of the work therm
selves; and farming must be so diversified
that it furnishes employment during the
greater part of the year and not only dur
ing the cropping season.
The day of the large land cropper is gone.
We have no room in the Northwest for
gamblers, bluffers, croppers or land skin
ners. Bonanza farms, with labor stabilized
at its present high level, are doomed. We
are in need of men who show a greater
concern over their yields of corn, oats, bar
ley, speltz, wheat and clover than over the
number of acres they attempt to own or
farm; men who view the size of their ma
nure piles as of greater importance than
the size of their farms. For them there is
a crop of roots, vegetables, grain, chickens,
turkeys, dairy products, beef, honey and
what not, that leaves little to be desired for
ADDRESSED TO THE BANKERS OF THE NORTHWEST
WRITTEN AT THE REQUEST OF THE
NORTHWESTERN
N A T I O N A L BANK
M INN EAPOLIS, M IN N ESO TA
R e s o u r c e s : $ 7 5 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
the larder and secures a steady income for
both their labor and their investment.
It must be admitted, however, that the leg
islation of the past decade—the tariff, im
migration, and transportation laws, the
Adamson Act and others —has created a
great disparity between the purchasing
power of the farmer’s dollar and that of
those to whom he must sell. The protec
tive duty on wheat, insofar as actual benefits
to the farmer are concerned, is a dead law.
This condition can and should be remedied.
Some protection to the farmer should do
for him what the tariff on wool has done
for the sheep man.
But our greatest need is for real, homebuilding farmers. W ith them would come
neighborliness, simple home life, and selfsustaining communities. Such men will
always succeed in the great Northwest.
3
4
THE
M E E T I N G
THE
N O R T H W E S T E R N
G R O W I N G
N E E D S
OF
BANKER
THE
GREAT
S eptem ber, 1923
M I D D L E
WEST
Resources Ample for
the Exceptional Requirement
HE three banks which have united to form the Illinois
Merchants Banks have for many years paid more than ordi
nary attention to the development of their services to banks.
T
Today, their combined resources and facilities offer special
advantages which appeal strongly to bankers. Capital and
surplus amounting to $45,000,000 with total resources well
over $400,000,000 place them in a position to handle success
fully the larger transactions—and a fully equipped organi
zation of long and wide experience assures service of
exceptional quality even under emergency conditions.
Our officers will be glad to discuss these matters with
you—either in Chicago or in your own city.
C A PITA L A N D S U R P L U S - FO R TY -FIV E M IL L IO N D O L LA R S
I l l in o is M e r c h a n t s
Ba n k s
IL L IN O IS M E R C H A N T S T R U S T C O M P A N Y
( I |5 j j S |
T H E C O R N E X C H A N G E N A T IO N A L B A N K
A consolidation o f the Illinois Truit & Savings Bank
and The ¿Merchants Loan & ‘Truit Company
Until completion o f weit half o f Illinois ¿Merchants
Hank ‘'Building remains at its present location
Clark and Jackson Streets
La Salle and Adams Streets
C H IC A G O
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Septem ber, 1923
TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
What Kind of Investments
Do Your Clients M ake?
In making any investment, your client must consider two things:
First. Dollar for dollar, does he get value received in actual ma
terial possessions?
Second. Is that which he receives, adapted for the use for which
he bought it?
terials, the elim ination of in-betw een profits
by shipping direct to the consum er,— only
these could m ake possible such low prices.
G o rd o n -V a n T ine P ro tec t
In vestm en ts
T h ere is no question of the need of adequate
equipm ent on the farm . If crops are to be
housed in leaky, ro tten buildings, th e y ’ll rot.
If live stock is to be sheltered in m ere m ake
shift shelters, losses m ust necessarily be ex
pected. If a farm er tries to w ork w ith in
adequate equipm ent, his investm ent of tim e
and labor m ust show a loss. If he attem p ts to
house his children, labor or ten an ts in tum bledown, uncom fortable, unpleasant su rro u n d
ings, he cannot expect them to stay on his
farm .
T h e necessity for new investm ents in build
ings from tim e to tim e is apparent. T h e p ro b
lem is— not to evade the investm ent, b u t to
m ake an investm ent th a t shall not only be safe,
b u t th a t shall be best adapted to the use in
tended, and th u s shall pay dividends.
T h a t kind of investm ent, G ordon-V an T ine
low prices, superior quality, and scientific
plan n ing and designing m ake possible.
B ut they have been possible, and will be
possible so long as we continue in business.
A nd they m ean that, dollar for dollar, the p u r
chaser does g et value received in actual m a
terial w ealth.
A nd the adaptability for the use intended?
N ot m erely G ordon-V an T ine H om es have
been planned by experts. G ordon-V an T in e
F arm B uildings have been designed by men
who have m ade the farm er’s needs and re
quirem ents th eir life study. E very building,
w hatever it m ay be, represents the u tm o st not
only in quality, but in m aking for skill and
efficiency of operations. T h ey are designed to
reduce unnecessary labor to a m inim um , to
m ake investm ents of tim e, as well as of m oney,
pay real dividends in profits earned.
All this will the G ordon-V an T ine W ay do
for your clients. As th ro u g h the low er m one
ta ry investm ent for higher quality m aterials
they reduce the am ount invested, so do they
m ake th a t investm ent sounder, less of a b u r
den.
H o w W e Do It
F o r eight m onths, in the face of countless
statem en ts th a t we could not continue doing
so, G ordon-V an T in e have held down prices
to figures so low and equitable— so on a par
w ith w h at the farm er him self is receiving—
as to be practically pre-w ar values. T hose
prices have been on guaran teed -q u ality build
ing m aterials, a quality so high as to be u n
surpassable.
O nly a m arvelously efficient production
m ethod, the m an ufacturing of our ow n ma-
G
W e welcom e opinions and com m ent from
m en “w ho know .’' W e w ould appreciate your
w ritin g us of conditions in your com m unity.
Also we believe you w ould find our books of
in tere st in explaining our service and in the
inform ation they carry of possibilities and
conditions in the building industry. W e will
gladly send them F R E E on request. J u s t
mail the coupon below.
o r d o n -V a n T i n e C o .
E S T A B L IS H E D
l© 6 S
/
Satisfaction Guaranteed or Money Back
R esources O ver $1,000,000.00
REFEREN CES:
Any Bank In Davenport; Continental and
Commercial National Bank, Chicago, III.; National City Bank,
New York City
279 Case Street
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Davenport, Iowa
Gordon-Van Tine Co.,
279 Case St.,
Davenport, Iowa.
Please send me your free books on Homes, Barns
and Building Materials.
Name __________________________________________
Address ________________________________________
5
TH E
6
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
Septem ber, 1923
iiiimiiiimmiiii
S t. Joseph V alley B ank, E lk h art, In d .— Courtesy Hoggson Bros.
The
Tsi o r t h w e s t e r n
Published a t 555 Seventh Street, Des Moines-
{
Twenty-eighth Year
Iowa
CONTENTS FOR SEPTEMBER
I
P age
A m erica’s N eed— How to Buy..By C. A. C hapm an 19
P ag e
A cross from th e P u b lish e r....... By Clifford D eP uy
8
F ro n tisp a g e .... ................ ................................................ 10
Stop L aw m ak in g and S ta r t H a y m a k in g ..... ............
..............................................By Geo. T. M cC andless 11
T he B an k er and th e Book of Jo b ..... ................ ......
...................................... ................. By R. F. M cN ally 12
F a c ts or Fo rce............................ By F. N. S h ep h erd 13
...................................................................... By Dr. C ran e 14
T he A d ch eq u er.......................... ..............By C rad d iek 17
P e rs o n a l P a ra g ra p h s .....................................
Bond S ec tio n ...............................
F a rm M ortgage S ectio n ________
B an k e rs and T h e ir W a n ts .....................
In su ra n c e S e c tio n ..............
N u m ber 433
F re n z ie d F in a n c e ..............................................................
20
School K id d ies and B a n k in g ..... ............................. .
23
B uild E a rly and Avoid th e R ush..B y W . W . B each
24
H og In su ra n c e , B u sin ess In s u ra n c e .........................
.................................... ................. By C. F. S ch w ag er 25
C hecks W ritte n in L ead P e n c il.................................
............ ......... ................... By th e L eg al D e p a rtm e n t
28
33
37
33
41
S outh D ak o ta S ec tio n .........................................
N e b ra sk a B ank N ew s.............................. ..........
M in n eso ta B an k N ew s__ _______ _____ ____
N o rth D ak o ta B ank N ew s........................ ........
Iow a B ank N ew s.................................................
26
51
59
65
71
73
The contents of th is m agazine are fully p ro tected by copyright
T H E N O R T H W E S T E R N BA N K ER,
P
u b l is h e d
by
D
e
P
uy
P
u b l is h in g
C o ..
I n c .,
C a p it a l
Stock,
$100,000.00
C l i f f o r d D e P u y , P u b lis h e r ; G. A . S n i d e r , A ss o c ia te P u b lis h e r ; R . W . M o o r h e a d , E d i t o r ; J . J . W e n g e r t , A ss o c ia te E d i to r .
S p e c i a l R e p r e s e n t a t i v e : R e x Y . L e n tz , C a re N o r th w e s te r n B a n k e r , P h o n e W a ln u t 1 8 4 4 .
M in n e a p o l is Of f i c e :
F r a n k S. L e w is, 8 4 0
L u m b e r E x c h a n g e B ld g ., P h o n e M a in 3 8 6 5 . C h ic a g o O f f i c e : W m . H . M aas, 1 1 4 8 F i r s t N a tl. B a n k B ld g ., P h o n e D e a r b o r n 6 0 6 3 . N e w Y o r k
O f f i c e : P h ilip J . S ym s, 1 5 0 N a s s a u S t., P h o n e 4 8 3 6 B e e k m a n .
S t . L o u is O f f i c e : D o n a ld H . C la rk , 4 0 8 O liv e S tr e e t, P h o n e M a in 1 3 4 2 .
K a n s a s C i t y O f f i c e : G len D . M a th e w s , 4 0 5 R id g e B ld g ., P h o n e H a r r i s o n 5 8 5 7 . E u r o p e a n R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s : T h e D o r la n d A g en cy , L td .,
16 R e g e n t S t., L o n d o n , E n g la n d , 2 4 B o u le v a rd d es C a p u c in e s , P a r is , F r a n c e .
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https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Subscription Rates, $3.00
per year; BO cents per copy
Septem ber, 1923
TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
L et our Bond D ep artm en t
cooperate w ith you in fu r
nishing safe investm ent se
curities to y o u r custom ers.
W e own and offer bonds in
c o n v e n ie n t d en o m in atio n s
and m aturities, w ith sa tis
factory yield.
Iowa National Bank
D es Moines Savings Bank and Trust Company
Iowa's L a te s t B ank - D es M o in e s - Sixth and W alnut
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
7
THE
8
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
Septem ber, 1923
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ACROSS THE DESK
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/^ v N L Y a few weeks ago our
V >/ conscientious, big-hearted,
peace loving President, W arren
G. Harding, passed away. The
doctors who attended him said
that he died from a stroke of
apoplexy. There are millions
of others who believe that the
real cause of his death was the
severe criticism, unjust accusa
tions and the unfair attacks
upon his policies and his plans
while he was endeavoring as
President of the United States
to bring this country through
a period of turmoil and unrest, the like of which
we had never seen before.
As Americans we are very quick to criticize the
leaders of our Nation. W e like to find fault. W e
enjoy picking flaws in what they do and in what
they say. O ur redeeming feature, perhaps, is the
fact that we are equally earnest in expressing our
sympathy when they are gone and in expressing
our approval and appreciation of the many wonder
ful things they accomplished while living.
It is a rather sad commentary upon our mental
attitude, however, when we realize that most of us
“ Say It W ith Brickbats” rather than “W ith
Flowers.”
Dryden says, “By criticism as it was first insti
tuted by Aristotle, was meant a standard of judg
ing well.”
I think all of us would be
better citizens if we followed
this rule of Aristotle by m ak
ing our criticisms perform a
constructive
service
rather
than destructive.
In other
words, of “judging well” our
men in public office.
Certainly I am not in favor
of removing criticism from our
public life, but I am in favor of
having it contain more of
thoughtfulness when it is made.
President Coolidge is now
your President and mine, re
gardless of our political beliefs. L et’s give him a
chance. If we criticize him, let’s do it conscien
tiously and let’s give reasons for our criticism.
Let us not denounce him simply because we do not
agree with him on his policies unless we can sug
gest something better in their place.
President H arding was brought to an untimely
death because he was endeavoring earnestly and
sincerely to satisfy all of his critics— it could not
be done. President W ilson is a feeble and wornout
man today for the same reasons.
H ereafter let us mix a little more of loving kind
ness, a little more of thoughtfulness and regard for
the man in public life, whether he be our President
or other public official who is sincerely endeavoring
to carry our Nation forw ard along the paths of
peace, progress and prosperity.
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The Y ou n ger G en eration
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N A R E C E N T report on business conditions
Roger W . Babson says that the attitude of the
younger generation is distinctly harm ful to the pres
ent business situation.
He points out that most everybody wants to take
it easy and that very few want to work. “ In every
locality I find that the average man today is inter
ested only in spending. People not only want to
get rich quick but without working. People are
buying recklessly without any thought about where
the money is coming from with which to pay. O ur
I
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
young people seem to have the idea that dollar bills
grow on trees and all they have to do is to pick them
off. Almost no one wants to work. Very few
want to produce. Earnest and industrious manual
laborers, such as we had twenty-five years ago, are
almost an unknown quantity. Everyone wants to
ride in the cart and no one wants to pull. O ur per
centage of producers is steadily decreasing and the
percentage of middlemen is steadily increasing.
“I am not fearful for America in the long r u n ; but
rather I am a great optimist on this country and the
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Septem ber, 1923
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TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
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people of this country. My love of America causes
me to issue the warning that the attitude of the av
erage young person today is not right toward his
or her work. A doctor is not friendly to his patient
if he blindly shuts his eyes to his patient’s disease.
One cannot be a true friend of the United States
by blindly shutting his eyes to the wrong attitude
of the new generation toward industry, service and
th rift.”
The old fundamental lesson of th rift must be
told over and over again to each new generation as
it comes along if they are to have the right attitude
towards themselves, their parents and their coun
try. All of us m ust realize th a t no individual,
you n g or old, can “have his cake and eat it too.”
I t seem s like a hard lesson to learn, b u t it is
as tru e and as sound as an y th in g of w hich we
know.
The L a n d of the Suckers
H E R E are some people w ho have th o u g h t
th a t all the blue sky artists lived in the m id
dle w est and th a t all the suckers had their
h ab itat am ong the corn fields of this fertile te rri
tory.
It is true that in the past few years the blue sky
artists have taken their share of profits from the
rich agricultural sections., but they are now pur
suing their prey more assiduously in other parts of
the country. In fact we find that many of the “high
pressure boys” have moved to western seaports
where suckers are more plentiful.
A well-known w riter on this subject, in quoting
business men of a California city, sa id : “ ‘There
T
are so many suckers here,’ said one of the leading
citizens of Los Angeles, ‘I know of no place where
it is easier to put out a fake security based on a
good thing.’ A bank officer in the same city said,
‘People here are especially gullible. That is be
cause speculation is in the air because people think
of it as.the land of easy money and because to so
many it has proved to be these things.’ ”
The banker’s job these days in whatever part of
the country he may live, is to prevent his customers
from losing what money they have in wild-cat spec
ulations remembering always that there are new
schem es being concocted every day to ex tract
from the u nsuspecting th eir hard-earned m oney.
11
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The L o a d Should B e L ig h ten ed
H E taxation load placed on the American
people should be lightened. This should be
done by reducing the expenses, decreasing the num
ber of unnecessary government employes, by follow
ing carefully the budget system already inaugurated
and by prohibiting the future issuance of tax ex
empt securities.
The load of taxation is becoming so heavy that
in many cases it is stifling business, killing initia
tive and strangling worthy business enterprises.
A prominent banker has expressed it very aptly
T
and well when he says, “Today we find ourselves in
the grasp of an octopus greater than any of those
which were feared and assailed in that hey-day of
trust-busting, infinitely more powerful, infinitely
more oppressive, infinitely more menacing to our
liberties and happiness, infinitely more threatening
to future progress.”
As individual citizens we should use our power
and our influence to urge our representatives in Con
gress to see that the load of taxation is made
lighter.
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C A S H I E R ’S C H E C K ” for $ 3 .0 0 is all th a t is required to secure th e
m onthly visits of th e N orthw estern B anker fo r an en tire year.
E ach issue
contains from 1 0 8 to 2 0 0 pages of m ighty in terestin g m a tte r p ertain in g to
banks an d banking in terests in th e te rrito ry covered by th e m agazine.
“ O U R C O R R E S P O N D E N T S .”
Every bank in the N orthw est is in
vited to a place on th is list. S end us item s of local in terest, te ll us
about your bank an d its grow th, prospects, etc., also any o th er
financial news of in terest to bankers in your section.
W e are
always glad to h e a r from ou r friends.
“ S I G H T D R A F T S .” W e always carry a large “ Reserve” of good
w ill and ad d itio n a l service, an d will prom ptly honor d ra fts m ade
upon sam e by any bank.
This dep a rtm en t is for ,y o u r special
benefit. I t m ay be m ade of very g reat benefit to your bank. Do
n o t fail to avail yourself of its privileges.
“ A C L E A R I N G H O U S E .”
O ur colum ns a re a clearing house
for all our readers. Express your views on any topic of in terest to
“A
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
th e banking fra te rn ity an d
to agree w ith us, or w ith
of ideas, an d people w ith
W e sh all be glad to
su b m it same for publication.
You do n o t have
anyone else. W e learn things by a n interchange
whom we disagree o ften prove valuable teachers.
h ea r from you.
“ NO P R O T E S T ” h as ever been offered to th e statem e n t th a t th e
field covered by th e N orthw estern B an k er is th e m oney-producing
section of th e A m erican con tin en t, rich in hogs, ca ttle, co m , etc.,
an d do tted w ith thousands of prosperous banks, a ll doing a good
business, an d th e m a jo rity of th e m a re read ers of “ T h e N o rth
w estern.”
“ S U R P L U S A N D U N D IV ID E D P R O F I T S ” increase very ra p
idly w ith those banks, whose advertisem ents ap p ear reg u larly in
th e colum ns of th is m agazine.
F u ll in fo rm atio n as to rates
an d ou r special service w ill be p rom ptly fu rn ish ed on appli
cation. Y our business solicited an d appreciated. The “ B ankh as been tw enty-seven years in its p resen t field.
ll
iff
C. A. CHAPMAN
P R E S ID E N T M IN N E S O T A B A N K E R S A S S O C IA T IO N
V ice P r e s i d e n t , F i r s t N a t i o n a l B a n k , R o c h e s t e r
C. A. C hapm an, p re s id e n t of th e M inn eso ta B a n k ers A sso ciatio n , w as a t one
tim e c a sh ie r of th e G erm an S av in g s B ank of C h ester, Iowa. He la te r joined
in in c o rp o ra tin g th e C h arles E. W a lte rs C om pany of Council Bluffs. In 1910
he organized th e W a lte rs-M a tc h e tte Com pany, b ank stock, in K a n sa s City, Mo.
In 1916, Mr. C hapm an b ecam e c a sh ie r of th e F ir s t N atio n al B ank of A lb ert
Lea, Minn., and in 1919 he w as m ade m an ag in g vice p re s id e n t of th e F ir s t
N atio n al B ank of R o ch ester, th e positio n he now occupies. Mr. C hapm an is a
n ativ e of M innesota, a g ra d u a te of th e U n iv e rsity of M in n eso ta and an a d m itte d
atto rn ey -at-law both in M in n eso ta and in Iowa.
P a g e Ten
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N
o r th w ester n
B
anker
The N ecessary Financial Journal
T W E N T Y -E IG H T H YEA R
SEPTEMBER 1923
N U M B E R 433
Stop Lawmaking and Give Us a Chance
To Start Haymaking
W
E H A V E a habit of upsetting
By Geo. T. McCandless
business every four years
“The Man Behind the Counter”
with a presidential election.
For months we anticipate and pre time ago and he said: “W e farmers
dict terrible things which will happen are a lot better off than we were a
if we do not elect our ticket.
year ago. W e are making our living
Orators point with alarm or view from the farm now instead of bor
with p rid e ; other speakers point with rowing money and buying our stuff
pride and view with alarm.
in town.”
Great reform s are advocated which
A few cows and pigs and chickens,
will free the laborer from labor, the a few fruit trees and ground enough
sleeper from sleep, the drinker from to produce feed for the stock will
drink and the capitalist from money. again make the farm er the huge p u r
W e elect a few green congressmen chaser he has been in times past.
to take a shot in W ashington at any
Concocting schemes to make it
thing which happens to be loose and easier for him to borrow money isn’t
give them a chance to introduce laws going to help him. Furnishing him
which will bring the millenium.
with cheap money to refund indebtedIt is a wonder to me that with these
loyal souls working for the salvation M iiiiim iiiiiiiim iiim iiim iiin iiiiiu H iiim iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim iiiiiiiiiin iiim iiiiiiiiiiim im n iin im in iiiiiiiim iiM iiii
of the world any real, constructive,
C ongress h e lp in g the fa n n e rs m akes
worth-while legislation is ever ac
m e th in k of an old m aid w ritin g a book
complished.
on how to raise children.
W hat th e fa rm e r needs, w hat business
The favorite pastime is legislation
needs m o re th a n anything else rig h t now
along lines of regulating business.
is to b e allow ed to stand on its own
Congressmen from the grain belt and
m erits. T h ere n e v er was a law passed
agricultural sections, whose constitu
th a t was n o t favorable to certain classes
and u n fav o rab le to others.
ents are chiefly farmers, appear in the
A re we n o t going too fa r in constantly
arena with untried nostrums which
try in g to th in k up som e schem e to h elp
they assert will cure all industrial ills.
th e fa rm e r to get into debt instead of
help in g h im get out?
C ongress helping the farm ers
m akes me think of an old maid w rit
ing a book on how to raise children.
W h a t the farm er needs, w hat ness is all right but he isn’t asking
business needs m ore th an an y th in g for any class legislation to favor him
else rig h t now is to be allow ed to over others.
stan d on its own m erits. T here
The old political economy taught us
never w as a law passed th a t w as not the law of supply and demand is in
favorable to certain classes and u n exorable. W ouldn’t it be kind of a
novelty if we would take a morato
favorable to others.
A re we n o t going too far in con rium on passing laws and try to get
stan tly try in g to think up some back to the time when business got
schem e to help the farm er to get along very well w ith o u t incessant
into debt instead of helping him get government regulation ?
Some one may say, “If you do that
out?
H e isn’t asking any class legisla the big fish will eat up all the little
tion. W e don’t want the government fish.” But no business deserves to
to lend the farm er money to hold stand nor will stand that does not fu r
wheat till after Christmas for higher nish those things for which there is
prices. H igher prices for any neces a natural demand.
W ith our increasing system of hard
sity means higher cost of living for
the rest of us. I was talking to an roads the farm er is no longer com
honest-to-goodness dirt farm er a short pelled to peddle his stuff around town
or sell to greedy middle-men. Drive
along our modern paved highway. At
every corner you see from one to half
a dozen milk cans. Trucks with reg
ular routes, swing along these high
ways, pick up this milk and haul to
the condensaries and cream eries. T he
farm er turns his cream into cash and
has the skimmed milk left for the
pigs. He doesn’t need any more leg
islation. B utter and eggs have be
come necessities; we buy them at any
price we have to pay. If some farm
ers want to build a cold-storage plant
let them build it. If it fills a want it
will stand and succeed on its own
merits. Rail rates will be obliged to
meet the competition of the modern
speed wagons. The fast auto trucks
will do more to equalize freight rates
than a hopper full of laws which say
to the railroads how much they shall
charge and how much they shall pay
in wages. Too much government in
business—too much regulation by reg
ulators who do not know what they
are doing; too many professional re
formers.
Demand will fix the price. There
is too much coddling of the farm er
for political effect.
The principal reason a business man
should get into politics is to keep pol
itics out of business.
Uncle Sam has never shown any
startling ability in conducting his own
business according to business meth
ods. A concrete illustration of his
lack of ability to handle big business
was when he thought he knew how
to run a railroad.
C ooperative m ark etin g is a good
thing. W aste in distribution benefits
neither the producer nor the con
sumer. Values disappear like smoke
from a fire and nobody gains.
If Uncle 'Sam would keep out of
the eternal hampering of business by
fool regulations which benefit nobody
the country would heave a sigh of re
lief and would once more feel the in
centive of achievement as its reward
for work well done.
Page Eleven
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
12
TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
Septem ber, 1923
W hat the Banker Can Learn from the
Book of. Job
1 he simple faith and patience of old will solve more problems than all the
man-made panaceas of modern false prophets
N IN G E N IO U S stu d en t of the
th eatre in N ew Y ork recently
conceived the idea of m aking
a religious dram a out of the Book
of Job. N atu rally the presen tatio n
of this w ork aroused m uch in terest
on all sides, and crow ded houses
w ere the rule w hen it w as recently
show n in St. Louis. I t is m ost in
tere stin g to take up the Old T e sta
m ent and stu d y this rem arkable
book w hich, from the stan d p o in t of
illu m in atin g lite ratu re has seldom
been equalled even in the Scrip
tu res ; and the lessons it teaches
are em phasized w hen one sees the
ch aracters m oving about and hears
them speak the w ords w hich the
an cient w riter records as w h at w as
said by the tro u b le tested hero of
the tale and by the friends who
w ould have consoled him as they
m oralized on w h at had bro u g h t
about such an im pressive reversal
of fortune.
