13
THE CHICAGO BANKER
August I, 1908]
William A. Tilden President
Nelson N. Lampert Vice Prest.
Henry R. Kent Cashier
Charles Fernald Asst. Cashier
Colin S. Campbell Asst. Cashier
MONROE AND CLARK STREETS
C H I C A G O
Capital, $1,000,000 Surplus and Profits, $400,000
Your Business Solicited
THE
LIBERTY NATIONAL BANK
OF NEW YORK
FREDERICK B. SCHENCK, President
CHARLES W. RIECKS
2d Vice-president and Cashier
HENRY S. BARTOW
Asst Cashier
HENRY P. DAVISON, Chairman Executive Committee
capital, surplus and undivided profits
S 3,400,000.00
Secretary’s Report at Billings Convention
1 think this matter might be attended to by our regular committee on legislation.
I would like also to suggest that a committee be appointed to meet with the assessors at their regular annual convention to try to persuade them to be more equitable in their assessment of bank assets. Our laws on taxation are all right in this regard but the trouble is with the appraisement. I find that there are very few states throughout the Union where the appraisement of bank assets is handled in such an unsatisfactory and haphazard manner as it is throughout the various counties of this state, and I see no way to remedy it excepting to try to get the assessors to agree on a uniform appraisement of bank assets, and at the same relative value as the personal property of other concerns and individuals.
The financial report is as follows:
Cash on hand, August 14th the date of
our last convention .............$ 366.27
Cash received as annual dues......... 1065.00
$1431.27
Disbursements .................... $1078.19
Balance on hand .................. 353.08
V
First National of Westport
The First National, of Westport, Ind., has been authorized to begin business with a capital of $20,000. Francis D. Armstrong will be President. Maurice G. Stewart, vice-president; John S. !Morris, cashier and Mayme E. Baker, assistant cashier.
V
Boston National Bank Deposits
The gain of nearly $13,500,000 in deposits of the nineteen Boston clearing house banks last week makes a grand total for deposits of $241,278,000, a figure never before reached by Boston banks. The highest previous record was in April, 1905, when total deposits of the clearing house banks amounted to somewhat above $232,000,000.
Charles D. Stewart has been appointed assistant cashier of the First National of La Junta, Colo.
Frank Bogart advocates appointment of ¿ood com-inittee on Legislation—Passage of a law similar to the Dalzell bill—A joint deposit law—Shows Montana Bankers Association to be in excellent condition
about what terms we could obtain, I will be glad to make a statement setting forth the conditions of the proposed contract.
']'here should also be appointed at this convention a good committee on legislation. There is no use appointing members on this committee unless they are willing to sacrifice their time and energy to this cause and know how to apply their energy effectually.
Amongst other matters which I think might be brought up by this committee for consideration, is the question of reducing the period in which a customer of a bank is required to report the forgery of an item charged to his account. Our present law allows them three years. This our previous committee acknowledged was too much but they found the legislature of that time opposed to making it a shorter term. The next legislature may be more favorable in this respect.
The passage of a law similar to the Dalzell bill which was introduced in Congress at the last session would be a good thing in this state. This bill if passed makes the issuing of false statements and the circulation of false rumors derogatory to a bank punishable.
The joint deposit law might save some of our members some trouble sometime. This law is to the effect that two depositors may put their account in the name of both of them, subject to the check of either whether the other is living or dead.
We are all more or less troubled by the ir responsible party who issues his check against an imaginary account, and a law similar to that recently passed in California which makes this offense punishable would have a tendency to prevent this and would save much annoy-?nce.
We are requested also by the Committee on Bills of Lading of the American Bankers Association to have a committee appointed to arrange for the regulation of bills of lading.
I am pleased to be able to report at this time an increase of eleven in our membership for the past year. We now have a membership of 120 of which 6 are associate members. Twelve new banks have been organized in the state during the past 12 months making a total of banks in the state now of 135.
There seems to be a great many petty forgeries committed throughout the state, but most of these are perpetrated on merchants and others, and not on the banks. There have been no forgeries called to my attention, which would seem to justify the offering of rewards, such as were authorized at our last convention. We have succeeded in apprehending two forgers, one of whom escaped on a technicality of law and the other one was released upon request of our member who was defrauded by his operations—this office having collected from him, through the assistance of the sheriff, the amount which he fraudulently obtained.
I have been successful, after almost hopeless effort, in getting what promises to be a satisfactory arrangement for the cleaning of our time locks. Very few of the time lock companies care to enter into any special arrangements with the bankers associations, especially in a state like Montana where there are only a few banks and those scattered over such an extensive territory. However, one party, who does the cleaning for the North Dakota Bankers Association, has agreed to enter into a contract with us and furnish a satisfactory bond in the sum of $5,000.00 and ] believe by this we will be able to save to our members almost the cost of their annual dues to the association, or at least $500.00 each year, and I would like to request the appointment of a committee to make the final arrangement in regard to this matter, as I do not like to assume the responsibility of closing the deal myself. I believe such committee should look after this matter during the coming year, attend to all complaints, keep record of amounts collected, et cetera, et cetera, and make report at our next convention the same as is done in other states.
In case anyone here would like to know