THE CHICAGO 'BA/IK.E'R
Founded in 1898
CHICAGO, NOVEMBER 7, 1908	Number ig
Houses in Secretary’s Office
sales manager to briefly set forth its advantages at the close of this report. Although the company lias no competition, it has very kindly ottered our members a 10 per cent discount in case 25 are sold within the year.
While tempted to recommend the purchase of bank sates, the committee has refrained from doing so, although its members are of the opinion that much money can be saved by its members if they were to coniine themselves to two or three of the principal makes, and we recommend that before buying, they take the matter up witn me secretary.
We are indebted to our secretary for putting before us correspondence with the different companies whose machines we have considered, greatly lessening our work and enabling us to act intelligently upon a rather large problem. We believe that the purchasing department wnl be used largely, and that means more work for our secretary, and we suggest to the executive committee that some adequate provision be made to repay him for the additional demand upon his energies and time.
Respectfully submitted,
S. J. Le Due,
R. C. Kittel,
J. J. Early,
F. A. Irish,
Committee.
You will no doubt be interested in knowing that since our convention held July xst and 2d, we have purchased for our members thirty (30) adding machines and fifty (50) typewriters at a saving of over fifteen hundred ($1,500) dollars and you will appreciate the advertising the association gets through the traveling salesmen representing the various companies we have made contracts with. These young men are going over our state day after day telling our banks of the saving they can make by buying appliances through the association. The effect has been, as stated in a letter to me recently by one of our members:	“You don't have to urge our banks
to join the association now. They cannot afford to stay out.”
I feel that the North Dakota Association has now developed ail the lines of earning and saving money for members that we can afford to develop, but I still have an idea in mind which I would like to see worked out and which I believe is practical. It seems to me that the various state associations can so develop the plan of the organization of the state bankers associations that the secretary’s office can be made a state clearing house, through which members can clear the checks of other members and thus create a position for the state secretary that will give him duties of importance and compensation to correspond with his usefulness to the bankers of the state. These state clearing houses should be corporations organized under state banking laws doing business only with banks of the state which are members of the organization, and should have ample capital to make financial institutions of strength and character. All balances due from the state clearing house could be settled with state clearing house certificates and in times of financial disturbance these certificates backed by collateral deposited by banks needing assistance, would circulate freely and easily without creating any unusual comment or criticism. Laws would of course have to be created in the various states governing the issue of such certificates
So well has the co-operative buying by the banks in the North Dakota Bankers Association worked that Secretary W. C. Macfadden has dreams of clearing all state checks through the secretary’s office to be incorporated as a State Clearing House ::	::
machines for the price of ten, providing that number be bought within one year. An order for more than ten machines has already been placed, and members may at any time place their orders through the secretary, and receive their discount. The proposition of the Universal Ma-
W. C. M A ClFlA DjD.E N Fargo, N. D.|
chine Company is to sell their machine at the list price with a straight xo per cent discount on ten machines or over and an additional discount of 5 per cent for cash.
Typewriters—There are a number of first class machines, many of which have made us a reduction. The Remington will give us a discount of 10 per cent providing 25 are purchased within one year. The Fox will give a discount of 10 per cent without requiring the purchase of any particular number. The Oliver will allow a discount of 10 per cent if ten are purchased, an additional 10 per cent if twenty are bought, and another 10 per cent in case thirty are bought in one year. The Underwood will give a discount of 10 and 10 per cent if 25 are bought within one year, and the L. C. Smith will do the same. After the first year, providing the required number are bought the first year, every machine sold can be obtained at the same discount. It appears to the committee that the most favorable propositions have been submitted by the Underwood and L. C. Smith companies. As the association will certainly be unable to buy the required number from all the companies, it will be necessary for us to limit ourselves to not more than three machines.
The Multigraph—This is a most ingenious and practicable machine, which can be used by a large number of our members, and as so few are familiar with it, the committee has requested the
State Clearing
In the early days of our North Dakota Association I hoped that the aims and ambitions of our organization would be along the line of attainments higher than the saving or earning of so many dollars and cents, but after seeing one organization in our state go to pieces because the officers of the association could not show returns to members for the actual amount of their investment in annual dues paid, I became convinced that in order to build up a strong and permanent organization we must show actual results in so many dollars saved or earned; and so we were, I think, the first association to follow Secretary Dinwiddie’s plan of providing a local expert to care for the time locks of our members at a reduced cost. Then we took up the plan of writing burglary insurance and fidelity bonds throng.! the association, using the profits from this source to build up our protective fund. This year we have arranged for an association attorney from whom members can obtain written opinions on matters pertaining to their banks without cost. The questions asked our attorney and his replies thereto will be published in our annual proceedings, and will no doubt be of great value to the young men and young women employed 111 our banks, without mentioning those of us who nave been in the business for many years. And now I come to the subject which Secretary Farnsworth asked me for information on and wr.icii X believe we are the first and only association to take up, that of the purchase of appliances used in banks, such as adding machines, typewriters, Brandt cashiers, etc., in quantities, in order to obtain for members the reduced prices given purchasers of a number of machines at a time.
In taking up this subject I outlined the plan to members in a circular letter and enclosed in the letters a return postal card. The return of these cards gave us the information that over twenty of our members wanted to purchase, at that time, adding machines and that about forty wanted new typewriters. I then took up the matter of ascertaining what sort of contracts could be made for the purchase of the machines wanted, and at our annual convention held in July, asked that a committee be appointed to which all the information I had gathered could be referred. Representatives of the companies selling the various machines wanted were at the convention and an interesting feature was the demonstration of the work of the machine. Herewith a cop}־ of the report of the purchasing committee:
Report of Purchasing Committee
Gentlemen:—Your committee has gone over the correspondence from the various concerns which have made propositions to the association, and after careful consideration, begs to submit the following report:
We find that advantageous arrangements can be made with a large number of the companies which sell their own products, and have not considered the purchase of supplies in general, as some of our members erroneously thought we intended.
Although we might with profit arrange to buy other machines, the committee recommends that for the present only adding machines, typewriters, and the multigraph be considered. If the arrangement proves as successful as we believe it will, the list of machines can be enlarged.
Only two adding machines were considered, viz.: the Burroughs and Universal. The Burroughs people offer to sell the association eleven