T h e fact th a t the authorship of
the book has never been definitely
fixed places it in a class by itself
and gives it a unique value. T he
residence of the afflicted Job, ac
cording to the K in g Jam es edition,
is laid in the land of Uz. T h e D ouai
version gives it as the country of
H us. M aking due allow ance for lin
guistic v ariations, it w ould be fair
to com prom ise on the land of U s as
being the location of the story. By
a coincidence, U. S. also stands for
our own country. F u rth erm o re, Job
was not of the chosen people, but
rep resen ted w h at m ight be called
the m elting pot of th a t period. T his
is an o th er resem blance to the aver
age citizen of these U nited S tates.
A ccording to the standards of
those days, Job was a rich man.
H is w ealth w as m easured in sheep,
she-asses, camels and oxen. T he
fact th a t he had seven sons and
th ree d au g h ters is also w o rth y of
m ention by the author. T o illus
tra te the tran sito rin ess of w orldly
w ealth and even of fam ily ties, we
see all his possessions and even his
children w iped o u t alm ost in the
tw in k lin g of an eye by robbers, by
fire, by m u rd er and by the elem ents.
T h e w orld has m oved on m any cen
tu ries since those days, b u t such
th ings happen even yet. T h a t trouble
A
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
B y R. F. McNally
Vice President, National Bank of
Commerce, St. Louis
in this w orld is to be regarded as a
justifiable re trib u tio n for offenses
previously com m itted is clearly
b ro u g h t out in the arg u m en ts of the
friends w ho presented them selves to
com fort the afflicted one and who
w ere so depressed at his sad lot th a t
for the first seven days and seven
n ig h ts they had no th in g to say. In
the play, one could not help b u t be
im pressed by the earnestness and
the effort on th eir p a rt to be logical
...................................
“W hen M r. B abson recen tly em
p hasized that it was n o t m ore law s we
needed b u t m ore p ra ctic a l C hristianity,
he b ro u g h t o u t a tru th th a t it is w ell
fo r us to heed. It is obvious th a t in
the course of tim e som e p e rio d s shall
be m ore p ro sp e ro u s th an others. In the
fa t days we should alw ays have the
fu tu re in m in d and lay aside accord
ingly.”
w hen E liphaz the T hem enite, Zop h ar the H a am ath ite and B aldad
the S uhite sought to tell their friend
w hat had b ro u g h t him to his direful
condition.
I t is no w onder th a t he w as ex
asperated and w as m oved to cry
out, “I have often heard such things
as these. You are all troublesom e
com forters.”
W hen they alleged
th a t the troubles of Job w ere n oth
ing m ore than the consequence of
his guilt, he knew th a t they w ere
w rong. A w eaker soul w ould have
laid the blam e on causes beyond
natu ral control and w ould have con
fessed him self the helpless victim
of circum stances. N ot so w ith Job.
H e show ed th a t in every sense of
the w ord he w as a prim e m oral risk.
A lthough he fully appreciated the
extent of his m isfortunes, he insisted
th a t w hile m an is not alw ays re
sponsible by him self for changed
conditions, he personally w as not
try in g to lay the blam e on anybody
else. T h ro u g h all his afflictions he
argued in a sp irit of faith, resigna
tion and confidence in th e future,
and we can well im agine him m ak
ing plans to get back on his feet as
soon as the hand of persecution had
been lifted. In stead of ab u sing his
C reator, as even his sorely tried
wife suggested, he attested in one
of the sublim est acts of faith on
record his belief th a t his R edeem er
still lived.
A nd a point to be noted in these
days w hen so m uch is said about
changing the course of n atu ral laws,
n either Job nor any of his friends
com plained about the adequacy of
the law s th a t w ere then in force,
nor did they su g g est th a t additional
legislation w as necessary.
A fte r u n dergoing such tests as
have seldom been m et by m ortal
m an, he received his rew ard and he
w as the possessor of w ealth even
g re ater th an before. F u rth erm o re,
additional length of days w as given
him and he lived anoth er one h u n
dred forty years to enjoy the second
stage of his prosperity.
H aving passed th ro u g h the tra
vails of the last few years, the av er
age banker can see in Job a charac
te r th a t perhaps resem bles the
banker of today m ore th an any other
S criptural personage, because, to
take our m ost recent years as an
illustration,
after
having
gone
thro u g h a period of alm ost unprece
dented prosperity, the business
w orld discovered all of . a sudden
th a t a test w as in store for it and
th a t the patience and the oth er Jo b
like qualities w ere now the need of
the tim es. P olitical ag itato rs have
cried th eir w ares and it has been so
loudly proclaim ed th a t the tim es
are out of jo in t th a t m any, alas,
have found them selves unable to
bear up under th eir m isfortunes and
have succum bed under the strain.
T he average m an has fo rg o tten
w h at the youth of E liu brings out in
the inspired book w hen he calls a t
ten tio n to the fact th a t sufifering is
not alw ays the re su lt of sin, but
som etim es is the trial of virtue.
W h ere is the observan t banker
w ho will not adm it th a t pro sp erity
and not adversity is the tru e te st of
the m ettle of a m an? T h ere w ere
m om ents in 1920, to be explicit,
w hen m any bankers, w ho w ere in
charge of well run banks, could not
have stated w ith positiveness th a t
(C ontinued on page 34.)
Septem ber, 1923
TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
13
Facts or Force— By Which Shall We Be
Governed ?
Educational work by A. B. A. shows bankers have to combat force of
radicalism by facts of true democracy
N S P IT E of its ap p aren t faults
By F. N. Shepherd
and th e attack s of the discon Executive Manager, American Bankers
ten ted and the radical, ours is
Association
the best form of governm ent y et de
vised for a free people, b u t its suc A ssociation believes th a t the respon
cessful operation im plies general in sibility of the banker is tw o-fold :
telligence both political and eco
F irst, to create a sound and intel
nomic.
ligent opinion on banking and allied
W ith large g ra n ts of political free economic subjects am ong his own
dom our people, under the p resen t people; and
highly developed industrial system ,
Second, to the extent of his ability
do not possess the economic facts to develop the sam e th in g in the
upon w hich to base intelligent ac
m inds of the general public.
tion.
T here w as held in Cleveland re
W h en we lived in m ore or less
cently the tw en tieth annual convenisolated com m unities, each one knew
and u n d erstood som ething of the
w ork of th e other and th ere w as
little m y stery su rro u n d in g our ef
forts but, w ith the developm ent of
com m unication and tran sp o rtatio n ,
the specialization of activities and
the v ast in tricate g ro w th of our in
dustrial organization, difficulty is
experienced by the g re at m ajority
in g e ttin g even a slight u n d ersta n d
ing of economic processes. H ence
th ey co n stitu te a fertile field for the
seeds of discontent sowed by the
hand of ignorance and m isrepresen
tation.
Som eone has said if you w an t to
control a people th ere are ju st tw o
w ays of doing it— one is by coercion
and the oth er education. O ne im
©U n d erw o o d & U n d erw o o d
plies th e application of external
F R E D N. S H E P H E R D ,
force and the other the application
Executive Manager American Bank
ers’ Association.
of ideas. O ne m eans a club to the
outside of the head and th e other
facts on th e inside. T h e form er has tion of the A m erican In stitu te of
been the chief m ethod pursued d u r B anking, an organization th a t w as
ing th e g re ater p a rt of hum an his designed to educate and elevate
tory. A recent and notable case is those bank clerks and junior officers
R ussia, w here, th ro u g h a deliber who have not had o p p ortunity for
ately planned and successfully car education in those fundam entals of
ried out policy of assassination, their business of w hich every banker
170,000 com m unists now control should be well inform ed.
ab o u t 140,000,000 people. Such is
T h e A m erican B ankers A ssocia
th e so-called dictatorship of the
tion
has alm ost since its inception
p ro letariat.
T h e application of
fathered
and supported the in stitu te,
ideas is the m ethod intended by the
founders of the constitutional gov w hich is, in its potentialities, one of
ern m en t of the U nited S tates w here the m ost im p o rtan t activities of the
the leaders m ust first be inform ed association. T h ro u g h it the banker
and then supported by an intelligent is u n d ertak in g to elevate his own
people.
public opinion.
T h e m en of the in stitu te can rig h t
By reason of the pivotal position
w hich the banker occupies in his fully take pride in the accom plish
com m unity, the A m erican B ankers m ents of th eir grad u ates, one of
I
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
w hom , M r. J. H . P uelicher, is this
y ear the president of the A m erican
B ankers A ssociation.
T h e A m erican B ankers A ssocia
tion has u ndertaken activ ity in the
m atter of public education. I refer
to its effort to create an in telligent
public opinion th ro u g h lectures in
the schools on B anking and E lem en
ta ry Econom ics. T h is w ork, done
th ro u g h the in stru m en tality of the
C om m ittee on P ublic E d u catio n is,
like the in stitu te, un d erg o in g a proc
ess of evolution. T h ere have been
prepared on the various phases of
banking nine lectures— one for each
m onth in the school year. T hese
lectures are couched in sim ple term s
w hich pupils in the grades and high
schools can easily und erstan d . V ir
tually 100,000 of these lectures have
been delivered “by the banker n ear
est the school” du rin g the cu rren t
school year.
I asked one of the m en who had
experience delivering these lectures
before pupils in the grades how he
w as able to p resen t his sub ject in
term s sim ple enough for children to
understand. H e replied, “ I use the
Socratic m ethod and ask as m any
questions as I can in term s of th eir
ow n know ledge. L et us take the
idea of a bank. I ask the children
how m any of them know w h at a
bench is. Of course, they all do and
m any of them w an t to tell you. I
then tell them th a t in ancient Rom e,
the m an w ho changed the m oney
for the people who cam e in from the
provinces often occupied a bench
ag ain st the w all on one of the m ain
streets. U pon this bench he changed
the m oney. T he L atin w ord for
bench is ‘bancus,’ Italian ‘banco.’
G radually the idea of banker w as de
veloped about the m oney changer
w ho sat on the bench. T h e w ord
‘bancus’ becam e th e G erm an w ord
‘b an k ’ and the E nglish w ord ‘bank,’
and the present bank in th e U nited
S tates had its beg in n in g w ith a
m oney changer in R om e.”
In these lectures are discussed
bank checks, sim ple to you, b u t
of w hich the public as a w hole has
even y et inadequate know ledge in
spite of the fact th a t over 90 per
14
TH E
cent of all business tran sactio n s are
carried on th ro u g h the m edia of
checks or oth er evidences of credit.
T hen follows the discussion about
loaning the b an k ’s m oney, character
as a basis of bank credit, as well as
oth er subjects in tim ately related to
the banking business.
O ne lecture is on the subject of
foreign trade, b u t the stu d en t is not
frightened w ith th a t caption w hich
to him often im plies som ething of a
com plicated n atu re too difficult for
him to und erstan d . I t is therefore
discussed u nder the caption, “ O ur
R elations w ith the B ank and the
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
Septem ber, 1923
B ank’s R elation w ith the R est of the W o m en ’s clubs and o th er sim ilar
W o rld .”
organizations. C onsidering the fact
T here is a lecture on “A Simple th a t the lectures have been under
B ank S ta tem en t” and another on w ay only tw o years, they have “gone
th a t m uch m isunderstood and in over big,” and very largely so by
valuable institution, T h e Federal m eans of the assistance of the secre
R eserve System .
taries of m any state bankers asso
A lthough these lectures w ere ciations, chapters of the A m erican
originally designed to be given in In stitu te of B anking and the th o u
the schools “by the banker nearest sands of bankers who realize th a t
the school” the dem and, w hich far they have an in terest beyond those
exceeds the fondest expectation, has things w hich come reg u larly upon
come not alone from the schools but their desk every m orning—an in te r
from such bodies as the KiwUnis est involving the w elfare of the com
clubs, R otary clubs, C ham bers of m unity as a w hole and the security
Com m erce,
C om m unity
clubs,- of our econom ic system .
FATIGUE
B y Dr. Frank Crane
T IS not those who work the hardest who get
the tiredest.
In fact, many physicians will tell you that
those of their patients who have that tired feel
ing much of the time are people who do noth
ing at all.
O ften the very worst remedy for tiredness is
inactivity, the so-called rest cure, and if we
would get out and hustle, our weariness would
disappear.
T his is due to the fact that human fatigue is
primarily mental.
It is something we think of that “takes the
life out of us” oftener than some activity in
which we engage. A disappointment or a sor
row or humiliation can fag us more than hard
labor.
And we have often witnessed frail people
working tremendously without complaint, even
boasting that they enjoy it, simply because they
are full of eager expectation or ambition or some
other strong emotion.
It is what we give out that rests us more than
what we take in.
The lake is fresh. It is full of lively fish, and
its waters are good to drink, not because it is
continually receiving but because there is a con
tinual outflow.
The Dead Sea is dead because, while water
continually runs into it, none runs out.
H um an energy is like the widow’s cruse.
Though you take from it continually, it remains
full.
Life and life force are not something that
you can pile up and keep as you would potatoes
I
or money bags. It is a running current and if
it will not run it will spoil.
In the case of energy the paradox is true that
what you give you have, and what you save you
lose.
W hen we put forth our powers we find them
continually replenished. If we bravely front
our tasks, power leaps to our aid.
It is in the presence of danger that we have
courage. It is under great strain that there
comes to us the power to endure. It is when ca
lamity and disaster descends upon us that there
enters into us an unlooked for sturdiness to
stand up against evil.
One way to cure fatigue, of course, is to rest
when it is necessary and at proper intervals.
But we often forget that the very best way to
get ride of chronic fatigue is to have hard w ork
enough to do, dangers enough to face, problems
enough to solve, and obstacles enough to over
come.
To quote from Captain Hadfield, “The av
erage neurasthenic is ordered to take a rest in
the afternoon, but he spends the time reading his
p a p e r; he goes to bed early, but sits up reading
a novel. He gives his body more rest than it
needs, failing to realize that what the body needs
is not relaxation but reinvigoration. It is char
acteristic of the neurasthenic that in the morning,
and possibly after a long night’s sleep, he wakes
up more fatigued than when he went to bed.”
In other words, the best way to be full of
energy is to give out energy copiously, and the
price of perfect rest will always be hard work.
C o p y r i g h t , 1923, b y Dr. F r a n k C r a n e .
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Septem ber, 1923
TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
A Real Business Romance
The novelist who supplies an eager
public with thrill - embroidered
historical novels has overlooked a
virgin field of material.
An intimate story of more than one
American banking institution con
tains more romance and literary
possibilities than even the best of
writers can concoct from their
imaginations.
There is the history of Foreman
Bros. Banking Co. of Chicago. The
firm was founded in the war days
of 1862. It has experienced all the
adventures and tribulations and
rush to power of th at mid-western
metropolis.
The Foreman Bros. Banking Co.
has weathered three wars, has risen
trium phant from the maelstrom of
financial panics—has survived the
terrible days of the Chicago fire,
when the discouraged ones shook
their heads and said Chicago would
never rise from the ashes.
But Chicago did rise, and Foreman
Bros. Banking Co. grew with the
city whose career it has paralleled.
The bank has now been largely ex
panded and renamed, The Fore
man National Bank and The Fore
man Trust and Savings Bank.
In addition to an extensive local
banking business, the bank handles
a heavy proportion of foreign busi
ness. A large part of the bank’s ac
counts consists of intimate rela
tions with banks, bankers, cor
porations and firms throughout the
country.
The successes of many Chicago and
middle western concerns is written
on the records of the Foreman Bros.
Banking Co., which, to its great
credit, has devoted much of its
energy and commercial foresight
to the development of promising
but conservative business houses.
Finally it is inter esting to note that
the recent expansion into a national
bank and a trust and savings bank
has been accomplished entirely
without outside aid and without
the stimulus of consolidations.
Here, indeed, is a real romance of
American business.
T h e F o rem a n N a tio n a l B a n k
The Foreman Trust and Savings Bank
(Succeeding Foreman Bros. Banking Co.)
La Salle and W ashington Streets
Combined Capital, Surplus and Undivided Profits Exceed $6,000,000
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
16
THE
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
S eptem ber, 1923
Interest Time Saved
I
I
I
I
I
II
I
I
II
UR correspondent banks and their customers are often
O
surprised and gratified at the resulting advantages when
they bring a specific case to us with the idea of saving time in
the handling of collection items, B/L drafts and similar matters.
Our unusual facilities and straight-line methods as the Bill of
Lading Bank of Chicago are interestingly described in a 16page illustrated brochure under under such headings as “Reduc
ing the Time,” “When B/L Commodities Start to Market,”
“The Follow-up,” “When Draft is Refused,” and “Prompt
Credit to Correspondent’s Account.”
When writing for the booklet, also indicate your problem
and we will gladly work out a suggestion that may mini
mize the time element materially on your funds in transit.
1869
1923
UNION TRUST
COMPANY
CHICAGO
The B jL B ank in A m e r ic a ’s F reig h t C en ter
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
II
i
i
I
I
i
S eptem ber, 1923
TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
17
ADGHEQUER
By “Craddick”
aiiiiiiiuniiiiiiiiiniiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiMiiimiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiniiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiN^
edly, you could give them b etter
N U M B E R of subjects have ............ ................. .
service th an the p resen t city lib rary
been u n d er co n stan t discus
T E L L US, PLEA SE.
affords.
sion and consideration by
W h at p a rtic u la r advertising have you
E m ploy a golf professional and
bankers for m onths. A rticles have
done in the past th ree m o n th s w hich
offer every person opening a new
been w ritten , speeches delivered,
p ro v e d successful and p ro fitab le in re
sults, o r qu ite th e c o n tra ry ?
savings account of ten dollars— to
com m ents offered by m any individ
T e ll it in th re e h u n d re d w ords. Stress
rem ain for six m onth s—a free course
uals, b u t th ere w as still lacking the
the objective, m ed iu m used, fe atu re or
of golf lessons.
group opinion of bankers in th e
inducem ent, results, cost.
A dd y o u r
T h en p u t an ad in the paper and
form of individual expression.
own com m ent, o p inions and advice to
y o u r b ro th e r b an k ers. C om m unications
p resen t a p u tte r to all those who
So I recently prepared a question
w ill be h e ld confidential unless p e rm is
“p u tt’’ their m oney on deposit w ith
naire covering tw elve subjects of
sion is g ranted to use th e b a n k ’s nam e.
your bank.
o u tstan d in g in tere st and im portance
Speak freely. Y ou m ay h e lp a b ro th e r
T ak e your telephone directory list
b a n k e r to e ith e r m ake m oney— o r to
to the b an king business today, and
save m oney.
and w rite a letter to all nam es show n
m ailed it o u t to a representative list
Address
all com m unications to
therein asking for suggestions on
of banks in fo rty som e states.
“A D C H E Q U E R ” in care of T he N o rth
how to b e tte r the hom e tow n d ru g
w estern B anker.
T h e re tu rn s are tab u lated below
W h en th e replies
and indicate, in a m ajority of sub -'iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim iiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiitiitiiim u iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiim iH iiiiiiiiiii store service.
come
in,
call
in
you r rich est d ru g
jects, th a t bankers know w h a t they
w a n t and w h at they do not w ant. in tere st in dairying? Yes, 4,770; no, g ist and offer to reorganize his b u si
ness in re tu rn for his bank account.
All questions w ere answ ered by 340.
Silly ro t? Oh, say n o t so ! T h ere
eith er “y es” or “ no” so as to leave
(11)
A re your farm ers in favor of
no doubt as to final conclusions or cooperative m ark etin g of grain crops are banks in cities and villages th a t
are actually p u ttin g sim ilar ju n k and
intent.
and live stock? Yes, 4,190; no, 850.
(1)
Do you favor branch banks _ (12) Should bankers encourage bunk over as a “come o n ” for bank
for national and state banks? Yes, cooperative m ark etin g as a solution accounts.
W hich proves, that it can be done.
440; no, 4,730.
of the farm ers’ econom ic problem s?
(2)
A re in tere st rates of savings Yes, 3,690; no, 1,490.
Keep on Advertising
and C. D ’s. too high (assum ing th a t
The
experienced
ad v ertising
W hy Not?
4 p er cent is the average rate) ? Yes,
w riter and new s g ath erer u n d er
H ow w ould it do for the bank to stands th a t there is no such th in g in
2,770; no, 2,930.
(3)
H as prohibition increased open a dry cleaning and clothes the w orld as an un related fact.
savings deposits in your city? Yes, pressing d ep artm en t in the basem ent E very incident or h appening in the
and offer such service free to p er life of your com m unity, for instance,
3,210 no, 1,940.
(4)
Do you urge people to save sons m aintaining an account w ith is related directly or indirectly to
in o rd er to buy an auto? Yes, 680; the bank?
the financial and banking in terests
W h y not p u t in a gasoline filling of the com m unity.
no, 4,510.
(5)
A re you in favor of light statio n and free air service on the
A child is b o r n ; a m an d ie s ; a
w ines and beer? Yes, 1,740; no, fro n t curb for the use of your bank y o u n g ster sta rts to sc h o o l; the boy
custom ers ? Give a gallon of gas g ets a jo b ; the hom e buys a phono
3,360.
(6 Do you favor restricted im m i w ith every bank deposit.
g ra p h ; Jo h n Jones is elected to a
Send a letter to your m erchants county office; M iss P erkins accepts
g ratio n u nder p resen t law s? Yes,
offering to conduct th eir advertising a place to teach in the schools.
3,750; no, 1,400.
(7)
Should banks e n c o u r a g e and sales cam paigns providing they E very incident and occurrence of
locally th e A m erican B ankers A s will carry a balance of a thousand the m ost ordinary ty p e is related in
sociation educational program for dollars or m ore in y o u r bank. T his som e w ay to your bank and the
public schools? Yes, 4,710; no, 390. will relieve them of all w orry and service it offers in the com m unity.
( 8)
Is ready m ade or “canned” concern in ru n n in g th eir establish
D oesn’t this m ake it very clear
ad v ertisin g as effective for a bank m ents, m ake m ore m oney for them th a t a progressive bank m u st adver
as p repared advertising? Yes, 370; w hich in tu rn will be deposited in tise unceasingly?
your bank.
no, 4,710.
U se Your Head
(9)
W o u ld you favor a stan d ard O pen up an o th er d ep artm en t w ith
In th e m onths ahead, bankers will
code of b an k ing ethics or correct an affable person a t the w indow to
business practice to be adopted by sell railroad tickets to those of your be besieged by salesm en offering
y o u r B ankers A ssociation as a custom ers having business and every conceivable kind of schem e
touted high as the one and only
m eans of p rom oting public confi pleasure trip s in m ind.
In stall bookshelves in the bank m eans to increase a b an k ’s business.
dence, good will and u n d erstanding?
lobby and establish a circulating li T h e bulk of these offerings will be
Yes, 3,600; no, 510.
(10) A re you encouraging farm er b ra ry for y o u r custom ers. U n d o u b t based upon the idea of using some
A
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
TH E
18
so rt of m erchandise article as an in
ducem ent and bonus to be conferred
upon the person opening the new
account.
A lready, we have come into con
ta c t w ith a n um ber of such plans
and the collection runs from kew pie
dolls, alum inum stew kettles and
p ortable electric lam ps to w ater
jugs, fountain pens, cam eras, dol
lar w ateches, etc., etc.
W h en the salesm an’s argum ents
reach the high pressure point and
you notice the first signs of w eak
ening, ju s t stop a m om ent and use
your own head and recall to m ind a
few fundam entals involved in the
building of a su b stan tial banking
business.
You can build a shack in a day
or two, but the building w hich is to
endure th ro u g h o u t the years, re
quires a solid foundation, and the
su p erstru ctu re and finish require
tim e and care.
M ake y o u r ad v ertisin g expendi
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
tures, from now on, build business
for the years a h e a d !
Apply This T est
In considering any special plan or
stu n t as a m eans of inducing cus
tom ers to open bank accounts, it is
im p o rtan t and essential to apply the
follow ing t e s t s :
1. Is it sufficiently dignified and
in keeping w ith the b an k ’s policy
and record for security, prestige,
confidence ?
2. Is there any relation or appli
cation of the prem ium or bonus of
fered to a savings or checking ac
count ?
3. If a savings cam paign, does the
prem ium
su g g est
“saving”
or
“spending?”
4. If a personal solicitation cam
paign, are the solicitors or canvass
ers to be tran sien ts? A re they the
types you w ould choose to person
ally rep resen t your bank to your
public? Do you know the identical
m ethod of p resentation?
Septem ber, 1923
5. Is the prem ium a m echanical
contrivance, likely to becom e broken
or require repairs or ad ju stm en ts?
Is the bank to assum e the responsi
bility of repairs and replacem ents?
6 . A re the new accounts to be
opened at the bank or at hom es and
places of em ploym ent? (O ne h u n
dred new accounts opened over the
bank counter are w orth th ree h u n
dred secured on the outside.)
7. H ow are new accounts to be
acknow ledged? Is there any oppor
tu n ity for contact w ith the new
custom er ?
8 . W h a t is each new account to
cost the bank? Is the initial cost
too large to perm it an additional ex
penditure for developm ent of the ac
count ?
9. Is there a definite plan of de
velopm ent of the new accounts
w hich m ay be secured? (F in al re
sults depend as m uch upon this
(C ontinued on page 61.)
North Dakota as an Investment Field
O R T H D akota offers a fine
field for in v estm ent and splen
did o p portunities for the hom e
m aker. Basically, no state of the
union is in b etter condition th an
N o rth D akota today. In the first
place, the soil m ap of the U nited
S tates will show th a t N orth D akota
possesses a larger percentage of the
soil of hig h est p roductivity than any
o ther state of the union and in addi
tion other large territo rie s of soils
of the second class, both of which
insure successful ag ricu ltu re and the
p ro sp erity of the state w hich is the
possessor of such soils.
W e also find th a t because of cer
tain u n fo rtu n a te conditions w hich
existed in our state during 1919 and
1920, N o rth D ak ota escaped the in
flation of land values and the subse
q u ent deflation w hich has cursed so
m any an o th er state, and there is to
day no state in the union w here
farm ing lands of splendid soil and
rich p ro d u ctiv ity can be secured for
as low a price as in the state of
N o rth D akota or w here the security
for the farm m ortgages issued is
m ore sound, stable and conservative
th an in this state.
N
Because of the conditions of 1919
and 1920 above referred to, the
credit of the state and its people
w ere also g reatly curtailed during
the sam e period w ith the resu lt th at
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Written for Readers of the
Northwestern Banker
By
Hon. R. A. Nestos
Governor of North Dakota
GOV. R. A. N EST O S
the indebtedness of the state is to
day m uch sm aller th an in m ost
states or than it would have been
except for this handicap w hich in
this respect proved to be a blessing
to the state.
W ith the g re at progress m ade by
our state in recent years, in raising
m ilch cows, beef cattle, hogs, sheep,
poultry, corn, flax, clover and alfalfa
in addition to our splendid crops of
sm all grains, the fu tu re p rosperity
of the state and the stab ility of our
economic life seem s assured.
W hen, in addition to this, we re
m em ber th a t in the w estern half of
the state we have fields of lignite
coal so extensive and the layers so
thick th at, if every oth er coal field
in the U nited S tates w ere to be de
stroyed and A m erica dependent upon
N o rth D akota alone for h eat and
pow er, we could supply the w hole
country for five hundred years and
yet have enough left to keep N o rth
D akota supplied for an o th er five
hundred, and rem em ber th a t th ere is
to be found rig h t in the sam e fields
inexhaustible layers of fine clays
adapted to the m anufactu re of brick,
sew er pipe, stonew are, earth en w are
and china, one can easily und erstan d
th a t the N o rth D akota resources
have barely been touched and th a t
the state is now en terin g upon the
era of its g re atest developm ent and
th a t the com ing decades prom ise
m uch to the citizens of N o rth D a
kota and to those of other states in
seeking either a hom e or an inv est
m ent.
Septem ber, 1923
TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
19
‘‘How to Buy” Instead ol ‘How to Sell
Is America s Crying Need
Bankers must teach “oversold America” how to save by intelligent
buying
H E R E is being reflected from
By C. A. Chapman
the current thinking of the
Vice
President First National,
period that very much, if not
Rochester, Minn.
a majority, of our social and eco
nomic ills of the present time have spirit and general wholesomeness. It
flowed from intensive American is the kind of salesmanship which
salesmanship. W e have had too much tells the truth about its wares, which
salesmanship.
has the proper degrees of sympathy
Nearly every class in America has for its clientele and understands its
been oversold and overloaded, and has needs. It is the kind of salesmanship
overbought.
It has bought a great
many things that it didn’t need,
couldn’t use, and couldn’t afford. Of
the things that it has needed, it has
bought too much, as the result of
mark-up salesmanship.
As a nation we have inflicted upon
each other an unconscionable type of
salesmanship which has placed sales
commissions and sales volume in the
premier position, and has almost com
pletely disregarded, taken as a whole,
the interests and future com fort of
the purchasing side of the various
markets. As a result, there is an
enormous volume of frozen credit
which toil alone can liquidate and the
future has been borrowed from in an
awful volume to make a present satur
nalia and banquet for the selling
horde.
Upon a general survey of the en
tire subject, salesmanship seems to
C. A. CHAPMAN
fall roughly into four classes, namely,
normal, high pressure, victim and to which we will ultimately return in
predatory.
some form because it is ethical, and
H ere is the legitimate type of sales because the truth and right must ulti
manship. It sells to the purchaser mately prevail.
commodities which he needs from the
It does not indulge in the circus
standpoint of his own genuine inter type of advertising. Its publicity is
est. It sells him what he can afford not a cloud of verbiage. In a word,
to have in the quantity which he can this type of salesmanship is fair,
properly use, and for purposes which open, considerate and dependable.
are in his best interests. This type
O ut of the intense competition in
of salesmanship sells what it can de the great urban centers there has been
liver in the amount required by the evolved a type of pressure salesman
purchaser and ordered by him, predi ship regarded as necessary by new
cated upon the ability to deliver both enterprises
struggling
desperately
quality and quantity as represented against old established and strongly
and agreed.
intrenched enterprises.
The other types of salesmanship
The battle has not been confined to
have so driven into the field as to re the great urban centers, however, but
duce normal salesmanship to a mini has been carried afield into the rural
mum. It is largely found in the fine districts and there has done a vast
little stores on Main Street, and in deal of harm to a public unprovided
the older established stores in the with appropriate defenses.
larger cities, but is fast disappearing
The pressure salesman, while not
in both places under the pressure entirely unm indful of his prospective
which is applied to it. The public re purchaser, regards first his own de
grets its going and loves its courteous sire for signatures on the dotted line.
and gentlemanly qualities, its kindly He does not admit that the purchaser
T
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
is in his hands, but takes it that it
is the duty of the purchaser to erect
his own defenses.
The pressure
salesman does not intend willfully to
harm anyone, but he feels that it is
entirely proper for him to push his
sales energetically, dispose of as much
goods or service as he can get signed
up for the highest obtainable price,
and let the purchaser and the credit
man of his house take care of the rest
of it.
During the period of high popu
lar earning power in 1919 and 1920,
the pressure salesman of America
heaped up conditions through his ac
tivities which have since resulted in
enormous breakage and unhappiness
throughout the nation. H e sold alto
gether too much of some things to
folks who either could not use them
at all, or had no need for them, or
who needed not so much as they were
induced to buy, and as a result were
unable to liquidate the resulting ob
ligations growing out of the p u r
chases. They were induced to bor
row from the future for present use,
and now must toil inordinately and
anxiously endure deprivation to the
ultimate payment of their indebted
ness.
High pressure salesmanship con
ducted an auction attended by the
farm ers of the nation who bid each
other’s farms to unheard of figures
and have thereby increased the aggre
gate mortgage indebtedness of the
agricultural interests 310 per cent
since the pre-w ar days, although they
have nothing more than they had
then.
Nearly the entire nation moved into
a more costly type of domestic and
business housing than its earning
power would warrant.
In conse
quence, there are homeless families
and business institutions, there are
many commercial and industrial reor
ganizations, and all because of the
lures held out by the pressure of the
real estate salesman, among others.
Farm lighting plants were installed
on many farms which could not carry
the overhead, and the “power farm
drive” placed huge tractors on farms
which could not support them.
W e will doubtless alwavs have
pressure salesmanship, and it seems
to have the admiring approval of a
(C ontinued on page 95.)
TH E
20
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
Septem ber, 1923
When We Paid Half a Billion to the
School of Frenzied Finance
Letters of a banker to his son in another bank
M r. Jo h n L. Jam es, Sr., veteran
p re sid en t of the F irst N a tio n a l B ank
at Sm allville, is w ritin g a series of le t
ters to his son, Jo h n Jr., new ly elected
assistant cashier of th e F irst Savings at
R ivertow n. M r. Jam es, Sr., has m ade
som e th o ro u g h investigations of w rongly
p ro m o te d p ro m o tio n stock com panies
and is tellin g his b a n k e r son about
them . In th is le tte r, the second of the
series, he describes the selling ta lk of
a p ro m o tio n stock salesm an and how
th e process of “ g u ttin g ” is c arried on
in m ism anaged com panies. In his next
le tte r he w ill give h is son a “ yard stick ”
of investm ent, w ith some sound invest
m ent advice gleaned from h ard ex p eri
ence in th e school of H a rd K nocks.—
E d ito r’s Note.
Smallville, Sept. 1, 1923.
Mr. J. James, Jr.,
Asst. Cash. F irst Savings Bank,
Riverton.
My Dear B o y :
I am very glad that you liked the
first letter I w rote you the other day
following your election as an officer
of the F irst Savings Bank, and I
hasten to reply to your letter in which
you ask me some questions concerning
“blue sky” transactions.
Let me first answer your inquiry as
to how a banker can identify the socalled “swindle artist” who knocks at
your door to unload some worthless
stock. I can do this best by relating
my first experience as the “fish” on the
end of the stock promotion line.
One morning, away back in 1918,
John Flynn, our good banker friend
over in Hall county, called me by
]5hone. “Jim ,” he said, “there’s a
young fellow in my office now with a
good proposition for you. His name
is Lane— I know his folks and they’re
good people. You will like the boy
and I believe he has something that
you’ll be glad to buy. May I send
him over?”
“Sure,” I said. “Anyone that John
Flynn recommends can have an hour
of my tim e. Send him over.”
Well, son, this young fellow Lane
came to see me the same day. A lik
able chap, good talker, and had mighty
good references, both for himself and
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
what he was selling, from a lot of
folks I know and from some promi
nent men of Iowa. H e was selling
stock at $125 a share in a general
finance corporation, every share of
which, he said, was to be sold only to
bankers and financial men who would
be interested in a high-class venture.
I t ’s not often, son, that your dad
allows anyone to completely hypnotize
him, but honestly, this boy was irre
sistible. To make a long story short,
an hour after he came to me I had paid
him $250 cash and signed a personal
note to take over ten shares for a total
of $1,250. And remember, this was
the first time in my banking career
that I ever purchased a dime’s worth
of promotion stock and I had always
advised my customers very strongly
against the purchase of anything but
well-known securities.
Do you know, I got to thinking it
over after he left, and the longer I
thought the colder I became on the
deal. Finally, I called him up by
phone and had him come back to see
me the next day. “ Say, Lane,” I said,
“ I ’m getting along in years and have
just a moderate estate that I ought to
conserve without doing much, specula
tion. Your finance stock is doubtless
good, but I believe I had best take no
chances. If you’ll give me back my
personal note I ’m willing to pay you
your commission, $250 or whatever it
is, and we’ll just forget i t !”
He laughed heartily. “ Now, Mr.
Jam es,” he said. “Don’t you worry
for a minute about those ten shares.
Tell you what I ’ll do. You raise the
money to pay the remaining $ 1,000
due and I ’ll do you a special favor.
I ’ll resell your ten shares for $1,500
(I can do it easily, because it has
raised to $150) and we’ll split the
$250 premium. Now, isn’t that a
square deal?”
H e finally won his point and had me
feeling pretty good, promising to sell
the ten shares at once. So I got out
some liberty bonds and paid the other
$ 1,000 on the stock and waited for
him to sell the entire lot.
Well, son, I ’ve waited now just five
years. I still have the ten shares in
my office safe, the finance company is
liquidating after a stormy five years’
record of mismanagement, and Lane,
the young man who sold it to me was
killed last year in an auto accident.
I ’m told that I may realize about $400
on the $1,250 I gambled, but the ex
perience was worth ten times that
amount, and I ’m passing it on to you
for your guidance. Since that day in
1919, when I bought the stock, dozens
of stock promotion fellows have been
in to see me (guess they must have
passed the word along that I was a
“good” one). In talking to them I
have learned the truth of what a wellknown w riter recently said in differ
entiating between a stock salesman
and a bond salesm an:
“ The bond salesman, if he is the
right sort of man, representing the
right sort of house, will never come to
you except th ro u g h a business intro-
Septem ber, 1923
TH E
duction of sort. So introduced, you
can rely on the statem en ts he m akes.
“You will notice, too, that he prom
ises less than the stock salesman—
much less. He offers you an invest
m ent; that is, the promise of a fixed
rate of interest on your money and the
return of the principal at a definite
date. H e holds out no hopes of limit
less profits. Ten chances to one, the
security he offers you is the obligation
of an old-established concern, the rec
ord of which, if you are so disposed,
you can look up for yourself in the
financial manuals. The bond salesman
talks of past performances as an assur
ance of the future. The stock sales
man, as a rule, confines himself to the
future for the good and sufficient rea
son that so many of the concerns
whose stock he is offering you have no
past.
“T he stock salesm an is generally a
pretty plausible fellow. H e has to be
or he wouldn’t be able to separate so
many people from liberty bonds and
their bank balances in return for stock
certificates of doubtful present value
and still more dubious future. And
it’s not so hard to be plausible with the
background which he has for his story.
Behind him, as a setting for the story
he tells you, he has the tremendous,
complicated romantic machinery of
twentieth-century American business.
“For every talk of wealth beyond
the dreams of miserdom that the cour
tiers of Charles V drank in greedily
from the returning followers of Cortez
and Pizarro the last half century of
American business can furnish a thou
sand. F or every story of adventure
and gain that lured the half-piratical
English seamen of the Elizabethan age
to the Spanish Main, twentieth-century
American business has hundreds of
counterparts. W hat could be more
absorbing, for instance, than the story
of the Bell Telephone? The early
struggles of the inventor; the almost
miraculous intervention of Dom Pedro
—the only emperor, incidentally, who
has ever visited America—bring Bell
and H ubbard their first recognition,
the war with W estern U nion; eventual
victory and— tremendous profits. Even
the last phase of the story, told in dull
language of dividend checks, is a veri
table financial Arabian Nights.”
Next, I want to describe to you the
methods whereby a mismanaged stock
promotion company gets away with
the usual 75 per cent of the investor’s
money that is left after the stock sales
man takes his 25 per cent slice. H ere
are two examples of “gutting:”
In 1918 a stock company was organ
ized in a near-by city with $ 100,000
capital and $60,000 surplus. Stock
sold for $160 per share, with no pro
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
21
T he m an who w ants y o u r
h elp in “k eeping the contract
away fro m W all S treet.”
T he m an who talk s a b o u t the
“tra n sfe ra b ility ” of the stock.
T he m an who says th a t th e stock w ill
la te r be “ listed on the exchange.”
T he m an who w ants you to b u y b e
cause “ the p rice is surely going u p .”
T he m an whose chief selling p o in ts
are letters of reco m m en d atio n from
“ lead in g citizens.”
$4,300 per year above his $6,000.
Thus total officers and directors’ sal
aries amounted to a cool $58,300 per
year.
This company is still doing business
and has avoided legal pressure by va
rious methods. It has paid many divi
dends— in the shape of H IG H SA L
A R I E S — to D IR E C T O R S A N D
O F F IC E R S O N LY . But the inves
tors here in Smallville haven’t received
even the interest on their money,
which, if you figure it at compound
interest, is at least a fifty per cent loss.
Another instance of “gutting” :
The officers of a small insurance com
pany organized a separate finance cor
poration, with a capital stock of
$12,000. Officers of both companies
were practically the same. Before the
ink was dry on the stock certificates,
the entire stock was resold to the in
surance company for $15,000, a $3,000
premium.
and here is what happened to the com
pany as it was brought to light when
a charge of mismanagement was in
stigated by a small stockholder:
The nine resident stockholders, who
were also directors, had voted them
selves each a director’s salary of
$6,000 per year. One man was se
lected to take charge of the company’s
sales, with an additional salary of
This investment by the insurance
company was, of course, contrary to
the state law, which reads that an in
surance company shall not invest its
surplus funds in a non-dividend pay
ing corporation, such as the finance
corporation in question. But the in
surance company made affidavit with
the state departm ent that the finance
company had paid a dividend and the
(C ontinued on page 86 .)
motion. Nine financial men, prom i
nent citizens, bought 549 of the 1,000
shares outstanding, divided equally
among them.
The remaining 451
shares were sold to small investors
(several folks right here in Smallville
bought som e). Not a single dividend
has ever been paid to stockholders,
6
STO CK SALESM EN TO A V O ID
T he m an w ho tells you how
stockholders in sim ila r con
cerns becam e ric h over night.
“Halt or We’ll Shoot’' Says Sign
If you happen to be rolling along
over the broad highw ays of B uena
V ista C ounty, Iow a, som e day or
n ight and see the above pictured
sign stretched out in fro n t of you,
it will be to your best in terests to
stop at once. F o r this sign rep re
sents a protection feature w orked
out by th e B uena V ista V igilance
C om m ittee, under direction of the
county bankers association for
em ergency use. T h e sign is to be
used only in case of bank robbery
or sim ilar em ergency w here the vigi
lantes desire to halt autom obiles for
the purpose of investigation. F ail
ure to stop carries a d istin ct penalty
and vigilantes assum ed the rig h t to
open fire upon the auto d river who
ignores it.
TH E
22
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
S eptem ber, 1923
take care of the farm ers for th eir
legitim ate needs and will furnish
m oney w here we feel it will do the
farm er, as well as the com m unity,
good by increasing the production
of our farm lands.
Boosting the Dairy Business
B y F. E . F risbee
President, First N ational B a n k , Sheldon , Iowa
................................................................................................................................................................................... mini......................... s
5
| Hard
| InDairy
E5
Times
istD
cr
Fe |
Post-M ortem Control of W ealth
Jay Gould, w ho died th irty years
ago, was a pow erful and ad roit
speculator. In 1869, he and Jim
Fisk, later killed by a business asso
ciate, cornered N ew Y ork C ity ’s
supply of gold—som e $15,000,000—
and b ro u g h t on the fam ous “ Black
Experience the past two years shows that the Dairy section of Minnesota and Wis- =
F rid a y ” of S eptem ber 24 of th a t
= consin did not feel the hard times as much as grain growing sections of Iowa.
year, incidentally cleaning up prof
its of $ 11,000,000.
EE
Farmers had weekly creamery checks of good amounts, when gririn selling farmers e |
Gould had definite ideas of the
EE were hard pushed by low prices for crops they were selling.
=
control of his fam ily th ro u g h the
TEN PATRONS OF THE ALGONA, IOWA Creamdisposition m ade of his g re at for
tune, and w as particu larly aw are of
!
ery received $3959.00 in the month of January for milk
the m atrim onial hazards w hich
and cream sold.
children in h eritin g v ast estates m ust
A. J. Brown & Son received . . . . . . .
. . . .$792.23
face. T o p ro tect them from in fatu
Jewel Paterson received . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,. ."$740.95
ations and unw ise m arriages, he in
A. J. Keen & Son received ............ ......... . . . . , $471.28
cluded in his will the provision
th a t “if any of m y children shall
E First National BanR Sheldon, March 30, 1923
EE
m arry w ith o u t m y consent d u rin g
=
In response to your inquiry with reference to the HIGH CHECK men for the month EE
E of January: A. J. Brown milks 36 co-yvs and delivers whole milk to the creamery every EEE m y lifetim e, or th ere after w ith o u t
the consent of the m ajority of the
E morning; J. Paterson milks 28 cows and delivers whole milk; A. J. Keen milks 26 cows_ ==
1 and delivers cream only—Algona Co-Operative Creamery, M. P. Christenson, Manager.
EE executors and tru stees under this
w ill,” the share of such child should
|
WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE GOOD DAIRY COWS
J
be reduced one-half and divided
am ong the other natu ral heirs.
|
IN THE SHELDON TERRITORY.
§E
H is sons George and E dw in m ar
ried w ith his consent before his
WE H AVE AM PLE F U N D S TO
death. F ra n k m arried w ith his con
LOAN TO RELIABLE A N D R E
sent the first tim e, b u t w ith o u t it
SPONSIBLE MEN
FOR
MORE
the second time, in 1910, m arried his
third wife w ith o u t consent of the
COWS.
executors and tru stees. B ecause of
this disobedience to the will of his
father, George J. Gould has sued
to recover from F ran k $10,000,000
for division betw een his b ro th ers
and sisters under the term s of the
will.
P ro m in en t law yers have declared
E H A V E been encouraging in prices came the farm ers who w ere
our farm ers as m uch as pos depending on grain selling w ere up the m atrim onial clause of the will
sible to buy m ore good cows ag ain st a p re tty hard proposition. binding and now the courts are to
and feel th a t d airy in g and m ore hogs P rices w ere so low th a t they could have an o p p ortunity to pass upon its
validity. T h u s the dead hand of
are tw o th ings th a t the farm ers in not keep up th eir paym ents.
O n the other hand, we are aw are the fath er reaches up from the grave
this vicinity should g et into. W e
have also been encouraging them to th a t the dairy d istricts w ere not so to punish the disregard of F ran k
rotate and build up the soil by p u t badly h u rt and the m an w ho w as Gould for the w ishes of his father,
tin g in m ore sw eet clover and alfalfa. g e ttin g a w eekly cream check was w hose ju d g m en t seem s to have been
confirm ed by the son’s second m ar
T hese tw o item s, of course, would fortunate.
W e are try in g to carry on a cam riage, if not by his third.— Chicago
enable the farm er to keep m ore
paign of g e ttin g our farm ers to buy Journal of Com merce.
dairy cattle.
Back in the days w hen land w as m ore dairy cattle, and, as the adver
If you add only a little to a little
m aking a steady increase in value tisem ent on this page show s, our
and do this often, soon th a t little
each year a good m any farm ers in bank, as well as the o th er banks in
this vicinity g o t it into th air m inds Sheldon, are ready to loan m oney to will becom e great.-—H esiod.
It
th a t it w as not necessary to do custom ers for this purpose.
T here is in every hum an co u n te
dairying. T h eir land w as going to w ould be very hard, I m ight say im
increase in value anyw ay, and w hen possible, for any individual to b o r nance either a h isto ry or a p ro p h
corn w as a high price on the m arket row any m oney a t the Sheldon ecy, w hich m ust sadden, or a t least
a good m any th o u g h t it w ould not banks for land bu y in g or speculative soften, every reflecting observer.—pay to feed hogs. W hen the slum p purposes, b u t we all have funds to Coleridge.
|
[ First National Bank, Sheldon la. §
W
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
S eptem ber, 1923
TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
23
Do the School Kiddies in Your To wnKnow
These Facts About Banking?
A simple talk on general banking prepared by the A. B. A. for use of local
bankers before public schools and colleges
( Copyrighted.
iiiM im tiiiiiiiiiiim m iiiiiiiiiiiiiim iiiitim im iiiiu iriiiim iiitiiiiiiitm iiiim im iiiiiiiitiiim iiim iiiiiiiiiiiim iiiiii
T he C om m ittee on P u b lic E ducation
of the A. B. A. has p re p a re d a series of
n in e elem en tary talk s on b an k in g , to be
d eliv e re d by b an k ers b efo re p u b lic
schools, colleges, and civic clubs of
every d escrip tio n . T h e talk p u b lish ed
on this page is th e first of the series,
and is accom panied by a sim ple outlin e
fo r convenience in analyzing.
H E purpose of my talk today is
to give you certain interesting
facts about banks. If you were
asked to express your; ideas about
banks, each of you would doubtless
have a different answer. Perhaps you
could tell only of some special way in
which you have known a particular
bank used either by yourself or by
some member of your family. The
bank, however, plays such an essential
part in the life of every community
that every one ought to have a clear
conception of what it is, and why it
goes hand in hand with human prog
ress.
Today we shall not consider any of
the special methods of banking. O ur
purpose is to see how the bank affects
the business life and welfare of all the
people of our community.
One of our large city bankers, whose
boyhood had been spent in a small
town, was recently telling some friends
about his early ideas concerning
banks. W hen he was eleven years of
age, the first bank in his home town
was started, his father being one of
the members of the board of directors.
He watched the small banking house
take shape, saw the thick walls of the
vault erected inside of the building,
and observed the workers with the
greatest wonder, as they set into place
the heavy vault door and heavier safe.
To his youthful mind, the town bank
was merely a larger model of the small
dime bank he kept at home. H e be
lieved that the larger bank was just
a good, safe strong-box in which peo
ple could deposit their money. This
idea seemed correct when, after a few
months, the bank opened for business.
Each day the boy saw people leave
their money in care of the bank, the
duty of which he supposed to be the
protection of the money until it was
again needed, when the depositors
could draw it out.
T
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
1922 by the American Bankers Association)
Very soon certain things began to
puzzle this small boy, for he knew that
the officers and clerks of the bank were
drawing salaries. One day he asked
his father some of the questions about
the bank which had come to his mind.
The boy’s first question w a s: “Father,
if a man takes a hundred dollars to the
bank today, can he go to the bank to
m orrow, and draw it all out again?”
“Every cent of it,” said the father.
“Then,” said the lad, “I want to know
how a bank can make any money for
itself, and pay salaries and other ex
penses.” This started a new line of
thought in the father’s mind. H ere
was a boy who wanted to understand
something of the bank and its place in
the affairs of the town. So the father
carefully began his explanation.
“W hen our bank was first talked
about, the gentleman chosen as presi
dent, because he was one of our leading
business men, came to me and asked
if I would help to organize the bank
and buy some shares of stock at one
hundred dollars each, the full subscrip
tion to amount to fifty thousand dol
lars. I told him I had hoped for a long
time that a bank would be organized
in our town. For years, the men who
were operating the iron mills had to
send to a neighboring city for money
to pay their employes. O ur merchants
had always had difficulty in taking care
of the money received in their busi
ness, and there had been no place to
care for the people’s savings. Since
the right men were heading the move
ment for the new bank, I was glad to
buy some of the shares. In a short
time, the president told me that the full
fifty thousand dollars had been paid by
different people of the town. This
money made up what is called the cap
ital stock (illustrate). The capital
stock, in addition to furnishing money
with which to start a bank, also serves
as a protection to all those who place
their money on deposit.” (E very bank
chartered under the law must have
capital stock, the amount depending
upon the size of the community and the
kind of business to be conducted.)
“Accordingly,” said the father,
(C ontinued on page 37.)
Simple Outline on
“THE GENERAL IDEA OF THE BANK”
I. D efinition of a B ank
A. A b a n k is an in stitu tio n engaged
in th e business of
1. R eceiving deposits
2. M aking loans
3. T ra n sfe rrin g m oney and
credit
II. H isto rica l C om m ent
A. T h e b a n k m ay be com pared
w ith th e G reek tem ple w here
th e m oney changer used to sit
u p o n a ben ch — L atin, B ancus;
Ita lia n , B anco; G erm an, B a n k ;
E nglish, B ank.
B. R eferen ce also m ay be m ade to
th e b eg in n in g s of th e savings
b a n k m ovem ent, w hich grew out
of sm all savings societies created
in E ngland and on the co n ti
n e n t of E u ro p e, one of the first
of w hich was started by D aniel
D efoe, a u th o r of “R obinson
C rusoe.”
III. O rganization
A. Selling stock
B. S tockholders
C. B u ild in g
IV. O peration
A. L ia b ilitie s
1. C apital stock
2. D eposits
B. A ssets
1. B ank b u ild in g
2. F u rn itu re , fixtures, e q u ip
m en t
3. Cash on han d
4. R eserve
5. L oans and investm ents
V. U sefulness to
A. C om m unity
1. C ultivates hab its of saving
2. H a n d les savings
3. Is m ed iu m of all financial
tran sactio n s
4. Is av ailable fo r loans to
p ro m o te successful business
5. Serves fo r th e safekeeping
of m oney and valuables
B. N ation
1. D evelops com m unity life
and in d u stry
2. P ro m o tes success and p ro g
ress.
3. E nlarges com m ercial field
fo r its locality.
C o p y r i g h t , 1922, A m e r i c a n B a n k e r s ’ A s s o c i a t i o n
24
TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
Septem ber, 1923
Build Early—and Avoid the Spring Rush
H E P U B L IC press has re cen t
ly had m uch to say on th e sub
ject of high building costs and
m ethods for th eir reduction. N ews
of extensive building program s in
m any of our large cities, p a rtic u
larly Chicago and N ew Y ork, has
reacted to a considerable degree as
a re ta rd e n t in influencing prospec
tive builders elsew here to postpone
th eir own w ork.
T h e question has been raised as
to the possibility of b e tte r tim ing
the m ore extensive building projects
so th a t construction in general will
be m ore equally distributed th ro u g h
out the tw elve m onths. I t w ould
appear to be axiom atic th a t in ten d
ing builders w ould m ake extrem e
effort of th eir own volition to ascer
tain in advance a good tim e to build,
ra th e r th an forging ahead, as they
do, w hen the m arket is already
g lu tted w ith buyers sim ilarly intent.
W h y don’t they?
A nyone fam iliar w ith the busi
ness of building know s that, if he is
prepared to take bids F eb ru a ry 1 for
w ork to be fabricated in the factory
at once and executed in the field as
soon as sp rin g opens, he will find
him self tak in g adv an tage of a very
satisfacto ry price slum p.
W h y then, does the average
ow ner, upon deciding to build, w ait
until after Jan u a ry 1 to consult his
architect, dally all winter with his
prelim inaries, th en rush out plans in
the sp rin g for bids in A pril and M ay
w hen everyone else is doing the
sam e th in g ?
W h a t rig h t has such a one to
“cuss” the co n tracto rs and supply
dealers and th eir high prices?
R ath er he should blam e him self for
not g ettin g them to figure in D e
cem ber and Jan u a ry w hen they had
little else to do.
L ater, next season, it appears th a t
prices will be as high and possibly
h ig h er th an th ey have been this
year. T h ere can be no general re
cession in building costs until labor
conditions change. In present day
construction, probably 15 per cent of
the cost of a building is raw m ate
rials, 70 per cent labor and the re
m ainder, net profits.
T h e O utlook stated recently th a t
the brick and stone m asons of the
U n ited S tates n u m ber 134,000 as
ag ain st 160,000 a few years ago,
w hereas we should have at p resen t
200,000 to take care of our grow ing
T
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
By W . W. Beach
The W. W. Beach Co., Sioux City, Iowa
needs. I t further, and properly, a t
trib u ted the shortage to the m ach
inations of the labor unions in their
endeavor to reduce com petition.
T his is accom plished in tw o w ays,
both by elim inating apprentices
w herever possible and by influenc
ing im m igration law s to a like end.
O bviously then we cannot expect
any considerable im provem ent in
these conditions until we so change
our im m igration law s as to let in
people w illing to w ork for a reason
able re tu rn —or until people learn to
g et along w ith o u t the com forts of
up to date buildings and q uit erect
ing them . L e t us hope the latte r
condition will not be forced upon us.
M eanw hile, by com bing th e m a r
ket in the search of vendors who
are in need of orders (and finding
them ) and by selecting m en to do
our w ork w hose o u tp u t is n o t re
stricted by w alking delegates and
w hose v ersatility is not lim ited by
the issuance of “ca rd ” in a single
union, it is found that building costs
are not so abnormal nor “ out of sight”
as press reports would indicate—pro
vided always that the builder is per
mitted to select the right time in which
to do his buying.
Dairy Exposition To Be Held
At St. Paul
W
IT H T H E holding of the
N o rth w est D airy E xposition
a t th e M innesota S tate F air,
St. P aul, S eptem ber 1 to 8 , the
n o rth w e st has becom e the center
of atten tio n all over the country as a
new region devoting itself to dairy
education. T h e m ost cordial rela
tions exist betw een the m anagers
of the N o rth w e st D airy Exposition,
the new est com er to the field of
dairy education, and the m anagers
of th e D airy C attle C ongress, at
W aterloo, now en terin g its fo u r
teenth year. T hese tw o g re at show s
are the goals of m ost of the w estern
breeders durin g the m onth of Sep
tem ber ju s t preceding the N ational
D airy E xposition to be held a t S y ra
cuse in O ctober.
In com m enting favorably on the
holding of the N o rth w e st D airy E x
position, the A u g u st bulletin of the
N ational City B ank, N ew York,
say s: “ It is an opportune tim e for
the m ovem ent, for the dairy in te r
ests of the country are not de
pressed. T he dairy farm ers of M in
nesota are in fairly prosperous con
dition even now .”
W h a t is taking place in the n o rth
w est ju st now is preparation for in
tensive developm ent of the dairy in
d u stry on th ree f r o n ts : the produc
tion, the d istribution and the con
sum ption ends of the business.
T h ere is every indication w ith the
use of m otor and train, of w a te r
w ays and railw ays, th a t the d istrib u
tion of dairy products has entered a
new era of safety and dispatch.
P rofessor M cDow ell, U n iv ersity
of W isconsin, w ho has recently re
tu rn ed from a speaking to u r of the
w est, states th a t the question m ost
frequently asked him all along the
line w as, “Is the dairy business be
ing o v e rd o n e ; is th ere d anger of
over-production?” P rofesso r M c
D ow ell said, “N o.”
H ow far aw ay the danger of over
production is is show n by the lat
est figures from the federal d ep a rt
m ent of agriculture. In 1890, there
w ere 262 dairy cows per 1,000 pop
ulation, and in 1920, 215 per 1,000
population. T h is decrease m ay in
p a rt be accounted for by an increase
in purebreds w ith th eir hig h er p ro
ductive capacity, b u t it is also indi
cates th a t the in d u stry is not keep
ing pace w ith the p otential m arkets
in the U nited States.
T he N o rth w est D airy E xposition
ra th e r th an being the p ro m p ter of
the progress in this in d u stry m erely
is a sym ptom of the g re at m ove
m ent w hich lies behind it, the m ove
m ent to grade up dairy herds and
double th eir production by p u ttin g
purebred sires a t the head of indif
ferent and odd lots of m ilking cattle.
“W e don’t need m ore m oney, b u t
we do need m ore old-fashioned re
ligion,” said D r. C harles E vans, di
rector of educational extension at
the O klahom a College of A g ricu l
tu re and M echanic A rts, in his ad
dress before the convention assem
bly.
S eptem ber, 1923
TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
25
Hog Insurance Is Business Insurance
T R A N G E as this statem en t
m ay seem, nevertheless, it is
true. N ot only does every
farm er insure b u t th ere is a v ast
difference in the ra te he pays. In
the m ajo rity of cases he pays for
insurance th a t he never gets. L et
us illu stra te by giving you some
facts th a t w ere b ro u g h t out clearly
a t a recent sales conference.
A certain b an k er in Iow a had
been advising his custom ers not to
insure th eir hogs. In spite of this
advice, som e insurance w as w rit
ten in this neighborhood. F inally,
an agent, th ro u g h p ersisten t and
good salesm anship convinced this
Iow a banker, w ho ow ned a herd
of betw een tw o and th ree hundred
hogs, th a t he the banker, w as ju st
as surely p u rchasing insurance and
pay in g for it b u t still did not have
the insurance.
A lthough
governm ent
figures
w ould indicate th a t the average n a t
ural loss in a herd of hogs is around
5 per cent, it has been proven by
our statistics covering a period of
five y ears th a t this percentage has
been u n d erestim ated. W ith rare
exception, the loss in a hundred
head ru n s from five to ten hogs.
T h e farm er should figure th is loss
as a prem ium paid to him self for
b e ttin g he w ould m arket every one
of the h u n d red hogs.
C onsidering the investm ent on
brood sows for the w inter, the labor
and feed p u t into them , to say
n o th in g ab out the food consum ed
by th e hun d red anim als under con
sideration, the prem ium or loss
am o u n ts to a t least $40.00 per year
on a hun d red head or 40c per hog.
T h en to this cost should be added
the w o rm in g cost, w hich w ould
am ount to ten or fifteen cents per
head. F o rtu n a te w ould be the
farm er w ho does not have a v eteri
n ary bill of from ten to tw en ty cents
a hog. W h en cholera is raging, flu
and sw ine plague scares are in the
cou n try , a v eterin ary is and should
be called, so th a t w hen all is said
and done seventy to eighty cents
per hog (due to losses and partial
precautionary measures) has been in
vested in the prem ium or loss paid
by the farm er to him self. W h a t
has the farm er to show for it? NO
P R O T E C T IO N
W H ATSO EVER!
And last, b u t not least, th ere is
the ever present necessity of vacci
nation, w hich if taken advantage
of, as a large percentage of farm ers
are doing from year to year, necessi
tates an o th er outlay of from fifty
S
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
By Chas. F. Schwager
President, American Livestock Insurance
Company, Omaha, Nebr.
cents to a dollar. P resu m in g th a t
the farm er does not vaccinate, still
he has had an expenditure at least
of 75c per hog. T rue, th ere is
occasionally a farm er so well posted,
so careful in his m ethods, so ideally
situ ated th a t he has for m any years
had light losses. H ow ever, our ex
perience show s th a t even those
fo rtu n ate m en are frequently the
«iiimiinmnimiimiiiiuHUHimiiuim iuimiiHiHiiiiiinmmmmmmuiimiminiMHiimiiimiimuiim iiiiitiM
“H og in su ran ce is m o re th an ju st hog
insurance. No o th er business m an can
in su re his business o p eratio n s lik e th e
fa rm e r does w hen he insures h is hogs.
It is investm ent in su ra n c e ; it insures
the corn from th e tim e it is tak e n to
the c rib and th ro w n on the ground,
w hen th e fire in su ran ce ceases. I t is in
surance d u rin g the several m o n th s w hen
th e hog is exposed to the dangers of
th e b a rn y a rd su rro u n d in g s u n til de
liv e red to m a rk e t!”
heaviest losers. If this w ere not a
fact, all insurance w ould be su p er
fluous.
W h en it finally daw ned upon this
banker th a t for 75c net per head
he could purchase actual p ro tec
tion from an old line insurance com
pany properly licensed under the
In surance D ep artm en t of his state,
and th a t he w ould be gu aran teed
a m arket for all his corn, and the
labor and investm ent p u t into the
hogs irrespective of w h eth er the
hogs lived or not, he w as astonished
at his previous sh o rtsig h te d n e ss; so
m uch so th a t he a t once bou g h t a
policy for the protection of his
herd at a cost of considerably over
$400.00. W H Y ? F or the simple rea
son th a t the m om ent his prem ium
w as paid his n atu ral losses, w hich
as above stated, w ould am ount to 5
to 10 per cent w ould be paid for by
th e insurance com pany and all
w orm ing, vaccination and v eteri
nary service required w ould be giv
en free by the com pany.
N ot only did he purchase this
insurance for him self, b u t he has
becom e an aggressive advocate and
agent for hog insurance.
W hen it is considered th a t the
additional pork, (say 11 pounds at
7c per pound, or 77 c w orth of
pork) produced from one bushel
of corn g u aran tees a sure m arket
for labor, corn, in tere st on invest
m ents, to say no th in g of the hog
itself, is it to be w ondered th a t hog
insurance has been consistently
grow ing in popu larity w ith the
farm er? W hen it is fu rth e r con
sidered th a t if the farm er invested
the equivalent of the value of one
crop of hogs lost, the interest,
w ould for all tim e to come, pay the
prem ium for insurance on the av er
age herd of hogs, can the farm er
afford to take the chance of losing
a season’s w ork and the in vestm ent
in his hogs, and the chance of not
again g e ttin g his hog operations on
a profitable basis for several y ears?
In m aking the above com parisons
betw een the farm er w ho carries his
own risk and the one w ho insures,
it is presum ed th a t the farm er has
been perfectly able to carry his own
risk. By th a t we m ean to assum e
th a t he is out of debt, has some
m oney in the bank, has a w ell-fur
nished, com fortable hom e for his
fam ily, and good stock barns and
prem ises so th a t if he should lose
his hogs he can well afford to take
chances for the n ex t year or two
w ith stran g e stock to properly re
stock his farm and again have the
hogs m int the golden corn from his
broad acres into golden coin. B ut
how about the te n a n t w hose ren t
paym ent com es as taxes, or the
y o ung farm er who has gone heavily
in debt, or the older farm er who
has notes to pay and children to
educate?
H o g insurance is m ore th an ju st
H o g Insurance. No oth er b usi
ness m an can insure his business
operations like the farm er does
w hen he insures his hogs. F o r in
stance, it is investment insurance;
it insures the corn from the tim e it
is taken from the crib and th ro w n
on the ground—w hen the F ire In
surance ceases. It is insurance
d u rin g the several m onths th a t the
hog is exposed to the dangers of
the b arn y ard surro u n d in g s until de
livered to market. It is Labor In
surance and really Profit Insurance.
T he hazards th a t the farm er runs
w hile converting his hogs into
m oney are m uch g re ater for the
grain and foods invested th an w hile
the grains w ere stored in the bins
and insured for fire, or w here g ro w
ing in the field and insured for hail.
The corn in the hogs can be insured
in no other way than by hog insurance .
“D o n ’t try to step on 'the other
fellow s’ toes.” A m erica is not a
“one m an to w n ;” all have equal
rights.—J. E. N ew burn.
26
TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
S eptem ber, 1923
Í Checks W ritten with Lead Pencil Are
Unbusinesslike and Easily Altered
T IS cu stom ary am ong m any
business and professional m en to
use a lead pencil in w ritin g bank
checks. T his practice w hich is very
prev alen t in m any sections of the
country, is not only unbusinesslike,
b u t m ay easily resu lt in involving
som e bank in legal liabilities.
A check w ritten in lead pencil
only recently caused one bank a loss
of a large am ount of m oney. It
came about in this m anner. A de
p o sitor in the N ational B ank drew
a check in lead pencil, upon the
bank, payable to a certain person.
H e gave the check to an o th er p er
son for the purpose of delivering it
to the payee. T he person to w hom
the check was given fraudulently
altered it by erasing the payee’s
nam e and su b stitu tin g his own in
its place. H e then cashed the check
a t the F a rm e rs’ B ank and this bank
collected it from the N ational B ank
on w hich it w as draw n.
W hen the N ational B ank discov
ered the fraud it b ro u g h t action
ag ain st the F a rm e rs’ B ank for the
am ount of the check. It w as held
th a t the N ational B ank could re
cover under the general rule of law,
th a t the draw ee bank m ay recover
th e am ount on a fraudulently altered
check.
T h e defense interposed by the
F a rm e rs’ B ank w as to the effect th a t
it w as negligence on the p a rt of the
draw er to use a lead pencil in draw
ing a check, because such check is
easily a ltered ; th a t the N ational
B ank on account of such negligence
was entitled to charge the check
ag ain st the d ra w er’s account and
th at, therefore, the N ational B ank
should have no rig h t to hold the
F a rm e rs’ B ank liable for the loss.
T h e tro u b le w ith this defense was
th a t th e d raw er of the check w as
not a p arty to the action. T h e ques
tion presented to the court was
m erely one as to w here the liability
should rest as betw een the draw ee
bank and the collecting bank.
T h e follow ing p aragraphs, quoted
from the c o u rt’s . opinion, indicated
w hy it held th a t the N ational Bank
w as entitled to re c o v e r:
“W h e th e r the loss from the altera
tion should be u ltim ately borne by
the draw er, on account of negligence
on his p art in the m anner in w hich
the check w as draw n, should not be
determ ined in a case w here the
draw ee is proceeding directly upon
I
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
By the Legal Department
Q uestions of in te re st to b an k ers are
discussed in this d e p artm e n t and any
su b scrib e r has the p riv ile g e of w ritin g
fo r in fo rm a tio n and advice on legal su b
jects. H e w ill receive a d irec t reply
fro m o u r a tto rn ey w ith o u t fee o r ex
pense. A b rie f of any su b je ct involv
ing research in a com plete Law L ib rary ,
w ill be fu rn ish e d fo r $10.00. In w riting
fo r in fo rm a tio n , k in d ly enclose a 2-cent
stam p fo r re p ly an d address “ L egal D e
p a rtm e n t,” care N o rth w e stern B anker,
Des M oines, Iowa.
the w a rra n ty m ade to it by the other
bank a t the tim e the la tte r received
paym ent of check from the form er,
and w hen the draw ee had no notice
w hatever of the alteratio n and w as
relying solely upon the endorsem ent
in m aking the paym ent.
“ W e are aw are th a t it is held in a
num ber of jurisdictions th a t a d raw
er of a check may^be so negligent in
the m anner of draw ing it, th a t any
m oney lost from an alteratio n should
be borne by him, but w h eth er this
should be the rule in this case, and,
if so, w heth er the evidence in the in
sta n t case w as sufficient to have
m ade it an issue for the ju ry as to
such alleged negligence of the draw
er (n eith er of w hich is now to be
decided w hen the draw er is not a
p arty before us), we are satisfied
th a t such an issue could not be p er
tin en t here, and th at, w heth er there
w as evidence su stain in g this plea or
not, the judge w as still rig h t in di
rectin g the verdict, for the plea it
self did not set forth any defense.
If this defense could be allow ed in
a suit betw een the draw ee bank and
the bank w hich cashed the check, in
w hich the form er is proceeding upon
the la tte r’s endorsem ent, and to
w hich the draw er is not a party, then
it w ould be possible for the N ational
B ank to lose out as against its in
dorser, and then also for it to lose
in a suit w ith the result th a t the N a
tional B ank m u st finally bear the
loss, though originally entitled to
redress from some one.
“T o sustain the position of the
F a rm e rs’ B ank w ould have the ef
fect of depriving the draw ee bank
alto g eth er of the benefit of the provi
sions of the law w hich states th a t
the ‘plaintiff m ay pursue any num
ber of consistent concurrent rem
edies ag ain st different persons until
he obtains a satisfaction from some
of them .’ It had the rig h t to p ro
ceed upon the indorsem ent, and this
rig h t could not be defeated upon the
ground th a t it m ight have proceeded
against the draw er. If the draw er is
liable as contended by the F a rm e rs’
Bank, such a liability should be de
term ined in som e other proceeding.”
T his decision covers some very
im p o rtan t points of law relative to
banks and banking. It holds (1)
th a t a draw ee bank is entitled to
recover from indorser b an k on w a r
ra n ty of genuineness of in stru m en t
and indorsem ents. (2) T h a t draw er
possibly liable on altered check does
not p rev en t draw ee bank from re
covering from indorser bank.
Loop Banks Merge
T he C entury T ru s t and Savings
B ank located at S tate and A dam s
streets, Chicago, is to be consoli
dated w ith the Chicago T ru s t Com
pany^ T h e m erger will not become
effective form ally until early in Sep
tem ber w hen the Chicago T ru s t
C om pany will move to banking
q u arters now being prepared for it
in the new Chicago T ru s t building
at M onroe and C lark streets.
D u rin g the last eighteen m onths
the resources of the Chicago T ru s t
C om pany have increased from $14,893,967.10 to $21,132,413.75, a dif
ference of approxim ately 41 per
cent. T he deposits of the com bined
banks will be approxim ately $19,500,000 and total resources about
$24,500,000.
John W . F ow ler, who organized
the Q entury T ru s t and Savings
B ank and w ho has been its p resi
dent continuously, will becom e a
vice president of the Chicago T ru s t
Com pany. H e will be joined in his
new connection by the entire staff
of officers and em ployes of the Cen
tu ry Bank.
T he possession of g re a t pow ers no
doubt carries w ith it a co ntem pt for
m ere external show .— Garfield.
T h ere is no trac in g the connection
of ancient nations b u t by lan g u ag e;
and, therefore, I am alw ays so rry
w hen any language is lost, because
languages are the pedigree of
nations.—Johnson.
T HE
S eptem ber, 1923
N O R T H W E S T E R N
27
BANKER
Your new car when you want it
O U R G en eral M o to rs car is th e
p ro d u c t o f an o rg a n iz a tio n m a k in g
b e tte r m o to r cars y ear in an d y ear o u t.
Y
O b v io u sly th e m a n u fa c tu re r, to p ro
duce au to m o b ile s o f h ig h e st q u a lity at
m in im u m p rice, c a n n o t close dow n in th e
w in ter w hen retail d e m a n d is below an
econom ic p ro d u c tio n rate, an d o p en u p
in th e s p rin g w hen d e m a n d far exceeds
p ro d u c tio n capacity.
B u t y o u r new a u to m o b ile m u st be in
th e h an d s o f y o u r dealer when you w ant
it; th e re fo re he m u st sto ck cars d u rin g th e
w in te r an d carry th e m u n til th e m a rk e t
d ev e lo p s in th e sp rin g .
L ik e o th e r m e rc h a n ts, th e au to m o b ile
d ea le r m u st have cre d it to carry him o v er
th e sto c k in g season. So g re at are his
seasonal c re d it re q u ire m e n ts th a t a t tim es
th e facilities o f his local b a n k are in ad e
q u a te for his needs, th u s d e n y in g him
th e full re tu rn to w hich his ab ility en
titles him an d d e n y in g his cu sto m ers th e
m ax im u m service.
R etail cred it, p ro p e rly g ra n te d , is
re co g n ized as an essential factor in a u to
m obile m erc h an d isin g . G en eral M o to rs
A cceptance C o rp o ra tio n , an in tern a tio n al
b a n k in g in s titu tio n , o rg a n iz e d , ow ned
an d o p e ra te d as an in d e p e n d e n t u n it o f
th e G en eral M o to rs g ro u p , places a
reserv e o f cred it a t th e co m m an d o f th e
dealer as a su p p le m e n t to his local b a n k
in g acco m m o d atio n .
T o th e in d iv id u a l p u rc h aser, e n title d
to c red it accom m odation, th e G eneral
M o to rs A cceptance C o rp o ra tio n offers,
th ro u g h dealers, a so u n d plan by w hich
he m ay buy a G en eral M o to rs car.
D u rin g th e p ast fo u r years, G en eral
M o to rs A cceptance C o rp o ra tio n has
fin an c ed 6 oo,O O O carsw holesaleandretaii;
o v e r 135,000 in d iv id u a ls are now b u y
in g cars u n d e r th e G . M . A . C. P lan .
T o p ro v id e th e h a lf billio n d o llars o f
c red it ex te n d e d u p to th e p re se n t tim e,
th e G eneral M o to rs A cceptance C o rp o r
atio n has d isco u n te d its o b lig atio n s w ith
m o re th a n 2 ,0 0 0 b a n k in g in stitu tio n s ;
th u s re n d e rin g an im p o rta n t service n o t
o n ly to th e dealers, b u t to p u rc h asers o f
G en eral M o to rs cars.
CU/Ybooklet entitled " G
e n e r a l M o t o r s A c c e p t a n c e C o r p o r a t io n ’’ w ill be mailed i f a request
is directed to the Department o f Financial Publicity , General Motors Corporation, N e w York City
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G M C TRUCKS
Delco and Remy Electrical Equipment
Harrison Radiators • New Departure Ball Bearings
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Brown-Lipe-Chapin Differential Gears
•
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Inland Steering Wheels • Lancaster Steel Products • Jacox Steering Gears
Dayton Wright Special Bodies
•
Delco-Light Power Plants and Frigidaire
* United Motors Service provides authorized national service for General Motors accessories •
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
28
THE
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
S eptem ber, 1923
Personal P aragraphs
Upon the foundation of sixty
years’ experience and growth
is based the present organiza
tion of
THE FIRST
N A T IO N A L
B A N K OF
CHICAGO
and the
W alter W . Head, president of the
O m aha N ational B ank of O m aha,
N ebraska, retu rn ed recently from a
to u r thro u g h W yom ing, the Y ellow
stone P ark and M ontana. Mr. H ead
addressed the annual convention of
the M ontana B ankers A ssociation
on “ G overnm ent, T ax atio n and C iti
zenship.”
— $—
Bert A. W ilcox, vice president of
the O m aha N ational B ank of
O m aha, N ebraska, is back a t his
desk after a several months’ stay in
H onolulu, w here he w ent to recu
perate from a recent illness.
— $—
Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., president of
General M otors C orporation, an
nounces th a t H en ry M. C rane has
been appointed technical assistan t
to the president w ith headquarters
in N ew Y ork.
— $—
FIRST TRUST
AND SAVINGS
BANK: Ch i c a g o
This experience has de
veloped a highly specialized
service in both banks, applic
able to the needs of banks
and bankers.
Calls and correspondence
are invited relative to the
facilities afforded for the
transaction of domestic and
international financial busi
ness of every conservative
character.
C om bin ed Resources exceed
$ 3 5 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 . 0 0
JAM BS B. FO RG A N , C hairm an
B oard of D irectors of both banks
F R A N K O. W E TM O R E . P resid en t
F irs t N ational B ank of Chicago
M ELV IN A. TRA Y LO R, P resident
F irs t T ru st and Savings B ank
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
T. L. Davis, vice p resident of the
F irst N ational B ank of O m aha, is
m aking an autom obile to u r through
M innesota.
—
$—
J. P. Morgan is in E urope for his
usual vacation, h aving sailed the
last week of July on the S. S. H o
meric.
Frank L. Hilton, vice president of
the B ank of M an h attan Com pany,
N ew Y ork, is spending his vacation
w ith his fam ily in the low er B erkshires.
— $—
George F. Baker, Jr., vice p resi
dent of the F irst N ational B ank of
N ew Y ork, sailed recently for E u
rope, accom panied by his wife and
family.
Roland W . Boyden, M assachu
setts banker, and unofficial re p re
sentative of the U nited S tates on the
reparations com m issions, has been
honored by the B elgian governm ent,
w hich has conferred on him the
G rand Cross of the O rder of L eo
pold.
C. H. Fox, vice president of the
Chicago T ru s t C om pany and state
vice president of the A m erican
B ankers A ssociation in Illinois, is
busy w ith a cam paign to bring the
Illinois m em bership in the A. B. A.
up to par.
H. M. Hanson and A. F. W ellmann have been elected assistan t
cashiers of the Illinois M erchants
T ru s t C om pany of Chicago.
Robert H. McCartney, form erly
w ith the Des M oines N ational B ank
of D es M oines, Iow a, has been
elected p resident of the W ash in g to n
S tate B ankers A ssociation. H e is
now vice president and cashier of
the S ecurity N ational B ank at
Cheny, W ashington.
Joseph Chapman of the L. S. D o n
aldson C om pany of M inneapolis,
and com m only know n as the father
of the A m erican In stitu te of B ank
ing, w hich had its inception in M in
neapolis in 1898, has offered a prize
of $250 for the best analysis of the
economic condition of th e w estern
farm er and suggestions for a solu
tion of his p resen t problem s. T h e
contest is open to all of the 52,000
m em bers of the In stitu te .
— $—
Secretary Mellon has retu rn ed
from his E uropean tour, his stay
having been shortened by the death
of P resid en t H arding. H is resig n a
tion w as the first one to be placed
on P resid en t C oolidge’s desk.
$—
Z. B. Curtis, vice presid en t and
cashier of the U nion T ru s t Com
pany of L ittle Rock, A rkansas, has
been appointed a vice p resident of
the G uaranty T ru s t C om pany of
N ew Y ork. H e assum ed his new
duties the first of this m onth.
—
$—
A. O. Hauge, president of the Iow a
T ru s t & Savings B ank of Des
M oines, and rep resen tativ e from
P olk C ounty, is now an inventor,
having invented a shale ex tracto r
and form ed a com pany to m an u
facture the m achinery.
— $—
George F. Baker, chairm an of the
board of directors of the F irst N a
tional B ank of N ew Y ork, has com
pleted sixty years of service in the
banking field. W all stree t and
nearby th o roughfares w ere deco
rated w ith flags in com m em oration
of the day. M r. B aker is eightyfour years old and entered the F irst
N ational at the age of 25 as a paying
teller. H e has been cashier, p resi
dent, and fifteen years ago w as m ade
chairm an of the board.
TH E
S eptem ber, 1923
N O R T H W E S T E R N
29
BANKER
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O U R S E R V IC E —
is complete. It includes every ordinary bank
ing service plus the benefits of twenty-six (26)
extraordinary services—each one of which is
designed to create a definite advantage for your
bank.
May we tell you about them?
The N ational B ank o f the
R E P U B L I C
.
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“ THE BA N K E R S' SER V IC E S T A T IO N ”
O F F IC E R S
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G E O R G E W O O D R U F F .'..................................................................................Vice P resid en t
R O B E R T M. H c K IN N E Y ............................................................................... V ice P resid en t
SAM U EL W. W H IT E ..................................... .. . . . . . . . . . - Vice P resid en t
O SCA R H. S W A N ............................................. Vice P resid en t an d C ashier
WM. C. F R E E M A N ..................................................... • .• • • • • V ice P resid en t
T.OTTTS T M E A H L .....................................................A ssistant Vice P resid en t
CHAS S. M A O F E R R A N ........................................A ssistant V ice P resid en t
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GORDON W IL S O N ...................
TH O S D A L L IN .....................
W A L T E R L. JO H N S O N -----TH O S. H. O ’C O N N O R ...........
H A R O LD M. M ICH A ELSO N .
F R A N K H. G A Y ........................
.A ssista n t V ice P resid en t
.A ssista n t Vice P resid en t
............................. C ontroller
.............. A ssistan t C ashier
.............. A ssistan t C ashier
.............. A ssistan t Cashier
.............. A ssistan t C ashier
........................T ru st Officer
lllllllllllllllllll
1 0 0 Y e a r s o f C o m m e r c ia l B a n k in g
We specialize in the care of bank
ing relations and requirements of
interior banks located in agricultur
al districts. Our officers being con
versant from experience with the
needs of banks in the live stock
and agricultural sections, enables
us to adequately and intelligently
serve such clients.
T Ìa Ì
Bank
O F THE
CITY OF NEW YORK
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
E x c e p tio n a ll y q u a lif i e d t o h a n d l e t h e a c c o u n ts
B a n k s , T r u s t C o m p a n ie s a n d
o t h e r C o r p o r a tio n s .
C o rre sp o n d e n c e in v ite d .
C a p ita l, S u r p lu s and P r o fits
O v e r T w e n t y M illio n D o lla r s
30
TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
M. A. Traylor, president of the
F irst T ru s t & Savings B ank of Chi
cago, and also president of the Illi
nois B ankers A ssociation will be
one of the speakers a t the a d v e rtis
ing conference w hich will be held at
B urlington, Iow a, this fall as the
state convention of the A ssociated
A dvertising Clubs and also as a m id
w est session. Mr. T ra y lo r’s subject
will be, “ F inance.”
W hat Are You
W orth to
Y o u rself?
W ould you in su re the c o n ten ts
of y o u r v a u lt fo r one-fifth of the
a m o u n t y o u m i g h t lose a n d c o n
sider it econom y?
Or
your
$50,000
build in g
a g a i n s t fire a t $5,000 a n d fe e l
th a t you w ere sav in g m oney?
O r y o u r $3,500 c a r f o r $500?
T hen how ab o u t yourself and
t h a t m o s t v a l u a b l e a s s e t — your
tim e i
W e do n o t h a v e t o p a y y o u t e n
o r fifteen d o lla rs e v e r y tim e you
c u t a f i n g e r o r h a v e a c o l d to
prove th e v alu e of good d isa b ility
in su ran ce.
Good i n s u r a n c e co sts m oney.
R eal in su ra n c e a g a in s t sickness,
r e g a r d le s s of h o u se confinem ent,
w o u ld cost less if se n sib le people
w o u ld in su re fo r la r g e r a m o u n ts.
F irs t, e n o u g h to cover th e e x
p e n s e of a s h o r t illn ess, in c lu d in g
su rg ic a l operations, d o u b lin g the
a m o u n t a f te r tw o w eeks, d o u b
lin g ag ain a f te r fo u r w eeks, and
a g a i n a f t e r t h r e e m o n t h s , so t h a t
in c a s e o f a r e a l p h y s i c a l b r e a k
dow n, th e r e w ill be g u a r a n te e d a
d e f i n i te i n c o m e .
I f t h i s p r o p o s i t i o n a p p e a l s to
y o u r good com m on sense, w r ite
y o u r nam e, age, occupation, and
a d d r e s s on th e m a r g i n of th i s a d
v e r t i s e m e n t , m a i l i t to u s, a n d a
p r o p o s i t i o n w i l l b e s u b m i t t e d to
y o u in w r itin g .
N e a r ly T h i r t y Y e a r s in B u s i
ness. L a r g e s t D is a b ility P r e m iu m
I n c o m e in I o w a .
BANKERS
ACCIDENT
INSURANCE CO.
DES
F.
L.
M O IN ES
Miner, Pres., E. C. Budlong, V. P.
J. A. Kizer, Sec’y
‘ “ You
can
bank
on
the
Bankers”
W e have a n agency proposition for banks
th a t will in te re st you.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Fred W . Ellsworth, vice president
of the H ibernia B ank & T ru s t Co.,
of N ew O rleans, has recently had
published in booklet form , the ad
dress w hich he delivered before the
eighth annual convention of the
Financial A d v e rtise rs’ A ssociation.
T h e title of the booklet is, “T he N ew
O rleans P lan of C o-operative B ank
A dvertising.”
Septem ber, 1923
inquiries as to w h at foreign g o vern
m ents contem plate in the w ay of
repaying the A m erican loans.
—$—
W illiam J. Murray, vice president
of the Des M oines N ational Bank
and form er su p erin ten d en t of b ank
ing in Iow a, retu rn ed recently
from a m otor trip th ro u g h n o rth
eastern Iow a and W isconsin to
Green Bay. M rs. M urray, dau g h ter
Ja n e t and M rs. M u rra y ’s m other,
M rs. C. E. A llbrook, w ere in the
party.
W m. L. M cKee Elected President
Wm. L. McKee, for many years
vice president of the Ft. Dearborn
National Bank and later an officer of
the Continental and Commercial N a
tional Bank, after the absorption of
—$—
Francis H. Sisson, vice president
of the G uaranty T ru s t C om pany of
N ew York, has been indorsed by the
T ru st C om pany D ivision of the A.
B. A., as candidate for second vice
president of the A. B. A. in 1924.
.
~
Lewis E. Pierson, chairm an of the
board of directors of the Irv in g
B ank— Colum bia T ru s t Com pany,
and p resident of the N ew Y ork
M erchants A ssociation, has ap
pointed a com m ittee of 1000 to cir
culate petitions for the construction
of a new subw ay.
Arthur Russell Jones, form erly
assistan t vice president of the G uar
an ty T ru s t C om pany of N ew Y ork,
has become a p a rtn e r of M cClure,
Jones & Reed, m em bers of the New
Y ork Stock E xchange.
David R. Forgan, president of the
N ational C ity B ank of Chicago, is
spending his vacation at St. A n
drew s, N ew B runsw ick.
—$—
George Woodruff, vice president
of the N ational B ank of the R epub
lic, Chicago, recently spent a few
w eeks in W isconsin enjoying the
fishing season.
B. F. Kauffman, president of the
B ankers T ru s t C om pany B ank of
Des M oines, has been g ran ted a p e r
m it for the erection of a new hom e
at 527 T h irty -fifth street, Des
M oines.
—$—
Secretary Mellon, who retu rn ed
early from his E uropean trip, is rep
resented as believing, after his study
of conditions abroad, th a t the p res
ent is not a good tim e to attem p t
W M . L. M c K E E
the F ort Dearborn by the Continental,
is now president of the Southern Cali
fornia Investors’ Corporation of Los
Angeles.
This company will make a business
of handling real estate, bonds, m ort
gages, and will also handle subdivi
sions and finance buildings.
Mr. McKee has hundreds of friends
throughout the United States who
know him personally because of his
many years with the F ort Dearborn
when he had charge of the country
bank business. M r. M cK ee brings to
his new company very excellent ex
perience in the banking business.
S eptem ber, 1923
TH E
Brundage Elected President
F ran k D. B rundage, for m any
years
connected
w ith
K nauth,
N achod & K uhne of N ew Y ork, has
recently been elected president of
the F irs t C ontinental and Finance
C orporation of Los A ngeles.
T h is co rporation will engage in
the business of general financing of
N O R T H W E S T E R N
31
BANKER
m erly assistan t cashier, has been
elected to fill the vacancy. J. S.
H effter, teller, becom es assistan t
cashier of the bank.
Citizens State Changes
J. M. H anson has resigned as
cashier of the C itizens S tate B ank
of St. P aul and E. J. W oodard, for-
The Young Depositor
and George Williams
From a letter in the archives o f the
Chemical National Bank
“ W h en 1 started in business I sought
th e strongest bank in N ew York, but I
had grave doubts w heth er such a big
in stitu tion w ou ld consider a budding
business m an a desirable depositor.
FR A N K D. BRUNDAGE
all kinds. I t will buy and sell real
estate and also deal in m ortgages,
high g rade au tom otive loans, and
o th er securities of unquestioned
value and stability.
M r. B ru n d ag e is well and favor
ably know n to thousands of bankers
th ro u g h o u t the U nited S tates be
cause of his atten d an ce a t sta te and
national conventions d u rin g the past
years.
**To m y su r p r ise th e p r e sid e n t, M r.
W illia m s , r e c e iv e d m e w ith g e n u in e
interest and cordiality.............. H e took
m y hand and rem arked in his quiet,
kindly w ay: ‘T his bank has been built
up by such m en as you w h o have com e
to us w h en their beginnings w ere small
an d rem ained w ith us w h en their affairs
grew large.’”
C lose relationship betw een the B ank and
its depositors has always been a prim e
consideration.
Seeking New Business On Our Record
TH E
Elected Vice President
G. J. H offm an, cashier of the
H okah S tate B ank of H okah, M in
nesota, has recently been elected
vice p resid en t of th a t in stitu tio n to
succeed the late L ouis H elm . M ar
g aret A. W eb er has been prom oted
from a ssista n t cashier to cashier of
the bank.
Joins W ells National
C.
F. B undy, who resigned some
tim e ago as a ssistan t cashier of the
F irs t N ational B ank of W ells, M in
nesota, has recently accepted a sim
ilar position w ith the W ells N atio n
al Bank.
Accepts N ew Position
R. E. Shaskey, form erly cashier
of the F irs t S tate B ank of T horpe,
M innesota, has resigned and ac
cepted a position as cashier of the
S tate B ank of E ssig. H e succeeds
F. E. Rolloff, resigned.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
O n EM I CAL
bank:
N A
T I O N A I#
OF N B W Y O R K
Founded 1824
B R O A D W A Y A N D C H A M BE R S, F A C IN G CITY HALL
32
TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
JO HN H. B R EN N A N & CO.
INVESTMENT BANKERS
30 No rth La Salle Stre et
C H IC A G O , ILL .
T h is house affords its c lie n ts th e u tm o st serv ice of a m odern an d com
p letely equipped In v e s tm e n t B an k in g O rg an izatio n .
T he bonds offered by us com bine fhe h ig h e s t po ssib le
yield co m m e n su ra te w ith safe ty . An o p p o rtu n ity fo r
w ide d iv e rsity of in v e stm e n t. P ro m p t p a y m e n t of p rin
cipal and in te re st. P ro te c tio n a g a in s t d e p re c ia tio n in
price.
W e specialize in u n d e rw ritin g and m a rk e tin g F ir s t M ortgage Bond Issu e s
— secu red by incom e pro d u cin g R eal E sta te , in th e la rg e r c itie s th ro u g h
out th e U n ited S ta te s ; an d th e F ir s t M ortgage B onds of in d u s tria l co r
p o ratio n s h av in g e sta b lish e d d ividend re c o rd s an d am p le ta n g ib le a sse ts.
O ur bonds a re reco g n ized as a S ta n d a rd of S afe in v e s tm e n t by B anking
In s titu tio n s, In su ra n c e C om panies, T ru ste e s and E x e c u to rs of E sta te s.
Your Correspondence Is Invited
LONDON JOINT CITY AND
MIDLAND BANK LIMITED
CHAIRMAN :
T h e Right Hon. R. M c K E N N A
JOINT MANAGING DIRECTORS:
FR E D E R IC K
HYDE
E D G A R W. W O O L L E Y
S u b s c rib e d C a p it a l
P a id -u p C a p it a l Reserve F u n d -
- £3 8,1 1 7,1 03
10,860,852
10,860,852
D ep o sits (J u n e
- 3 4 7,900,203
HEAD
O F F IC E :
5,
3 0th , 1923)
THREADNEEDLE
STREE T,
LONDON,
E .C . 2
OVERSEAS BRANCH : 65 & 66, OLD BROAD STREET, LONDON, E.C. 2
A tla n tic O f f i c e s :
“ A q u ita n ia ”
“ B e r e tig a r ia ”
“ M a u r e ta n ia ”
AFFILIATED B A N K S :
BELFAST BANKING CO. LTD.
C en tral T ru st M akes Several
P ro m o tio n s
A t a m eeting of th e board of di
rectors of the C entral T ru s t Com
pany of Illinois, the follow ing elec
tions w ere m a d e :
George B. C ortelyou, Jr., form erly
assistan t vice president, who has
been w ith the bank four and a half
years, and w ho is the son of form er
S ecretary of the T re a su ry C ortel
you, w as elected secretary and as
sista n t tru s t officer.
G eary V. S tibgen w as elected
tru s t officer and assistan t secretary,
and Mr. W illiam K. O tis, assistan t
tru st officer and assistan t secretary.
W illiam J. K ellough, w ho for a
num ber of years has filled the posi
tion of chief clerk, having charge of
the em ployees of the bank, was
elected assistan t cashier. M r. K el
lough is a native of M acom b, Illi
nois, and has been connected w ith
the C entral T ru s t C om pany since
shortly after its organization in
1902.
R ichard W . G ratton, w ho has
been m anager of the bookkeeping
d epartm ent for a num b er of years,
w as also elected assistan t cashier.
Mr. G ratton has taken an active
p art in the A m erican In s titu te of
B anking activities, being vice p resi
dent of the Chicago C h ap ter a t the
present time.
George D. B ushnell, a native of
Lincoln, N ebraska, and a b ro th er of
H. M. B ushnell, vice p resid en t of
the U nited S tates T ru s t Com pany,
O m aha, N ebraska, w as appointed
assistan t vice president.
THE CLYDESDALE BANK LTD.
THE THREE B A N K S H A V E OVER
2 .0 0 0 OFFICES I N G R E A T B R I T A I N & I R E L A N D
Our Services at Your Command
W e welcom e consultation in financing high grade industrial and
u tility bond issues.
W e invite you to take advantage of our bond offerings in select
ing your safe securities.
D etailed inform ation of the services rendered by any of our
special d ep artm en ts will be gladly given you upon request.
J. R. B U R N S , P r e s i d e n t
E. R. H o l l a n d , V i c e - P r e s i d e n t
A. E. R e a d , S e c r e t a r y
J. B. B u r n s , V i c e - P r e s . & T re a s .
D. D. S t a p l e s , B o n d D e p a r t m e n t
BURNSBROTHERSCOMPANY
GROUND FLOOR 313 FIFTH STREET
= = D E S MO/JVES —
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
S eptem ber, 1923
Federal Land Bank Branch
T he F ederal L an d B ank of
O m aha, N ebraska, has recently
opened a branch office in Jefferson,
Iow a, w ith R oy G. M ayer as secre
tary -treasu rer in charge.
Herbert Brown Dead
H e rb e rt B row n, cashier of the
h irs t N ational B ank of G resham ,
N ebraska, died recently at his hom e
in th a t city as a re su lt of an attack
of double pneum onia. Mr. B row n
w as 39 years old at the tim e of his
death.
Name N ew Cashier
M aynard D unlap of Te,cumseh,
N ebraska, has been elected cashier
of the F arm ers S tate B ank of D oug
las, N ebraska, to fill the vacancy'
caused by the recent death of L y
m an Steenblock.
A m an used to vicissitudes is not
easily dejected.—Johnson.
September, 1923
TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BOND
BANKER
33
SECTION
Des Moines Bond Men Form New
Bond Club
T a m eeting at the G rant Club,
Des Moines, on A u g u st 20,
twenty-five men engaged in
the general bond business in Des
Moines, voted, as charter members,
to form an organization to be
know n as the Des Moines Bond
Club.
T h e Club is largely the result of
the rapid grow th of the bond busi
ness in Iowa and the association has
as its purpose the establishm ent of
cooperation and the prom otion of
the social and educational welfare
of the bond men in Des Moines.
Few realize the extent to which
the facilities for investm ent have
broadened in the middle w est in the
past few years. I t is w orthy of note
in this connection th at a large n u m
ber of banks have come to look upon
the investm ent welfare of their cus
tom ers w ith increasing concern and
have manifested their desire to be
of service by establishing and m ain
taining special facilities where cus
tom ers m ay obtain expert advice on
investm ent m atters.
T h e Des Moines bond houses
have also become of increasing im
portance in the investm ent field and
are looked upon by the individual
investor and the banks as specialists
in their respective fields.
Several N ew Y ork and Chicago
banks and bond houses apparently
realize the grow ing im portance of
Iow a as an investm ent center and
have established local offices. T he
representatives in Des Moines of
these institutions have become
m em bers of the Club.
Officers of the Club for the cur
rent year are: F ra n k N. W a rd ,
president; John S. Corley, vice
president; and Donald J. Metcalf,
secretary-treasurer. T h e Board of
Governors consists of A lbert J.
Robertson, Ivan A. Ringheim, F ra n k
N. W a rd , John S. Corley and D on
ald J. Metcalf.
T h e Club plans, as a part of its
educational program , to bring men
prom inent in the investm ent ban k
ing field to Des Moines, to address
the m em bers on financial and in
vestm ent subjects.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
M em bers of the new association
state th a t it is their intention to a t
tem pt to create, by means of a co
operative efifort, a better under
standing of the science of invest
m ent and its principles on the part
of local investors. A concerted ef
fort will be made by the club to pro
tect the local investor from unsound
investm ent schemes and “w ildcat”
security flotations.
FR A N K N. W ARD
Bond M en’s clubs in N ew York
and Chicago have proved successful
for a num ber of years and it is gra ti
fying to note th at in these cities not
only the financial and business in
terests, but th a t portion of the p u b
lic interested in sound investment,
regard these associations as con
structive forces in their respective
communities.
M embers of the Des Moines Bond
Club and their business affiliations
follo w s:
Jo h n A rends, G u a ra n ty C om pany of N ew
Y ork, N ew Y ork City
G eorge B andy, Iow a L oan & T ru s t Com
pany, D es M oines
C a rle to n Beh, B allard , H a s s e tt & Bell,
Inc., Des M oines
G eorge A. Bell, Geo. M. B echtel & Co.,
D a v en p o rt
G eorge C aw iezell, Iow a L oan & T ru s t
Co., Des M oines
Jo h n S. C orley, P olk, C orley & Co., Des
M'oines
E lvyn S. Cowgill, F ir s t N atio n al Com
pany, M ason City
Ja m e s C um m ins, R ingheim , W h eelo ck &
Co., Des M oines
C. G. H a n em an n , W h ite-P h illip s C om
pany, D ev en p o rt
W . P. H a rp e r, L ee, H igginson & Co.,
B oston
H a rry M. H a rris, C o n tin en tal & C om m er
cial B an k s, Chicago
W. L. H a s s e tt, B allard, H a s s e tt & Beh,
Inc., Des M oines
C h arles E. H ow ard, N atio n al City Com
pany, N ew Y ork C ity
D onald M cM urray, Iow a L oan & T ru s t
Co., Des M oines
C arro ll M artin , R ingheim , W h eelock &
Co., Des M oines
D onald J. M etcalf, C en tral S ta te B ank,
Des M oines
W allace A. M illard, W h ite-P h illip s Com
p a n y , D av en p o rt.
H a rry H. P olk, P olk, C orley & Co., Des
M oines
R ich ard Redfield, Geo. M. V an E v e ra &
Co., Des M oines
Ivan A. R ingheim , R ingheim , W heelock
& Co., D es M oines
A lb e rt J. R o b ertso n , Iow a N atio n al B ank,
D es M oines
J e s se F. S tev en so n , J e s se F. S tev en so n &
Co., D es M oines
Leo T ay lo r, B allard , H a s s e tt & Beh, Inc.,
Des M oines
H o race K. V asey, B allard, H a s s e tt &
Beh, Inc., Des M oines
F ra n k N. W ard , Iow a L oan & T ru s t Co.,
Des M oines
L ew is F. W heelock, R ingheim , W heelock
Co., Des M oines
Rural Banks Cut Rate
In terest rates on time deposits in
the rural banks of H ennepin Coun
ty, Minnesota, will be reduced to 4
per cent beginning O ctober 1, ac
cording to an announcem ent made
recently by L. E. Christ, president
of the H ennepin County R ural
B ankers’ Association. T his action
taken at the recent annual meeting
at Excelsior, is in conformity with
th a t taken by the rural bankers in
a num ber of other counties in the
state, Mr. Christ explained.
T h e association also adopted a
resolution requesting Minneapolis
clearing house to eliminate ex
change charges on checks on county
banks and accept them at par.
34
TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
Our 6lA% Collateral Gold
Bonds Have Every Good
Bond Requirement
The Safety of Principal, the In
terest Yield, are two of the most
important requisites of a good
bond.
Our 6A% Collateral Gold Bonds
are safe. They are backed by
assets of over one million dol
lars of the Iowa Guarantee
M ortgage Corporation. Furth
er—for every $100 bond issued
—$120 of collateral is held in
trust with the Des Moines Sav
ings Bank and Trust Company.
The interest yield at 6 A
l % is con
sistent with absolute safety of
principal.
Orders may be placed with your
Des Moines correspondent
IOWA GUARANTEE
M o r t g a g e C o r p o r a t io n
J. D. Adelman, President
Ben Stern, Secretary
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
O W N ERS' AN|Q
SHOPS» «3UII-DING
Shops Building
Des Moines
September, 1923
W H A T T H E B A N K E R CAN
L E A R N FROM T H E
BOOK O F JOB
(Continued from page 12.)
they were solvent for the simple
reason th a t they had grave doubts
about the finanacial condition of the
persons to w hom they had m ade
their loans. B ut bankers the coun
try over refused to be oppressed by
w hat looked like the appearance of
general bankruptcy, and, w ith pa
tience and cheerfulness, not only
kept up the courage of themselves
and their associates, but c o m m u n i
cated th at same feeling of confi
dence to their customers. Sooner or
later the inflationary period, which
had given us our false prosperity,
had to come to an end. T he natural
laws th at are inseparably connected
with commercial activities were still
in operation and the adju stm en t was
bound to come. W h e n the dark
days were on us, the banker knew
th at neither he nor his custom er
was entirely to blame for w hat h ap
pened, but he was equally strong in
his belief th a t the stability of our
country, the resourcefulness of our
business men, the patriotism of our
citizens and the honesty of the
average bank custom er would inev
itably bring about a saner prosper
ity th at would make for conserva
tion in the future and a prosperity
w hen it did come that would be
sounder and more lasting.
After having emerged from this
period, the first thing the banker
discovered is th at his co-operation
with his custom er and his hum an
and effective handling of the u n
usual conditions th at had so unex
pectedly presented themselves is not
w hat the country needed. I t was
im perative th at we should have
more laws, and, behold a new type
of
financial
F rankenstein
has
stepped forth from the legislative
grind at W ashington, and we have
the Interm ediate Credit Bank now
with us. Perhaps w hen the lean
years again come, the new agencies
will be able to suspend the law of
supply and demand ; they m ay make
credit exist where formerlv it had
no basis, and in a world where the
element of chance is inseparable
from commercial transactions, they
may insure th a t everv m an who
produces anything- shall receive a
profit. All of which goes to show
th at although hum an nature has
changed very little from w h a t it
was in the days of Job, it displays
a willingness to bring about changes
in business relations by wav of
legislation instead of leaving it to
the individual to work out the situa-
September, 1923
T H E
tion for himself th a t is not alto
gether to our credit.
W h e n Mr. Babson recently em
phasized th at it was not more laws
th a t we needed but more practical
Christianity, he b rought out a tru th
that it is well for us to heed. It is
obvious th at in the course of time
some periods shall be more prosper
ous than others. In the fat days,
we should always have the future
in mind and lay aside accordingly.
This is, of course, a truism, and it
is idle for us to boast th at we are
good and progressive citizens when
at the same time we are willing to
ignore natural laws in the hope that
we can enact hum an statutes that
can set aside the forces that have
operated since time began, and shall
continue to be operative as long as
hum an nature and hum an needs
continue as they are.
Small wonder is it th at the A m eri
can Bankers Association has seen
the need of im pressing upon the
minds of the children in our schools
the economic principles th at m ust
be thoroughly understood if the
commercial fabric of our country is
to stand the test of time.
I t is well for all of us to bear in
mind th a t now as never before it
would be eminently profitable for us
to say in the words of Job to the
agitator for unsound laws and the
preacher of radical doctrines, “ Shall
windy words have no end, or is it
any trouble to thee to speak?” It
would, of course, be most u n fortu
nate for us to close our eyes to the
future or refuse to adm it th at any
b etterm e n t is impossible, b u t at
the same time, the spirit th at ani
m ated the patient Job, who knew
th a t all was well with him at heart
even though for the m om ent the
hand of misery leaned hard upon
him, is far more w o rth y of emula
tion than th at of the false prophet,
who in these days would urge us to
wipe out the traditions of the past,
and let the dreamer, the enthusiast
and the wrecker devise panaceas for
the social readjustm ents that m ust
inevitably recur from time to time,
instead of letting simple faith and
sound common sense prescribe the
remedies th at will bring about the
orderly changes th at indicate the
enduring cure.
N ew Kansas Company
T h e K ansas Insurance depart
m ent has recently issued a certifi
cate of authority to transact busi
ness to the Standard Savings Life
of Topeka. T h e company was in
corporated several m onths ago and
has been com pleting its organiza
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
tion work. D irectors are M. C.
Shurtleff, Daisey E. Peart, J. K.
R ankin and R. S. M urray of Topeka,
Kansas, and N. H. Blakely of Lin
coln, Nebraska.
Facts are stubborn things.—Elliot.
35
I t takes a good man to tell the
difference between when he’s tired
and when he’s just lazy.
W h e n a wise man gives thee bet
ter council, give me mine again.-—
Shakespeare.
A PARI OF
YOUR BANK
A connection with Polk, Corley & Co. virtu
ally amounts to having a bond department of
your own.
Our every resource and facility is put to work
to help you build a profitable bond business.
The telephone and telegraph place us at your
side on five minutes’ notice. You enjoy the
advantages of a thorough investment service
without the expense of maintaining a costly de
partment of your own.
W rite for
F urther D etails
t£K.COBLEV«Cb.
:
D
;
HIPPEE BLDG
BONDS
IES MOINERIA.
■ W/W;' ".X’N'Wv
Accommodations to Correspondents
A big feature of our business is represented by the service rendered
daily to correspondent banks.
We welcome particularly the opportunity of serving the banks of north
ern and eastern Iowa, and offer them exceptional facilities for collect
ing checks and drafts ; furnish reliable credit information ; sell short
time investments ; and render a complete banking service with every
part of the world.
Select T h e Commercial National Bank of W aterloo, Iowa, as a de
pository for your reserve account.
The Commercial N ational Bank
W A T E R L O O , IO W A
C A PIT A L A N D SU R P L U S O N E -H A L F M IL L IO N D O L LA R S
THE
36
U ses W heat As Exchange Unit
T he H u n garian-Italian Bank is
endeavoring to awaken interest on
the part of the public in its plan of
receiving “w h e a t” deposits and
g ra n tin g “w h e a t” credits on the
basis of the deposits so received.
T he bank acts merely as inter
mediary. U pon m aking his deposits
the custom er receives from the bank
a certificate of deposit for as m any
quintals of w heat as his crown de
posit would buy at the price quoted
on the B udapest produce and grain
exchange on the date of deposit. T h e
borrow er in turn gives to the bank
N O R T H W E S T E R N
a note or similar instrum ent for as
m any quintals of w heat as the sum
in crowns paid out to him would
buy.
U pon m aturity of the loan the
bank collects from the borrow er a
sum in H unga rian crowns which the
num ber of quintals of w heat repre
sented by his note would cost on
the basis of the B udapest exchange
quotations, and reim burses the
holder of its certificate of deposit at
the same rate. Both principal and
interest are payable in wheat, or
rather upon the basis of the wheat
value. T he rates paid on deposits
Bond Prices in 1911
and Now
T)RICE changes of every listed
^ bond from 1911 up to the
present time are shown in anew,
handy booklet issued by this or
ganization for free distribution.
Also current yields, maturities,
tax exemption and call features,
denominations, etc. Every in
vestor will find this booklet of
value. We will be glad to send
a copy on request.
Write today
BROKAW
AND
105 S o u t h
BANKER
COMPANY
La S a l l e S t r e e t , C h i c a g o
Iowa Representatives:
EDWARD J. KELLY and MAURICE F. LEAHY
%
C/
September, 1923
are 4 ^ per cent, 5 per cent, and 6
per cent for .six, nine and twelve
m onths deposits, respectively, and
the bank, to eliminate any specula
tion on its own part, will make no
loan unless it has deposits of an
equal am ount on hand, and vice
versa.
Liquidate War Finance Loans
Liquidation of governm ent loans
through the W a r Finance Corpora
tion to banks of Minnesota, North
and South Dakota, which made pos
sible additional credit by the finan
cial institutions to farm ers in the
three states, has been very gratify
ing and total advances have been re
duced from the high point of $46,882,645 to $25,452,202, according to
advice given out recently by M. O.
Grangaard, secretary of the agricul
tural loan agency of the Finance
Corporation at Minneapolis. The lat
ter figure represents the total of out
standing loans, as of August 1, 1923.
Some liquidation has been had as
a result of real estate loans placed
by land owners, the proceeds of
which have been used in the liqui
dating of obligations to country
banks,” Mr. G rangaard declared, “a
corresponding liquidation being re
flected in the obligation of the local
banks to the W a r Finance C orpora
tion.
“An increase in deposits in fav
ored sections has accounted for a
portion of the liquidation while in
some instances borrow ing banks
have seen fit to borrow elsewhere to
liquidate their obligations to the
W a r Finance Corporation.”
Of the $46,882,645 loaned to the
banks of the three states, $19,714,000
w ent to N orth Dakota, $14,711,000
to South D akota and $12,482,000 to
Minnesota. Mr. G rangaard pointed
out from his figures, loans o u ts ta n d
ing as of A ugust approxim ate $11,000,000 in N orth Dakota, $8,000,000
in South D akota and $6,000,000 in
Minnesota.
Special Bank Examiner
F. L. Vlach, president of the
Leigh State Bank of Leigh, N e
braska, has recently been appointed
a special bank examiner for N e
braska under the new state banking
commission.
A ny attem p t to lower a m an ’s
reputation in th at one point where
he is am bitious to be distinguished
is never forgotten or forgiven.—
Haydon.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
September, 1923
THE
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
37
IO W A FARM M O R T G A G E S E C T IO N
T h e N orth w estern B anker is th e official pu blication of the
Iowa Farm M ortgage A ssociation
O F F IC E R S
P r e s i d e n t .............................................................. F r a n k C. W a p l e s , C e d a r R a p i d s
V i c e P r e s i d e n t ..........................................................F r a n k B. M ille r , C e d a r F a l l s
T r e a s u r e r ............................................................................F r a n k S a g e , W a s h i n g t o n
S e c r e t a r y ..........................................................................F . C. F i s h e r , C e d a r R a p i d s
E X E C U T IV E COM M ITTEE
V a r i c k C. C r o s l e y , e x - o f f i c i o .......................................................................... W e b s t e r C i t y
Geo. W . W i l l i a m s ............................................................................................................ D e s M o i n e s
D a n i e l R h o d e s ................................................................................................................. F o r t D o d g e
V a r i c k C. C r o s l e y ................................................................................................. W e b s t e r C i t y
E. H. L o u g e e .............................................................................................................. C o u n c i l B l u f f s
I. C. S t a n l e y ...................................................................................................................C e d a r R a p i d s
F . C. W a p l e s .................................................................................................................. C e d a r R a p i d s
T h e F a rm e r Is L ooking fo r a
Way Out
T he exodus of farm folks to the
more lucrative businesses of the
city, due to low agricultural prices
may seriously harm the food pro
ductivity of our country, according
to D. H. Otis, agricultural director
of the Am erican Bankers Associa
tion, in recent addresses.
“W e have all got to adm it th at
the fa rm er’s condition is serious,”
Mr. Otis said. “ H e is selling m any
of his products below the cost of
production. T his has crippled the
n ation’s buying pow er greatly, since
farm ers’ purchases constitute prac
tically 50 per cent of the whole. The
farm ers feel very dissatisfied and
are looking for some way out.”
In regard to radical agitation in the
west, Mr. Otis s a id :
“T he farm er naturally is a sane
and reasonable individual, but u n
der the pressure of economic condi
tions, w ith his products selling for
less than prew ar prices, and the
goods he buys costing him more
than pre w ar prices, he feels some
thing is w rong and is in a frame of
mind to be led astray. As an ex
ample of w h a t is w orking on his
m ind— under present conditions he
is g etting only about 30 per cent of
the price the retailer realizes on the
goods the farm er produces. T he
farmer feels th at is too small, espe
cially when labor is getting such
high wages. As an illustration, if
a farm er hires the town plumber, it
takes fifteen bushels of w heat to pay
for one day’s work. If the farm boy
goes to the town or city garage, he
can earn eight or ten times as much
as he can earn on the farm.
“This lack of equilibrium is d raw
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
ing people aw ay from the farms to
the towns and cities. Unless agri
cultural conditions improve the
farm er is simply going to leave the
farms. N orth e rn industry is taking
negroes from the soil in the south
by thousands. This trend in the
long run is bound to cripple basic
production and then there will be
trouble for all of us. T h e problem
is so big and intricate th a t it calls
for the best thought, not only of
the farmer, but of the banker, busi
ness m an and professional m an as
well.”
DO SCH OO L K ID D IE S IN
YOUR TO W N KNOW
T H E S E FACTS?
(Continued from page 23.)
“when the bank opened for business,
its capital stock was fifty thousand
dollars. Soon deposits came in from
merchants, manufacturing p l a n t s ,
farmers, churches, lodges, and other
organizations, borough and township
treasurers, wage earners, and women
and children, until at the end of the first
month about one hundred thousand
dollars (illustrate) had been deposited.
The bank then had fifty thousand dol
lars which it owed to its stockholders
and one hundred thousand dollars
which belonged to its depositors, or a
total of one hundred and fifty thou
sand dollars. The capital stock and
the deposits are referred to as liabili
ties of a bank. Now listen closely,”
said the father.
“While it is true that the depositors
could go to the bank the very next day
and draw out all they had previously
put in, experience has shown that this
is never done by all depositors at the
same time. Therefore, the bank does
not need to keep on hand all the money
that is brought in, but only enough to
pay those who may wish to draw out
part, or all, of their deposits. Since
every depositor tries to keep a fair
sized balance in the bank, there is
always more money on hand than is
needed to pay those who are drawing
against their deposits. The law re
quires that the bank keep a certain per
centage of the deposits in its vaults in
actual cash. This cash is called the
bank’s reserve (illustrate). At the
end of the first month, let us say, the
bank had in its safe, as reserve, about
twenty thousand dollars. There should
always be enough cash held by the bank
to take care of the normal amounts of
money needed by its customers.”
“Now,” the father continued, “the
question is th is : W hat does the bank
do with its capital stock and with the
balance of deposits in excess of the
cash held as its reserve? Presently
you will see how, if the management is
experienced and careful, the bank is
able to pay salaries and, in addition, to
earn some money. P art of the money
that came from the sale of shares of
capital stock, of course, had to be
spent for the bank building and its
equipment—vault, safe, furniture, add
ing-machine, typewriter, ledger, sta
tionery and supplies—all of which cost
(in those days) about twenty thousand
dollars (illustrate). The balance of
the capital stock, which would be
thirty thousand dollars, together with
the balance of the deposits in excess
of the reserve at the end of the first
month, which would be eighty thousand
dollars, or one hundred and ten thou
sand dollars in all, was either invested
or loaned out at interest to business
people of good standing, who promised
to repay the money to the bank in
thirty, sixty or ninety days. The inter
est on these loans and investments pro
vides the earnings of the bank, out of
which salaries and other expenses are
paid. This practice of loaning money
is called discounting, or giving credit,
THE
38
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
Farm Loans
Five Reasons W hy You W ill
Appreciate Our Service
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
EDWIN HULT
P re sident
W e offer lib e ra l ra te s.
O ur In sp e c tio n S erv ice is prom pt.
W e lo an up to $100 an a c re on Iow a land.
W e u se o u r ow n fu n d s— closing prom ptly.
S erv ice to a p p lic a n ts is our first th o u g h t.
Send us your applications if you want genuine service.
FARMERS BOND & MORTGAGE CO.
F ifth Floor H ippee Bldg.
DES MOINES
Twenty-five Years in the Mortgage Business
5% FA R M L O A N S
Over $25,000,000.00 Outstanding
J
!
Send us your applications.
for 5, 7, 10 or 20 years.
Rates and terms liberal
!
We have plenty of money for good loans and can
furnish funds promptly.
g
g
Tell us now what you want. Ask for our Rate Sheet.
W e Can G ive You Im m ed ia te A tten tio n
1
Leavitt & Jo h n so n T rust Co.
|
WATERLOO, IOWA
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllilllllllllM
FARM LO AN S
Your farm loan custom ers require h i g h e r
amounts, lowest rates, liberal terms, prom pt serv
ice and fair treatm ent.
W e make good.
W rite, wire or phone us your requirements.
STANLEY-HENDERSON COMPANY
FARM MORTGAGE BANKERS
207-214 H igley B u ild in g
$3^0*000 00
PHONE
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
5407
|
|
September, 1923
and when fully understood, credit is
what the bank deals in. Just as the
merchant buys and sells goods, so the
banker buys and sells money and credit.
“The assets of a bank, just as in the
case of a store or other business, are
the property owned by the bank. They
are cash on hand, promissory notes
representing the money loaned out at
interest to borrowers, the bank build
ing, and so forth. In like manner, the
liabilities are what the bank owes to
others, to the stockholders, to deposit
ors, and so forth.
“As the town grows and the business
of the community expands, the de
posits of the bank become larger. Other
banks may organize, until, as in the
case of cities, banks spring up in many
localities in order to handle the neces
sary money and credit transactions.
No matter how large our great city
banks become, they are all organized
and conducted upon the same principle
and for the same purpose as the bank
in the small town.”
This explanation by the father to his
son sets forth the relation of the bank
to all people of the community, and I
hope that it has given you some new
and clearer ideas about banks. At an
other time, I may speak to you con
cerning a few of the special methods
used in the banking business.
One thought, however, I want to
leave with you today. Scarcely any
where is there a financial transaction
in which the bank does not have a
direct or indirect part, either through
the stockholders, the management, or
the depositors. Every successful busi
ness person makes use of the bank for
borrowing money, for the safekeeping
of money and valuables, and in otner
ways.
The wonderful strides our
country has made in the field of com
merce can be accounted for largely by
the manner in which the banks have
been made use of by the people of just
such communities as ours. It is im
portant for you to see that as each
American boy or girl, man or woman,
cultivates the habit of saving, and
handles savings and all other financial
transactions through the bank, he is
being a real help to his community.
W hy? Because the bank is the reser
voir into which flow the savings of the
people of the community, to be used by
the banker in helping to develop the
industry and life of the community.
The bank helps the people to succeed,
and the community to progress. Ac
quire habits that lead to success. Use
your bank and give the savings habit
and the banking habit places of real
prominence in your life.
CEDAR R APIDS, IOWA
It is from books th at wise men d e
rive consolation in the troubles of
life.— H ugo.
September, 1923
TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
39
For Bankers and T h eir W ants
This department of T H E N O R T H W E S T E R N B A N K E R Is
to assist SU B S C R IB E R 'S in obtaining goods or service hard
to find. It is free. Use it. A S K US, as we can tell you
where to buy anything you need in your bank or for your
bank. T E L L US, as your “want” will be published under
the above heading free of charge. In answering classified
advertisements which have key numbers please enclose a
two-cent stamp. This is used to forward your letter.
For Sale. B an k
fixtures, m ah o g an y
finish—-Verde A ntique M arble T rim m in g s
and B ase—b alan c e V erm o n t M arble.
T h re e w indow s. F o r d etailed d esc rip tio n
and p rices ad d re ss Box 67, M itchell, So.
Dak.
W a n te d —P o sitio n as a s s is ta n t c a sh ie r
in Iow a co u n try bank. H av e h ad six
y e a rs ex p erien ce as b o o k k eep er an d a s
s is ta n t c a sh ie r in co u n try b a n k an d w ell
qualified to h an d le g e n e ra l b a n k in g
ro u tin e. R easo n fo r w a n tin g new p osi
tio n , b an k w here fo rm e rly em ployed go
ing o u t of b usin ess. A d d ress No. 2685,
T he N o rth w e ste rn B an k er.— 8-9.
W a n te d —P o sitio n
of tr u s t by exC anadian b an k m an ag e r, ju s t re c e n tly
le ft th e b an k serv ice. Can fu rn ish good
b an k re fe re n c e s. W ill be w illing to ac
ce p t an y p ositio n p ro v id in g th e re is a
liv in g s a la ry paid, and ch an ces of a d
v an cem en t. I am a young m a rrie d m an
31 y e a rs of age and n o t a fra id of h a rd
w ork. R eply to Box 320, S anborn, Iowa.
C ash iersh ip or a s s is ta n t cashie rsh ip in co u n try b a n k by young m a r
ried m an w ith 10 y e a rs ’ c o u n try an d city
b a n k experience.
Also ex p erien ced in
tr u s t com pany w ork, fa rm loan and in
su ran ce. C apable of ta k in g c h a rg e and
W a n te d :
b u ild in g b u sin ess. W ould like to in v e s t
la te r. W ould also be in te re s te d in h elp
ing o rg an ize new bank.
A d d ress No.
2688, T he N o rth w e ste rn B a n k e r— 9.
Position W a n te d as a s s is ta n t c a sh ie r in
sm all bank. C ollege g ra d u a te w ith som e
b a n k in g ex p erien ce. B e st of re fe re n c e s.
Age 23. A d d ress No. 2689, T he N o rth
w e ste rn B a n k e r— 9.
P a r t in te re s t in lo cal b an k
w ith p ay in g in su ra n c e b u sin e ss and
e le g a n t m o d ern hom e on paved ro a d to
larg e city. T erm s to th e rig h t m an. Ad
d re ss No. 2690, T he N o rth w e ste rn B an k
e r— 9.
For Sale:
Cashiership. M inority in te re s t w ith c a sh
ie rsh ip in so u th e rn M in n eso ta bank, tow n
of aro u n d 500.
Good salary .
A dvise
am o u n t you can in v e s t w hen replying.
A d d ress No. 2691, T he N o rth w e ste rn
B a n k e r— 9.
W a n te d Position as c a sh ie r in b an k in
sm all c o u n try tow n by m an w ith 12 y e a rs
b a n k in g ex p erien ce as a s s is ta n t c a sh ie r
an d still w ith sam e bank. If your b a n k
is in sound co n d itio n an d you a need
good m an w rite No. 2693, T he N o rth
w e ste rn B a n k e r— 9.
Cashiership W a n te d : By v ery able b an k er
of 23 y e a rs ex p erien ce. Now holding of
ficial p o sitio n w ith larg e city bank. P re
fe r to g e t b ack an d ta k e over m an ag e
m e n t of good b a n k in c o u n try tow n of
2,500 p o p u latio n or over. C an fu rn ish
re fe re n c e s of th e h ig h e s t type. W ill a n
sw er all in q u iries. W rite P. O. Box 424,
M inneapolis, M inn.— 9-10-11.
For Sale: C om plete s e t of fix tu res— a l
m o st new . Also m ach in es, v a u lt door,
safe and e v e ry th in g th a t goes in a bank.
F a rm e rs S av in g s B ank, M inden, Iow a.—
9-10-11.
Bank Executive d e sires p o sitio n w ith
good bank. F ifte e n y e a rs ’ ex p erience.
C an fu rn ish b e st of re fe re n c e s and re c
om m en d atio n s. W ill m ake in v estm en t.
A d d ress No. 2692, T he N o rth w estern
B an k er.— 9
Position W a n te d . By young m an who is
live w ire. A t p re s e n t a s s is ta n t cash ier.
D esires p lace w h ere he can becom e c a sh
ier. B est of re fe re n c e s. A d d ress No.
2696, T he N o rth w e ste rn B a n k e r— 9.
W a n te d to Buy good second h an d oak
b a n k fix tu res for sm all co u n try bank,
th a t can be fitted in room 25x34. E. B.
L u m b ard , K im ball, S. Dak.
W m r e To B u y
ÿ m
KARDEX
c fe ÿ ô r - B
r j^ I J E S E i n s t i t u t i o n s a r e
p r e p a r e d t o s e ll q u a l i t y
m e r c h a n d is e a n d f u r n is h
p r o m p t s h ip m e n t s .
IO W A ’S BEST
Leather Goods Store
W o rk m an sh ip and Q uality A ssured
W h e n You O rd er F r o m
LIKLY LUGGAGE CO.
L E M A R S P R IN T IN G CO.
D E S M OINES
HIGH CLASS
MASON CITY, IOW A
----------------------- ---------------------------------- -- --------BANK EQUIPM ENT and SUPPLIES
We are the logical firm to supply your
needs. Our immense stock makes it possible
to fill your orders promptly. You’ll find our
prices right, too.
M cN a m a r a o f f i c e s u p p l y c o .
507-509 Locust Street
Iowa’s Leading Bank and Office Equipment
Store
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
a n k e r ^
T h e r e ’s I n v e s t m e n t V a l u e a n d Q u a l
i t y in e v e r y S c h l a m p p D i a m o n d .
QCHLAM PPQ
k 3
DES MOINES
k3
F a m o u s for D iam onds
j
f^LOOSE-LEAF-DEVICES^ANO
VAa CCOUNTING •SYSTEMS
U
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J. H . W E L C H P R IN T IN G CO.
1313-15 L o c u s t St., D e s M o in e s .
P r i n t e r s , B i n d e r s , Mnfg-. S t a t i o n e r s .
TYPEWRITERS
FLOWERS AND SERVICE
A ll m a k e s r e b u i l t
CORONA P O R T A B L E
T H E M IM EO G RA PH
A L P H A F L O R A L COMPANY
P h o n e W a ln u t 362
T H E O F F IC E E Q U IP M E N T CO.
417 L o c u st S t.
D e s M oin es, Io w a
J . S. W ILSO N FL O R A L CO.
D r a k e 584
D E S MOINES
THE
40
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
September, 1923
A t th e p re s e n t tim e I
am em ployed as a s s is ta n t c a sh ie r in
sm all co u n try b a n k b u t d e sire a change.
W ish to secu re a p o sitio n in a good
re lia b le b an k w h ere th e re w ill be a fu
tu re . I am 23 y e a rs of age and have
h ad a b o u t five y e a rs of b a n k in g e x p eri
ence in a co u n try bank. C an fu rn ish
su b s ta n tia l re fe re n c e s as to c h a ra c te r
and ability . A d d ress No. 2695, T he N o rth
w e ste rn B a n k e r— 9.
W h a t Have You?
Capital
Assets Over
$500,000.00
$ 1 , 000 ,000.00
PARLEY SHELDON, Honorary Vice Pres.
C. M . SPENCER, Vice Pres, and Secretary
F. L. MINER, President
C. S. VANCE, Vice Pres, and Underwriting Mgr
FRANK P. FLYNN, Treasuer
W h a t Have You to Offer m an w ith ten
y e a rs ’ ex p e rie n c e in all p o sitio n s ra n g
in g from b o o k k eep er to c a sh ie r in larg e
co u n try bank. A m erican . Age 34. M ar
ried . Can fu rn ish h ig h class re feren ces.
A vailable a t once. A d d ress No. 2694.
T he N o rth w e ste rn B a n k e r— 9.
POLICY HOLDERS
W ill Patronize an IO W A Com pany
Guaranteed by IO W A Capital
Managed by IO W A Men
IO W A B A N K E R S R e c o g n iz e th e A d v a n ta g e o f P r o te c tin g IO W A
C R E D IT w ith IO W A IN S U R A N C E
Reliable Agents Wanted in Every City in Iowa.
Write
Iowa National Fire Insurance Co.
D E S M O IN E S, I O W A
Salary Continuance Policy
OFFICERS
E. M. S E A R L E , J r .
P resident
H. E . W O R R E L L
S ec.-T reas.
Pays fifty dollars, one hundred dollars,
one hundred fifty dollars, or two hundred
dollars a month (first paym ent im
mediately upon receipt of proofs of the
death of the insured) and continues the
paym ent of like am ount for stated periods
of from six m onths up to tw en ty years.
Ask us more about it.
Omaha Life Insurance
Com pany
OMAHA, NEBRASKA
of
Bo s t o n . M a s s a c h u s e t t s
Select As the Logical Life Insurance Connection
O ne of th e
Oldest—Largest-Strongest—Most Reliable
O rg a n iz e d in
Position W a n te d in co u n try b an k e ith e r
as c a sh ie r or a s s is ta n t cash ier. P re fe r
b a n k in c e n tra l Iowa. O ver th re e y e a rs ’
ex p erien ce. T w en ty -th ree y e a rs of age,
m arrie d . Can in v est. A d d ress No. 2697,
T he N o rth w e ste rn B a n k e r— 9.
N e w Savings Customers: Mr. B anker.
If you w a n t y o u r sav in g s d ep o sits to in
c re a se each w eek from p re s e n t cu sto m ers
and also new ones I w ill come and see
you a t m y own ex p en se an d d e m o n strate.
I can h elp you do th is w ith o u t using
prizes,
p rem iu m s
or a n y u n e th ic a l
m eth o d s, w ith no o b lig atio n on your p a rt
ex cep t to ipay fo r th e new acco u n ts w hich
I se c u re for you. F ive y e a rs ’ successful
e x p erien ce and re fe re n c e s from h a n k e rs
I h a v e w orked for. A d d ress No. 2698,
T he N o rth w e ste rn B a n k e r— 9.
W hen It Blows
The season of w indstorm s is still
with us. W h e th e r it be a typical
K ansas cyclone, a hard-hitting- N o r’easter, or So’w ester of the coast, or
the less violent w indstorm that hits
your property, you have protection
from financial loss in windstorm in
surance.
A policy m ay be had to cover
w indstorm dam age to your business
property or your home. T h e things
in your home may be included.
P roperty th a t you rent may be pro
tected, the income assured in spite
of non-occupancy due to damage by
a windstorm .
You can never tell just w hat wind
is g"oing to do. It may only break a
pane of glass, topple a chimney, or
tear loose a door. On the other
hand, it may crash a tree against
your building with disastrous re
sults, it may tear the roof away,
tear down walls or sweep away the
entire building.
W h a te v er the damage, the finan
cial loss m ay be covered with w ind
storm insurance. — F rom “ P rotec
tion.”
“The Civil War Period”
1862
Harry S. H ask in s, S ta te A gent
701-703 H lp p e e B u ild in g
D es M o in e s , Io w a
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
—
H appiness is th at single and glo
rious thing which is the very light
and sun of the whole anim ated uni
verse ; and where she is not it were
better than nothing should be.— Col
ton.
September, 1923
TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
41
IN S U R A N C E S E C T IO N
The Fire Ping Offers Suggestions for
Permanent Fire Prevention
A
S A result of the m eeting held
several weeks ago in New
York City, the committee on
F'ire Prevention W eek has form u
lated extensive plans for observing
O ctober 7 to 13 as Fire Prevention
W eek.
T he plan is to co-ordinate the ac
tivities of all local interests under
the leadership of the C ham ber of
Commerce, and to secure perm anent
results as far as possible. T he pro
gram as outlined in a recent news
letter of the National Fire P rotec
tion Association is as follows: B et
ter fire protection for schools and
institutions ; fire prevention instruc
tion in schools where it is not al
ready being ta u g h t; inspection of
buildings by fire departm ent ; fire
prevention bureaus, or extension of
this work where such bureaus are
already in force; correction of defi
ciencies in building codes.
In connection w ith the program
outlined, R ichard E. Vernor, editor
of the Fire Plug, the m onthly bul
letin of the fire prevention depart
m ent of the W e s te rn Actuarial B u
reau, has set forth a few sugges
tions for perm anent fire prevention
committees. T h e following para-
By J. J. Wengert
Associate Editor, The Northwestern
Banker
graphs are suggestions as set forth
by Mr. Vernor in a recent issue of
T he Fire Plug, a cut of which is re
produced on this page.
“ S tart your campaign by taking
advantage of the publicity given
during National Fire Prevention
W eek. Plan your work to spread
over the entire year.
“ Study your building codes and
local ordinances. See th at all pos
sible activities along this line are
developed. Go after the shingle roof
as they did in Indianapolis. Investi
gate bonfire, chimney, electrical and
kindred ordinances.
“Cooperate with the fire chief in
establishing regular inspection of the
mercantile and public building area
by the fire departm ent. Full details
on this system can be secured from
almost any of our large city fire
departm ents.
“ Make a special investigation of
your schools, churches and hospitals.
Most of these buildings are usually
in a deplorable condition. Your
state fire prevention association will
be glad to assist you in this work
w ithout cost.
“ Create a Boy Scout Auxiliary
Fire D epartm ent, trained by your
Prairie Life Insurance Company
O L D L IN E
W. R. M cGREW , M. D., P r e s id e n t
RO Y D. H A R T , A g e n c y M a n a g e r
LEG AL RESERVE
O m aha, N ebraska
1 5 th
$29.67
A nd S u b se q u e n t Y e a r s to
A g e 79, or t h e P r io r
D e a th o f th e In su r e d
14 t h Yr.
528.19 '
13 th Yr.i$26.71 I
EN D O W M EN T at AGE 79
OUR PREFERRED-RISK POLICY
11th Yr.
$23.74
9 t h yr.|
$20.77
7 t h Yr.
$17.80
A n n u a l C ost P e r T h o u sa n d A g e 35.
O ther A g e s in P r o p o r tio n :
6 t h Yr.l
$16.32 I
11 s t Yr.l 2d Y r. I 3d Yr. | 4 t h Y r . | 5 t h Yr.
! $14.84 I $14.84 I $14.84 | $14.84 | $14.84
GUARANTEED VALUES
Provides for Guaranteed Cash, Loan, PaidUp and Extended Insurance Values.
No E stim ates.
E very F eature G uaranteed.
Women Insured on Equal Terms with Men
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
8 t h Yr.;
$19.28 ;
10th Yr.|
$22.25 I
Under this Policy
THE COMPANY WILL PAY
The Face Amount
To the Insured when He Attains
the Age of Seventy-Nine Years
or
To the Beneficiary in the Event of the Prior
Death of the Insured.
12 t h Yr.
$25.22
The Policy with the Universal Appeal, but especially Adapted to
Those Whose Present Need is the Maximum Amount of Protection at
the Minimum Cost.
Issued in Policies from $2,500 up, on Selected Lives under 51 years of Age.
L ib e ral C om m ission C ontracts fo r B an k er A gents in Iow a. N ebraska, C olorado and
M issouri m ade D IR E C T W IT H T H E H O M E O F FIC E . W R IT E F O R D ETA ILS.
THE
42
N O R T H W E S T E R N
September, 1923
BANKER
Life Insurance and Banking
Are Inseparably Linked
YOU bankers recognize character as a man’s greatest
asset—
YET character is dependent upon Life itself—
LIFE INSURANCE is a protection against the known
hazards o f life —
STATISTICS prove that Life Insurance is the backbone of
87 per cent of all Estates—
CHARACTER secures loans during life— but— Insurance
takes their place after death.
These agents can and will gladly give you all the information concerning Life Insurance you
may desire.
YOU
Mr. Cashier and Assistant Cashiers will be interested
in our booklet, “ O p p o r t u n i t i e s i n L i f e U n d e r w r i t
in g ,” as applied to you. Send for it.
T he Connecticut Mutual
Life Insurance Co.
W ith
Seventy-seven Years of Public Service
Address
o ffe rs a n a ttr a c tiv e a n d d e sira b le
a g e n c y c o n n e c tio n .
ROY H. HEARTMAN, Manager for Iowa
T he Equitable Life of N ew York
800 Old Colony B uilding, Des Moines, Iowa
CLAUDE FISHER, G en’l Agent
(506 IOW A N A TIO N A L B A N K BLDG.
IIES M OINES, IOWA
New York Life Insurance Co.
Geo. W . Hughes
E n tir e E ig h th F lo o r
Manager for Des Moines and Iowa Office
of the
COMMONWEALTH BUILDING
A E T N A LIFE INSURANCE
COMPANY
Agents wanted to sell superior policy contract
under liberal commissions.
Third Floor Hubbell Building
D. W. CORLEY, Agency Director
JAMES J. CLAPP
Manager for Iowa Ordinary Department
501-2-3 Securities Bldg.
D ES M O I N E S , IOWA
Tf
Prudential Insurance Company of America
H o m e O ffice:
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N EW A R K , N EW JE R S E Y
September, 1923
TH E
fire chief.
Spokane, W ashington,
has a well organized and practical
institution of this character. You
can secure a printed copy of their
entire organization and plan of
operation. Boy Scouts can also be
used in distributing fire prevention
literature.
“A t least once a year provide for
a thorough home inspection by all
school children in your city. This
work has been proved to be of great
value. T he slips should be turned
over to the fire chief. Prize essay
contests on fire prevention have also
aroused much interest.
“ Establish a speakers’ bureau and
at regular intervals see th at all local
commercial organizations, w om en’s
clubs and school children are ad
dressed.
“Join the National Fire P reve n
tion Association and secure their
valuable literature and suggestions.
“ Circulate fire alarm cards, show
ing location of boxes, m ethod of
tu rn in g in alarm, and household
‘don’ts ’ am ong all dwellings.
“ Conduct fire prevention and
safety schools for heads of depart
m ents in industrial and m ercantile
establishm ents.
Similar schools
have been conducted in Chicago,
Detroit, Indianapolis and M ilw au
kee, as well as elsewhere. Pupils
should be graduated and given a
diploma.”
These suggestions by Mr. V ernor
are decidedly to the point and if fol
lowed out will do a great deal in
furthering the results th a t Fire P re
vention W eek is aimed to produce.
Some states have accomplished a
great deal along the lines of fire pre
vention and others have made some
progress—-Fire P revention W eek
can be made to go a long ways in
furthering the activity along these
lines.
N ebraska is the first state to or
ganize a definite campaign for the
purpose of educating the farm er on
fire prevention. I t is planned to
send out teams of three for a week
at a time, these teams giving a pro
gram every night in country school
houses. T he campaign is to be de
veloped along the lines of motion
picture instruction, speaking and
special farm home inspection by
school children, who will be pro
vided with a.su ita b le blank for the
inspection. This indeed is an ex
ample w orthy of the attention of
m any agricultural states.
In 1922 fire loss per capita in the
United States was $4.75 as com
pared with $.72 in Great Britain.
This comparison would be alm ost as
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N O R T H W E S T E R N
43
BANKER
in
A Practical Benefit
to Any Community
M e d i c a l L i f e ’s S u b - s t a n d a r d p o l i c y is f a r m o r e t h a n m e r e l y a n a g e n c y
m o n ey -m ak er.
T h is policy p e r fo r m s a se rv ic e — a n d c o n fe rs a benefit—
t h a t t h e a p p l i c a n t w o u l d o t h e r w i s e lose.
W r i t e M edical L ife a b o u t th is po licy ; it m e a n s a g r e a t e r profit a n d you
r e n d e r y o u r c o m m u n ity a v e r y p r a c t i c a l service.
A s k , to o , a b o u t o u r m e t h o d o f c o - o p e r a t i o n , o u r S t a n d a r d p o l i c i e s , o u r
C h i l d ’s E n d o w m e n t p o l i c y a n d w h y M e d i c a l L i f e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s p r o g r e s s
so r a p i d l y .
M edical L ife b a n k e r a g e n t s a r e c o m p le te ly e q u ip p e d to c o n d u c t a p ro fitab le
b u s i n e s s o n a l a r g e sc a le .
I N S U R A N C E C O M P A N Y OF A M E R I C A
W ATERLOO
IOW A
I. G. L O N D BK G A N , V ic e P r e s id e n t & G en’l M gr.
E . E . B R O W N , A g e n c y S u p e r v iso r
■
SIMPLICITY OF STRUCTURE
T h e s t r e n g t h o f a c o m p a n y l i e s p r i m a r i l y in i t s u t t e r s i m p l i c i t y o f
structure.
T h e p l a i n e r t h e s t r u c t u r e , t h e g r e a t e r t h e r e s i s t a n c e p o w e r to a d v e r s e
conditions.
T h e N o r th A m e ric a n N a tio n a l L ife I n s u r a n c e
s t r u c t u r e , i n s u r e s s i m p l i c i t y in a l l i t s d e a l i n g s .
Company,
s i m p l e in
F o r t h a t r e a so n , p lu s th e a g g r e s s i v e n e s s of its lo y a l a g e n c y force,
it is g r o w i n g f a r m o re r a p id ly t h a n m o s t y o u n g c o m p a n ie s .
B a n k e r s find a c o n n e c t i o n w i t h t h i s c o m p a n y e s p e c i a l l y a t t r a c t i v e .
I t is t h e i r k i n d o f a c o m p a n y c o m b i n i n g “ S e r v i c e a n d S a f e t y . ”
W r it e fo r C o m p le te In fo r m a tio n .
T he North A m erican National
Life Insurance Com pany
OMAHA, NEBRASKA
OPPORTUNITY—
Salaried position for field man.
Must furnish reference.
W r i te
National American Life Insurance Company
BURLINGTON
-
IOWA
Advertise in The Northwestern
Banker
44
THE
unfavorable if made w ith m ost any
other nation on the continent. They
have reduced fire loss and fire haz
ards to a m inim um and it is only by
an active campaign throu g h o u t the
We
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
entire country th a t the U nited
States can hope to reduce the fire
losses.
National Fire Prevention
W eek is an excellent start along this
line.
w ant to serve you
in 1923 as it was our pleasure to serve many bankers
during 1922. You will be pleased as they were.
UNIVERSAL LIFE INSURANCE CO.
DUBUOUE, IOWA
It’s Tim e to
STO P
T hinking and Act!
Ask about
our preferred
risk policy
For only a few cents a day you can
buy one of our mortgage redemption
policies which will completely discharge
that mortgage on your home or farm
in event of either your death or permanent disability.
11 you live and pay on your mortgage
as you now expect, you will have
your insurance, which you can keep
or cash in and the net cost of the
protection you have enjoyed will
be only a fraction of the original few
cents a day which you have paid.
Ask us to tell you about this policy or
other forms of protection needed for
yourself and family.
In all that is good
Iowa affords the best
Royal Union M utual Life
Insurance Company
D E S M O I N E S , I OWA
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
September, 1923
Free Examinations
T he board of directors of the
G uaranty Life Insurance Company
of Davenport, has adopted the life
extension system of conducting free
examinations every year for all
policyholders insured for $5,000 or
more by the company. The plan is
one which has been in use by east
ern companies for several years, and
it is believed th at the G uaranty Life
Insurance Company is one of the
first to adopt it in this part of the
country.
Once a year full medical examina
tions will be given all eligible pol
icyholders under the direction of the
Life Extension Institute, 25 W e s t
F orty-third street, New York City.
Particulars of the new plan are to be
sent to these policyholders immedi
ately by the com pany .
T he examinations are much more
complete than the ordinary insur
ance examinations and should prove
a valuable check-up on the life and
health of the insured man, says Sec
retary L. J. D ougherty of the G uar
anty Life Company. T h e person
examined will be advised on all de
tails of the examination, instructed
how he can overcome any deficiency
in his health as indicated by the ex
amination, and otherwise given valu
able service w ithout cost.
Federal Surety Reports Increase
T h e Federal Surety Company of
Davenport, Iowa, reports a 70 per
cent increase in business during the
past six m onths as compared with
the same period for last year.
T he com pany’s loss ratio was less
for the half year period both on an
incurred and w ritten basis. F or the
period ending June 30, 1923, gross
net prem ium s totaled $518,204 as
against $304,383 for the period end
ing June 30, 1922. Cash capital for
the last six m onths was $775,250 as
compared with $626,375 for the same
period last year. A dm itted assets
totaled $1,428,860 as compared with
$1,044,778 in 1922. T h e net surplus
for the last half year was $152,000
while in 1922 it was $114,840.
Open N ew Offices
T h e Fidelity & Deposit have
opened their new executive offices
in Chicago with John G. Y ost and
Jam es S. Bayless, both from the
home office in Baltimore, in charge.
Branch m anagers and general agents
of the western territory were in Chi
cago at the time of the opening for
a conference in charge of Vice P resi
dent Spencer W elton.
September, 1923
TH E
Sioux C ity M an N ew H ead of
Iow a A ssociation
Guy W . A ndrew s of the R. J.
A ndrew s Agency of Sioux City, is
the newly elected president of the
Iowa Association of Insurance
Agents.
Mr. A ndrew s has an
nounced that he will adopt the plan
of holding a series of local meetings
over the state during the coming
N O R T H W E S T E R N
45
BANKER
N ew Quarters Completed
Chicago. South D akota is paying
$3 per hundred as a m axim um for
theft insurance on F ord or Dodge
cars, whereas the rates in Indiana
or Michigan are less than a third of
that am ount. T he absence of a law
requiring th at every person who
registers a bill of sale for an auto
mobile prove the title unquestion
ably and obtain a certificate of ow n
ership from the secretary of state,
is said to be largely responsible for
the higher rates in South Dakota.
T he State Life Insurance Com
pany of Des Moines, Iowa, has com
pleted the arrangem ents for enlarg
ing its office space and now occupies
most of the second floor of the Iowa
building at Des Moines. T he com
pany has over $35,000,000 of busi
ness in force and is w riting between
$1,500,000 and $2,000,000 a month.
It is expected th at the $50,000,000
m ark will be reached in the near fu
ture.
T ru s t th at man in nothing who
has not a conscience in everything
— Sterne.
Language is only clear when it is
sympathetic.— Ruskin.
Big Enough
to serve, w ith the g r e a t
est p ossib le assu ran ce
o f sa fety .
B u t n o t so b ig th a t we c a n ’t re n d e r
each agency an d po licy h o ld e r o u r
in d iv id u a l a tte n tio n .
GUY W. A N D REW S
year in addition to the annual con
vention which is scheduled for Sioux
City.
In this way it is hoped th a t an in
creased interest will be taken in
organizing local boards in a n u m
ber of the cities in the state where
they do not already exist.
Reserve Loan Figures
T h e agency force of the Reserve
Loan Life Insurance Company, I n
dianapolis, during the first half of
the year w rote $10,822,188 of insur
ance. T h e Reserve Loan now has
$54,713,385 insurance in force. T he
net gain for the half year is $3,649,041.
T he company accepts applications
up to $50,000 and w rites both sta n d
ard and sub-standard risks.
South Dakota Rates High
T he lack of an automobile registry
law in South Dakota, has made the
state a dum ping ground for stolen
cars, according to E. L. Richards,
m anager for the Autom obile P ro
tective and Inform ation B ureau of
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
O ut of 90
L egal R eserve
A m ong th e m a n y fo rm s of
C om panies o p e r
P o licies issued b y W estern
a tin g in Iow a d u r
L ife are
in g 1 9 2 2 , W estern
L
ife
w ro te m o re th a n
F a rm e rs ’ Special
70 com panies w ro te in
E n d o w m e n t A ge 65
Iow a.
C h i l d ’s E n d o w
m ent
I t now has in force in Iow a,
m o re th a n 72 o f th e 90 h av e
in fo rce in Iow a.
O u r successful p ro g ress is a n ev er
in c re asin g asset to us, an d to o u r
A gencies.
W e h e lp you m ak e y o u r L ife In su ra n c e
A gency successful a n d p ro fitab le.
nsurancoCompany'
OF DES MOINES, IOWA
Write today for
Agency Terms.
46
THE
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
O L D L IN E
GUARANTY
T ^ if e - J n s u r a n c e C o m p a n y
1
D A V E N P O R T ----- IOWA
3
Are You Looking
for This?
F YO U are seeking a company whose chief aim
is to keep each one of its agents satisfied and
help them to become really big producers, doing
so by its hearty cooperation;
I
And a company that strives to give policy-holders
every possible advantage, and is financially strong and
capable enough to do so—then you are looking for
the G UARANTY LIFE.
In all of these the G UARANTY LIFE is the kind
of company every agent is seeking. Strong, progres
sive, growing rapidly— the G UARANTY LIFE of
fers a number of progressive men an excellent op
portunity— everything that means success.
And—if you are an agent of ability, the GUAR
ANTY LIFE is looking for you. Let’s get better
acquainted—n ow !
L . %/. D O U G H E R T K S e c r e ta n /' Gen. M anager
One Great Virtue o f Insurance Lies in
the Peace o f Mind It Gives
B u t th e a c c o u n t i n g d a y w i l l com e. S e l e c t c a r e f u l l y , th e n , th e c o m p a n y yo u r e c
om m en d t h a t n e ith e r you n o r y o u r p a tr o n s m a y be d isa p p o in te d .
The test is in the Claim Settlements.
IVe B A N K on ours and so may you.
CHOOSE T H E G R E A T W E S T E R N — IT ’S GOOD
Great W estern Insurance Company
D E S M O I N E S , IO W A
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
September, 1923
Plan Life Insurance Float
T he Omaha, Nebraska, Associa
tion of Life U n derw riters is form
ing plans for a $1,500 float devoted
to life insurance in the annual AkSar-Ben pageant October 3. The
association will have a float depict
ing the significance of life insurance
in the development of the nation.
T he association will provide for
$500 of the expense of producing the
float. Each home company will con
tribute $25; each general agent, or
m anager of an outside company, $10
and each special agent who is a
m em ber of the association, $2.50.
T here will be more than forty
floats in the parade, all illustrating
some historical and patriotic event
in the nation’s history. T he pageant
is one of the biggest in the whole
United States, and is attended by
estimated crowds of 100,000 and
200,000 persons.
Schunk-Hansen Agency Formed
A. J. Schunk of the A. J. Schunk
& Company of Minneapolis, largest
general agents for the Federal .Sur
ety Company of Davenport, Iowa,
and W. N. Hansen, for the past eight
years associated with the Crum &
F orster Fleet of New York, have en
tered partnership and formed the
Schunk-H ansen Agency which will
have charge of the local agency
business in Minneapolis and also be
general agents for the Central F ed
eral Fire, which is now in the proc
ess of organization.
N ew Agency Formed
A new insurance agency has been
opened in Des Moines by Don W il
lis and Tom Moore under the firm
name of Willis & Moore. Offices
are at 227-228 Insurance Exchange
building. Mr. Moore was formerly
an insurance adjuster and was later
connected w ith the display advertis
ing departm ent of the Des Moines
Register & Tribune. Mr. Willis has
been connected with the Jack Shep
ard agency at Des Moines.
Camden Fire Increases Capital
T h e Camden Fire has recently in
creased its capital from $1,250,000 to
$1,500,000 through the issuance of
new shares authorized by a vote of
the stockholders.
W ill Enter N ew States
T h e S tandard Life of St. Louis is
m aking plans to enter Texas, Pacific
Coast and northw estern states. T he
business of the com pany is increas
ing at the rate of about $2 ,000,000
a month.
September, 1923
THE
Iowa Field Men Meet
A bout eighty Iow a field men held
their annual outing at Lake Okoboji,
A ugust 1 and 2. T he m eeting was
prim arily an outing and only one
general business session was held.
E. S. Freeman, state agent at O m aha
for the A gricultural Insurance Com
pany, was general chairm an of the
party.
G. R. Crossley, state agent at
W e b s te r City for the W e ste rn As
surance, was appointed in charge of
the business m eeting at which time
George Newm an, m anager emeritus
of the W e ste rn A djustm ent Com
pany, Des Moines branch, drafted a
resolution of sym pathy to C. W.
Fracker, former state agent for the
Springfield F ire & Marine, and dean
of the Iow a field men. Mr. F racker
has been ill for some time.
T h e main subject of discussion at
the business m eeting was th at of
the organization of an automobile
protective association for Iowa,
modeled after the M issouri-Kansas Association. T h e secretary of
the M issouri-Kansas Association a t
tended the m eeting and gave a talk
on how th at organization functioned.
Favorable com m ent on the proposed
organization was expressed by rep
resentatives of companies doing an
automobile business in Iowa and a
com m ittee was appointed to investi
gate the possibilities of such an oranization for Iowa.
Establish Davenport Branch
T he W e s te rn A d justm ent Com
pany has established a branch office
at D avenport, Iowa. Ira L. Grif
fin, formerly chief staff adjuster at
Duluth, is in charge. A djuster Hession, formerly of the Des Moines
branch, will assist Mr. Griffin in the
m anagem ent of the new office.
Presidential Candidates Mentioned
Several men have already been
mentioned as candidates for the
presidency of the Fire U nderw riters
Association of the N orthw e st and
field men are beginning to line up
behind one candidate or another.
J. ~M. L arm ore of Anderson, I n
diana, state agent for the state of
E ngland in Indiana and Illinois, and
at present a director of the associa
tion, has already announced his can
didacy and will undoubtedly be a
strong candidate.
O thers beins- mentioned as pos
sible candidates are F ra n k L. B rit
ton of Topeka, Kansas, state agent
for the N orth British and M ercan
tile, and David O. Stine of Reedsburg, W isconsin, state agent of the
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N O R T H W E S T E R N
o ff
STRENGTH
S E C U R IT Y
47
BANKER
’ ••
Ci
•
Uv
A.;.; :yD;r 7Ç; k AuA W /
SERVICE
SATISFACTION
Hard, Cold Facts
All old line life insurance is good.
Attractive combinations of benefits are de
sirable.
Benefits are only limited by the premium paid.
Special, scientific, successful study lias been
made by the Standard of the combinations of
benefits most desirable for the lowest possible
premium.
WE BELIEVE IN
The Old Time Insurance
The Old Line Insurance
The Standard Life Insurance
DON’T YOU?
If not a member, don’t join the A. 0 . S. K.
(Ancient Order of Self Kidders).
IN OLD LINE LIFE INSURANCE
You get just what you pay for
You pay for just what you get.
If y o u can q u a lify fo r an agen cy o r a p o lic y w ith
th e S ta n d a r d y o u are in rig h t. A c a r d o r le tte r fro m
y o u w ill re ve a l to yo u , th ro u g h th e r e p ly of th e c o m
p a n y, m a tte rs of vita l im p o r ta n c e . W r ite it now.
PRESIDENT
“T H E
N A M E
Sx L o u is ,
IS
M
F I T T
1M <3^
is s o u r i
48
THE
N O R T H W E S T E R N
/’ The Company
of
BANKER
September, 1923
Co- operation
More T h an Just an Agency
He, also, wants his company to show an
[E banker agent today is an excep
unselfish attitude towards every reasonable
tionally good business man, want
request
he makes which will assist him to
ing more than just an agency from the
draw
larger
profits from his agency.
company he represents.
r
He wants the company’s executives to be
friendly, open-minded, progressive men
like himself, who will take an unfeigned
interest in his affairs.
We appreciate the opportunity of serving
this type of banker agents, and assure
him that here he will find ample facilities
and cooperation for increasing his present
production.
Write
A. L. HART, President
Des Moines Life and Annuity Co.
‘ ‘
T H E
C
O
M
P
A
N
Y
REGISTER & TRIBUNE BUILDING
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
O F
C
O
O
P
E
R
A
T
I
O
N
*
*
DES MOINES, IOWA
TH E
September, 1923
N O R T H W E S T E R N
St. Paul Fire & Marine. Mr. Stine
was a candidate two years ago when
E. S. Phelps of Iowa was elected.
W isconsin has never had a presi
dent and th at reason together with
Mr. S tine’s personal ability will
niaue hmi a serious contender. Mr.
Britton, should he announce his
candidacy, would no doubt pull a
heavy vote from the southwest.
T w o candidates from Ohio are
being mentioned. T hey are B ernard
T. Duffey, state agent for the Royal
and W illiam B. Goodwin, state
agent of the Aetna. Both men have
been previously mentioned as pos
sible candidates.
Iowa, Michigan
and Illinois have offered no candi
dates for the coming election.
W h en a life in su ra n c e
Over
co m p an y less th a n fo u r
y ears old h as over 33
m illio n d o llars of good
busin ess on its books,
w ith o v er tw o an d oneh a lf m illio n d o lla rs in
assets a n d su ch a com
p a n y h as re g u la rly fo r
m o re th a n six m o n th s
received in new b u sin ess m u c h o v er a
m illio n d o llars each a n d every m o n th , it
m u st su re ly in d ic a te to y o u th a t th is
v o lu m e of busin ess has n o t b e en secured
by chance. I t m eans th a t th e C om pany
m u st h av e a ttra c tiv e an d p o p u la r policy
co n tracts, w ell p a id an d satisfied agents,
effective H o m e Office co -o p eratio n , an d
th a t th e C om pany h as an a m b itio u s vision
an d p ro g ra m of co n stru ctiv e e x p an sio n
w h ich is b rin g in g th ese m ost satisfacto ry
resu lts.
One and
a Half
Pure hero-worship is healthy. It
stimulates the young to deeds of hero
ism, stirs the old to unselfish efforts,
and gives the masses models of man
kind that tend to lift humanity above
the commonplace meanness of ordi
nary life.— Piatt.
4 4 room s
at $ 2 .5 0
174 rooms
at $ 3 .0 0
2 9 2 room s
at $ 3 .5 0
295 room s
at $ 4 .0 0
2 4 9 room s
at $ 5 .0 0
m
Million
Monthly
i
iSsssS
33 33« 33 33
P3P3 3BJ
33 3335 3333
j
49
BANKER
B
and up
A m ple te rrito ry is av ailab le in states w est
of th e M ississippi fo r b a n k e r agents w ho
h av e a d esire to “ grow w ith a grow ing
C o m p an y .”
CHICAGO
in the Heart o f the Loop
C o n v e n ie n t to a ll t h e a t e r s ,
2 railway stations, the retail and
wholesale districts,by living atth e
,...MOTEL:
I THE HOTEL OF PERFECT SERVICE
I Clark and Madison Sts.
|
The Homej/'the
¡T errace G arden
4 . CHICAGO'S WONDER RESTAURANT g -
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
a
STATE LIFE
In
su r a n c e
actucker
Pres id e n t
C
o m p a n y
/
Io
w a
-D e s M o in e s Vice
w m .k o c h
Pres iden t
THE
50
N O R T H W E S T E R N
D IR E C T O R S
O FFICER S
JA M ES H. ASH BY
SAM U EL CO ZZENS
S. T. K IDD O O
G. F. EM ER Y
A R T H U R G. LE O N A R D
J. A. SPO O R
H. E. PO R O N TO
M. A. TR A Y LO R
F. ED SO N W H IT E
THOMAS E. W ILSO N
LO U IS F . S W IF T
S. T. K ID D O O , P resid en t
G.
-F . EM ERY , Vice Pres.
J . L. D R ISC O L L , Vice Pres.
D. R, K EN D A LL , Cashier
A. W. A X T E L L , A. Cash.
H. E. H E R R IC K , A. Cash.
C. L. W ISTR A N D , A. Cash.
Resources Over
Capital and Surplus
$ 2 , 0 0 0 ,0 0 0
BANKER
E sta b lish e d 1868
$ 2 0 , 0 0 0 ,0 0 0
New Business Service
This bank has just established a de
partment which will co-operate with cor
respondent banks on their new activities.
We will tell you how to take advan
tage of this added service if you will
write to our ADVERTISING AND NEW
BUSINESS DEPARTMENT.
The Live Stock
EXCHANGE
N A T IO N A L
Bank
OF CHICAGO
Investment Service by Y o u r Bank
is th e s u b je c t of a s e rie s of a d v e r t i s e m e n t s n o w b e in g p u b lis h e d
b y o u r b a n k in f a r m i n g c o m m u n i t i e s .
W e a i m , t h r o u g h t h e s e a d v e r t i s e m e n t s , to d i r e c t t h e f a r m e r to
th e b a n k e r fo r th e in v e s tm e n t of his funds.
T h i s is o n l y o n e
f e a t u r e o f t h e s e r v i c e r e n d e r e d b y o u r B o n d D e p a r t m e n t to o u t of-tow n bankers.
W e so licit in q u irie s r e g a r d in g in v e s tm e n t of funds.
* 7 fie N a t io n a l
o f
(it y R an k
(R ic a g o
DAVID R.
County Bank Dept.
F. A. C R A N D A L L , Vice President.
FORGAN,
President.
Bond Department
J. B. CH R ISTE RSON, Manager.
September, 1923
Increase for Kansas City Life
The Kansas City Life reports a
large increase in business during
the first six m onths of 1923 having
w ritten $34,420,815 during this
period as compared with $22,978,999
for the corresponding period last
year. T his was an increase of 50
per cent. D uring the m onth of June
six agents w rote more than $ 100,000, the leader having w ritten $135,000.
W ill Manage N ew Company
W . L. Pettibone, formerly con
nected with the Great American In
surance Com pany at New York
City, has recently arrived in D aven
port, Iowa, to assume his new duties
as m anager for the Central Federal
Fire Insurance Company, which is
affiliated w ith the Federal Surety
Company of Davenport.
Mr. Pettibone, who has been with
the Great Am erican for the past
twelve years, has already entered
upon his new duties and has been
busy preparing copies for his forms
and getting books and supplies nec
essary to a new company.
T he new fire com pany will start
business under favorable conditions
due to the extensive agency sys
tem which has been built up by the
Federal S urety Company. T h e new
company will soon be licensed and
supplies will be sent out to all
agents who are to handle the line.
Des Moines Agents Organize
T h e Des Moines U n d e rw riters’
Association, which has been incor
porated, is now proposing new
rules for the regulation of the fire
insurance business in th at city. New
regulations provide for sole agencies
and limit the commissions of prin
cipal agents to the regular com m is
sions of Union and Bureau com
panies with restrictions on the com
missions to be paid to solicitors and
brokers.
T h e Blanchard law in
Iowa is regarded as forbidding any
agreem ent am ong companies as to
the regulation of the various details
of the insurance business and there
is being a considerable am ount of
interest manifested as to the efifect
of the law on a combination of
agents. T he report of the attorney
retained by the State Association,
states th at the B lanchard law does
not prohibit combinations of agents
so long as they do not agree as to
the rates at which insurance would
be written.
H e who is firm in will moulds the
world to himself.— Goethe.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
September, 1923
TH E
S o u t h
N O R T H W E S T E R N
D
a k o t a
51
BANKER
B a n k e r
S E C T IO N O F T H E N O R T H W E S T E R N B A N K E R
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE SOUTH DAKOTA BANKERS ASSOCIATION
T W E N T Y - E I G H T H Y EA R
SEPTEM BER 1923
N¡ MB FT 433
Making it Pay in South DakotagUj
1
'
A S T year a farm er moved into
. w estern South D akota from a
rented farm in Iowa.
He
b rought his grow ing family, his
scanty household goods, his farm
machinery, three head of cows, a
sow and two teams of horses and a
thousand dollars which he had m an
aged to scrape together. H e settled
in L ym an County on a farm th at
he bought on a contract and m o rt
gage, and which was quite a little
distance from the railroad. H e built
a house, turned the nose of his
breaker plow into the sod, broke out
32 acres which he put to flax and 25
more which he put to corn. W ith
w h a t he and his wife raised in their
gardens and his cream check r e
turns, he more than supplied his
table and for th a t reason had no g ro
cery bills to pay last fall.
“ His corn, 47 bushels to the acre,
yielded m ore than 1,100 bushels of
the m arketable product. H e sold a
little more than 300 bushels, the bal
ance he fed to his hogs and his
horses and cows.
American Bankers Association
Pays T ribute to Harding.
In announcing the closing of the
offices of the Am erican B ankers A s
sociation on Friday, A ugust 10, the
day of the funeral of the late P resi
dent H arding, John H. Puelicher,
president of the association, said :
“T h e bankers of the nation join in
the universal m ourning for the loss
of our late beloved president. Plis
untim ely end b rought to us all a
realization of the deep hold he had
upon our affections and how inti
m ately his character and activities
entered into the life of each individ
ual. W e were all proud of our presi
dent whose prom inent characteristic
was th at of a lover of m ankind and
whose hand was equally extended
to the wage earner and capitalist in
a sym pathetic effort to solve their
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
From Editorial, Rapid City Journal,
Rapid City, South Dakota
“ His sow produced a litter of 11
pigs and by good m anagem ent he
saved every one of them. T hree of
the 11 were gilts. H e fattened the
balance and got $95 for them. Again
the sow produced in the fall with a
litter of eight pigs, one a gilt and
the balance he fattened for the spring
market.
“ His total income for the year
was about $1,550. H e paid for
everything as he w ent along. Four
hundred and fifty dollars was paid
on the principal of the m ortgage, a
hog house was built, a good w arm
shelter for his horses and cows was
erected and he had a sufficient
am ount left to enter his second year
w ithout borrowing.
“His crops this year are bum per
one. l i e planted alfalfa late last
sum m er and got a good stand. This
fall he will pay a substantial am ount
on his farm, as m uch as he was pay
respective problems. W e m ourn
his loss but feel th a t the spirit of
harm ony for which he constantly
strove, still lives am ong us and that
through him and his m em ory the
people of the entire country in w h a t
ever walk of life and in w hatever in
dustry, will be b rought closer to
gether in better understanding and
better relationships.
“ Let us all abstain from worldly
occupations and devote this day to
reverence of the m em ory of our late
president, w orship of God and
prayer for the future welfare of our
beloved country.”
T h e love of gain never made a
painter, but it has m arred many.—
Allston.
The hero is suffered to be himself.
—Emerson.
ing in rent in Iowa and he says that
w ith luck h e ’ll have his farm paid
for by the fall of 1925.
“A gricultural reports issued by
the governm ent show th at by com
parative estimates the crop produc
tion in L y m an County was w orth
over $2,250,000 last year. This does
not include the prices received for
cream, eggs, poultry, horses, cattle
or hogs which were sent to m arket
in prim e condition.
“T he greatest evil th at exists in
w estern South D akota is the igno
ra n t knocker residing within its bor
ders. D uring the past three years
there have been very few banks that
have not been hard hit because of
the stringency in the financial world.
Nearly every bank has had to
knuckle down and so has the patron
in turn. L ym an C ou n ty ’s record
looks good compared w ith the rec
ords of m any counties in other
states where the land values were
heavily deflated. This didn’t h ap
pen in L y m an County.”
Elected D eputy M anager
A nnouncem ent has been made by
F. N. Shepherd, executive m anager
of the American Bankers Associa
tion, of the appointm ent of F rank
W . Simmonds of New York City as
deputy m anager to succeed George
E. Allen, who retired recently after
tw enty years of service.
As deputy m anager, Mr. Sim
monds becomes the secretary of the
State B ank division, which gives
particular attention to the interests
of the state incorporated institu
tions.
Mr. Simmonds comes to the asso
ciation from the C ham ber of Com
merce of the U nited States in whose
service he has for several years been
employed, first as field secretary and
then as m anager of the E astern dis
trict, em bracing 18 states, with head
quarters in New York.
52
TH E
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
O F F I C E R S
JO H N W. W A D D E N
P re sid en t
EU GENE R E IL E Y
V ice P r e s i d e n t
T H O S . A. W A D D E N
V ic e P r e s i d e n t a n d C a s h i e r
W . H. T. P O S T E R
V ic e P r e s i d e n t
W . I. T H O M P S O N
V ice P r e s i d e n t
C. W . T H O M P S O N
V ic e P r e s i d e n t
L. A. G R A Y
A s sista n t C ashier
O. M. R I C H A R D S O N
A s sista n t C ashier
If a belief in the future of South
D ak o ta and her progressive
people
And
a careful stu d y of the needs of
South D a k o ta ’s ag ricu ltu ral
and industrial interests
By
an o rganization w hich is g e n u
inely anxious to be of service
to South D ak o ta banks an d
bankers, appeals to you as
your logical Sioux Falls cor
respondent
IVrite to
T he
September, 1923
W ill Aid Dairying
T h e agricultural committee, com
posed of local business men at A b e r
deen, South Dakota, m et recently
to form ulate plans for aiding the
farm er through good milk cows. The
plan of aiding the farm er in this
w ay has worked out successfully in
other cities in dairy sections, ac
cording to Mr. H atterscheidt, chair
m an of the committee, and three sub
committees have been appointed to
take care of the prelim inary work
p re paratory to p u ttin g the plan in
effect in Aberdeen.
Association Compiles Booklet
F igures compiled recently by the
Y ankton C ounty B ankers’ Associa
tion of South Dakota, show th a t de
posits in th at county at the close of
business Ju n e 30 am ounted to $ 6,512,358.27.
T his figure together
w ith other inform ation showing the
wealth and resources of the county
has been published in pam phlet
form by the association.
Officers of the association for the
ensuing year are : President, E inar
Johnson of V olin; vice president, D.
M. F innegan of Yankton, and secre
tary-treasurer, H. E. E dm unds of
Yankton.
Issues Rainfall Statistics
Irw in D. Aldrich, commissioner
of im m igration in South Dakota, has
analyzed the report of the U nited
States W e a th e r Bureau, and gives
the following rainfall statistics for
South D akota for the m onth of
June. T h e average rainfall east of
the Missouri river was 4.64 and the
average w est of the river was 4.45,
show ing a difference of less than
one-fifth of an inch. T h e highest
rainfall recorded was at Olerichs,
where it was 8.21 inches, and the
lowest was at W a g n er, where it was
1.57 inches.
E lect N ew Cashier
R. J. Felker has been elected
cashier of the R am ona State Bank
of Ramona, South Dakota, to take
the place of F. O. Palmer, who re
signed recently.
Sioux Falls National
Cuban Branch N ow Open
T h e Cuban branch of the F irst
National Bank of B oston is now
open and doing business at Havana,
Cuba. T h e bank is under the m an
agem ent of Jo h n G. Carriker.
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Hope is like the sun, which, as we
journey towards it, casts the shadow
of our burden behind us.— Samuel
Smiles.
Bank
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
TH E
September, 1923
N O R T H W E S T E R N
53
BANKER
News of South Dakota Banks and Bankers
O fficial P u b lic a tio n S o u th D a k o ta B a n k ers A sso cia tio n
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
S o u th D ak ota B an k ers A sso cia tio n
P r e s i d e n t . . . .A. K o p p e r u d , P r e s i d e n t S e c u r i t y B a n k & T r u s t Co., W e b s t e r
V ic e P r e s i d e n t . . . F r e d B. S t i l e s , V i c e P r e s . F i r s t N a t l . B a n k , W a t e r t o w n
S e c r e t a r y .............................................................................................. L. J. W e l c h , M i t c h e l l
T r e a s u r e r ............H. C. S n o d g r a s s , C a s h i e r S t a t e B a n k o f I n t e r i o r , I n t e r i o r
E i n e r J o h n s o n , G r o u p 1 .................................. C a s h i e r V o l i n S t a t e B a n k , V o l i n
F . M. E n r i g h t , G r o u p 2 ............P r e s i d e n t H o m e N a t i o n a l B a n k , D e l l R a p i d s
J. W . B r y a n t , G r o u p 3. . V i c e P r e s . C o m ’l T r u s t & S a v i n g s B a n k , M i t c h e l l
E. R. Z a l e s k y , G r o u p 4 ......................... P r e s i d e n t F i r s t N a t i o n a l B a n k , E l k t o n
T h o s . O’B r i e n , G r o u p 5 .............................. P r e s i d e n t H o v e n S t a t e B a n k , H o v e n
T. E. G a g e , G r o u p 6 ...................................C a s h i e r F a r m e r s S t a t e B a n k , G r o t o n
C. D. S m i t h , G r o u p 7 ..........................P r e s i d e n t F i r s t N a t i o n a l B a n k , L e m m o n
S. J. C l a r k e , G r o u p 8 ................................ C a s h i e r F a r m e r s S t a t e B a n k , N e w e l l
J. W . S t e w a r t , G r o u p 9 ......................... P r e s i d e n t F a r m e r s S t a t e B a n k , D a l l a s
Bank Clearings Increase
A n increase of $245,000 is re
corded in the bank clearings of
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for the
m onth of July as compared with the
same m onth a year ago. T h e clear
ings for July, 1923, were $12,419,460.64 and for July, 1922, they were
$12,173,835.13.
Lightner Mentioned as Candidate
D.
H. Lightner, cashier of the
Citizens T r u s t and Savings Bank of
Aberdeen, South Dakota, is being
mentioned by his m any friends as a
suitable candidate for vice president
of the South D akota B ankers A sso
ciation at its next annual conven
tion.
Mr. L ig h tn er has taken a g reat
interest in association work and has
done a g re at deal to prom ote the
efficiency of the association, and has
well earned the recognition for
which he is being mentioned.
Highm ore, H olabird and H arold :
President, J. P. Stahl ; vice presi
dent, Geo. W . W r ig h t ; cashier, C. D.
H a th a w a y ; and directors, F. R.
B rum w ell; E. D. Stutton, F. M.
W ebb, Geo. W . W rig h t, J. P. Stahl.
Joins Sioux Falls Bank
W aldo E. M arston, formerly of
Adrian, Minnesota, has recently
been added to the force of the Sioux
Falls T r u s t and Savings Bank of
Sioux Falls, <South Dakota. Mr.
M arston was connected w ith the
A drian State B ank for over three
years.
Bankers W ill Aid Farmers
Hirning Makes Appointments
Officers and m em bers of the Faulk
State B ank E xam iner John H ir n
ing has announced appointm ent of County B ankers’ Association, to
R. E. M ontgom ery of H oven as geth er w ith several farmers, m et at
examiner in charge of the affairs of the office of the county agent in
the Gregory C ounty State B ank at Faulkton, S. D., recently and studied
at some length the proposed financ
Fairfax.
A.
L. Bambenek, who has been in ing of farm stored wheat.
T h ere was some question in the
charge of the affairs of the bank at
H arrold for some time, has been minds of those present w hether such
transferred to the F irs t State Bank financing would materially aid the
price situation.
of Vienna.
“However, the circum stances in
E van A usm an, of W essington, has
been placed in charge of the affairs which we find ourselves at this time
make it imperative th at every angle
of the State Bank at Herrick.
Change of Officers
D ue to a recent change in ow ner
ship and m anagem ent of the Bank
of M onroe of Monroe, S. D., the fol
lowing officers have been e le c te d :
President, W . S. Scott, M onroe; vice
president, G. W . Schultz, Sioux
F alls; cashier, D an Jantz, Monroe,
and
assistant
cashier,
W illiam
Loucks, T rent. T h e first three of
ficers together w ith Louis Jacobs of
Sioux Falls and F. H. A ustin of W a
tertow n, comprise the board of di
rectors.
Reorganize Holabird Bank
T h e H olabird State B ank of H ola
bird, South Dakota, has been reor
ganized w ith the following officers,
all of them stockholders in the
Brum well L um ber com pany of
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
I
Purchase State Cement Bonds
One million seven hundred thirty
thousand dollars of South D akota
state cement plant bonds have been
purchased by Ballard & Com pany
of Minneapolis, Blodget & Company
of Boston and George B. Gibbons
& Company, Inc., of N ew York.
Purchase Flandreau Bonds
T h e N orth w e stern T r u s t Com
pany of St. P aul has purchased $26,000 Flandreau, South Dakota, w ater
works bonds.
SERVICE BANKS
First N a tio n a l Bank
SPECIAL ATTENTION
O ld est B ank in D avison C o u n ty
G IV EN TO
Mitchell, South Dakota
First Trust & Savings Bank
D E P O S IT S G U A R A N T EED
“ T h e b a n k t h a t n o t o n ly p a y s b u t s h o w s
In te re s t”
First Mortgage Loans
THE BANK OF
BROOKINGS
54
T H E
be thoroughly examined in order
th at all assistance possible can be
secured for these farm com m uni
ties,” said John Shirk, president of
the F aulk County B ankers’ Associa
tion.
T h e m eeting was called by the
president of the farm bureau at the
suggestion of farm bureau members
and bankers.
Add Safety Deposit Boxes
GfQwtli of the safety box depa rt
m ent of the Security National Bank
of Sioux Falls, S. D., has neces
sitated putting in more boxes in the
safety box vault and work is in p rog
ress now installing 400 new boxes,
m aking a total of 1,226 boxes. T hree
years ago the bank added 396 new
boxes, but the addition was insuf
ficient and it was found necessary to
add 400 more. This gives the bank
safety boxes of all sizes for its cus
tomers, with a sufficient number of
smaller boxes available for those who
need them.
McCook County B ankers Meet
T h e McCook County Bankers
Association of South D akota met re
cently at M ontrose and elected the
following officers for the ensuing
y e a r : President, R. H. A rm stro n g
of C anistota; vice president, J. A.
Callant of S p e n c e r; secretary, C. C.
M cM ahon of Bridgewater, and
treasurer, Lee A rm stro n g of Cani
stota.
Close M adrid Branch
As a result of the strike of Span
ish bank clerks the directors of the
W e s tm in s te r Foreign Bank, L im
ited, have decided to close their M ad
N O R T H W E S T E R N
BANKER
rid institution. A rrangem ents have
been made at the foreign branch,
London, for the full maintenance of
Spanish banking facilities, and this
service will continue to be at the
disposal of the b ank’s custom ers
and correspondents.
F rench In d u s try in July
T he trend of developments in
F rance during the m onth of July
was favorable, n otw ithsta nding sea
sonal calmness and the instability
caused by political developments
and exchange fluctuations, says
Commercial A ttache C. L. Jones in
a cable to the D e partm ent of Com
merce. Governm ent receipts were
in excess of the estimates, and rail
road receipts were above those of
last year.
A gricultural prospects
were promising, woolen and cotton
textiles normal, and the condition of
the chemical industry was satisfac
tory. T he production of iron and
steel was larger. Foreign trade was
active, and the index of the cost of
living decreased.
U nem ploym ent
was negligible. General prospects
for autum n, however, were less en
couraging. Increasing anxiety was
caused by deliveries from the Ruhr.
T he declining franc stimulated ex
ports, but this necessitated buying
replacement stocks at high franc
prices, since stocks in m any lines
were already low.
T he note issue of the Bank of
France on A u g u st 2 am ounted to
37,330,000,000, a decrease of 332,000,000 francs, as compared with the
issue of July 5. Advance to the
state am ounted to 23,700,000,000
francs, a decrease of 200,000,000
francs since July 5. T h e metallic
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W hy Q ueen City A gencies A re
P opular
E v ery w h ere you h e a r p ra ise of Q ueen City ag en cy c o n tra c ts. It is m ainly
becau se Q ueen City is am azin g ly u n stin tin g in e v ery b ra n c h of serv ice.
It is th is b risk , b u sin ess-lik e serv ice th a t h a s p o p u larized Q ueen City
ag en cies; and it is frien d ly co-operation th a t k eep s th e ir p o p u la rity w arm .
If a com pany, w h ere serv ice in all b ra n c h e s is n e v e r c o n sid ered com
plete u n til every an g le h a s been care fu lly gone over, m ean s a n y th in g
in th e w ay of in c re a se d b u sin e ss to you, th e n w rite th e Q ueen City today.
Q ueen C ity Fire in su ran ce C om p an y
H. R. DENNIS, President
D. P. LEMEN, Secretary and M anager
SIO U X FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA
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@FedFRASER